An invention is disclosed for performing online upgrades of applications, including the managed application state, without disrupting the functionality of the application during the upgrade process. A Java module is executed on a server, where the Java module includes at least one original entity bean and at least one original state object in communication with the original entity bean. The original state object stores a state of the original entity bean. Then, an upgraded state object is generated and the state stored in the original state object is transferred to the upgraded state object. In this manner, state management for the original entity bean can be provided using the upgraded state object.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to Java programming, and more particularly to methods for performing online upgrades to the managed state of Java based applications.
2. Description of the Related Art
Today's world of computer programming offers many high-level programming languages. Java, for example, has achieved widespread use in a relatively short period of time and is largely attributed with the ubiquitous success of the Internet. The popularity of Java is due, at least in part, to its platform independence, object orientation and dynamic nature. In addition, Java removes many of the tedious and error-prone tasks that must be performed by an application programmer, including memory management and cross-platform porting. In this manner, the Java programmer can better focus on design and functionality issues.
One particular Java environment is the Java 2 platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE), which facilitates building Web-based and enterprise applications. Broadly speaking, J2EE services are performed in the middle tier between the user's browser and the databases and legacy information systems. J2EE comprises a specification, reference implementation and a set of testing suites. J2EE further comprises Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB), JavaServer Pages (JSP), Java servlets, and a plurality of interfaces for linking to information resources in the platform.
The J2EE specifications define how applications should be written for the J2EE environment. Thus the specifications provide the contract between the applications and the J2EE platform. One aspect of the J2EE specification is the EJB 2.0 Container Managed Persistence (CMP). The EJB 2.0 specification defines a contract between an entity bean, its container and the persistence manager for the management of persistent state and relationships for the entity beans. For a complete specification of CMP, refer to the EJB 2.0 specification published by Sun Microsystems, Inc., which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
According to the EJB programming model, a bean provider develops a set of entity beans for an application and specifies the relationships between these objects. For each entity bean, the bean provider specifies an abstract persistence schema, which defines a set of methods for accessing the container-managed fields and relationships for the entity bean. The container-managed fields and relationships of the abstract persistence schema are specified in the deployment descriptor defined by the bean provider.
The deployer uses the persistence manager provider tools to determine how persistent fields and relationships are mapped to the underlying persistence mechanism, such as, a database. The persistence manager tools also generate the additional classes and interfaces that enable the persistence manager to manage the persistent fields and relationships of the entity beans at the runtime. An advantage of container managed persistence is that the entity beans become logically independent of the underlying persistence mechanism. The CMP also leads to a simple programming mode for managing persistence.
An entity bean with container manager persistence includes its class, a remote or local interface that defines its client-view business methods, a home interface that defines create, remove, home and finder methods. The abstract persistence schema comprises a set of properties, each representing a field or relationship in the persistent state of entity bean. The entity bean defines a set of accessor (setter and getters) methods for the persistent fields and relationships.
The bean provider generally does not write any database access calls in the entity bean class. Instead, a persistence manager that is available to the container at runtime handles the persistence. The bean provider codes all persistent data access using the setter and getter methods defined for the container-managed persistent and relationship fields.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the tradeoffs that business and carrier grade applications have to make. The carrier grade applications, which are applications used in high-performance, high-traffic networks such as used by telecoms, service providers and ISPs, require higher performance and availability than business applications.
Carrier grade (CG) applications require high availability of the order of five 9's and better. A high availability environment is one in which a service or component has greater availability, usually due to component redundancy, than in some base environment. Typically the term is used to describe failover cluster environment in which a service is provided by a primary component, until after some failure, after which the secondary component takes over the provision of the service. The high availability requirement for carrier grade applications leads to a requirement for a carrier grade application to achieve prompt (two seconds or less) restart or failover to a secondary component with minimal disruption of service. Thus, the application has to become operational within minimal time after a failure.
A carrier grade application requires a shorter failover time as compared to the business applications, which typically store persistent state in a database to achieve ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) properties for the managed state. Business applications rely on database-specific mechanisms to achieve state replication, thereby protecting persistent data from the failure of the primary database.
A typical database replication mechanism is database log replay. The database logs changes in a transaction log that is used for transaction replay in case of a failure. The log replay involves applying the transaction log to a replica database so that a near-mirror copy of primary database is created. Unfortunately, the time-delay in replaying the transaction log on the replica database slows down the failover. Moreover, a huge rate of inserts/updates may create huge transaction replay log, which further slows the transaction replay at the failure time.
Business applications also rely on parallel database servers to achieve state replication and failover. In case of parallel database servers, multiple active database engines, coordinated by a distributed lock manager, manage active replication. However, use of the distributed lock manager for coordinating database operations slows down the application performance. Hence, the use of a parallel database server is considered more suitable for read-only and read-mostly applications. With the short failover time requirement, a typical carrier grade application cannot rely on a database-based replication mechanism or a parallel database server to achieve state replication and failover.
Business applications typically need to maintain ACID properties for the data being used by the application. Such applications cannot afford any data inconsistency and thereby store persistent data in a database and use transactions. For business applications, the tradeoff between consistency and concurrency gets reflected in the choice of the database isolation level. The use of optimistic concurrency model as against pessimistic concurrency model is another design decision involved in the business applications as part of the consistency and concurrency tradeoff. Business applications also need a reliable and consistent database failover and recovery—these applications cannot afford any inconsistent data.
The carrier grade applications may have consistency and concurrency requirements that differ from the business applications. A carrier grade application may process multiple concurrent state transitions and may not require full ACID properties to be maintained for its managed state. For example, a CG J2EE application may need a fast failover and may afford to have the replica (now the new primary) take over in a state that is temporally inconsistent with the initial primary. The client using the carrier grade application should be able to bring the new primary into a consistent state by retrying transactions for state transitions. Moreover, there currently is no defined mechanism for online upgrades of software on a J2EE platform. Such upgrades require the system to continue providing services to clients while the system software upgrade is being performed.
In view of the forgoing, there is a need for systems and methods that manage state for applications that require high availability. The systems and methods should allow for state replication and provide high availability of the order of five 9's and better to carrier grade applications, and should further allow the managed state to be upgraded while the application continues to handle incoming requests.

