Automatic pipettor with a single-row, multi-channel pipetting head, with tip ejector mechanism by which the pipette tips attached to pipettes arranged in a row are successively removed and which, by means of the movable construction of a lifter arranged below the pipetting head and carrying, e.g., a microtitration plate, can be used in an all-purpose manner for different microtitration plates in the direction of the pipettes and the movability of the pipetting head in a direction orthogonal thereto.

a) Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to an automatic pipettor with a single-row, multi-channel pipetting head.
b) Description of the Prior Art
An arrangement of this kind is known in a very broad sense from U.S. Pat. No. 4,478,094.
The introduction of the first microtitration plates (MTPs) in laboratories of large institutes and research facilities and the development of automatic pipetting devices launched by this represented a substantial contribution to automatic processing of liquid samples and automation of the associated handling processes.
As a result of the mechanization of test processes which this entailed, it became desirable that the arrangement pattern of sample vessels to be processed automatically should always be the same. Accordingly, with the continued development of MTPs spurred on by the permanent demand for higher sample throughput and smaller sample volumes, the grid-shaped arrangement of wells (sample receptacles) in rows and columns created with the first MTPs was retained. In the meantime, besides the first 96-well MTPs with 12xc3x978 wells, 192-well, 384-well, 864-well and 1536-well MTPs have become commercially available. Although the MTPs have many times the number of wells of their precursors, it was possible to maintain the outer dimensions by making the wells smaller, so that some of the instrument technology for MTP handling that has developed in many different ways in the interim can be used substantially independent from the respective number of wells. Accordingly, hardly any new requirements have arisen from the further development of the MTPs for the instrument technology concerned with their handling, whereas the increased number of wells and reduced size of the wells on the same area have placed high demands on the further development of automatic pipetting devices.
Not only must continually smaller sample volumes be pipetted in increasingly narrow grid dimensions, and this as quickly as possible, but there is also a demand for an all-purpose applicability of the automatic pipettor for different MTPs.
The automatic pipettors known from the prior art have met these demands in different ways.
In principle, automatic pipettors can be differentiated into automatic pipettors with single-channel pipetting heads, those with single-row, multi-channel pipetting heads and those with multi-row, multi-channel pipetting heads; automatic pipettors with a single-channel pipetting head are excluded from laboratory processes demanding a high sample throughput.
The advantage of automatic pipettors with a multi-row, multi-channel pipetting head consists in that the wells of multiple rows or all rows of the MTPs are filled simultaneously. An automatic pipettor of this kind with 96 pipette tips, trade name CyBi-Well 96, is available from CyBio AG. The pipette tips are arranged in the same grid (8xc3x9712) as the wells of a commercially available 96-well MTP. Accordingly, a 96-well MTP can be filled simultaneously by this automatic pipettor. The CyBi-WELL 96/384/1536 automatic pipettor is an expanded version which can fill a 384-well (16xc3x9724) in four positioning steps and a 1536-well MTP (32xc3x9748) in sixteen positioning steps. The positioning steps are carried out by a horizontal movement of the lifter carrying the MTP in the direction of the wells arranged in rows and columns. These automatic pipettors are fundamentally unsuited for differentiated sample processing in the wells of an MTP, e.g., for preparing different dilution series.
The automatic pipettors with a single-row, multi-channel pipetting head which only fill the wells of one row simultaneously have proven advantageous for an application of this kind.
Consequently, depending on the requirements of the user, automatic pipettors with single-row or multi-row, multi-channel pipetting are more advantageous.
A real disadvantage of the automatic pipettors with single-row, multi-channel pipetting head consists in that they have so far been designed exclusively for processing 96-well MTPs.
In principle, automatic pipettors of the type described above comprise a guide path with a carriage which is movable in horizontal direction and which has receptacle places for the MTPs or other vessels, a pipetting head which is arranged above the latter and which has pipette tips arranged in a plurality of rows orthogonal to the movement direction, and a lifter arranged below the pipetting head and movement plane of the carriage, which lifter raises and lowers an MTP or other vessels positioned above it vertically in the direction of the pipette tips.
With the CyBi-WELL 96/384/1536 automatic pipettor mentioned above, the MPT can be moved into multiple positions to the pipetting head located above it by means of an additional horizontal movement of the lifter in two directions, so that all MTPs having a number of wells equal to a multiple of 96 can be filled with only 96 tips.
The pipetting head does not execute a horizontal movement in any of the known automatic pipettors with a single-row, multi-channel pipetting head. The tip ejector mechanism requires a basic design solution for the pipetting head leading to a substantially more heavyweight construction and, therefore, to greater inertia than would be possible for pipetting heads without a tip ejector mechanism.
The design solution for the tip ejector mechanism is approached in very different ways in the pipetting heads known from the prior art. However, the solutions have the similarity that the pipette tips (generally 8 or 12) are ejected simultaneously. The ejecting force needed for this requires a mechanically stable, compact construction which necessarily leads to an increased mass of the pipetting head. The greater mass results in greater inertia and accordingly conflicts with the desire for a horizontal movement with high acceleration.
An automatic pipettor with a vertically movable single-row, multi-channel pipetting head with a row of 12 pipette tips and a horizontally displaceable table is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,478,094. The row of pipette tips is oriented orthogonal to the displacement direction of the table, so that a 96-well MTP is filled in 8 positioning steps which are carried out by stepwise horizontal displacement of the table. The tip ejector arrangement in this case comprises an ejector plate which is slotted in comb-like fashion and which can be lowered via two rods guided vertically in the housing of the pipettor. The ejector plate encloses the cone-shaped ends of the pipettes above the pipette tips, so that all of the pipette tips are stripped off simultaneously when the ejector plate is lowered. The required ejection force is generated in that the torque of a motor is transmitted via a pinion to a rack. The force generated in vertical direction when the tips are ejected presupposes a sturdy construction of the connection of the pipetting head with the base plate. Since only one horizontal relative movement between the row of pipettes and the MTP is possible, namely, in orthogonal direction to the row of pipettes, only MTPs having the same number of wells on a grid line oriented in the direction of the pipette row as the number of pipettes in a pipette row can be filled. The speed at which the entire MTP is filled and, therefore, the sample throughput are limited by the inertia of the table.
It is the primary object of the invention to improve an automatic pipettor of the type described above in such a way that an appreciably higher sample throughput is made possible and the automatic pipettor can be used in an all-purpose manner for different MTPs. Also, the tip ejector mechanism is developed further in such a way that the required tip ejection force is reduced and it is accordingly possible for the mass of the moving pipetting head to be reduced appreciably.
This object is met according to the invention in that the pipetting head is movable in orthogonal direction to the row of pipettes, in that the ejector mechanism has a shaft oriented in the direction of the row of pipettes, a quantity of push-off units equal to the quantity of pipettes being fastened to this shaft so as to be offset at an angle relative to one another, each of which successively comes into contact with a strip-off unit guided in the direction of the pipettes during rotation of the shaft, displaces it, and strips a pipette tip from the pipette, and in that a lifter is arranged below the receptacle place and raises and lowers the microtitration plate in direction of the pipettes and can offset it in the direction of the row of pipettes.
An embodiment example which make use of the invention is described more fully in the following with reference to a drawing.


First data indicative of a first plurality of transactions by a user may be processed to generate first behavioral information describing the user. The first behavioral information may be displayed by an interactive user interface. A user input made in response to the first behavioral information may be received and analyzed to generate user preference information indicating a relationship between the first user input and the first behavioral information. Second data indicative of a second plurality of transactions by the user may be received and processed with the user preference information to generate second behavioral information describing the user. The second behavioral information may be displayed by the interactive user interface differently from the first behavioral information by the interactive user interface as a result of the processing of the second data and the user preference information together.

Applications and/or websites, such as those configured for use with mobile devices, include user interfaces that may present a variety of information that is dynamic in nature. For example, financial institutions and/or providers may distribute information about a user's financial accounts through mobile apps and/or mobile websites, and in other examples, other dynamic data may be distributed through mobile-friendly user interfaces. Generally, these mobile apps and/or mobile websites are constrained by the screen size and configuration of mobile devices, which may be small and vertically-oriented. Accordingly, customizing the user interfaces may be difficult, especially for the end user.

Systems and methods for building dynamic interfaces


Carbapenems having the formula: ##STR1## are useful antibacterial agents.

The present invention relates to antibacterial agents of the carbapenem class, in which the 2-position sidechain is characterized by a phenyl moiety, optionally substituted, to which is attached, usually through an alkyl bridge, a nitrogen-containing heteroarylium group, with attachment being through the nitrogen atom, to which is attached, in turn, a heterocyclic group, as described in more detail further below.
Thienamycin was an early carbapenem antibacterial agent having a broad spectrum; it has the following formula: ##STR2## Later, N-formimidoyl thienamycin was discovered; it has the formula: ##STR3##
The 2-(heterocyclylheteroaryliumalkyl)phenyl carbapenems of the present invention have an antibacterial potency equal to or greater than, in most cases, that of either thienamycin or N-formimidoyl thienamycin. The compounds of the present invention are also more resistant than thienamycin or N-formimidoyl thienamycin to degradation by the dehydropeptidase enzyme DHP-I, thus permitting greater therapeutic application of the compounds.
More recently, carbapenem antibacterial agents have been described which have a 2-substituent which is an aryl moiety optionally substituted by, e.g., aminomethyl and substituted aminomethyl. These agents are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,543,257 and 4,260,627 and have the formula: ##STR4##
However, these compounds belong to a different class from those of the present invention and are distinguished by different physiological properties.

