A hanging module assembly for frames having four frame moldings comprises a hanging bracket, a fixing plate, four circular through holes separately disposed at two adjacent sides of the fixing plate, a pressing portion disposed at the middle of the fixing plate and sunken towards a frame molding, four penetrating holes separately disposed on four sides of the hanging bracket, a face portion protruded from the middle of the hanging bracket and having a cross-shaped through hole. After a transparent plate, a picture, and a board are placed in concave edges of the frame moldings, the circular through holes and penetrating holes are secured into an internal thread hole at distal ends of two adjacent frame moldings by bolts, such that the pressing portion presses and fixes the board, and the cross-shaped through hole of the hanging bracket is mounted onto a wall by screws for simple and quick installations.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hanging module assembly for frames, and more particularly to a hanging module that provides a convenient, easy, simple, and quick installation of a frame.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the traditional way of installing general frames is inconvenient and the frames usually require an installation of accessories on the frame first or repeated installations and removals of parts, and thus wasting much time and efforts on finding out how to install the frame. Furthermore, some accessories must be installed in a specific direction. If the accessories are installed in the wrong direction, the frame will be shaken or loosened easily, and thus the installation of traditional frames is very troublesome and inconvenient.


An optical pick-up device comprises a body, an objective lens provided on the body so as to oppose a recording medium, a laser source for producing a laser beam, a mirror for reflecting the laser beam towards the objective lens, a first table member mounted on the body of the optical pick-up device in which the first table member carries a table part such that the table part can be tilted relative to the body, an adjustment mechanism for adjusting tile of the table part of the first table member relative to the body, a second table member to which the mirror is mounted, and a connecting part of a material having elasticity and capable of absorbing vibration, interposed between the second table member and the table part of the first table member for supporting the second table member relative to the table part of the first table member.

The present invention generally relates to optical pick-up devices assembled in an optical disk apparatus, and more particularly to a structure for supporting a mirror such that a laser beam is reflected by the mirror towards an objective lens.
On a part of a mirror of an optical pick-up device, there is provided a mechanism for a fine adjustment of inclination angle such that the laser beam is directed to the objective lens properly. When a distortion is developed on a reflection surface of the mirror in such a device, the beam spot on a disk is distorted and the playback of information is deteriorated. Thus, there should be no distortion occurring on the reflection surface of the mirror. For this reason, the said mechanism of fine adjustment of the inclination angle has to be able to perform fine adjustment of the inclination angle without causing distortion on the reflection surface.
It should be noted that the mirror is located close to an actuator used for focusing and tends to be subjected to vibration when the actuator is operated. If the said adjustment mechanism is attempted to be structured to meet the above requirement, it is necessary to design the part for supporting the mirror to have a smaller diameter. The part in this case, however, receives vibration from the actuator and becomes more susceptible to cause resonance. When a resonance is developed, the focus or tracking servo control system causes oscillation, leading to loss of focusing or tracking control. Therefore, the said adjustment mechanism needs to be structured so as to suppress the vibration of the mirror. In other words, the structure of the part for supporting the mirror is required: (a) to be able to perform fine adjustments of the inclination angle without causing a distortion on the reflection face; and (b) to be able to suppress the vibration of the mirror.
In a conventional mechanism as will be described in detail later, a table structure comprising a first table part and a second table part coupled each other at their center by a boss of a small diameter is mounted to the main body of an optical pick-up device, and the fixed mirror is mounted on the first table part located at the upper side. When the inclination of the fixed mirror is adjusted in such a mechanism, the second table which is located at the lower side is pushed by means of adjustment screw and is inclined. When the second table part is inclined, the first table part is inclined responsive thereto. Thus, the inclination of the mirror is adjusted. It should be noted that the first table part is inclined while maintaining its flatness, and the mirror is adjusted of its inclination angle without causing distortion on the reflection surface.
In such a pick-up device in which the first table part is coupled to the second table part only by a boss of small diameter, however, there is a problem in that it easily picks up vibration and the mirror vibrates together with the first table part. Vibration of the fixed mirror gives an adverse effect, especially to the tracking servo operation as it causes abnomal reproduction of the information.


An information providing apparatus for re-distributing to a mobile phone (113) an information image in which image information and at least related information defining a unique process are integrated as a single operation unit, the information image having been distributed to a client (103) connected via a network (106), includes an information image separation unit (110) for separating the information image that has been distributed to and registered in the client (103) into image information and related information; and a re-distribution unit (111) for distributing to the mobile phone (113) the image information and the related information that have been separated by the information image separation unit (110).

When an advertiser wishes to communicate information to users in general, in general wireless broadcast, since channels to be tuned in by the users are limited, an advertisement effect is achieved by explaining a product for several seconds to several minutes.
As opposed thereto, on the Internet, which has recently been developing explosively, information intended by an advertiser can only be communicated by letting the users perform an operation, for example, specifying a URL via a keyboard of a terminal or using a link function that readily allows reference to another page.
Accordingly, in methods of advertisement on the Internet that have been proposed and implemented, for example, a special window is displayed in a display portion of a user terminal by a program for Internet connection distributed to each user by an Internet service provider, displaying an advertisement image in the window, or a layout in which an advertisement banner is displayed together with a news, etc. is used.
These methods, however, are similar to those that have hitherto been implemented by an advertising tower disposed at a street corner, etc., and does not fully take advantage of a network.
Accordingly, the inventors of the present invention have proposed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-079182, a system, etc. that allows an operator to access, by a simple operation, information intended by an information provider, using an "information image" in which image information and at least related information defining a unique process are integrated as a single operation unit, the related information including a URL, etc., and that allows the information provider to provide a new information image and to update the information image so that a clue for providing new information will be recognized by the operator at any time.
By using the information image, the information image provider is allowed to define and execute various control operations of a terminal apparatus, and furthermore, by using an image that indicates a program operation, content of the operation is readily understood. Furthermore, because the image information and the related information are inseparably integrated, illegitimate use for an unintended purpose is discouraged, and even if the information image is distributed, a retuming effect from a distribution end to information of the image provider can be expected.
Such an information image, however, requires special software for spreading it out, and it is inconvenient when, for example, a user wishes to view the information at a visiting place. Accordingly, a system that allows an information image that has once been obtained to be re-obtained anywhere has been desired.
Furthermore, from a viewpoint of a server, a problem has existed that it is difficult to manage each user via the software for spreading out an information image.
Furthermore, in some cases, a user finds a shop of interest at a visiting place and wishes to register a URL of a Web site of the shop in a personal computer at home in order to obtain information regarding the shop. In such cases, hitherto, the user takes note of the URL on a sheet of paper, etc. and directly enters the URL in the personal computer at home after coming home to reference the site, or sends an electronic mail including the URL from a mobile phone, etc. to a mail address so that the electronic mail can be read from the personal computer at home, and opens the electronic mail after coming home to reference the site.
The above task, however, is laborious, and actually is not used so often. It will be extremely convenient if a URL, etc. of a desired shop can be registered in a personal computer at home by performing a simple operation on a portable terminal, which will contribute to further development of network-based commercial transactions.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an information image providing apparatus that allows a user to readily obtain an information image.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an information image providing apparatus that allows an information image once obtained to be re-obtained anywhere and that also allows management of each user.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an information providing apparatus that readily allows access to information on a network related to information obtained at a street corner, etc.


The present invention is directed to the field of cancer diagnosis, specifically to the diagnosis of bladder cancer (BC) and prostate cancer (CaP). More specifically, the invention provides simple, non-invasive urinary tests characterized by high sensitivity and specificity, wherein urinary levels of heat shock proteins and anti-inflammatory cytokines are used as biomarkers.