Method and apparatus for upgrading managed application state for a java based application


Enforcing data sharing policy through shared data management, in one aspect, may include extracting data access rights from the one or more data policies based on a user role, data purpose, an object set and a constraint identification; extracting a data domain from the one or more data policies based on the data purpose and the object set; associating the data access rights and the data domain with data attributes of the shared data; automatically responding to application-based offers and requests for the shared data within a Software-as-a-Service platform based on the data access rights.

In many entities still, in-house IT applications are poorly integrated, for example, with disparate applications running on their own, even when there are commonalities in the data those applications use. In such cases, data updated by one application is usually imported to another application manually. For instance, an IT administrator may have to manually access data updated or used by one application and load on to another application.
Take for example, local or municipal government's IT applications used to support service delivery for the municipalities. Those applications are typically aligned directly to the departmental structure, with application(s) covering only the tasks associated with a single department. However, services offered and provided to citizens often involve the work of many departments. Consider, for example, a parcel that has been recently renovated by its owners. The parcel owner applies for a building permit from the Building department. After the work has been completed and the Certificate of Occupancy has been issued, the Assessor's office must update the parcel details to reflect the renovations and initiate a parcel reassessment. The newly assessed value has to be updated in the tax system for calculation of the property tax liability. Finally, the property tax payments collected by the tax department are directly entered into the tax system, and must later be updated in and reconciled with the accounts of the Finance department's General Ledger. This example describes the complex interactions between four departments as part of the administration for parcel management services including the renovations, assessment and property tax processes.
In many cases, the departments all use distinct, nonintegrated, custom software programs to aid in their work. Additionally, departments may also use paper-based records and manual record-keeping. Municipalities may choose to pay for pair-wise integration between software applications or purchase preintegrated software packages, especially for departments that share information frequently. Departments such as Police and Justice, Assessment and Tax, Personnel and Finance rely heavily on the sharing of information that is central to their work. The Police department must notify the Justice department of arrest and investigation details as input to current and future court cases. The Assessment department must periodically give the Tax department the tax roll, a listing of all taxable parcels, their current assessment values, and valid exemptions. The Personnel department (and/or individual departments) maintains information on employee pay rates, raises, benefits, and work hours. These factors are used to calculate semi-monthly pay to produce payroll checks.
Although municipalities have the choice to pay for integration between independent applications, the cost is usually prohibitive. Additionally, the association of IT applications to a single specific department can be a limiting factor for service offerings. The applications are not flexible to adapt to new needs, therefore the only way currently to have this information reflected in multiple department software is through constant manual transmission and inputting.