2-(heterocyclylheteroaryliumalkyl) phenyl carbapenem antibacterial agents


A feedstock containing one or more C.sub.9 + aromatic compounds, and optionally benzene and/or toluene, undergoes conversion over a catalyst comprising a zeolite possessing a Constraint Index of from 1 to about 3 to provide a product containing a substantial amount of C.sub.6 -C.sub.8 aromatic compounds, e.g. benzene and xylene(s), predominantly the latter.

This invention is directed to an improved process for the catalytic conversion of a C.sub.9 + aromatic feedstock, optionally containing toluene, in the presence of a certain class of zeolite catalysts under transalkylation/disproportionation reaction conditions to provide a product containing significant amounts of benzene and xylene(s). When compared with other disproportionation/transalkylation processes, the present process provides significant improvement in product xylene/benzene mole ratio.
Zeolitic materials, both natural and synthetic, have been demonstrated in the past to have catalytic properties for various types of hydrocarbon conversion. Certain zeolitic materials are ordered, porous crystalline aluminosilicates having a definite crystalline structure as determined by X-ray diffraction, within which there are a large number of smaller cavities which may be interconnected by a number of still smaller channels or pores. These cavities and pores are uniform in size within a specific zeolitic material. Since the dimensions of these pores are such as to accept for adsorption molecules of certain dimensions while rejecting those of larger dimensions, these materials have come to be known as "molecular sieves" and are utilized in a variety of ways to take advantage of these properties. Such molecular sieves, both natural and synthetic, include a wide variety of positive ion-containing crystalline silicates. These silicates can be described as a rigid three-dimensional framework of SiO.sub.4 and Periodic Table Group IIIA element oxide, e.g., AlO.sub.4, in which the tetrahedra are cross-linked by the sharing of oxygen atoms whereby the ratio of the total Group IIIA element, e.g., aluminum, and silicon atoms to oxygen atoms is 1:2. The electrovalence of the tetrahedra containing the Group IIIA element, e.g., aluminum, is balanced by the inclusion in the crystal of a cation, e.g., an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal cation. This can be expressed wherein the ratio of the Group IIA element, e.g., aluminum, to the number of various cations, such as Ca/2, Sr/2, Na, K or Li, is equal to unity. One type of cation may be exchanged either entirely or partially with another type of cation utilizing ion exchange techniques in a conventional manner. By means of such cation exchange, it has been possible to vary the properties of a given silicate by suitable selection of the cation.
Prior art techniques have resulted in the formation of a great variety of synthetic zeolites. Many of these zeolites have come to be designated by letter or other convenient symbols, as illustrated by zeolite Z (U.S. Pat. No. 2,882,243); zeolite X (U.S. Pat. No. 2,882,244); zeolite Y (U.S. Pat. No. 3,130,007); zeolite ZK-5 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,247,195); zeolite ZK-4 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,314,752); zeolite ZSM-5 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,702,886); zeolite ZSM-11 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,709,979); zeolite ZSM-12 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,832,449); zeolite ZSM-20 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,972,983); zeolite ZSM-35 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,016,245); and zeolite ZSM-23 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,076,842), merely to name a few.
The SiO.sub.2 /Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 ratio of a given zeolite is often variable. For example, zeolite X can be synthesized with SiO.sub.2 /Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 ratios of from 2 to 3; zeolite Y, from 3 to about 6. In some zeolites, the upper limit of the SiO.sub.2 /Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 ratio is unbounded. ZSM-5 is one such example wherein the SiO.sub.2 /Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 ratio is at least 5 and up to the limits of present analytical measurement techniques. U.S. Pat. No. 3,941,871 (U.S. Pat. No. Re. 29,948) discloses a porous crystalline silicate made from a reaction mixture containing no deliberately added alumina in the recipe and exhibiting the X-ray diffraction pattern characteristic of ZSM-5. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,061,724, 4,073,865 and 4,104,294 describe crystalline silicates of varying alumina and metal content.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,380,685 discloses the para-selective alkylation, transalkylation or disproportionation of a substituted aromatic compound to provide a mixture of dialkylbenzene compounds employing as catalyst a zeolite characterized by a Constraint Index of 1 to 12 and a silica/alumina mole ratio of at least 12/1, the catalyst having incorporated thereon various metals and phosphorus. Other patents covering alkylation and transalkylation processes include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,127,616; 4,361,713, 4,365,104; 4,367,359; 4,370,508; and, 4,384,155. Toluene is converted to para-xylene as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,965,207; 3,965,208; 3,965,209; 4,001,346; 3,002,698; 4,067,920; 4,100,215; and, 4,152,364, to name a few. Alkylation with olefins is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,962,364 and 4,016,218. Toluene shown to be is disproportionated in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,052,476; 4,007,231; 4,011,276; 4,016,219; and, 4,029,716. Isomerization of xylenes is disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,101,595; 4,158,676; 4,159,282; 4,351,979; 4,101,597; 4,159,283; 4,152,363; 4,163,028; 4,188,282; and, 4,224,141.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,551,509 and U.S. Pat. No. Re. 27,639 disclose transalkylation between trimethylbenzenes and toluene to yield xylenes and benzene in the presence of a crystalline aluminosilicate catalyst having large pore openings of 8 to 15 Angstrom units and preferably containing Group VIII metals, hydrogen and rare earth cations.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,126,422; 3,413,374; 3,598,878; 3,598,879; and, 3,607,961 describe the vapor-phase disproportionation of toluene over various catalysts. U.S. Pat. No. 4,117,026 discloses disproportionation of toluene over a catalyst comprising a zeolite having a silica/alumina mole ratio of at least 12, a Constrain Index of 1 to 12 and a specified sorption capacity for xylenes.
U.S. Pat. No. Re. 31,781 (of original U.S. Pat. No. 4,100,214) discloses the use of from 3 to 30 combined weight percent of toluene and C.sub.9 + recycle material as diluents with a monocyclic alkyl aromatic hydrocarbon feed selected from the xylenes, mesitylene, durene, hemimellitene, pseudocumene, prehnitene, isodurene and 1,3,5-triethylbenzene for the vapor-phase isomerization of said feed employing as catalyst, a zeolite having a Constrain Index of 1 to 12, e.g., ZSM-5, ZSM-11, ZSM-12, ZSM-35 and ZSM-38.

Catalytic disproportionation/transalkylation utilizing a C9+ aromatics feed


A device used for relieving pain is disclosed herein. The device can include a base comprising a number of mounting surfaces. The device can also include a number of magnets disposed on the mounting surfaces, where each magnet includes a first end and a second end, where the first end has a first polarity, where the second end has a second polarity, and where the first polarity attracts the second polarity to create a magnetic field, and where the magnets create a number of magnetic fields that intersect at a target area.

People of any age, gender, and race experience any of a number of types of pain at various times. Sometimes, this pain is chronic, occurring regularly, and other times this pain is temporary and occurs randomly. In the United States and a number of other countries, a common remedy for relieving pain is medicine. Some medicine can be bought over-the-counter (without a prescription), but such medicine is generally not very strong and so cannot effectively treat more acute pain. Other medicine can only be bought legally with a doctor's prescription. While prescription medicine can effectively treat acute pain, many prescription drugs can have adverse side effects, such as causing addiction and/or damaging an organ.


A friction coupling for use in particular in the drive train of a motor vehicle includes a clutch casing, a pressure plate which is guided in a rotationally fixed manner with respect to the clutch casing, at least one clutch disk and a spring device containing about 40-60% nickel. A method for coating a nickel-base material, in particular the above mentioned spring element for friction clutches, wherein at least part of the surface of the spring device contains boride, and also a method for producing such a spring device which includes a heat treatment are also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to friction clutches, in particular for motor vehicles with internal combustion engines, including a clutch casing, a pressure plate which is guided in a rotationally fixed manner with respect to the clutch casing, at least one clutch disk and a spring device comprising from about 40 to 65% nickel.
2. Background of the Invention
Internal combustion engines provide a torque which can be used for drive purposes only within the speed range between idling speed and nominal speed. Motor vehicles therefore generally require a transmission and a device for separating the engine from the drive train. In the case of manual transmissions, a friction clutch is typically used for this purpose, and this clutch also allows an initially stationary vehicle to be driven off. Friction clutches of the prior art comprise a clutch casing, in which a pressure plate is guided in a rotationally fixed manner and is acted on by spring elements, and at least one clutch disk which in the at-rest state, which in this case is the engaged state, is clamped between the pressure plate and the torque input part as a result of the spring action. The clutch disk, which is connected to the output part, e.g. the transmission shaft, is thus entrained with the pressure plate and the input part as a result of the friction and therefore executes essentially the same rotational movement as the input part and output part. The force generated by the spring devices therefore must not fall below a minimum level in operation, in order for the engine torque to be reliably transmitted. In addition, the elasticity of the spring material is important, since the friction clutch is disengaged by elastic deformation of the spring element or elements. Since the disengagement mechanism is subject to friction, it is often useful for it to be at least partly coated with low-friction, hard materials. The friction clutches of the prior art usually have spring devices made from heat-treated steel, such as for example 50CrV4. The coating of the spring devices with hard material, such as for example chromium, is known, for example, from P 35 42 847.3. However, it has emerged that the spring devices, particularly when used in high-power engines, are heated to temperatures at which these conventional spring device materials may lose their elastic properties and their strength in the high-temperature phase, and under certain circumstances this loss may even be irreversible. Such reversible or irreversible setting losses of the spring elements may reduce the pressure force which they exert. It is therefore necessary to use relatively strong spring devices which ensure high torque transmission even under high thermal loads. A disadvantage, however, is that they also increase the inertial mass.