Bladder cancer (BC) is one of the most common malignancies in developed countries, ranking as the sixth most frequent neoplasm. The disease exists in two main forms: non-invasive BC, which lacks invasion into surrounding muscle tissue and is the more common form accounting for 75% of all cases, and muscle invasive BC, in which the tumor spreads into the urinary bladder muscle and may metastasize.
The gold standard for detection of BC is cystoscopy; however, this procedure is invasive, uncomfortable, costly and may provoke urinary tract infection. Moreover, cystoscopy may miss certain lesions, in particular small areas of carcinoma in situ. Currently, cytology is the only established non-invasive adjunct to cystoscopy. Although cytology is sensitive (70-80%) and highly specific (90-95%) for the diagnosis of high-grade BC, sensitivity is as low as 6-38% for detecting low-grade tumors (Bastacky et al., 1999).
In BC patients, urine is constantly in close contact with tumor cells and the urothelium surrounding them. Therefore it has been suggested that biomarkers in the urine or in tumor cells isolated from urine samples could be helpful for detecting and monitoring BC. Among the studied markers, several assays have been approved by the US FDA, including Bladder tumor antigen (BTA), BTA stat, Fibrin degradation products (FDP), Nuclear Matrix protein 22 (NMP-22), Immunocyt and FISH (Urovysion) (van Rhijn et al., 2005). Most of these assays manifest a higher overall sensitivity for BC compared to urine cytology, but their specificity is much less (van Rhijn et al., 2005): urinary tract infection, benign prostatic hypertrophy and renal calculi can affect these assays. Various other tests have been developed in the effort to identify biochemical markers that may have diagnostic and prognostic value, including tests to identify tumor-associated markers in the urine, serum, and bladder cancer tissue specimens. For example, urinary immunoglobulins have been found to increase in persons who have bladder cancer and appear to have some diagnostic and prognostic value. Other suggested markers are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,221,612, U.S. Pat. No. 7,332,290, U.S. Pat. No. 6,811,995 U.S. Pat. No. 6,280,956, U.S. Pat. No. 6,261,791, U.S. 20050196795, U.S. 20040126775, U.S. 20090136972 and WO 2004/0033641. To date, there is no consensus regarding the relevance of these tests and their role in enhancing or replacing cystoscopy.
The routine use of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) as a screening tool since the early 1990's has had a deep impact on early diagnosis of prostate cancer (CaP) and has resulted in an increase in CaP detection (McDavid et al., 2004). However, the use of PSA is currently being debated since it is not clear if PSA screening has led to a decline in mortality due to CaP (Andriole et al., 2009; Schroder et al., 2009). In addition, the vast amount of unnecessary biopsies due to false-positive PSA results places a large burden on the healthcare system and leads to patient discomfort (Damber et al., 2008). As a result, there is a need for more specific and more sensitive biomarkers for CaP.
Cancer is associated with local inflammation (Lin et al., 2007). Among the many known factors suggested to mediate or regulate various aspects of inflammatory reactions are heat shock proteins and cytokines.
Heat Shock Proteins (HSPs) are a class of functionally related proteins whose expression is increased when cells are exposed to elevated temperature or other stress (Lindquist et al., 1988). In neoplasms, the expression of HSPs is implicated in the regulation of apoptosis, as a modulator of p53, in the immune response against tumors, and in multidrug resistance (Kaufmann et al., 1990; Levine et al., 1991; Ciocca et al., 1993; Cappello et al., 2008), and HSP expression was found to be altered in certain tumors (Fuller et al., 1994). Recently, the expression of HSPs in tumor biopsy material particularly HSP60 and HSP90 were proposed as prognostic factors in BC. Using immunohistochemical staining, Lebert et al, showed that decreased expression of these HSPs in the tumor is correlated with invasive BC (Lebret et al., 2003). In addition, it was found that low HSP90 expression predicted failure of immunotherapy (Lebret et al., 2007).
Secretion of immunosuppressive cytokines is a non-specific strategy for tumor immune evasion in many malignancies. Thus far, studies addressing cytokine expression in bladder cancer focused on the immune response to Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) immunotherapy (Bohle et al., 1990; Fleischmann et al., 1989; Saint et al., 2001).
Certain studies report the detection of cytokines such as Interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8 and IL-10 in the urine of BC patients. Kochac et al. (2004) and Sheryka et al. (2003) suggest that urinary IL-8 levels are elevated in patients with invasive BC. These studies did not differentiate between newly diagnosed BC patients and patients that have been treated with intravesical or other anti-cancer therapy, known to affect urinary cytokine levels. Esuvaranathan et al. (1995), aiming to evaluate the effect of BCG treatment on urinary cytokine levels, report that urinary IL-6 levels are elevated in some of the BC patients. Cai et al. (2007) attempted to find an association between urinary levels of IL-6/IL-10 and recurrent BC. The authors indicated that no difference was found between the IL-6/IL-10 ratio of control subjects and of patients with initial BC.
Loskog et al (2007) demonstrated that bladder cancer tissue is infiltrated by regulatory T-cells expressing large amounts of TGF-β and IL-10 mRNA. They further confirmed that circulating T cells of these patients were unresponsive to polyclonal T cell activation compared to healthy controls. Helmy et al (2007), using immunelectromicroscopy, reported the expression of TGF-β protein in exfoliated malignant epithelial (urothelial) cells in the urine of patients with BC.
Cardillo and Ippoliti (2006) reported that IL-6, IL-10 and HSP90 immunoreactivity was higher in prostatic carcinoma (CaP) and intra-epithelial prostatic neoplasia than in normal prostatic tissue adjacent to neoplasia, and therefore, changes in their expression in human CaP samples could be used as a prognostic marker of disease progression.
IL-13 was originally described as a T cell-derived cytokine that inhibits inflammatory cytokine production (Minty et al., 1993; McKenzie et al., 1993; Punnonen et al., 1993) secreted from immune cells (Schmid-Grendelmeier et al., 2002; Brown et al., 1989). Though this original description remains accurate, the known functions of IL-13 have expanded over the past few years. In cancer, IL-13 inhibits CD8+ CTL-mediated tumor immunosurveillance (Terabe et al., 2000) and contributes to tumor escape from apoptosis and growth arrest (Skinnider et al., 2001; Kapp et al., 1999). Type I diabetic patients treated with HSP60 derived peptide, showed lesser need for exogenous insulin that was positively correlated with IL-13 production by T-cells, thereby indicating its importance as an anti-inflammatory mediator (Raz et al., 2001). A recent case-control study demonstrated a highly significant difference in mRNA and protein expression of IL-13 between patients with bladder cancer and controls (MalekZadeh et al., 2010; published after the priority date of the present invention).
To date, no cytokine or HSP urinary marker is known to differentiate between BC-afflicted subjects and subjects presenting with hematuria due to benign pathology, thus having adequate reliability to be used in clinical diagnosis. There remains an unmet need for improved compositions and methods for providing early diagnosis of genitourinary cancer such as bladder cancer or prostate cancer and for determining disease staging and prognosis.


The present invention is directed to the use of antibiotics for preparing topical oral antibiotic formulations for treating and/or preventing black-line stains. This invention is further directed to a method of treating and/or preventing black-line stains comprising administration of a topical oral antibiotic formulation. The invention is additionally directed to a topical oral antibiotic formulation for use in treating and/or preventing black-line stains.

Black-line stains on teeth is a well known phenomenon, which relates to black stains appearing on teeth, generally more prevalent near the gums and on the back teeth, though can appear on any teeth and may be distributed on the entire tooth, not only near the gums.
Though the cause for the black-line stains is not fully known, it is thought to be partially caused by dental plaque in the same manner as other topical stains on teeth are caused. Although, dental plaque is caused by bacteria, the type of bacteria that causes black-stains is probably different than that which causes other stains. It is thought that lactobacillus, which is a genus of Gram-positive, facultative anaerobic or microaerophilic bacteria, is the cause of the plaque on teeth that results in black line stain. Generally, black-line stains are more prevalent in children, though can appear in adults as well.
Gingival scrapings from the teeth of patients with black-line stains have been shown to contain high phosphate content as well as high calcium content. Further testing has shown an insoluble iron compound in the black-line stain. It is thought that the lactobacillus, or possibly other bacteria, and the insoluble iron compound may cause of black-line stain. Further, it is thought that the insoluble iron compound is formed due to the interaction of hydrogen sulfide produced by the bacteria and the iron in the saliva or gingival fluids.
Although the black-line stains are medically harmless, they are not esthetic. Further, the removal of black-line stains is difficult, and may be performed by scaling and polishing by a dentist or a dental hygienist. Additionally, once removed, the black-stains tend to recur, even if the patient takes all necessary oral hygiene measures.
Currently, there are no known formulations, mouthwashes, toothpastes, toothbrushes and the like for treating the black-line staining. Thus, there is a need in the art for such treatments.