International Business Machines Corporation


A transparent pane, in particular a glass pane, having at least one electroconducting, non-transparent contact surface placed on one of its surfaces, to connect it by soldering to a connection piece. In the region of the soldering location, the contact surface has at least one cutout via which the soldering filler metal is visible through the pane after the connection piece has been soldered to the contact surface. Such a configuration allows reliable visual verification of the soldering locations, even in cases in which the soldering location is incorporated within a composite glazing panel and has been soldered, if necessary by induction heating.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a transparent pane, in particular a glass pane, having at least one electroconducting, nontransparent contact surface placed on one of its surfaces, in order to connect it by soldering to a connection piece.
2. Description of Related Art
Such panes are known in many constructions. In most applications, the panes carry, on their surface, electrical functional elements such as electrically conducting tracks, heating surfaces, or antennas, again in the form of coatings over the entire surface, which have to be connected with at least one contact surface to an external connection piece by soldering.
Often the contact surfaces (for example, the conducting tracks or, depending on the case, the functional elements themselves) are produced by applying an electrically conducting paste to be baked; sometimes, thin strips of tinned metal foil are also used, these being connected by soldering to the surface of the pane, which is pretinned where appropriate. In all these cases, a connection piece is applied to the contact surface via the free side and is then soldered.
Many methods of producing composite glazing panels are also known that incorporate electrical functional elements between their rigid panes and are provided, near the edge of the composite glazing panel, with electrical connection pieces to be soldered of the type indicated at the beginning, and of course connection pieces, if possible flat pieces, are used in this case, these having, for example, the structure described in document DE-C2 19 536 131. It has also already been proposed (DE-C1 19 829 151) to supply the heat needed for the soft soldering by induction or laser beam only after a precomposite has been produced. The term "soft soldering" is understood to mean the use of a filler metal for soldering that has a low melting point, one that does not exceed a temperature of 450° C.
As a general rule, the connection pieces to be soldered or the soldering locations themselves are optically masked by means of opaque colored layers. In most standard cases of use as a vehicle window pane, the panes are almost always provided with a peripheral border band in the form of a frame made of a black screen-printing paste that is perfectly suitable for also masking the regions of electrical connections. Said collector rails or actual contact surfaces are also not transparent because they are made of a screen-printing paste with a high silver content or, as was indicated, in the form of bands of metal foil. On the passenger compartment side of the vehicle, the border regions of the panes and the mounting flanges on the body that bear them are usually covered and masked by interior furnishing elements.
In general, for transparent panes provided with contact surfaces, in particular for the soldering places located on the inside of a composite glazing panel, which are heated only after this composite has been manufactured, the problem arises of being able to reliably check the result of the soldering through the pane.
Although document EP-B1-281 351 describes one particular illustrative example of such soldering locations, in which a framed contact surface is produced on an opaque coating of the surface of a glass pane using a special screen-printing pattern on the structure of which the liquid soldering filler metal can adhere better, visual inspection of these soldering places is possible only from the free side of the pane; because of the opaque coating, the rear side of the contact surface is not visible through the actual pane.
The problem at the basis of the invention consists in proposing a solution to the abovementioned problem.

Transparent window with non-transparent contact surface for a soldering bonding


Hydrodesulfurization of a cracked naphtha is effected in the presence of, as catalyst, an alkali metal, a metal of Group VIII, and a metal of Group VI-B on an alumina support containing a hydrotalcite-like composition.