Friction clutch with nickel-chromium alloy spring elements


Remotely obtaining exclusive control of a device by remotely establishing communication with the device over a network, requesting to obtain remote exclusive control of the device's capabilities, and determining whether remote exclusive control of the device's capabilities can be obtained based on whether or not another user already has exclusive control of the device's capabilities. In a first case where it is determined that remote exclusive control can be obtained, authenticating a user requesting to obtain remote exclusive control of the device's capabilities, providing the user remote exclusive control of the device's capabilities after the user has been authenticated, and temporarily deferring requests by users other than the user who has obtained remote exclusive control to perform operations utilizing the device's capabilities during a period in which the user maintains remote exclusive control of the device's capabilities. In a second case where it is determined that remote exclusive control cannot be obtained, denying the user's request to obtain remote exclusive control, adding the user to a reservation queue of user's requesting to obtain exclusive control of the device, and when the user ascends in the reservation queue to be the next user to obtain exclusive control, the user is notified that he can now obtain remote exclusive control of the device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns remotely obtaining temporary exclusive control of devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to remotely obtaining exclusive control of a device via a network by determining whether the device is available for a user, requesting remote exclusive control, to obtain exclusive control, and either providing the user with remote exclusive control or adding the user to a reservation queue of users requesting exclusive control of the device.
2. Description of the Related Art
When printing print jobs to a printer, once the print jobs are printed out, a recipient must go to the printer in order to retrieve the hardcopy printout. Often, upon arriving at the printer to retrieve his printout, the recipient discovers that his hardcopy printout is not there. This may be because the recipient's print job is still pending in the print queue behind other print jobs, or because the print job may have been accidentally or intentionally taken by someone else. A similar problem arises with regard to facsimile transmissions. To address this problem, systems have been contemplated that defer printing a print job or a facsimile transmission until the recipient is present at the printer/facsimile.
One method of deferring printing of a facsimile transmission is known with regard to a Canon Laser Class 7000/7500 facsimile machine. This facsimile machine defers printing a transmission received by the facsimile machine by storing the transmission in a confidential electronic mailbox. The data is held in the mailbox until a person having the proper mailbox code arrives at the facsimile machine and enters the proper code to retrieve the data from the mailbox. Once the proper mailbox code has been entered, the transmission is printed by the facsimile machine.
One method of deferring printing in printers is to require recipient authentication in order for the print job to be printed. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/411,665 entitled "Authenticated Secure Printing", filed Oct. 4, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,862,583, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference into the subject application as if set forth herein in full, describes a method of requiring recipient authentication in order to print secure documents. Briefly, the application describes a method where a user provides unique identification information that is submitted with a print job to a print node. Upon receiving the print job and unique identification information, the print node encrypts the print job and stores it in a secure manner. In order to retrieve the secure print job from the printer, a person having the proper authentication information provides this information to the printer, whereby the printer processes and prints out the print job.
Another method of deferring printing of a document until receiving recipient authentication has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,633,932 to Davis et al. According to the patent, a print job and a header are sent to a print node in encrypted format. If the document is considered to be "sensitive", then an indication that the document is sensitive is placed in an electronic header identifying the document as sensitive. Upon receiving the encrypted document and header, the print node decrypts the header to determine if the document is sensitive; if so, the document is stored until the print node receives authentication from the recipient. Thereafter, the "sensitive" document is printed.
The foregoing methods provide a way to defer printing until receiving authentication of the recipient. However, none of these methods addresses the further control of printing operations after the recipient has been authenticated. More particularly, in each of the foregoing methods, after the recipient has been authenticated, all print jobs pending in the print queue before the recipient's print job continue to print in the order they were received by the queue. Accordingly, the recipient has to wait until other print jobs pending before his are printed before his print job is printed. Moreover, the authenticated recipient is not able to select a print job to print from among those pending in the queue. Additionally, if the recipient submits a print job after he has been authenticated, he may have to be authenticated again in order for the newly submitted print jobs to print. Further, the recipient is only able to print print jobs that have been received by the queue and is not able to manually access a remote storage location and download a print job to print.
Additional concerns arise with regard to accurate accounting of resources used in printing operations, such as the amount and type of paper used and the amount of ink used. In more detail, accurate accounting of resources may be desired in order to bill a particular department within an office or a particular person using the resources. Accounting is most commonly accomplished by software in a print server that tracks print jobs based on who submitted the print job. However, this accounting method does not accurately reflect the actual recipient who is using the resources, but only identifies the sender or sending department. This becomes particularly apparent where one department such as an accounting department, requests that another department such as an engineering department, send it a copy of a document. In this case, the sender (engineering) would be billed for resources whereas the recipient (accounting) is actually using the resources. As a result, the sender is billed for resources that they are not using.
Further concerns may arise where a user is out of the office and therefore is not physically at the printer in order to be able to obtain control of the printer and to have his print job printed out. For instance, the user may be late arriving to the office and may not have had the opportunity to print out his print job for distribution at a meeting. Due to his late arrival at the office, he may not have sufficient time to print out his print job in time for the meeting. In this case, a way for the user to obtain control of a printer and print out his print job while he is out of the office so that it is ready for pickup when the user arrives at the office would be desirable.
One way to remotely print a print job by manually altering a print job's position within a queue has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,184,996 (hereinafter referred to as the '996 patent). According to the '996 patent, a user can remotely connect to a web server of a printer using a web browser. Using the web browser, the user can then request to view the print queue of the printer and select a print job to advance within the queue. However, the print job can only be advanced within the queue based on its priority level and can not be advanced within the queue ahead of a print job with a higher priority. Moreover, the '996 patent's approach requires manual manipulation of the queue. That is, the user must connect to the printer's web server and manually select a print job to be advanced. Thus, the '996 patent's approach is somewhat labor intensive on the user. A further problem is that, if the user wants to advance his print job ahead of all others to have it printed out immediately, he is not able to do so if any of the print jobs pending in the queue before his print job have a higher priority.
Another problem with the '996 patent's approach is that the user does not have actual control over the queue itself, and as a result, once the user advances a print job in the queue, a different user could also connect to the printer's web server and advance their print job ahead of the first user's print job. Therefore, although the first user may have advanced a print job in the queue, he may lose the advanced position within the queue to another user since he does not have control over the queue and has no way of preventing another user from accessing the queue. Accordingly, what is needed is a way for a user to gain control over a device's capabilities that denies other user's access to the device and to be able to have their print job(s) advanced in the queue and printed out without requiring manual manipulation of the queue.
Additional concerns regarding exclusive control of a device arise where a user attempts to gain remote control of the device, but is denied control because the device may be busy, is already controlled by another person, or may be temporarily out of order. In this case, the user's request for control may be continually denied and the user would have to repeatedly attempt to gain control. Therefore, the user can only obtain control if they request control of the device at a time when the device is available. Accordingly, what is needed is a way for a user to be able to obtain control of a device's capabilities without having to repeatedly request control.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Obtaining temporary exclusive control of a device


An extrnal fibre drawing furnace is maintained at or close to its normal working temperature while contaminants are removed between fibre pulls. Either a removable insert, replaceable gas port assembly, or cleanable gas transfer duct, enable this to be achieved while the furnace is maintained at or near its operating temperature, so that the down time is of the order of minutes rather than hours.

When drawing optical fibre, either monomode or multimode, from a silicon glass preform, a cylindrical furnace melts the tip of the preform which is lowered at a controlled rate into the furnace while optical fibre is drawn from the molten tip. The preform passes into the furnace at the top entrance to the furnace and the fibre is drawn through the bottom exit. An inert gas, for example Argon, Nitrogen, Helium etcetera is introduced into the furnace either around the preform entrance or the fibre exit mainly to protect the vulnerable parts of the furnace, which are normally made of graphite. A gas exit port is provided at the opposite end of the furnace to take away the gas. Thus the furnace remains purged with gas during normal operation. The temperature of the furnace is around 2200.degree. C., but could be in the range 1800.degree. C. to 2500.degree. C.
The furnace is surrounded by and insulated from a water-cooled jacket, which also cools the entrance to and exit from the furnace, together with the gas entrance and exit ports.
As the preform melts, a small amount of silica is burnt off as a vapour and carried with the gas and we have found that this burnt off silica tends to condense out on cooler parts of the furnace particularly on the approaches to and near the gas exit port for the purging gas. Eventually this deposit has to be cleaned off otherwise it affects initially the fibre diameter control arrangement and eventually the fibre strength through flaking of the deposit taking place on the fibre being drawn.
In an induction furnace there may be no gas purging through the furnace, but the contamination referred to above also occurs in an induction furnace and, like the graphite furnace, is dependent upon rate of feed of the preform, the furnace temperature, and the surface area of. Natural convection currents will carry the contaminants to the upper entrance.
If fibre is pulled substantially continuously, then apart from replacing the preform, after about twenty hours the contamination referred to has reached a stage at which the fibre specification and strength become suspect, and so the contamination must be cleared out. This requires the furnace to be ramped down and as much as four or five hours production time is lost.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome the difficulties referred to above to enable far better utilisation of the fibre drawing equipment.