Formulations for treating and/or preventing black-line stains


Provision of configuration access to a programmable device such as a programmable logic device (PLD) via a boundary-scannable devices. In one embodiment a configuration controller is arranged to transfer configuration data that specify configuration access for the PLD. A scan controller is coupled to the configuration controller and arranged to generate boundary-scan signals responsive to configuration data from the configuration controller. At least one boundary-scannable device has a plurality of boundary-scan pins coupled to the scan controller, and a PLD is coupled to the boundary-scannable device.

A programmable logic device (PLD), one type of an integrated circuit (IC) having programmable or configurable resources, may be configured to perform a wide variety of functions. The function of a PLD may be configured by loading configuration data into the PLD from an external source. A particular function may be implemented by programming the configurable logic and routing resources of the PLD with configuration data developed and generated for that function.
A PLD supports at least one configuration protocol used to load configuration data into the PLD, and some PLDs may support multiple configuration protocols. A PLD may have a configuration port with dedicated pins for each configuration protocol supported by the PLD. Alternatively, pins may be shared between configuration protocols. Some pins used during configuration may also be used for user-programmed functions after configuration. Certain configuration protocols may provide additional capabilities such as reading the current configuration from the PLD or reconfiguring only a portion of the PLD. A PLD providing multiple configuration protocols provides flexibility by allowing a user to select a configuration protocol according to user requirements.
In many systems one or more PLDs are connected to other devices on a printed circuit board. When the board malfunctions, boundary-scan capabilities of the devices may be used to identify the source of the problem. Part of testing a PLD may involve reconfiguring the device or reading back data from the device. However, reconfiguring the PLD via the normal configuration channel may not be feasible during problem diagnosis. Furthermore, the PLD may have defective boundary-scan logic or the PLD may not have boundary-scan capabilities.
The present invention may address one or more of the above issues.

Configuration access from a boundary-scannable device


An electronic apparatus provided with a serial communication circuit achieving a baud rate adjustment with high precision is provided. For example, a bit width of each of a plurality of bits in received serial data is measured by a clock counter, and an average value of the bit width is calculated detecting its maximum value and minimum value. Moreover, for example, a maximum tolerance and a minimum tolerance are calculated as a value substantially 1.5 times the average value and a value substantially 0.5 times the average value, and determination is made as to whether or not the maximum value and the minimum value are within a range between the maximum tolerance and the minimum tolerance. If they are within the range, the corresponding average value is set in a baud rate setting register.

For example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 11-272571) has proposed a method in which a command (for example, 8′h8C) representing a baud rate (for example, 76 kbps) of data is previously prepared and by using the baud rate based upon the command, data communication is carried out between the transmitting and receiving sides. On the transmitting side, in an attempt to set the baud rate to 76 kbps, the serial data 8′h8C is transmitted; and on the receiving side, by decoding and interpreting/recognizing this, the baud rate of its own is set to 76 kbps.
Moreover, Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2011-35473) has disclosed a baud rate error detection circuit that detects an abnormal waveform of a sync field in serial communication. First, the circuit generates an edge detection signal in response to an edge in the serial data, and based upon the edge detection signal, measures a bit width of a start bit so as to generate an expected value representing the measured bit width. Next, the width between edges after the start bit is successively measured so that, when an error from the expected value exceeds a permissible range, this state is determined as an abnormal state.


Disclosed herein is a method of stripping a strong reflection layer based on deep learning. The method establishes a direct mapping relationship between a strong reflection signal and seismic data of a target work area through a nonlinear mapping function of the deep neural network, and strips a strong reflection layer after the strong layer is accurately predicted. A mapping relationship between the seismic data containing the strong reflection layer and an event of the strong reflection layer is directedly found through training parameters. In addition, this method does not require an empirical parameter adjustment, and only needs to prepare a training sample that meets the actual conditions of the target work area according to the described rules.

A strong reflection layer may be encountered in the reservoir prediction. The strong reflection layer is formed due to large difference in formation wave impedance, and may exist above or below the reservoir. Generally, the strong reflection layer occurs at coal stratum, mudstone caprock formed by stable deep-water deposition and unconformity surfaces of the weathered layer. The strong reflection layer has strong energy, and the effective information nearby will be submerged in the strong reflection, such that the prediction of the reservoir fluid in the strong reflection area cannot be carried out. Therefore, how to eliminate the influence of the strong reflection layer is an urgent obstacle to be overcome in the reservoir prediction.
So far, to strip the strong reflection, researchers have proposed many solutions such as spectral decomposition, matching pursuit and multiwavelet decomposition (She Gang et al., 2013, Prediction of Sand Reservoir with Multi-Wavelet Seismic Trace Decomposition and Reconstruction. Journal of Southwest Petroleum University: Science & Technology Edition (in Chinese), 35(1):19-27. Zhang Ming et al., 2013, Waveform classification and seismic recognition by convolution neural network. Chinese J. Geophys. (in Chinese), 62(1): 374-382. Chen Renjie et al., 2014, Reservoir prediction technology based on wavelet decomposition and reconsiruction. Marine Geology Frontiers (in Chinese), 30(1): 55-61. Wang Zhenqing et al., 2014, Frequency division inversion for the intraplatform shoal reservoir. Natural Gas Geoscience (in Chinese), 25(11): 1847-1854. Liu Peijin, 2014, Research of Beach Bar Sand Concentrated Segment Reservoir Description Technical, China University of Petroleum Degree Thesis of Engineering Master. Wang Yanghua et al., 2010, Multichannel matching pursuit for seismic trace decomposition. Geophysics, 75(4): V61-V66.). With regard to the spectral decomposition and the matching pursuit, the data of strong reflection in the coal seam is estimated based on the low-frequency characteristics of the strong reflection in the coal seam for the reduction of the strong reflection energy (Li Suhua et al., 2013, Reservoir prediction in the top Leikoupo unconformity surface in the area XC, Sichuan, Oil Geophysical Prospecting (in Chinese), 48(5), 793-798. Li Haishan et al., 2014, Coal seam strong reflection separation with matching pursuit. Oil Geophysical Prospecting (in Chinese), 49(5): 866-870.). However, the matching pursuit algorithm has strong sparsity, and thus the strong reflection record obtained based on matching pursuit has poor lateral continuity, reducing the lateral accuracy of reservoir prediction. The spectral decomposition decomposes the seismic data into a series of frequency data. There is no quantitative standard for the frequency selection of the data suitable for the reservoir prediction. In order to obtain a higher vertical resolution, it is likely to select the data with a too high frequency band, causing a pitfall in the reservoir prediction. In addition, the frequency band of the data after frequency division is narrow, and there is a lack of frequency components in the subsequent inversion result, resulting in a large difference between the inversion result and the actual situation. In the multi-wavelet decomposition, the post-stack data is first decomposed, and the seismic wave of a target layer in the seismic trace is decomposed into Ricker wavelets with different dominant frequencies and energy. Then the Ricker wavelets with a dominant frequency corresponding to the strong reflection signal are removed from the original seismic trace, and the remaining Ricker wavelets are reconstructed to obtain a seismic trace with the strong reflection stripped (Zhao Shuang et al., 2007, Using multiple wavelet decomposition technique to detect the sandstone reservoir with coal layer. Natural Gas Industry (in Chinese), 27(9): 44-47.). However, the traditional seismic trace model based on the assumption of a single fixed wavelet struggles with some limitations, and thus fails to effectively eliminate the strong reflection signals from the coal seam.

Method of stripping strong reflection layer based on deep learning


The disclosure is related to an apparatus and methods of suppressing seek repeatable runout. In a particular embodiment, a servo loop is disclosed. The servo loop includes a seek signal generation component that generates a seek trajectory acceleration signal. The servo loop also includes a STRRO suppression component that is coupled to the seek signal generation component. The STRRO suppression component injects STRRO suppression signals into the seek trajectory acceleration signal and outputs an STRRO suppressed seek trajectory acceleration signal.

Modern computer systems typically include one or more storage devices, such as disc drive systems, for storing data. The disc drive systems generally store the data in substantially circular tracks on a disk such as magnetic or optical discs. To read and/or write data from a disk, the disc drive systems employ a read/write head to write or read data to and from a specified track on the disc.
A read/write operation typically requires the disc drive system to operate in a seek mode followed by a follow mode. In the seek mode, the disc drive system locates a desired destination track and moves the head to the destination track. In the follow mode, the disc drive system adjusts the position of the head to precisely follow the destination track so that the data can be written to or read from the destination track.