As is well known to those skilled in the art, cracked naphtha (obtained as product of a cracking operation or a coking operation) may contain a significant quantity of sulfur--up to as much as 13,000 wppm; and this material contributes a substantial quantity of undesired sulfur to the gasoline pool to which it is commonly passed. It is possible to decrease the sulfur content by (i) hydrotreating the whole feedstock to the cracking/coker unit or (ii) hydrotreating the product naphtha from these units.
The first noted alternative is a "brute force" effort that is very expensive in that it requires a large hydrotreater and it consumes significant quantities of hydrogen. The second-noted alternative is a more direct approach--but unfortunately it results in undesirable saturation of the olefins (typically originally present in amount of 20 v %-60 v %) and down to levels as low as 2 v %; and this reduces the octane number (Octane Number is the average of the Research Octane Number RON and the Motor Octane Number MON) of the product gasoline by as much as 10-20 units. Prior art desulfurization of full range FCC naphtha from 300 wppm down to 20 wppm of sulfur results in a typical decrease in octane number by about 14 units. This loss in octane number associated with desulfurization has a significant impact on the octane number of the refinery gasoline pool.
Typical prior art disclosures which are directed to hydrodesulfurization include:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,140,626 (Bertolacini and Sue-A-Quan) describes a selective hydrodesulfurization process employing a catalyst with a Group VIB metal and a Group VIII metal deposited on a support consisting of at least 70 wt % magnesium oxide (MgO). Preferably, the Group VI-B metal is molybdenum and the Group VIII metal is cobalt. Catalyst A (a catalyst of the invention of Bertolacini et al) contains 3 wt % CoO/.about.16 wt % MoO3 on a pure MgO support. Catalyst B is a sample of commercial Criterion HDS-2A CoMo on alumina hydrotreating catalyst (with similar levels of CoO and MoO.sub.3). Catalyst A is better than Catalyst B for hydrodesulfurization (HDS). In addition, catalyst A produces better octane numbers than Catalyst B at equivalent values of HDS (in the range of 75-85% HDS); however, the improvement is only .about.1.5 octane numbers. Surprisingly, for both catalysts, olefin saturation was fairly low (<.about.40 wt %) and octane penalties were fairly insignificant (<.about.2 octane numbers) for the ranges of HDS studied. Other catalysts of the invention (prepared on supports with at least 70 wt % magnesium oxide) give HDS improvements.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,132,632 (Yu and Myers) is very similar to the above described patent except that the metal loadings are restricted to 4-6 wt % for the Group VI-B metal and 0.5-2 wt % for the Group VIII metal. Again, preferably, the Group VI-B metal is molybdenum and the Group VIII metal is cobalt. Catalyst I (a catalyst of Yu et al) is .about.1 wt % CoO/.about.5 wt % MoO.sub.3 on a pure MgO support. Catalyst II contains .about.3 wt % COO/.about.17 wt % MoO3 on a support comprising 80 wt % MgO (i.e. a catalyst of U.S. Pat. No. 4,140,6626 supra). Catalyst I generally gives poorer HDS than Catalyst II, but Catalyst I gives less olefin saturation and better octane numbers at around the same level of HDS (.about.82-84%). The incremental octane improvement is small (.about.1.6 octane numbers). Again, for both catalysts, olefin saturation is fairly low (<.about.40 wt %) and octane penalties are fairly insignificant(<.about.2.6 octane numbers) for the ranges of HDS studied.