Method and apparatus for contaminant removal in manufacturing optical fibre


Provided are a touch panel and a display apparatus having the touch panel. The touch panel includes a substrate, and a plurality of optical devices arranged on the substrate, in which a distance between two adjacent optical devices of the plurality of optical devices may gradually decrease toward a corner of the substrate.

1. Field
This document relates to a touch panel and a display apparatus having the same.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In general, a touch panel is an input device that is attached to the surface of a display panel. When a user touches an icon or a selection button displayed on a screen of the display panel with his or her finger or a pen, a predetermined command corresponding to the user's touch is executed.
Since touch panels are simpler to operate than other input devices, they have been widely used in electronic automatic guidance systems.

Touch panel and display apparatus having the same


A method for printing an image on a substrate by image-wise depositing, toner particles on the substrate, is disclosed, comprising: image-wise depositing dry toner particles on the substrate forming a first band-like portion of the image, conditioning the first band-like portion while keeping the substrate at a temperature equal to or lower than 100.degree. C. and further image-wise depositing toner particles on the substrate so as to form at least one other band-like portion of such image, the at least one other band-like portion of the image being adjacent to the first band-like portion. Preferably the method is used for printing substrates with an area equal to or larger than 0.25 m.sup.2.

Printing methods wherein toner particles are used to form an image present several advantages. The printing method is a dry method--in case dry toner particles are used--and the toner particles, comprising a resin can be tailored so as to give weatherproof images, etc. Other printing methods, e.g. ink-jet printing, thermal printing, etc., show, when compared to toner printing, one or more deficiencies. Up until now, large format printing, using ink-jet is a well known technique, but the inks used in the printing, show often problems with weatherability, especially regarding the water-fastness. Therefore, in large format printing, e.g. poster printing, billboard printing, wherein the weatherability of the print is very important, silk-screen printing is still a dominant printing method. This method has however its own drawbacks. The method is rather time consuming since for every colour a dedicated screen has to be made and printed and the method is basically analogue.
More and more images to be printed are available in digital form, so that also in the printing of large formats, digital addressable printing techniques become indispensable. The use of toner based systems in such printing techniques is however not so straightforward. All toner depositing means available today, be it electrophotographic means or direct electrostatic means, are at least in one direction as large as the substrate to be printed. This means that in printing on substrates where the dimensions are measured in meter instead of in centimetre, as in, e.g., billboard printing, the toner depositing means must be very large (page-wide), since the printing speed equals intrinsically the speed of the digital printing process in the direction perpendicular to said page-wide array.
In direct electrostatic printing, this means that a very large array of printing apertures has to be provided, wherein each of the apertures has to be addressed separately. Moreover, the distance of said printing apertures to the substrate to be printed has to be controlled within tight limits, thus complicating the construction of a printer.
In electrophotography, ionography or magnetography, wherein an electrostatic or magnetic latent image is developed by dry toner particles and the developed image transferred to the substrate, a very wide latent image bearing member, without minute flaws that can deteriorate the image quality must be provided. Providing a large printer with such a latent image bearing member increases the costs of it to an almost unacceptable level. In case dry toning particles are used, the stable supply of toner particles to the development zone poses problems. The use of page wide applicators, e.g. based on magnetic brush assemblies is technically difficult to achieve, due to the small tolerances that are needed in the toning process.
Nevertheless, the use of the dry toning particles might have a very high value in large format printing, since they have a low ecological impact in comparison to ink-jet, liquid toning systems, and even the classical ink based systems as used in offset printing, gravure printing or screen printing.
The use of dry toner based imaging technology to create output with a size larger than the size of the imaging units (toner depositing means) themselves, in both dimensions, has only scarcely been addressed in the past. In the UK-patent application GB-A-2 106 453, there is disclosed an electrophotographic printer based on the use of a small printhead, comprising as well a photoconductive drum and basic stations such as a charging unit, an imaging unit, a toning unit and a cleaning unit, said printing head enabling the toning of plain, normal paper supported on a backing plate. Said device is described as an electrophotographic printer of the contactless type. It is described to be suitable for the creation of different, complex characters, whereas it is described to contain one line of characters as working width, leaving however open the possibility that more than 1, e.g. 2 lines can be printed in one single pass. Possible extension to colour is mentioned. Another reference to a dry toner based imaging method implicitly capable of creating larger size images can be found in the document "Shuttle print head, a TONERJET fact sheet" published by Array Printers AB, Sweden, (1995), TONERJET is a trade name of Array Printers. In this document an analogy is made between ink-jet printing and tonerjet printing. A process currently used in ink-jet printing, namely using the shuttling of the print head or print array is substituted by the shuttling of a toner jetting print head or print head array. The same mechanism is used, enabling the contactless projection of the toning material, in order to create images. This disclosure regarding direct electrostatic printing does not address the problem of keeping the distance between the printhead structure and the substrate within tight limits.
In the case of the electrostatic printing as disclosed in GB-A-2 106 453, the problem of image deterioration when the transfer of the toner particles from the latent image bearing member to the substrate is done in contact mode has not been addressed and moreover said GB application is concerned with providing an extremely small printing device.
In JP-A-61 146564 a serial printer is disclosed comprising pressure means to press a pressure receiver on a picture-bearing material for transferring and fixing the picture developed on the picture-bearing member to a recording material. The advantage of this design is that there is no external force necessary to move the recording paper.
In JP-A-61 152463 a serial electrophotographic printer is disclosed with a carriage including an image holding body, an electrification unit , an exposure unit, a toner and a developing unit. The carriage moves over an image receiving member that is larger than the carriage and band-like portions of the image are printed on the image receiving member and after the printing of several bands, the image is fixed. Also in DE-90 13 772 U such a type of serial printer has been disclosed. In such a serial printer, wherein the image is printed in band by a carriage moving over the image receiving member in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the image receiving member through the printer, the image receiving member stops during the printing of a band and moves after the printing of a first band to the position wherein a second band is printed and so on. The fixing unit, being installed over the total width of the image receiving member (i.e. over the dimension of the image receiving member perpendicular to the movement of it), and operating continuously fixes stronger when the image receiving layer is stopped for printing a band than when the receiving layer moves. Thus the fixing does not proceed evenly which can result in a deterioration of the image quality.
Therefore, serial printer wherein the carriage includes also means for fixing the image have been disclosed. In, e.g., JP-A-61 145649 a serial electrophotographic printer is disclosed with a carriage including an image holding body, an electrification unit, an exposure unit, a developing unit, a toner and a developing unit and a fixing unit. Also JP-A-56 077167 discloses such a printer. In these printers, due to the different pressure exerted on the image receiving member by the image holding body (a photoconductive drum) and the fixing roller the image receiving member, the risk exist that the image receiving member becomes wrinkled, and--due to this wrinkling--that the transport of the receiving member does no longer proceed smoothly.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,561,503 a serial printer with a carriage including an image holding body, an electrification unit, an exposure unit, a developing unit, a toner and a developing unit and a fixing unit is disclosed, wherein by a special design of the carriage and the bearing of he fixing unit, the problem of the wrinkling is avoided.
However, in a printer according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,561,503, the temperature of the image receiving substrate can be high, since fixing temperatures of toner particles are easily around 120.degree. C. and even around 150.degree. C. This heating of the substrate can result in dimensional changes of the substrate, e.g., an expansion or a shrinkage in the first band that is printed and whereon the image is fixed. When this occurs the exact registration of the band to be printed adjacent to the first band is difficult and even impossible. Even a limited mis-registration between the bands that are printed does deteriorate the image quality that can be achieved with the printer. This is especially so when full-colour prints have to be made.
Therefore further improvements, to make the techniques mentioned above suitable for printing with high image quality, both in small format printing and in large format printing are needed.

Method for electro (stato) graphic printing on large format substrates


A method of controlling communication between an edge cloud server and a plurality of clients via a radio access network comprises determining per-client buffer information relating to one or more buffers in the radio access network based on known configuration information, and dynamically determining current traffic flow information associated with a client in the radio access network. The determined per-client buffer information relating to the client, and traffic flow information associated with the client, is used to determine an amount of free buffer space available in the per-client buffer associated with that client. The method comprises controlling communication between the edge cloud server and the client, via the radio access network, based on the determined free buffer space.