A cervical collar that facilitates therapeutic hypothermia is provided and includes a cooling device having a front portion and a back portion fixedly coupled to the front portion on one side and removably coupled to the front portion on an opposite side. A fastening device removably couples the back portion to the front portion on the opposite side. The cooling device induces hypothermia in at least a portion of a patient. A sensor is provided that measures a physical characteristic of the patient.

A "neck brace" or "cervical collar" is a medical, and more particularly an orthopedic, device that is often used to support the cervical portion of a patient's spinal cord by immobilizing the head and neck region. These devices are often used by emergency medical technicians (EMTs), for example when responding to victims of traumatic head or neck injuries. Other uses of the devices include treatment of chronic medical conditions, sports injuries or the like.
Traumatic head or neck injury can expose a patient to extensive spinal cord injury which could escalate to full or partial paralysis, or even death. In an effort to minimize these risks and to stabilize the top vertebrae, EMTs, and other medical personnel, often position a cervical collar on patients as a precautionary measure. Additional stabilization methods can be accomplished by way of other devices such as a backboard. Other uses of the cervical collar are for treatment of injuries including, strains, sprains or whiplash.
The innovation disclosed herein is an improvement to the conventional cervical collars described above.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


There is provided a map information display device including an operating tool detector for, on a display panel where map information MI and view image information VI are displayed, detecting a position and a pointing direction of an operating tool M in touch with an area corresponding to the map information; and a display controller for controlling display of the view image information in accordance with a view point on the map information indicated by the position of the operating tool and a line-of-sight direction on the map information indicated by the pointing direction of the operating tool.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a map information display device, a map information display method and a program.
Description of the Related Art
In recent years, with developments of map information applications such as car navigation system and mapping system, map information and map related information have been displayed and operated in various forms. For example, there is known an application for displaying map information as well as view image information in accordance with a view point indicated on the map information and a line-of-sight direction which is a direction from the view point as map related information.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-37125
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-233333
[Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-25041

Map information display device, map information display method and program


A refresh control circuit of a semiconductor apparatus includes a variable delay unit configured to delay a signal that is activated quickest among a plurality of row address strobe signals activated at a predetermined time interval by a predetermined time, and to generate a preliminary pulse signal, and a piled delay unit configured to delay the preliminary pulse signal by various times, and to generate a plurality of refresh period pulse signals that are sequentially activated.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to a semiconductor apparatus, and more particularly, to a refresh control circuit of a semiconductor apparatus.
2. Related Art
As illustrated in FIG. 1, a refresh control circuit 1 of a semiconductor apparatus according to the conventional art includes a piled delay unit 10, a delay unit 20, first to fourth variable delay units 30, 40, 50, and 60, and a precharge control unit 70.
The piled delay unit 10 generates a plurality of row active signals RACT<0:7> in response to a refresh signal REF and a refresh mode signal RMODE.
The plurality of row active signals RACT<0:7> may then be activated at a predetermined time interval according to the refresh mode signal RMODE.
The delay unit 20 delays the plurality of row active signals RACT<0:7> by a predetermined time and generates a plurality of row address strobe signals IRAS<0:7>.
The delay unit 20 includes a plurality of delays 21 to 28.
The plurality of variable delay units 30, 40, 50, and 60 delay the plurality of row address strobe signals IRAS<0:7> by a delay time determined by the refresh mode signal RMODE, and generate a plurality of refresh period pulse signals RE<0:3>.
The variable delay unit 30 delays a signal, which is obtained by logically operating (for example, ORing) the row address strobe signals IRAS<0, 7> by the delay time determined by the refresh mode signal RMODE, and generates a refresh period pulse signal RE<0>.
The variable delay unit 40 delays a signal, which is obtained by logically operating (for example, ORing) the row address strobe signals IRAS<3, 4> by the delay time determined by the refresh mode signal RMODE, and generates a refresh period pulse signal RE<1>.
The variable delay unit 50 delays a signal, which is obtained by logically operating (for example, ORing) the row address strobe signals IRAS<2, 5> by the delay time determined by the refresh mode signal RMODE, and generates a refresh period pulse signal RE<2>.
The variable delay unit 60 delays a signal, which is obtained by logically operating (for example, ORing) the row address strobe signals IRAS<1, 6> by the delay time determined by the refresh mode signal RMODE, and generates a refresh period pulse signal RE<3>.
The precharge control unit 70 controls the piled delay unit 10 in response to the plurality of refresh period pulse signals RE<0:3>, and deactivates the plurality of row active signals RACT<0:7>.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example in which the semiconductor apparatus includes first to eight memory banks BK0 to BK7 (not shown), and supports a 4 piled operation. Memory banks with the same order are refreshed for a period in which the plurality of row active signals RACT<0:7> are activated.
The 4 piled operation then indicates a refresh scheme in which four row active signal groups RACT<0, 7>, RACT<3, 4>, RACT<2, 5>, and RACT<1, 6> are activated at a predetermined time interval.
The conventional art includes a plurality of variable delay units, such as variable delay units 30, 40, 50, and 60, such that the 4 piled operation is supported.
However, the four variable delay units 30, 40, 50, and 60 attribute to an increase in circuit area of the refresh control circuit, resulting in a reduction of a layout margin of the semiconductor apparatus. Accordingly, when supporting a piled operation beyond the 4 piled operation such as an 8 piled operation, eight variable delay units are required, resulting in a significant increase in circuit area.

Refresh control circuit of semiconductor apparatus


The disclosure relates to a mounting frame, an energy storage unit, a pitch system, a wind turbine and a method. The mounting frame for mounting accumulators in a hub includes: a base having a predetermined thickness, wherein the base includes a mounting surface in a thickness direction of the base; and two or more accumulator mounting elements disposed on the mounting surface at intervals, wherein each accumulator mounting element includes a supporting assembly and a holding assembly connected to the supporting assembly, the supporting assembly is connected to the mounting surface and extends in the thickness direction, and the holding assembly is adapted to clamp and fix the accumulator such that all the accumulators in the hub are mounted to the mounting frame.

A pitch system is one of core parts of large wind turbine control system, and is very important for safe, stable and efficient operation of the wind turbine.
In prior art, there are generally two driving methods for the pitch system. One is a motor actuator, and the other is a hydraulic actuator. The hydraulic actuator plays a major role in current pitch control and is particularly suitable for large wind turbine applications, due to its high response frequency, large torque, centralized arrangement and integration or other advantages. When the hydraulic actuator is in use, it needs to be equipped with a corresponding accumulator to store energy for it. The hydraulic actuator for each blade on the hub needs to be equipped with an accumulator. In a wind turbine, the accumulators corresponding to the hydraulic actuators for respective blades are generally connected to the inner wall surface of the hub and arranged close to the blades.
Although the above means can meet the requirements for accumulator installation and energy storage, they also have deficiencies. Since there are usually two or more blades on each hub, the accumulators corresponding to the hydraulic actuators for the two or more blades need to be mounted on the surface of the hub near respective blades, which occupies a lot of internal space of the hub. More importantly, since the blades are distributed at a certain angular interval on the hub, the installation positions of the accumulators are scattered accordingly, and the surface of the hub near the blades is rugged. Thus, it is very inconvenient to mount the accumulators connected at these positions. To sum up, in prior art, the installation and maintenance of the accumulator are also extremely difficult. Furthermore, the pitch systems in prior art are scattered at respective blade mounting holes. The maintenance of all the pitch systems can only be carried out when all blades are locked. Locking all blades will take a long time and increase downtime and maintenance costs of wind turbine.

Mounting frame, energy storage unit, pitch system, wind turbine and method

BEIJING GOLDWIND SCIENCE & CREATION WINDPOWER EQUIPMENT CO., LTD.


A printing apparatus and method for duplex printing a document having a show-through watermark wherein the watermark is comprised of first and second images on both sides of the document. The images comprise stoclustic halftone screens having a substantially common registration wherein the second image is relatively shifted from the first image for forming an associated overlay pattern between the first and second images resulting in a recognizable pattern comprising the watermark upon illumination by a show-through light source. The watermark is unrecognizable from either image alone upon illumination from a front light source. The relative shifting can be implemented by either phase, frequency or angle shifting between the front and back side images.