A paper entitled "DESULFURIZATION OF CAT CRACKED NAPHTHAS WITH MINIMUM OCTANE LOSS" presented at the 1978 NPRA Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Tex. by Coates, Myers and Sue-A-Quan sets forth a good overview of the development of what Amoco called their "Selective Ultrafining Process." The paper was presented about one year before the above described patents issued. The paper mentions two catalysts (presumably from the two patents). Sulfiding technique is mentioned as a major concern. The new catalysts show lower rates of deactivation than standard hydrotreating catalysts for HDS. Incremental octane improvements are said to be 4 MON and 4.5 RON at 90% HDS. The incremental octane improvements of the presentation were much larger than those shown in the subsequent Amoco patents.
GB 2,225,731 discloses hydrotreating catalysts comprising Group VI and Group VIII metal hydrogenation components on a support which comprises magnesia and alumina in a homogeneous phase. The mole ratio of Mg to Al is 3-10:1. The catalyst is said to have comparable HDS activity to similar catalysts based on alumina.
Additional background may be noted from:
(i) U.S. Pat. No. 3,539,306 to Kyowa Chemical Industry Co. as assignee of Kumura et al; PA1 (ii) U.S. Pat. No. 3,650,704 to T. Kumura et al; PA1 (iii) Cavani et al Anionic Clays with Hydrotalcite-like Structure as Precursors of Hydrogenation Catalysts Mat. Res. Soc. Extended Abstracts" (EA-24)--Pub by Materials Research Society; and PA1 (iv) O. Clause et al Preparation and Thermal Reactivity of Nickel/Chromium and Nickel/Aluminum Hydrotalcite-type Precursors Applied Catalysts 73 (1991) 217-236 Elsevier Science Publishers; PA1 (v) Eur. Pat. Application 0 476 489 Al to Haldor Topsoe A/S as assignee of E. G. Derouane et al; PA1 (vi) U.S. Pat. No. 3,705,097 issued Dec. 5, 1972 to Dow Chemical Co. as assignee of B. D. Head et al; PA1 (vii) U.S. Pat. No. 3,956,105 issued May 11, 1976 to Universal Oil Products as assignee of J. E. Conway. PA1 (viii) U.S. Pat. No. 4,962,237 issued Oct. 9, 1990 to Dow Chemical Company as assignee of D. E. Laycock.
The conventional catalysts for naphtha hydro-treating include CoMo, NiMo, NiW, CoMoP, and NiMoP metal oxides supported on gamma alumina typified by the commercial Criterion C-444 CoMo hydrotreating catalyst. Magnesia supported catalysts and silica-magnesia supported catalysts are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,853,429 and 3,269,938 respectively. The commercial BASF K8-11 catalyst, used in the water gas shift conversion, generally contains 4 wt % CoO and 10 wt % MoO.sub.3 on a magnesia-alumina-silica support. Contrary to the claimed advantages of the above-described Amoco patents and paper, one of the common drawback of catalysts on magnesia-containing supports is the low HDS activity compared to alumina (particularly gamma alumina) supported catalysts. It is commonly believed that the low surface area of magnesia-containing supports and the poor dispersion of MoO.sub.3 on magnesia-containing supports are the cause of the low HDS activities.
It is an object of this invention to provide a novel hydrodesulfurization process. It is another object of this invention to provide a magnesium-containing catalyst with a very high hydrodesulfurization activity. Other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Hydrodesulfurization of cracked naphtha with hydrotalcite-containing catalyst