For quite some years there has been a continuous increase in cloud computing, which has led to users reducing their investments in hardware and software, and instead leasing computing resources in large data centres which are accessed over the Internet.
A server is today designed with a Platform as a Service (PaaS) where the lower part of the system has several common components and an application is only using higher-layer APIs.
While cloud computing offers increased flexibility and reduced costs, there are also real time limitations due to the physical distances, network congestion and transport protocols and these limitations have sparked an interest in geographically dispersed data centres, also referred to as "distributed clouds".
From comparing these alternatives it can be seen that, although distributed clouds improve real time characteristics, a large class of potential 5G applications will need further improvements, for example as discussed in a paper entitled "Edge Computing", NGMN 5G P1 Requirements & Architecture, Work Stream End-to-End Architecture, NGMN Alliance, Version 1.0 (2016).
For this reason a solution called edge computing has been proposed, and it has been shown that this solution can reduce data transfer times considerably, but that the short distance alone is not enough, and as such new transport protocols must be deployed.
Part of a Platform-as-a-Service architecture, as mentioned above, are transmission protocols, such as the Transmission Control Protocol, TCP.
In more detail, present transport protocols such as TCP, include time consuming establishments (TCP: three way handshake), cautious start (TCP: initial window), sensitive congestion control (TCP: based on estimations of, e.g., loss, RTT or throughput) and delayed retransmissions (TCP: several RTTs).
FIG. 1 shows an example of a slow start process 102 during an initial period 103 of a TCP communication, with 101 representing an ideal throughput on a particular communication link.
There are continuous efforts in the research community to improve these and other aspects, and several research contributions known to people skilled in the art have suggested such methods. However, the fundamental requirement of despite limited visibility, adapting the transmission rate to an unknown and variable network cannot be compromised with, and this puts limits to the gains that be achieved by improving different aspects of TCP or other transport protocols, such as the Quick UDP Inter Connections (QUIC) protocol or the Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP), which is a transport for multilexed end-user requests. In this case, the issues mentioned herein apply to the multiplexed transport.
Edge computing in base stations is, however, fundamentally different in that there is only one hop, the radio, and this is controlled by the base station itself. Thus, the base station not only delivers the computing services but it may also optimise the transport through complete knowledge of queued packets, transport capacities, and user availabilities. It has been proposed to provide interactions between RAN (3G, 4G, and 5G) and TCP. Some of these interactions have also been proposed in standardization at, e.g., ETSI-MEC.
One of these solutions is based on the RAN sending bandwidth values to TCP senders such that the latter can adapt their rates to current RAN conditions, but other types of interaction by sending status information have also been discussed in the research.
Common to all such models is the need for standardised interfaces between the RAN and the PaaS, and a continuous or at least frequent exchange of information in order to handle variable conditions caused by load variations and user mobility. The requirements of multi-vendor and high-frequency make these solutions difficult to implement in practice.

Apparatus and method for controlling communication between an edge cloud server and a plurality of clients via a radio access network


A display apparatus includes a detector to detect an angle of a center line of the display apparatus relative to a horizontal line of the south geomagnetic pole when in the horizontal plane. The apparatus stores a reference angle. The apparatus determines the rotation angle of the display apparatus by subtracting the reference angle from the angle of the center line of the display apparatus relative to the horizontal line of the south geomagnetic pole; and rotates display content according to the rotation angle. A related method is also disclosed.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to display apparatuses and methods, and particularly, to a display and a method capable of automatically rotating displayed content.
2. Description of Related Art
When some types of display apparatuses are rotated from horizontal orientation to vertical orientation, the display apparatuses can automatically rotate display content with the rotation of the display apparatuses. However, when the displays of the display apparatuses are orientated flat in a horizontal plane and then rotated along the horizontal plane while being kept the flat orientation, the display apparatuses can not automatically rotate display content with the rotation of the display apparatus. Thus, there is room for improvement in the art.

Display apparatus and method for rotating displayed content

Fu Tai Hua Industry (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.


A cylinder (2) for a combustion engine has a cylinder bore (42) and a cylinder wall (43). At least one channel is formed in the cylinder wall (43). At least one cover (19), which at least partially closes the channel on the side facing away from the cylinder bore (42), is arranged on the cylinder (2). A very precise channel geometry which can be easily manufactured is achieved in that a first stop (25) is formed in the longitudinal direction of the cylinder between the cylinder (2) and the cover (19) and a second stop (33) is formed in the tangential direction with respect to the cylinder bore (42), with the cover (19) resting on the cylinder (2) at the first stop (25) and at the second stop (33). In the method, the cover (19) is arranged on the cylinder (2) in a first direction (41) radial to the cylinder bore (42) and the cover (19) is shifted in a second direction (40) which is parallel to a plane which is approximately peripherally to the cylinder bore (42) and parallel to the longitudinal cylinder axis (45), until the cover (19) rests on the cylinder (2) at the first stop (25) and at the second stop (33).

DE 1 912 287 discloses a cylinder for a combustion engine whose transfer channels are closed laterally by covers fixed on the cylinder. The covers can be secured on the cylinder via a rivet connection, adhesive connection or a clamped connection.
Especially with covers which delimit the transfer channels in the area of the transfer channel openings, an exact positioning on the cylinder is necessary in order to achieve the desired channel geometry. When fixing covers, however, a gap is required between the cylinder and the cover so that the cover is guided with clearance on the cylinder in the longitudinal direction of the cylinder and in the peripheral direction of the cylinder.

Cylinder for a combustion engine and a method for making the same


A substrate drying apparatus comprising a vessel in which IPA is contained, a chamber enclosing the vessel, a heating heater for heating IPA into vapor in the vessel and in that region in the vessel where a plurality of substrates are vapor-processed, a mechanism for carrying the plural water-washed substrates into the vapor-processing region in the vessel, a mechanism located above the vapor-processing region in the vessel to cool the IPA vapor into solution drops, region in the chamber located above the cooling mechanism where the substrates can be dried while removing IPA from the substrates, and gas supply and exhaust devices for causing gas to flow from above to below in the drying region in the chamber.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for drying plural sheets of wet substrates such as semiconductor wafers.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the course of manufacturing semiconductor devices, there has been widely used the cleaning system wherein semiconductor wafers, LCD glass substrates and others are dried while successively immersing them in those process vessels in which either cleaning or rinsing solution is contained.
The cleaning system of this type uses the substrate drying apparatus in which the vapor of IPA (isopropyl alcohol), for example, is applied to those matters such as semiconductor wafers, which must be dried, to remove water content from them so as to dry them.
In the case of this conventional substrate drying apparatus, the drying of semiconductor wafers, for example, is usually carried out in such a way that IPA, for example, contained in the process vessel is heated into vapor, that the IPA vapor is condensed on surfaces of semiconductor wafers located above the process vessel to remove water content from them and that they are taken out into the atmosphere to evaporate the IPA.
Japanese Patent Disclosure She 63-160231 discloses a substrate drying apparatus wherein a space (or drying section) in which semiconductor wafers, for example, can be housed is provided above the vapor-processing section in which IPA vapor is applied to semiconductor wafers. In the case of this substrate drying apparatus, wafers are located in the drying section to dry IPA which has adhered to wafers. Dusts and particles are thus prevented from adhering to those wafers which are being dried.
In the case of this substrate drying apparatus, a cooling mechanism is also provided between the IPA-vapor applying section and the drying section to cool and condense IPA vapor. A dry gas supply mechanism is also provided to jet dry gas through side walls of the apparatus which are located between the vapor-processing section and the drying section. The dry gas flow thus created and the cooling mechanism cooperate to prevent IPA vapor, for example, from rising from the vapor-processing section and entering into the drying section.
In the case of the above-described conventional substrate drying apparatus, however, dry gas is jetted through side walls of the apparatus between the vapor-processing section and the drying section. IPA vapor in the vapor-processing section is thus raised up by the flow of dry gas and enters into the drying section to delay the drying of semiconductor wafers, for example, in it and to be leaked outside the apparatus.


In order to provide a plasma sterilization apparatus with high plasma generation efficiency, the apparatus includes first and second electrodes (3, 2), a first dielectric body layer (1), and an insulating spacer (6). The first dielectric body layer (1) is disposed between the first and second electrodes (3, 2). The insulating spacer (6) is disposed between the first electrode (3) and the first dielectric body layer (1). The insulating spacer (6) has a lower permittivity than a permittivity of the first dielectric body layer (1).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plasma sterilization apparatus that inactivates a floating fungus in the air (hereinafter referred to as an airborne bacillus).
2. Description of the Related Art
There are high expectations for realization of regenerative medicine, which uses an artificially cultured cell and tissue to regenerate damaged skin, corneas, organs and so on, so as to improve functional recovery of patients. The number of patients with the targeted diseases is estimated to 20,000 for corneal regeneration alone. Thus realization of this technology is desired. Participations of pharmaceutical companies are actualized, and it is expected that the regenerative medicine will make a new healthcare industry in the future.
Clinical research for regenerative medicine requires a biological clean room (hereinafter referred to as BCR), which allows aseptic manipulation. In order to maintain the indoor environment of BCR, it is necessary to establish sterilization technique, and this is an important issue. The conventional method for sterilizing inside BCR generally employs a method for sterilizing the whole indoor environment by reeking of formaldehyde inside the room. However, the formalin is harmful to human body because of as its carcinogenicity, for example. The use of formalin will be tend to be prohibited. In view of this, a sterilization technique using ozone instead of formalin has been proposed. Ozone generation techniques are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 1-242404 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-323964. Bactericidal methods using ozone are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2007-159821, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-211095, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2008-289801.