Conventional watermarks, such as are produced by the pressure of a projecting design, as in the mold, during the manufacturing process of paper are well known. The watermark can be seen when the paper is held up and back-lit by show-through illumination. The watermark is intended not to be visible when the paper is not held up, e.g., at rest on a desk and front-lit by incident illumination. Watermarks are useful for authentication purposes or identification of an origin or author of the resident document.
Much of the printing in today's business and scientific world is accomplished electronically, such as with digital color printer engines, which inherently provide only a limited number of output possibilities due to their binary nature, i.e., they produce either a dot or no dot at a given pixel location. Pressure formed watermarks can only be incorporated into the original paper stock in such printers and cannot be inserted at the time of printing.
The well known notion of halftoning (representing a continuous tone image with a binary representation) can produce an image including rapidly varying spatial patterns normally not visible to a human visual system, but artifacts thereof can be, especially those generated by interaction between adjacent or overlaying printing patterns.
A number of different techniques may be used for generating a halftone image from a continuous tone representation [Note R. Ulichney, "Digital Halftoning", MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1987 and J. P. Allebach, Ed., "Selected Papers on Digital Halftoning", SPIE, Bellingham, Wash., and G. Sharma, "Digital Color Imaging", IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, Vol. 6, No. 7, July 1997, pp. 901-932]. In one commonly used technique, over a given image area having a number of contone pixels therein, each pixel value of an array of pixels is compared to one of a set of preselected thresholds and a decision is made whether to produce a dot or no dot at the pixel location in the output binary halftone based on the result of the comparison (the thresholds may be stored as a dither matrix and the repetitive pattern generated by this matrix is considered a halftone cell) as taught for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,149,194 to Holladay.
The dither matrix of threshold values is often referred to as a "screen", and the process of generating the binary image from the contone image using the screen is called "screening" or dithering. Conventional digital halftones start as a number of isolated dots that grow bigger as more colorant is requested on the paper. These screens are referred to as clustered-dot screens. The fundamental rate at which the dots in a clustered dot screen are repeated is commonly referred to as the screen's spatial frequency [Note, R. Ulichney, "Digital Halftoning", id.]. The higher the screen spatial frequency, the finer and smoother appearing the image and also the greater is the capacity for the dots to represent fine detail in the image.
Stochastic or non-periodic screening is an alternative to conventional clustered dot screens. Instead of producing dots that grow with increased colorant on paper, the stochastic screening method produces a well-dispersed pattern of isolated dots at spaced pixel locations. Thus there is no fundamental periodicity in the dots, instead the design of the screen attempts to produce patterns with pleasant noise characteristics. The pleasant noise characteristics are achieved by designing the screen so as to distribute the noise energy in the region of high spatial frequency, where the human visual system has a significantly reduced sensitivity. In this respect, U.S. Pat. No. 5,673,121 to Wang, discloses a stochastic halftone screening method for designing an idealized stochastic screen. Watermarking documents through the introduction of correlations in adjacent regions of a stochastic screen in the screen design process is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,734,752 to Knox and U.S. Pat. No. 5,790,703 to Wang.
A system utilizing halftone outputs produced by stochastically clustered pixel screens, referred to as "stoclustic" screens (U.S. Pat. No. 5,859,955 to Wang) combines the advantages of both cluster halftone and stochastic halftone screens. The use of stoclustic halftone screens for watermarking of images through the use of suitable halftones is also known and disclosed in related U.S. application Ser. No. 09/069,095 to Wang and is incorporated herein by reference as it discloses a particular clustered-dot screen design method useful in implementation of the subject invention, as will be more fully explained below. But this method requires that the watermark detection is performed by either electronic scanning and image processing of the printed image or by overlaying a distinct transparency on a printed image containing the watermark for effectively interacting the distinct screen transparency with the printed image. Watermark identification requiring scanning and additional image processing or via a separate transparency document is inconvenient and undesirable. Such problems are intended to be overcome by the present invention.
Duplex printing is fairly common for increased paper use efficiency, and for the subject invention is exploited for the selective interaction of images on both sides of the document to effectively achieve an overlaying of patterns forming a desired watermark upon show-through illumination.

Show-through watermarking of duplex printed documents


A process for making 2-chloro-1,1,1,2-tetrafluoropropane. The process has the step of contacting 2-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoropropene with hydrogen fluoride in the presence of a catalyst having about 25 to about 99.9 mole percent antimony pentachloride and about 0.1 to about 75 mole percent of a metal of a Lewis acid under conditions sufficient to form the 2-chloro-1,1,1,2-tetrafluoropropane. There is a second process for making 2-chloro-1,1,1,2-tetrafluoropropane. The process has the step of hydrofluorinating about 75 to about 99.9 mole percent 2-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoropropene and about 0.1 to about 25 mole percent of one or more other hydrocarbons having at least one chlorine atom in the presence of a catalyst of fluorinated antimony pentachloride under conditions sufficient to form the 2-chloro-1,1,1,2-tetrafluoropropane. There is yet another process for hydrofluorinating 2-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoropropene to 2-chloro-1,1,1,2-tetrafluoropropane. The process has the step of contacting the 2-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoropropene with hydrogen fluoride in the presence of a vapor phase catalyst under conditions sufficient to form the 2-chloro-1,1,1,2-tetrafluoropropane.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to processes for the hydrofluorination of 2-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoropropene(1233xf) to 2-chloro-1,1,1,2-tetrafluoropropane(244bb).
2. Description of the Related Art
Antimony halides have previously been described as useful as catalysts in the hydrofluorination of 1233xf to 244bb. Antimony pentachloride has been observed to be particularly active in catalyzing the hydrofluorination reaction (as disclosed in U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/021,121, filed Jan. 22, 2008) but sometimes induces overfluorination of 1233xf to form pentafluoro compounds, such as 1,1,1,2,3-pentafluoropropane(245cb). 245cb has a lower boiling point than the desired 244bb product, which makes it difficult and costly to separate and remove. Antimony pentachloride can still be employed as a catalyst, but a lengthy induction or conditioning period is necessary to allow the catalyst to age.
It would be desirable to have a process for hydrofluorination of 1233xf to 244bb in which the induction period would be substantially reduced or eliminated. It would also be desirable to have a process for hydrofluorination of 1233xf to 244bb with improved yield and selectivity.

Processes for hydrofluorination of 2-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoropropene to 2-chloro-1,1,1,2-tetrafluoropropane


A security cover for a coin-operated car wash machine is rectangular and slides over a car wash machine. It has a partial front panel that covers the coin drawer of the car wash machine. A bar extends through the machine and through a slot in each of the side panels of the security cover. Each end of the bar extends slightly beyond the side panels of the security cover and each end has an opening through which a padlock could extend to deter theft and vandalism.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a security cover for a coin-operated car wash machine for use in connection with preventing theft from a coin-operated car wash machine. The security cover for a coin-operated car wash machine has particular utility in connection with preventing theft and destruction of coin-operated machines.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Security cover for a coin-operated car wash machines are desirable for preventing theft and destruction to coin operated car wash machines.
The use of security cages for coin operated machines is known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,321,961 to Barberi discloses a security door for coin operated machines. However, the Barberi ""961 patent ony covers the coin drawer and does not cover the entire machine, and has further drawbacks of being hingedly affixed to the machine.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,716,882 to Gill et al discloses a guard for protecting coin-operated switches and like metering systems from theft of coins contained within. However, the Gill et al ""882 patent has a cover with a back so that it encircles the entire machine, and additionally does not have more than one lock.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,551 to Kochackis discloses a vending machine security cage that protects the cash box of a vending machine from theft. However, the Kochackis ""551 patent has multiple straps that do not totally encase the machine, and has only one lock.
Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,806,652 to Johnson et al discloses a tamper-resistant anti-theft guard for coin collection. However, the Johnson et al ""652 patent does not have a locking crossbar, and has the additional deficiency of having baffles within the coin slots to prevent money from being withdrawn from the slots.
While the above-described devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe a security cover for a coin-operated car wash machine that allows the prevention of theft and vandalism. The present invention fully encloses the coin-operated car wash machine. The present invention has triangular sections at the upper corners to protect the security cover from being removed from the coin-operated car wash machine. The present invention also has vertical slots in each side which enables a steel bar to pass through thereby further protecting the machine. The security cover additionally has dual padlocks to further prevent theft and vandalism to the coin-operated car wash machine. Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved security cover for a coin-operated car wash machine that can be used for the prevention of theft and vandalism. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need. In this respect, the security cover for a coin-operated car wash machine according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of the prevention of theft and vandalism.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of security cages now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved security cover for a coin-operated car wash machine, and overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved security cover for a coin-operated car wash machine and method which has all the advantages of the prior art mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a security cover for a coin-operated car wash machine which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by the prior art, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a security cover for a coin-operated car wash machine. The security cover is essentially a rectangular cover with a top, a bottom, and opposing side walls. The back of the security cover is open and the front portion extends approximately a third of the way up from the bottom portion. A triangular shaped section is positioned within each of the upper front corners of the security cover. The remaining front of the security cover is open to allow manipulation of the controls of the coin-operated car wash. The bottom front portion of the security cover encases the coin drawer of the coin-operated car wash machine. The center of each of the opposing side surfaces has a vertical slot measuring approximately two inches long and a half an inch wide. An elongated bar is engaged with each of these slots so that the ends of the bar protrude from the sides of the security cover. Each end of the bar has an opening through which a padlock can be engaged to secure the bar to the security cover. The security cover would be made of stainless steel for its strength.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated.
There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.
Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In this respect, before explaining the current embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved security cover for a coin-operated car wash machine that has all of the advantages of the prior art security cages and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved security cover for a coin-operated car wash machine that may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved security cover for a coin-operated car wash machine that has a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such security cover for a coin-operated car wash machine economically available to the buying public.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new security cover for a coin-operated car wash machine that provides in the apparatuses and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith.
Even still another object of the present invention is to provide a security cover for a coin-operated car wash machine for the prevention of theft and vandalism. The security cover of the present invention would be very easy to use. Owners would no longer have to worry about vandals smashing open the coin drawer of the machine and stealing money. The security cover would deter thieves and thwart any attempt to break into the machine thereby preventing costly damage to the machine.
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty that characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.