A camera is provided that includes an array of optical detectors and an optical filter placed adjacent the array. The optical detectors output detection signals that are used to form control signals. The filter includes spatial sections of individually adjustable optical density. The optical densities are controlled by the individual control signals. The camera outputs the combined control signals and detection signals, thus effectively providing an output with a larger dynamic range than would be provided by the detection signals of the detectors alone. An objective lens and a housing form a stand alone unit. The detectors can have different responses to different wavelengths to achieve color specific effects. Methods are further provided for controlling the filter. The detection signals are scanned to ensure that a predefined filtering condition is met. If not, control signals are iteratively generated and applied to the filter until the condition has been met. Then the detection signals are combined with the control signals to form composite signals that encode the intensity distribution of the beam. Control methods ensure greater dynamic range and accuracy. Image processing methods enhance viewability.

1. Field of the invention
The present invention is related to the field of cameras that include optical filters with spatially adjustable variable optical density.
2. Description of the related art
Cameras using detector arrays, such as CCD arrays at the focal plane suffer from the drawback that the dynamic range of the detectors is limited to a window of values of intensity. The window can be adjusted up or down. The adjustment is typically optimized by setting the window to match the average illumination level.
No matter where the intensity window is set, illumination with intensity outside the window will not be imaged correctly. Points of lesser illumination will appear as having a uniform minimum threshold value, losing all detail below that. Points of higher illumination will do the same with a maximum threshold value. In addition some of them may xe2x80x9cspill overxe2x80x9d to adjacent neighboring elements that are less illuminated, causing xe2x80x9cbloomingxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9csmearingxe2x80x9d.
A solution is to use a spatially adjustable variable density light filter in conjunction with the camera. A specific application is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,541,705 to Kan et al., reproduced in this document as FIG. 1. A receiving camera 20 has an objective lens 22 and a CCD array 24 at the focal plane of the objective lens. The filter is made from a liquid crystal light valve (LCLV) 30, that is placed in the path of the beam with the image and between a polarizer 32 and an analyzer 34.
A main lens 40 and a relay lens 42 focus the image successively through the filter, a second LCLV 46, and then onto the camera. A scanner control 50 scans the scene, and accordingly provides a signal. The scanner signal goes to an optional brightness information recorder or transmitter 52. The scanner signal also goes to LCLV display driver 54, that drives both the LCLVs. Each LCLV is made from a two dimensional array of elements whose optical density is individually controllable. This way they can make local bright spots dimmer, bringing them within the window of values of the dynamic range.
A problem identified by the inventors in the design of such systems is that the LCLV itself ordinarily tends to cast an undesirable image on the CCD array itself. The prior art has avoided this problem by placing the LCLV at an effectively infinite optical distance from the CCD array. For example, in FIG. 1, LCLV 30 is at the focal plane of lens 40.
This solution has been unsatisfactory. Adding lenses 40 and 42 makes the optical path of the whole system longer, and adds to the cost.
It is desired to exploit the advantages of variable density filters without the cost of additional lenses, or requiring a longer optical path.
The present invention overcomes these problems and limitations of the prior art.
The invention provides a camera that includes an array of optical detectors and an optical filter placed adjacent the array. This way the filter does not cast an objectionable image. This placing eliminates the need for using the additional lenses, and for dedicating the optical path length that they require.
The filter includes spatial sections of individually adjustable optical density. The optical densities are controlled by individual control signals. The optical detectors output detection signals that are used to form the control signals. The camera outputs the combined control signals and detection signals, thus effectively providing a larger dynamic range than would be provided by the detection signals of the detectors alone.
The camera is preferably provided with an objective lens that defines a focal plane. The detector array is placed at the focal plane. The camera can include a housing to form a stand alone unit, that does not need to be larger than an equivalent prior art camera.
The detectors can have different responses to different wavelengths. As such, color specific effects are attained.
The invention further provides a method for controlling the filter. The detection signals are scanned to ensure that a predefined filtering condition is met. If not, control signals are iteratively generated and applied to the filter until the condition has been met. Then the detection signals are combined with the control signals to form composite signals that encode the intensity distribution of the beam. Control methods ensure greater dynamic range and accuracy. Image processing methods enhance viewability.
The invention can be used advantageously in video cameras and still image cameras, such as those in digital copiers. Another advantage of the invention is that it permits the use of sensors with very low dynamic range.

Camera with spatially adjustable variable density optical filter and method for controlling the same


A damping apparatus for an exhaust valve in a compressor, an exhaust valve assembly having the damping apparatus, and a compressor using the exhaust valve assembly. The damping apparatus comprises a fixed body; the fixed body comprises an exhaust hole comprises an exhaust hole through which a compression cavity and an exhaust cavity are in fluid communication with each other; the exhaust hole comprises an inlet, an outlet, and an intermediate cavity provided between the inlet and the outlet and allowing the inlet and the outlet to be in fluid communication with each other; the intermediate cavity is configured to enable the backflow of the gas from the exhaust cavity to form a vortex in the intermediate cavity. The damping apparatus has advantages of reducing the force and frequency of impacts on an exhaust valve plate, and prolonging the service life of the valve plate.