The disclosure provides a liquid taking device and a liquid taking method. The liquid taking device comprises a liquid taking bottle, a heavy ball and liquid taking ropes. The liquid taking bottle has a first mouth and a bottom opposite to the first mouth. The heavy ball is arranged in the liquid taking bottle. The liquid taking device can be controlled to reach different depths under the ground by the action of two liquid ropes. When the first mouth of the bottle is placed facing downward, the heavy ball blocks the first mouth of the bottle under its own gravity to prevent liquid leakage; when the first mouth of the bottle is turned upwards under the action of the liquid taking rope, the heavy ball falls onto the bottom of the bottle, such that an external liquid can flow into the liquid taking device, which has a good practical utility.

At present, during the utilization of underground salt mine space, it involves analysis of liquid composition at a certain depth in the underground salt cavern, and taking out the liquid at a certain depth is the first problem to be faced.
However, there is only a pipe string connecting underground salt cavern and ground surface, and a diameter of the pipe string is too small to allow a large equipment being passed through; at the same time, as the brine under the ground is corrosive, the existing electronic liquid taking device is not suitable for use.

Liquid taking device and liquid taking method


Compounds are identified that act as crystallization suppressants when added to clear brine fluids, significantly lowering the true crystallization temperatures of the brines, and allowing for higher salt content in clear brine fluids. The crystallization suppressants of the invention also allow for the preparation of higher density zinc free brines. Crystallization suppressant blends are also identified that allow for the preparation of high density clear brine fluids with lower viscosities.

Clear brine fluids are solids-free, industrial fluids widely used in operations where control of pressure in a well is needed, such as in the oil and gas industry, and play an important role in oil exploration and development of deep water wells, high-pressure and deep oil wells, oil sands, and the like. Clear brine fluids find use in well completion, work-over, drilling and fracturing operations, and serve a variety of functions such as a displacement fluid to remove drilling muds, as drill-in fluids, as permanent packer fluid. They inhibit undesirable formation reactions such as clay swelling and are used in preparing well equipment for production, e.g., during insertion of liners, screens, packers, and other equipment.
Clear brine fluids can be prepared with a variety of salts, generally halide salts, at various concentrations to provide specific densities for particular applications. For example, brines with densities ranging, e.g., from 8.4 to over 22 lbs/gal (ppg), may be desired. Commonly used salts include chloride and bromide salts of sodium, potassium, calcium and zinc. Ammonium salts, iodine salts, and other metals have also been used. More than one salt may be present in the fluid.
Bromide fluids, e.g., sodium, potassium and calcium bromide brines, are high density clear brine fluids that are suitable for deepwater production and high temperature/high pressure oil and gas formations. For example, bromide fluids are used in deepwater fracturing operations in order to provide the necessary pressure in the well to successfully fracture the geological formation area that supplies oil and gas to the wellbore allowing for higher volume flows to the production piping.
Clear brine fluids are solids free and thus contain no particles that might plug or damage a producing well or equipment and are used over a wide temperature range. The amount of a particular salt in a brine fluid, and thus the density of the brine, is limited by the solubility of that salt in water. Precipitation of the salt during use must be avoided, and many salts cannot be used on their own in higher density solutions, e.g., 12 ppg or 14 ppg to 20 ppg. Historically, the need for high density clear brine fluids, e.g., >14.2 ppg, has been met by using zinc bromide to blend up calcium bromide to higher densities. Zinc bromide and cesium formate brines traditionally have been used to achieve higher density in completion fluids, up to 19 ppg for high pressure applications such as kill-fluid and on-the-shelf gas wells (high temperature/high pressure).
However, zinc based fluids have environmental and economic limitations. Zinc is regulated and not environmentally friendly and requires a zero-discharge system when in use. Zinc contaminated flow-back and well-produced water has to be collected and shipped to shore for disposal or treatment and cannot, e.g., be pumped off-rig into the Gulf of Mexico. These regulations and a growing consciousness regarding the contamination of ground water has increased the interest in new clear brine fluids that are more environmentally friendly and do not require zero-discharge. A clear brine fluid is needed that can provide high densities and low crystallization temperatures without using zinc components, which fluids can be used in applications typically served with the present zinc containing fluids such as zinc/calcium bromide brines.
However, it has been found that certain crystallization suppressant additives that provide a thermally stable, environmentally acceptable, high density brine, can also cause an unacceptable increase in viscosity of the brine. This may prevent the brine from being used in many applications. A crystallization suppressant product is still needed that will provide high density brines, e.g., 12 ppg or 14 ppg to 20 ppg, with acceptably low viscosity.

Crystallization suppressant combinations for high density clear brine fluids


A system determines the locations of four errors in a code word over GF(2.sup.m), for any m, by transforming a degree-four error locator polynomial .sigma.(x) ultimately into two quadratic equations, finding the solutions of these equations, and from these solutions determining the roots of the error locator polynomial. The system first manipulates the degree-four error locator polynomial into a polynomial .theta.(y) that has a coefficient of zero for the degree-three term. The system then factors this polynomial into two degree-two factors with four unknown variables. The system expands the factors and represents the coefficients of .theta.(y) as expressions that include the four unknown variables, and manipulates the expressions to produce a degree-three polynomial with only one of the unknown variables. The system next solves for that variable by finding a root of the degree-three polynomial in GF(2.sup.m) if the field is an even-bit field or in an even-bit extension of GF(2.sup.m) if the field is an odd-bit field. The system then substitutes the root into the expressions for the coefficients of .theta.(y) and produces a degree-two expression is with the remaining unknown variables. The system finds the roots of this expression, substitutes these values into the factors of.theta.(y), and sets the factors equal to zero to produce two quadratic equations. The system then solves the equations to produce the roots of.theta.(y), and from these solutions determines the roots of the degree-four error locator polynomial.

Data stored on magnetic media, such as a magnetic disks, are typically stored in encoded form, so that errors in the stored data can possibly be corrected. The errors may occur, for example, because of inter-symbol interference, a defect in the disk, or noise. As the density of the data stored on the disk increases, more errors are likely, and the system is required to correct greater members of errors. The speed with which the system corrects the errors is important to the overall speed with which the system processes the data.
Prior to recording, multiple-bit data symbols are encoded using an error correction code (ECC). When the data symbols are retrieved from the disk and demodulated, the ECC is employed to, as the name implies, correct the erroneous data.
Specifically, before a sting of k data symbols is written to a disk, it is mathematically encoded using an (n, k) ECC to form n-k ECC symbols. The ECC symbols are then appended to the data string to form an n-symbol error correction code word, which is then written to, or stored, on the disk. When the data are read from the disk, the code words containing the data symbols and ECC symbols are retrieved and mathematically decoded. During decoding, errors in the data are detected and, if possible, corrected through manipulation of the ECC symbols [for a detailed description of decoding see, Peterson and Weldon, Error Correction Codes, 2nd Ed. MrT Press, 1972].
To correct multiple errors in strings of data symbols, the system typically uses an ECC that efficiently and effectively utilizes the various mathematical properties of sets of symbols known as Galois fields. Galois fields are represented "GF (P.sup.m)", where "P" is a prime number and "m" can be thought of as the number of digits, base "P", in each element or symbol in the field. P usually has the value 2 in digital computer and disk drive applications and, therefore, m is the number of bits in each symbol. The ECC's commonly used with the Galois Fields are Reed Solomon codes or BCH codes.
There are essentially four major steps in decoding a corrupted code word of a Reed-Solomon code or a BCH code. The system first determines error syndromes that are based on the results of a manipulation of the ECC symbols. Next, using the error syndromes, the system determines an error locator polynomial which is a polynomial that has the same degree as the number of errors. The then finds the roots of the error locator polynomial and from each root determines the location of an associated error in the code word. Finally, the system finds error values for the error locations. In binary systems, such as digital computers, there is only one possible error value for an error location, and thus, the step of determining error values is trivial.
The steps of determining the syndromes and finding the error locations are the most time consuming in the error correction process. The invention described herein reduces the time it takes the error correction system to find the locations of either three or four errors. This involves finding the roots of third and fourth degree error locator polynomials.
In prior systems, the roots of degree-four polynomials are determined by trial and error, or by matrix manipulation or look-up table. The trial and error method is performed by substituting into the polynomial every possible value, i.e., every element of the applicable GF(2.sup.2m) that is associated with a code word location, and for each value evaluating the polynomial. If the polynomial equals zero for a given value, the value is a root. The system continues the trial and error process by substituting a next possible value into the polynomial and determining if that value is a root; and so forth, until either all possible values have been tried or all four roots are determined. This trial and error process, which in an optimized form is commonly known as a Chien Search, is time consuming. Further, the time is unpredictable, since it varies with the locations of the errors in the code words.
The matrix manipulation and look-up table methods involve transforming a general degree-four polynomial of the form: EQU .sigma..sub.4 x.sup.4 +.sigma..sub.3 x.sup.3 +.sigma..sub.2 x.sup.2 +.sigma..sub.1 x+.sigma..sub.0
into a polynomial of the form: EQU x.sup.4 +x.sup.2 +ax+b.
If a look-up table is used, the table contains a set of solutions for every possible set of values of a and b. For the ECCs used today, typically over GF(2.sup.8), the table has 2.sup.16 entries, each with 32 bits, i.e., four 8-bit elements. Thus, the table takes up a great deal of storage space and requires a relatively complex addressing scheme.
A system using the matrix manipulation method produces an 2.sup.m -by-2.sup.m matrix, by determining f(.alpha.), f(.alpha..sup.1), f(.alpha..sup.2) . . . fa(..alpha..sup.(2.sup..sup.m .sup.-1)), where f(x)=x.sup.4 +x.sup.2 +ax+b. It next manipulates the matrix to determine the null space of the space spanned by the matrix. The roots of the polynomial can then be obtained from the vectors that span the null space. [For a more detailed description see, E. R Berlekamp, Algebraic Coding Theory, McGraw Hill Book Company, 1968]. This method requires bit-by-bit manipulation of an 2m-by-2m matrix and typically requires numerous manipulation operations to transform the matrix. Thus, it is time consuming and computation intensive.
The inventive system described herein uses the invention discussed in patent application Ser. No. 08/580,294 filed Dec. 28, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,761,102, which is assigned to a common assignee and incorporated herein by reference. The system determines the roots of the degree-four polynomial by solving two quadradic equations. The system makes use of a well known method of deter the roots of a degree-two polynomial, as descried by Berlekamp in Algebraic Coding Theory. Further, the system makes use of a method of determining the roots of a degree-three polynomial that is described by Van der Horst and Berger in Complete Decoding of Triple-Error-Correcting Binary BCH Codes, IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, Vol. IT-22, pp. 138-147, 1976. Van der Horst and Berger have established that the method works for even-bit fields GF(2.sup.2m) for m=2 and 3. In the above-referenced application it was determined that the method works for at least even-bit fields GF(2.sup.2m) for m=4, 5 and 6. We have determined that the method works for any GF(2.sup.2m), as discussed below. We also provide herein a method to determine the roots of a degree-four polynomial in any odd-bit field GF (2.sup.2m+1), as discussed in more detail below.
Finding the roots of the degree-three polynomial in accordance with the teachings of Van der Horst and Berger and in accordance with our methods discussed herein requires determining a cubic root of a Galois field element over GF(2.sup.2m) or GF(2.sup.2m+1). We have developed an inventive circuit for relatively quickly and easily finding the cubic roots in the even-bit field GF(2.sup.m), and in the odd-bit field GF(2.sup.2m+1).