The invention relates to modems designed to allow transmission of data between a terminal (a personal computer or PC) and a network. To improve the operating versatility of a modem or its utilization by a smartcard, the modem is equipped according to the invention with a receptacle (80) for receiving a smartcard (120), with a connector (110) for this card and a card interface circuit (100), and the microcontroller (50) of the modem (the microcontroller controlling communication with the network when commanded by the PC) also controls the card interface circuit. This microcontroller thus constitutes the kernel of the modem and at the same time the kernel of a card reader. The communication with the card is effected by commands known as `AT` and the systematic prefix sequence `AT` (whereby the microcontroller recognizes that it has to carry out an operation) is followed by a second systematic prefix sequence if a communication operation between the terminal and the card is to be effected. The second prefix sequence is `+G`.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to modems, namely devices that modulate and demodulate electrical signals for transmitting or receiving data (mainly digital data) between a terminal and a communications network. The network connects at least two terminals and a modem is placed between each terminal and the network.
2. Description of the Related Art
The terminal is usually a personal computer and the communications network is a telephone transmission network. In this case, the modem is a peripheral of the personal computer and can be connected between a communications port on the computer (generally a serial communications port) and the telephone network. The signal transmission protocol is such that the telephone network, originally designed to transmit analog signals representing speech, can transmit coded signals representing digital data either in the "character" mode (transmission of octets representing characters) or in "fax" mode (transmission of images as dots).
The invention will accordingly be described in the most current application which is the case of a personal computer (hereafter called PC) connected by the modem to a telephone network.
The modem has two main functions: modulating electrical signals to convert binary data into signals compatible with the telephone transmission network according to a well-defined protocol that allows these signals to be interpreted at the other end of the network; and demodulating signals from the network to convert them into binary data that can be processed by the PC to which the modem is connected.
Physically, the modem is comprised
of a line interface circuit for providing and receiving signals in the protocol corresponding to the transmission network, PA1 a PC interface circuit to provide and receive signals according to the PC protocol, PA1 a microcontroller (i.e. a microprocessor with its memories, particularly with a read only memory) to control the communication, particularly to control the action of the other circuits of the modem, PA1 and fixed programs containing instructions, contained in the microcontroller memories. PA1 that all these commands begin with the same prefix sequence recognized by the microcontroller as defining a command intended for the modem, whereby the microcontroller has means for recognizing the arrival of this prefix sequence and executing a command following this prefix sequence; PA1 and that all the commands for communication with the card continue with a second prefix sequence immediately following the first and followed by a command proper, whereby the microcontroller has means for recognizing this second prefix sequence and then executing said command which is a communication command between the terminal and the card.
a modulation/demodulation circuit, sometimes called data pump, to convert the data signals of the PC protocol to the network protocol upon emission of the signals and make the reverse conversion upon reception,
The microcontroller executes programs contained in its read only memory (fixed programs or subprograms, generally directly executable). It executes these programs according to commands it receives from the terminal through the communications port connecting the terminal to the modem. These commands can be in high-level language and input directly at the terminal's keyboard and transmitted in ASCII format to the microcontroller. The executable instructions include all the elements necessary for commanding circuits that convert the signals in the two directions (from the PC to the network and from the network to the PC) and other elements allowing other functions of the modem (data compression, error correction, transition to fax mode or alphanumeric mode, etc.) to be commanded.
At the present time, a great many modems are built so that they can be controlled by a set of commands called the "AT command set" or Hayes commands. These commands allow the various functions of the modem to be controlled in plain language from the terminal.
The principle of AT commands is the following: if the modem's microcontroller receives a command in ASCII code starting with the letters "A" and "T" and which ends with the ASCII code corresponding to a carriage return on a keyboard, then the microcontroller considers it a modem command and executes the command requested; the command requested is defined by an ASCII character sequence introduced after the prefix sequence 'AT and before the carriage return. The command is a command corresponding to one of the communication functions (or communication-linked functions) between the PC and the network. The command may be sufficient by itself or require parameters and/or data to be executed. If there are parameters and/or data, these parameters or data follow the command before the carriage return code.
For example, the command can be a telephone dialing command to call a party: the name of the command in plain language is `DP` (for "Dial Pulse"); the letters DP are sent to the modem microcontroller and are followed by the telephone number requested, and a separator can be placed between the command and the number. The `DP` command is hence always followed by a datum. Thus, to call the number 40 67 11 99 from a PC keyboard, a user keys in the following sequence: ATDP40671199 and ends the command by pressing the carriage return key. The modem microcontroller then commands all the operations for the modem to send the dial pulse signal over the line to the party called by this number. The command would be DT (for "Dial Tone") if the dial signal sent over the line were not made up of series of as many pulses as numbers dialed but of different frequencies or tones party to the numbers called.
Another example of a command is "A." This is the response to an incoming call: the modem is called by a party; if one wishes it to respond, namely to enter into communication with this party on the network, one must send the microcontroller the sequence `ATA` then the carriage return ending the command.
Another example, instead of a single command, is a macrocommand defining a group of possible commands; this is the macrocommand "+F" which must be followed by the command precisely chosen from the group. The macrocommand "+F" indicates that the call to the network must be in "fax" mode and not in "character" mode. This macrocommand is hence followed by another command corresponding to a requested function, itself followed if applicable by parameters or data necessary for executing the command.
All these commands and macrocommands are hence recognized by the modem microcontroller if they start with the sequence `at` and they then trigger execution by the modem of communication functions between the network and the PC.
It has also been proposed that communications units (telephone, personal computers, communications terminals using modems) be controlled with smartcards, particularly to provide a security function protecting these units from access by unauthorized persons. This smartcard use control consists simply of adding an additional peripheral to the computer, namely a smartcard reader, or consists of adding such a peripheral to a specialized communications terminal other than a computer (e.g. a modem+keyboard+screen assembly known as "minitel"). Usually this smartcard reader is used only to block or authorize utilization of the terminal, and this blockage or authorization is established either directly by inserting a smartcard or, after a dialog between the terminal and the card, entering secret codes or other security protocols. The options offered today by this combination of a terminal and a smartcard are limited, as the card reader is in practice an independent reader adjacent to the terminal to authorize it to operate.