System for finding roots of degree three and degree four error locator polynomials over GF(2M)


An optometry apparatus comprising: a target projecting optical system adapted for diopter movement, for projecting a target onto a fundus of an examinee's eye to form an image of the target on the fundus, wherein the target projecting optical system including: an objective lens to be positioned at the front of the examinee's eye: a relay lens arranged so that a front focal point of the relay lens coincides with an approximate conjugate point of an anterior segment of the examinee's eye with respect to the objective lens positioned at the front of the examinee's eye; a plus-power lens arranged at the approximate conjugate point of the anterior segment with respect to the positioned objective lens, the plus-power lens having refractive power determined so that a front focal point of the plus-power lens coincides with an approximate conjugate point of the fundus with respect to the positioned objective lens; and an astigmatism correction optical element arranged between the relay lens and the plus-power lens, for correcting astigmatism of the examinee's eye.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optometry apparatus for examining or measuring an examinee's eye.
2. Description of Related Art
As a target projecting optical system of an optometry apparatus such as an eye refractive power measurement apparatus, an optometer, and an eye accommodation measurement apparatus, an optical system having diopter movement means and astigmatism correction means has been known (e.g., Jpn. unexamined patent publication No. 11-70076(1999)). The diopter movement means is adapted to perform diopter movement by for example moving a target in a direction of a projection optical axis of the target projecting optical system or moving a lens in the direction of the projection optical axis. For a downsized apparatus, it is preferred that a moving amount (range) of the diopter movement means such as the target and the lens is as small as possible. On the other hand, the astigmatism correction means is adapted to perform astigmatism correction by for example rotating two cross-cylinder lenses about the projection optical axis respectively. To clearly present the target to the examinee's eye, it is preferred that the target is less affected by aberration of the astigmatism correction means such as the cross-cylinder lenses.


A recording tape cartridge which can prevent positional offset of a case with respect to a cartridge accommodating device. Accompanying operation of loading the cartridge in an arrow A direction into a drive device, a door is moved to a side of opening an opening while an operation projection is engaged by an engagement projection. At this time, a pushing/engaging member of the drive device enters into a cell retention notch, and pushes a push surface and engages with an engagement surface. In this way, at the case, a moment in an arrow E direction around a region of engagement is offset, and the case is prevented from being coming out from the drive device. An inclined surface permits advance and withdrawal of the pushing/engaging member into and from the notch.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording tape cartridge which rotatably accommodates a reel on which a recording tape, such as a magnetic tape or the like, is wound.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recording tapes, such as magnetic tapes and the like, are used as external recording media for computers and the like. Recording tape cartridges are used which accommodate a single reel on which is wound a recording tape which requires little space for storage and on which a large amount of information can be recorded. In a recording tape cartridge, a single reel on which a recording tape is wound is rotatably accommodated within a case which is formed by joining together an upper case and a lower case which are molded of a resin material. An opening is formed in the case. The recording tape is pulled-out from this opening, and is taken-up onto a take-up reel of a drive device.
The opening is opened and closed by a door which is a shielding member, so that dust and the like do not enter in from the opening and adhere to the recording tape. Namely, when the recording tape cartridge is not in use, the opening is closed by the door. When the recording tape cartridge is to be used, the door is moved such that the opening is opened.
As a recording tape cartridge equipped with a door, a structure is known which is provided with an opening provided in a side wall of a case which side wall runs along the direction of loading the recording tape cartridge into a drive device, a door which slides at the inner side of the side wall and along the loading direction so as to open and close the opening, a spring urging the door in a direction of closing the opening, and an operation portion which is provided at the door and which, due to the operation of the case being loaded into a drive device, slides the door in the direction of opening the opening while engaging with an opening/closing member of the drive device.
In accordance with this structure, merely by the operation of loading the case (i.e., the recording tape cartridge) into the drive device, the operation portion provided at the door slides the door with respect to the case while engaging with the opening/closing member which is fixed to the drive device (i.e., which moves relatively to the case), such that the opening is opened. In this way, it suffices to merely fix the opening/closing member at a position of the drive device at which the opening/closing member can engage with the operation portion, and the structure is simple.
However, in the above-described conventional recording tape cartridge, when the operation portion of the door engages the opening/closing member of the drive device at the time of opening the opening, a rotational moment around the region of this engagement arises, and a problem arises in that the case (i.e., the recording tape cartridge) rotates around this region of engagement and becomes tilted with respect to the direction of loading. In particular, because the opening is opened against the urging force of the spring, this rotational moment (the pushing-in force in the loading direction) is large, and it is easy for the case to become tilted within the drive device (it is easy for the position of the case to become offset).
If the case is pushed into the drive device in this state, there is the concern that the case will rub against the interior of the drive device, and the case will become scratched or abrasion powder will be generated within the drive device, or the case will become stuck within the drive device.
Thus, in order to offset this rotational moment, a structure has been conceived of in which an engagement member of the drive device is engaged with a position, of the loading direction leading side surface (the front surface) of the lower case, which position is set apart from the side wall in which the opening is formed. While this engaged state is maintained, the case (together with the engagement member) move in the loading direction and open the opening.
However, in a case which is formed by joining together an upper case and a lower case molded of a resin material as described above, the outer surface which includes the aforementioned front surface is a design surface at which crimping processing and the like are carried out, and the draft for removing the case from a mold after molding is large and the dimensional accuracy is low. When the engagement member is engaged at a position of this front surface of the case which position is set apart from the opening, at the case, the aforementioned rotational moment is offset, but the positional accuracy of the opening with respect to the drive device (which is most important in terms of function) is low. Moreover, in a recording tape cartridge having the above-described structure, movement in the direction of pulling the case out from the drive device is permitted. Thus, there are cases in which positional offset of the case (the opening) with respect to the drive device occurs due to the urging force of the spring which urges the door, or the like.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2000-331403 has disclosed a structure in which a lock hole, which an anchor means (a lock block or the like) engages, is formed at the case. The anchor means is for preventing the recording tape cartridge from being pulled-out from the drive device. After the opening is opened, the anchor means anchors the recording tape cartridge to the drive device. When the aforementioned positional offset occurs at the point in time when the opening is opened, there are cases in which the anchor means does not correctly engage with the lock hole. Moreover, with an anchor means which anchors the case after the opening has been opened, the aforementioned rotational moment cannot be offset.
Further, in an automatic cartridge conveying device (a library device), a large number of recording tape cartridges are accommodated individually in holder portions, and are automatically conveyed from the holder portions to drive devices as needed. However, in this case as well, with a conventional recording tape cartridge, movement in the direction of pulling the cartridge out from the holder portion is permitted. Thus, there are cases in which positional offset of the case with respect to the holder portion arises.


A method and apparatus for generating a digital X-ray image is disclosed. The method comprises starting an exposure period wherein an array of X-ray receptors are exposed to X-ray radiation, varying the energy of the X-ray radiation during the exposure period and generating a data value for each receptor in the array of X-ray receptors. Each data value corresponds to the time elapsed between the start of the exposure period and the time at which the magnitude of the X-ray radiation incident upon the corresponding receptor passes a reference value. The data values are processed to generate an image. The apparatus includes an X-ray generator, a clock, an array of X-ray receptors, a comparator, a storage medium, and a processor.