A sensor interface circuit is provided to interface many sensors simultaneously in a simple circuit arrangement consisting of two parts. Sensors in both parts operate under identical constant voltage. The circuit provides higher front end sensitivity than the Wheatstone bridge, with temperature compensation from all sensors. The circuit also can provide output zeroing to obtain high resolution measurements. The invention can be used as a unique constant voltage anemometer with auto zeroing, and with much higher sensitivity than related devices. Further, in the constant voltage anemometer embodiment, the time constant and the overheat of the hot-wire/hot-film can be measured in true in situ mode under actual test conditions. In another embodiment, the circuit can be used to measure dynamic capacitance from capacitance sensors, without any effect of associated cable capacitance.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention relates to circuitry for measurement applications with sensors. The invention relates more particularly to sensor interface circuitry for applications using multiple resistance sensors and capacitance sensors.
2. Description of the Related Art
In related art for similar applications are the potentiometer and the Wheatstone bridge. The Wheatstone bridge is by far much more popular than the potentiometer. The Wheatstone bridge has very unique temperature compensation capability with resistance strain gages but has very limited sensitivity. It invariably requires large post-amplification to obtain reasonable measurement sensitivity. Further, a Wheatstone bridge can accommodate measurements from a maximum of only two pairs of sensors. Usually, one of the pairs will have positive changing resistances (like those obtained with tensile strain in resistance strain gages), and the other pair simultaneously uses negative changing resistances (like those obtained with compressive strain). Because of the particular disposition of the positive and negative changing pairs in the Wheatstone bridge, the Wheatstone bridge uniquely provides compensation for sensor resistance changes with ambient temperature. Resistances used for the sensors invariably have tolerances; therefore the Wheatstone bridge always needs initial balancing of the bridge for higher resolution measurements. This balancing is usually accomplished by changing the ratio of the bridge arms.

High sensitivity single or multi sensor interface circuit with constant voltage operation


A triaxial vibration composite testing apparatus including a working tabletop, wherein the second axial vibration transmission mechanism in the horizontal X axial direction and the third axial vibration transmission mechanism in the horizontal Y axial direction are both cross linear guide pairs; the first axial vibration transmission mechanism in the perpendicular Z axial direction includes an upper and a lower clamps and a central panel, the upper and the lower clamps being horizontally opposite to each other up and down, the central panel being positioned between the upper and the lower clamps, the upper and the lower clamps oppositely clamping the central panel; a gap fit between the lower surface of the upper clamp and the upper surface of the central panel forms an upper fit plane, and a gap fit between the upper surface of the lower clamp and the lower surface of the central panel a lower fit plane; and the high pressure oil is pumped into the upper fit plane gap and the lower fit plane gap to form a hydrostatic oil film, thus constituting a hydrostatic plane bearing mechanism.

The natural vibration a product experiences under the actual working condition is the composite vibration in the triaxial directions of X, Y and Z. In order to actually show the vibration resistance of the product and simulate the natural vibration condition, a triaxial vibration composite testing apparatus is finally designed after many years of attempt.
Many kinds of triaxial vibration composite testing apparatuses have been disclosed so far at home and abroad, which generally have the following structure: There is a working tabletop 1 for receiving a test piece; a vibration generator 2 is positioned in the triaxial directions of X, Y and Z, respectively, with the working tabletop 1 as the datum; and the working tabletop 1 is connected with each of the vibration generators 2 through an axial vibration transmission mechanism. The axial vibration transmission mechanism is used to constitute a rigid connection in this axial direction and transmit the exciting force of the vibration generator 2 to the working tabletop 1, while to decouple in the other biaxial directions. Among the prior various triaxial vibration composite apparatuses are the two representative ones as below:
1. Cross-linear-guide triaxial vibration composite testing apparatus. See an application for a patent for an invention titled "Connection Mechanism of Three-Way Exciting Platform of Vibration Table" disclosed in the Chinese Patent Publication No. 101241036A on Aug. 13, 2008. The structure is as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The force transmission mechanisms in its triaxial directions of X, Y and Z (i.e. the axial vibration transmission mechanisms) are all a cross linear guide pair 3, which is specifically composed of a slide block 4 as well as a transverse guide 5 and a longitudinal guide 6 in sliding connection with the upper and the lower end planes of the slide block, respectively. This triaxial vibration composite testing apparatus is simple in structure because the axial vibration transmission mechanism adopts the cross linear guide pair 3, and low in manufacturing cost because the cross linear guide pair 3 can be bought. However, this apparatus has the following shortcomings:
1) The motion mass is very different in various axial directions.
2) There are so many connection joints on the force transmission path from the vibration generator 2 to the working tabletop 1 that the vibration frequency response characteristic is affected, and especially its vibration response characteristic in the perpendicular Z axial direction is very poor, which makes it applicable to the low frequency vibration test.
2. Hydrostatic triaxial vibration composite testing apparatus. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,549,005. The structure is as shown in FIG. 3. The working tabletop 1 is in fixed connection below with a middle cube 7, at the left, right, front and back of which as well as below which is positioned a pressure application plate 8. Each of the pressure application plates 8 fits the middle cube 7 with a plane gap, each of which is filled with the high pressure oil to form a hydrostatic oil film 9, thus constituting a triaxial hydrostatic plane bearing structure. Each of the pressure application plates 8 is in fixed connection outside with a connection shaft 10, through which the vibration generators 2 in various axial directions are connected. In short, this triaxial vibration composite testing apparatus uses the hydrostatic plane bearing as the axial vibration transmission mechanism to connect the working tabletop 1 to the uniaxial vibration generator 2. This triaxial vibration composite testing apparatus is light in weight due to fewer motion parts in each of the axial directions, wide in the vibration frequency range with the upper working frequency limit up to over 1,000,000 Hz, and good in the frequency response characteristic. However, it still has the following shortcomings:
1) Manufacture. Because of the hydrostatic bearing structure in all the triaxial directions, the structure is more complicated, and each of the fit planes is high in requirement and hard to be processed, which increases the manufacturing cost.
2) Vibration test performance. The middle cube 7 of a certain height needs to be positioned below the working tabletop 1 to facilitate arranging the pressure application plate 8, which then increases the distance from the working tabletop 1 to the vibration generator 2 in the perpendicular axial direction (that is, the working tabletop 1 is lifted up), thus affecting the entire rigidity to some extent; the middle cube 7 and several pressure application plates 8 need to be positioned below the working tabletop 1, which increases the mass of the motion part; the rigidity is poor and the mass of the motion part big, which directly limit the further increase in the working frequency; moreover, lifting the working tabletop 1 also causes the antioverturning moment capacity to decrease.

Triaxial vibration composite testing apparatus

Suzhou Sushi Testing Instrument Co., Ltd.


A magnetic brake has an outer stator surrounding an inner stator with a circumferential slot between the outer stator and the inner stator. A coil is provided in the inner stator adjacent to the circumferential slot. A drag plate assembly is attached to a rotatable shaft extending centrally through the inner stator. A drag ring joined to the drag plate extends into the circumferential slot. A liquid flow path extends through the a first rotary coupling, the shaft, a plurality of holes in the drag ring, and through a second rotary coupling, for cooling the brake.

Magnetic brakes are advantageous for braking rotation and controlling the torque of rotating shafts or other rotating components. For example, during the manufacture or processing of wire, foil, paper, film, or other material wound on a spool or roller, the material may have to be brought to a stop at a predetermined point, such as at end of the roll. In other applications, magnetic brakes may be used to maintain a constant tension on the material during winding and unwinding.
Friction brakes are often not well suited to these uses for several reasons. Friction brakes may not brake evenly. Friction brakes also generate dust, wear out and require maintenance. Magnetic brakes are contact-less and largely avoid these problems, so that magnetic brakes are generally preferred in winding and unwinding systems. In use, magnetic brakes convert kinetic energy into eddy and hysteresis currents which are dissipated and generate heat in the brake. The braking power of the brake is limited by the brake's capability to dissipate heat. Air cooling has been successfully used in the past to dissipate heat in magnetic brakes. However, limitations on air flow through a magnetic brake, and the relatively low specific heat of air, limit the braking power of air cooled magnetic brakes. Accordingly, improved designs are needed.