Digital radiography is a relatively young art. While its advent has created many benefits to radiographic diagnostics, many aspects of the technology stand in need of improvement or refinement.
A cursory review of prior art devices in the field reveals a host of shortcomings. First, prior art devices use a fixed X-ray dose often dependent upon the particular characteristics of the subject being X-rayed. Although digital devices have reduced the cycle time between an unsuccessful radiographic image and a subsequently successful one, most of these digital devices have provided no improvement in the occasional trial and error methodology of achieving satisfactory radiographic images, particularly relating to X-ray dose. Some prior art inventions have attempted to address this long-standing and fundamental shortcoming in the radiographic arts by introducing test receptors or pattern-matching algorithms for improving images that are faulty on the basis of an incorrect X-ray dose. While these inventions do represent improvements in the art, they fail to address the underlying problem of administering an accurate dose of radiation for imaging on the first attempt.
A further shortcoming of solid state digital radiographic devices is that each utilizes a receptor array to generate data based upon stored analog voltage values. These generated voltages are subject to noise, signal attenuation, and excess charge saturation due to overexposure, all of which detract from information gathered from the X-rayed subject. Further, such devices lack software-based means for refining or calibrating the device to suit specific imaging needs, such as mammography.
It is desirable to have a digital radiographic imaging method capable of generating accurate X-ray images without resort to trial and error. It is also desirable to have a digital radiographic imaging method that is capable of being programmed to suit specific radiographic applications.


A computer-implemented method for allocating services among a plurality of service operators where each capable of providing at least one service and each service operator operating a respective computer to receiving at a support server a request for service from at least one computer being operated by a user, generating a questionnaire to be answered by the user operating the at least one computer, selecting at least one service operator based upon the answered questionnaire, and establishing a service session between the at least one computer being operated by the user and the computer being operated by the at least one selected service operator for providing the requested service.

The highly specialized work force in modern economies must be carefully allocated to service tasks so that workers may perform in areas in which they have the training or skills to perform effectively. Allocating workers to appropriate service tasks is a manual process, requiring substantial amounts of time from both the workers providing service and the supervisors who manage the workers.
The manual steps required to allocate workers to service tasks is illustrated in the following technical support example. A computer user experiencing technical problems with their computer calls a computer support company. The call is routed to a help desk where a help desk worker asks a series of questions to identify the computer user's specific problem. If the help desk worker is not able to identify the specific problem, the caller is transferred to a supervisor or other higher level worker who will attempt to identify the specific problem. Once the problem is identified, the supervisor or other higher level employee goes through a manual process to decide who will be dispatched to provide service to the computer user.
These manual steps to identify the service needed and to allocate a worker to the service task are costly for both the computer user and the computer support company. The computer support company devotes valuable time for lower level workers and supervisors to evaluate the service needed, and to assign a service operator to the problem. The process is also costly for the computer user who pays for the time spent identifying the service needed and assigning the appropriate service operator to the problem. The same or similar manual steps are likewise required when allocating service operators to service tasks in a wide range of fields other than computer technical support.
To overcome some of these limitations, remote access desktop technology allows computer users to access and control other computers at remote locations. GoToMyPC© is an example of software that allows a service operator to remotely access a computer over the Internet. This technology typically comprises two software components: a program running on the remote computer, and a program running on the local computer. Remote desktop access technology allows the service operator to control a remote computer as if sitting in front of the remote computer. The service operator can run applications, access files, change configurations, or debug problems, for example.
The GoToAssist© product provides another example of remote desktop access technology. GoToAssist© provides functionality similar to GoToMyPC© but adds additional features such as the ability for an administrator to review connections and manually select the computers to be connected. GoToAssist© also allows a supervisor to review information about remote computer connections while computers are connected.
Existing remote desktop technology increases service efficiency by eliminating the need for a service operator to physically travel to the computer user's location. However, all the manual steps described above still need to be performed to determine which service operator will provide the necessary support service over the remote desktop connection. The overall process is, therefore, still highly inefficient.

Management and allocation of services using remote computer connections


A liquid crystal display device includes a first thin film transistor connected to a first data line and controlling a first voltage output, a second thin film transistor connected to a second data line parallel to the first data line and controlling a second voltage output, a third thin film transistor connected to a third data line disposed between the first data line and the second data line and controlling a third voltage output, a first liquid crystal capacitor electrically connected to the first thin film transistor and the third thin film transistor, and a second liquid crystal capacitor electrically connected to the second thin film transistor and the third thin film transistor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an array substrate and a liquid crystal display device having the same, more particularly, an array substrate of a liquid crystal display device having a wide viewing angle.
2. Description of the Related Art
A liquid crystal display ("LCD") device displays images by applying voltages to liquid crystal molecules disposed between two substrates on which polarizers are attached to control transmissivity of the liquid crystal molecules. LCD devices are widely preferred for their thinness, lightness, and low voltage consumption among various display devices. However, viewing angle of an LCD device is relatively narrow since inclined polarized incident light is not completely eliminated in an LCD. Attempts have been made to widen the viewing angle of a LCD, such as multi-domain driving, phase difference compensation, in-plane switching mode, and vertical alignment mode.

Array substrate and liquid crystal display device having the same


Provided herein is a furniture wrapping system. The furniture wrapping system includes a film roll support configured to unroll a first film across a path of the furniture article in a first direction, such that the film roll support positions a film barrier across the path. The furniture wrapping system includes a conveyor mechanism configured to carry the furniture article along the path and into the barrier. The furniture wrapping system includes a sealer configured to extend across the path to form a seal such that the furniture article is partially enclosed in the first film.

Traditionally, furniture is wrapped by hand and manually packaged or bagged to protect it during shipping and handling. Such wrapping requires manipulating the furniture, sizing the bags or material to fit around the furniture piece and then choosing the right wrapping material, all which can be difficult, time consuming, and sometimes dangerous to individuals tasked with manipulating the furniture or moving it around to get it wrapped and packaged. There are opportunities to improve the packaging used as well as the type of material and combine that with reduction in labor over traditional techniques.

Automated furniture bagger and material therefor


A device for lighting a room is described. The device has an envelope with a transparent face, the face having an interior surface coated with a cathodoluminescent screen and a thin, reflective, conductive, anode layer. There is a broad-beam electron gun mounted directly to feedthroughs in a base of the envelope with a heated, button-on-hairpin, cathode for emitting electrons in a broad beam towards the anode, and a power supply mounted on the feedthroughs at the base of the envelope that drives the cathode to a multi-kilovolt negative voltage. A two-prong snubber serves as an anode contact to permit the power supply to drive the anode to a voltage near ground. A method of manufacture of the anode uses a single step deposition and lacquering process followed by a metallization using a conical-spiral tungsten filament coated with aluminum by a thermal spray coating process.

It has been known for more than a century that electrons accelerated towards and striking an anode at high energies will cause a cathodoluminescent phosphor on the anode to emit light. When used with tightly focused electron beams and magnetic or electrostatic deflection systems, this method of producing light from phosphors has been widely used in display devices for generations. It has been proposed to use an electron beam to excite phosphors for general room lighting.
There are many differences in detail between the requirements for general room lighting devices and display devices.
A prior anode fabrication method for monochromatic phosphor screens is as follows:                a. An optional transparent electrode layer is applied to a face of a glass envelope.        b. Phosphor slurry is prepared combining phosphor powder (which may contain a blend of luminescent compounds to give emitted light desired spectral characteristics), potassium silicate, water, and small amounts of other chemicals including electrolytes.        c. The slurry is poured into the glass envelope and allowed to settle.        d. After phosphor settles from the slurry, the remaining liquid is removed.        e. Phosphor left on the face of the glass envelope is dried to a solid coating        f. The phosphor is baked to dry and harden the phosphor coating.        g. Water "pre-wet," containing surfactants, is introduced to the envelope and poured out, leaving a slight residue of the pre-wet solution on the rough surface of the phosphor layer and filling tiny cavities thereon.        h. Immediately, a lacquer is applied over the phosphor+pre-wet composite. The lacquer and residual pre-wet is allowed to dry. The result is a smooth surface of lacquer.        i. A thin, conductive, reflective, layer of metal is deposited on the surface of the lacquer; typically this is done by placing a pellet of aluminum on a surface that is then heated by a filament.
Electron guns are commonly used for generating an electron beam for use in Cathode Ray Tubes (CRTs), electron microscopes, x-ray tubes, and other applications. In common use, the electron gun or electron source has electron optics for beam control, typically forming a narrow beam, and in order to stabilize emission. Each electron source has at least one cathode.
In every basic free electron-source lamp, regardless of the type of electron source (thermionic cathode, cold cathode, field-emission cathode), it is required to have an anode contact that allows return of current from the anode. These contacts are typically spring-formed contacts that extend into a glass envelope of the lamp to contact the anode layer.
FIG. 13 shows part of a prior-art cathode ray tube 6 having an electron source 12 and a snubber support tube 10 with independently sprung anode contacts 14 that contact an anode layer 16 within a glass enclosure 8. FIG. 14 shows a front view of snubber tube 10 of FIG. 13 illustrating positions of the three independently sprung contacts 14, as typically used in the industry. Snubber 10 is typically tubular such that contacts 14 are symmetrically attached around the tube. Tube 10 imparts a force to each contact 14 to ensure contact between contacts 14 and anode layer 16.

System and manufacturing a cathodoluminescent lighting device