An improved computer system ring interconnection comprising a plurality of nodes each such node being associated with at least one of a plurality of computer system components; transmission apparatus connecting each of said nodes to a node which is a source of information and to a node which is a recipient of information; each of such nodes comprising apparatus for distributing information received from a node which is a source of information, apparatus for receiving information from and transferring information to the associated one of the system components, apparatus for relaying between the transmission apparatus information to be transferred through the node directed to other such nodes, apparatus for placing a voucher signal on the transmission apparatus in response to the receipt of information from the associated one of such components to indicate that the component has information to be transmitted to another system component, apparatus responsive to the receipt of a voucher signal for determining whether the apparatus for receiving information from and transferring information to the associated one of the system components is able to receive information, apparatus responsive to the determination that the associated component is able to receive information for placing a ticket signal to so indicate on the transmission apparatus, apparatus for transferring information received from the associated system component to the transmission apparatus in response to the receipt of a ticket signal, and apparatus for selecting information to be transferred based on the urgency of the information.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to interconnection circuitry and, more particularly, to apparatus for handling data within a computer system in a manner that a plurality of data sources can transfer information to a plurality of destinations concurrently.
2. History of the Prior Art
The typical computer system utilizes a busing arrangement as its primary interconnection to transfer information from one component of the system to another. In such a system, a component such as a central processor directs information to another component such as main memory by placing the address to which the information is directed on the system address bus and the information on the system data bus. The destination for the information recognizes an address on the address bus within its range of addresses and accepts the information available on the data bus. Each of these buses is made up of a number of conductors (for example, thirty-two) which physically connect to each of the system components. During the time that any particular source of information is utilizing the buses, they are unavailable for use by any other source since all of the conductors of each bus available to carry either address or data information are occupied. Consequently, information may be sent by only one source at a time (although more than one destination may receive information if more than one destination can respond to the same address) since there is no room for information from more than one source at a time on the data or address buses.
In the past, a bus arrangement has sufficed for transferring information in the typical personal computer or work station. However, the requirements for pathways to handle more and more information faster have increased to the point that various functions cannot be performed by the typical busing arrangement. Functions such as the presentation of animated graphics and television require the transfer of so much information that they tend to require that the entire system be devoted to their use. When it is desired to incorporate a number of these functions into the same computer system and to run more than one of them at a time, a busing arrangement is incapable of handling the load.
In order to overcome the limitations of a bus system, it seems apparent that more than one interconnection between system components is necessary. The ultimate arrangement would be one in which each component were connected to each other component. This, however, appears to require a great deal of control circuitry and a very large number of conductors which would probably be used substantially less than full time. As a compromise between the single system bus and the direct connection of all components, various ring arrangements have been suggested. In such an arrangement, each component is directly connected by one-way connection paths to receive information from one single other system component and to send information to another single system component. Thus, all components which would normally be connected to a bus are connected to only two other components in a unidirectional ring. Each component then forwards information around the ring until the information arrives at its destination. Separating the interconnection into individual paths between components isolates the components from all but two other components but increases the amount of traffic which can be handled by the ring interconnect over the amount which may be placed on a system bus because a number of sources of information can communicate with a number of destinations at the same time. This occurs because the isolation allows one system component to send information to a second component while a third component sends information to a fourth component.
In ring-type systems suggested to date, one system component places a packet of information on the ring addressed to another component. The packet is forwarded to the addressed component; and, if that component cannot handle the incoming information, it places a retry command on the ring. The retry command causes the operation to be terminated, the transmitted information to be dumped, and the packet to be re-sent after some delay. The retry operation inherently slows the system when the amount of traffic on the system approaches saturation. In fact, as the amount of information placed on the ring increases in retry systems, the ability to handle that information decreases because the system thrashes as the number of retries increases. In fact, such retry systems typically are able to handle no more than one-third to one-half of theoretically attainable loads.
In order to overcome the problems of proposed ring systems and provide a system capable of transferring much more data than conventional computer arrangements, a new interconnect has been devised which is the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,019, entitled RING INTERCONNECT SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE, P. Sweazey, filed May 29, 1990, and assigned to the assignee of this invention. This interconnect is made up of a plurality of nodes each such node being associated with at least one of a plurality of computer system components. The nodes are, as in prior art systems, connected in a unidirectional ring in which transmission paths connect each of the nodes to one node which is a source of information and to another node which is a recipient of information.
Each of such nodes includes apparatus for receiving information from and transferring information to the associated one of the system components. When the associated system component desires to transfer information to another system component, it causes the associated node to generate and place a voucher signal on the transmission path to indicate that the node has information to be transmitted to another system component. Each node includes storage space for information and apparatus which responds to the receipt of a voucher signal directed to it as a target node for determining whether the node is able to store information in its storage space. Each node also includes apparatus which responds to a determination that storage space is available by placing a ticket signal to so indicate on the transmission path directed to the node which is to be the source of the information. When a source node receives such a ticket signal, it causes the information packet to be launched on the transmission path. In this manner, no information is propagated on the transmission path until space is available for it at the target node and delays due to information rejection at the target node are eliminated.
Each node also includes circuitry to relay voucher and ticket signals and information which are directed to another node so that information is passed along the transmission path. Moreover, each node includes apparatus for assuring that both voucher and ticket signals are transferred by the node in preference to any information. By this means the transferred information on the transmission path does not get in the way of and delay the signals which control the transmission of that information.
Although such an interconnect system provides substantial benefits over the typical bus interconnection of the prior art, it would be advantageous were the system able to select among the different information to be transferred by the various nodes and transmit first that information which is most urgent. In this manner, the system would be able to resolve conflicts between different types of information and handle information such as sound and video prior to information which does not have the same real time requirements.


A segmented electron multiplier is disclosed with front and rear sections. The sections are specially designed so that the length of the rear section compared to the length of the front section is no less than 4:1. This permits multiple replacements of the rear section, after the multiplier wears out, without any unsatisfactory drop in the overall electrical gain produced by the repaired device. In the preferred embodiment, the front portion is a funnel having a tubular stem, and the rear portion is a straight tube with a cylindrical helical inner channel. The length-to-length split is 5:1, which theoretically permits up to six or seven replacements of the rear section before unsatisfactory gain occurs.

This invention relates to continuous dynode electron multipliers ("CDEMs"). More particularly, it deals with replacing such multipliers, when they wear out.
As described more fully in U.S. Pat. No. 3665497 to Deradorian et al., electron multipliers have been used for years to increase ion, electron, neutral or photon signals. The increase generally ranges from the order of 10.sup.4 to 10.sup.8, depending upon the structure involved.
The Deradorian structure is shown in this application's FIG. 1. It comprises a flared inlet 2 with a stem 4--known collectively in the trade as a funnel. The stem is connected, by electrically conductive adhesive, to a series of spiraled tubes 6. These tubes 6 are made of a lead-glass compound and each tube has an inner channel (not shown) that is coated with a secondary electron emissive surface.
CDEMs have many different configurations. Some have flared inlets, while others do not. To avoid feedback, many are either spiraled or bent, and some are even straight tubes with their inner channels spiraled instead. Nonetheless, each multiplier tube is made of a lead-glass compound like Deradorian's; and each has an inner channel that is coated with a secondary-emissive layer.
Electrical contacts (not shown) are deposited onto Deradorian's inlet 2 and the outlet end 8 of tubes 6. This allows good electrical contact between an external voltage source and the CDEM. This voltage source serves a dual purpose: it charges the secondary-emissive surface, inside the channel; and it draws the electrons through the channel, accelerating them along the way.
Electrons enter Deradorian's flared inlet 2, where they are directed to the tubes 6, by the applied voltage. As they hit the secondary-emissive wall, each electron breaks off a new counterpart, and each pair continues to multiply by factors, typically greater than one, as they travel downstream.
It has been proved that CDEMs produce high gains at low voltage, with little accompanying electrical noise. In addition, they are compact, with this application's FIG. 2 sketches being larger than their real-life counterparts.
Due to these characteristics, CDEMs have achieved widespread use in scientific and medical instruments. In almost all cases, the internal structures of these instruments are quite compact, especially when available space is a limited commodity.
CDEMs work well, but like all parts they eventually wear out. Most CDEMs last about one year. After they are exhausted, electron multipliers usually can be replaced. However, due to the compact nature of the equipment involved, this is often a tedious and delicate task.
Most times, the entire multiplier has to be replaced. However, there are some multipliers that are segmented, with front and rear portions. Such devices are shown in Deradorian's aforementioned patent and U.S. Pat. No. 3312857 to Farnsworth. In both types, the front section is approximately equal in length to the rear section; and the rear section could possibly be replaced once before unsatisfactory gains occur.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a specially segmented CDEM, which allows for multiple replacement of its rear section before unsatisfactory gain degradation occurs.
It is another object to provide a segmented CDEM with a removable rear section, wherein the CDEM is extremely simple in design and easy to repair.
It is yet another object to provide a CDEM, commensurate with the above-listed objects, which is highly reliable during use.

Electron multiplier with replaceable rear section