The section provides background technical information related to the present disclosure, which does not necessarily constitute the conventional technology of the present disclosure.
Generally, the market requires compressors to maintain high-efficiency operation in a large temperature range. In order to meet the demand for the diversity of compressor pressure ratios, dynamic exhaust valves (HVE) have been widely used. Among them, a dynamic valve is a one-way valve including a valve disc (moving part) and a valve plate (thrust part). When in the forward direction, the impact force of the fluid medium determines the opening of the valve. When in the reverse direction, the valve is closed to prohibit circulation. For example, a related technology scroll compressor including an exhaust valve is described. Referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the scroll compressor provided with an exhaust valve. The scroll compressor (hereinafter simply referred to as "compressor") 100 may include a housing 110. The housing 110 may include a housing body 112 having a substantially cylindrical shape, a top cover 114 mounted to the top of the housing body 112, and a bottom cover 116 mounted to the bottom of the housing body 112. The housing 110 defines the internal volume of the scroll compressor 100. In addition, a partition 119 may be provided in the housing 110, which enables the partition 119 and the top cover 114 to define a high-pressure region HR (the high-pressure region HR is suitable for temporarily storing high-pressure working fluid to be discharged to the outside of the compressor), and enables the partition 119 to define a low-pressure region LR with the housing body 112 and the bottom cover 116.
The scroll compressor 100 further includes a compression mechanism CM provided in the housing 110 and is suitable for compressing a working fluid (such as a refrigerant). The compression mechanism CM may include an orbiting scroll member 150 and a non-orbiting scroll member 160.
The orbiting scroll member 150 may include: a base plate 152; a spiral orbiting scroll 154 extending upward from the upper surface of the base plate 152; and a hub 156 extending downward from the lower surface of the base plate 152.
The non-orbiting scroll member 160 may include: a base plate 162; a spiral non-orbiting scroll 164 extending downward from the lower surface of the base plate 162; an exhaust hole 166 formed at substantially the center of the base plate 162 and suitable for communicating with an exhaust cavity of the compression mechanism CM; and a recess 168 formed at substantially the center of the base plate 162, where the recess 168 is located above the exhaust hole 166 and suitable for communicating with the exhaust hole 166 and communicating with the high-pressure region HR.
The non-orbiting scroll 164 may be engaged with the orbiting scroll 154 to define a series of crescent-shaped working fluid cavities. These cavities may include: closed compression cavities undergoing compression with increasing pressure.
Wherein, an exhaust valve (such as HVE valve) 190 may be arranged in the recess 168 of the non-orbiting scroll member 160, to control the discharge of the compression mechanism CM. Specifically, referring to FIG. 2 to FIG. 3, where FIG. 2 is a partially exploded perspective view showing that an exhaust valve is arranged at an exhaust hole of a compression mechanism of a compressor in the related technology, where the exhaust valve 190 includes a valve plate 191, a valve disc 192 and a stopper 193. FIG. 3 is a partial perspective cross-sectional view after the exhaust valve is installed at the exhaust hole of the compressor shown in FIG. 2. In the early stage of operation of the compression mechanism of the compressor, the pressure in the compression cavity defined between the orbiting scroll member 150 and the non-orbiting scroll member 160 is lower than the pressure in the exhaust cavity (i.e. the high-pressure region HR), and the pressure difference between the cavities causes the exhaust valve to reside in a closed state (that is, the valve disc 192 covers and closes the valve hole of the valve plate), and then, the gas in the compression cavity is further compressed until the pressure of the compression cavity reaches the sum of the pressure of the exhaust cavity and the pressure loss, and till then the valve disc 192 is opened to discharge. As the compression mechanism continues to discharge, backflow of the gas will occur when the pressure of the compression cavity is less than the sum of the pressure of the exhaust cavity and the pressure loss, and the backflow gas will hit the valve disc 192 of the exhaust valve, causing the exhaust valve to close (i.e. the valve disc 192 covers and closes the valve hole of the valve plate 191 again). However, during the backflow of gas, since there is no buffer zone, under the action of the backflow gas hitting the valve plate and the resilience of the valve disc 192 itself, the valve disc 192 hits the valve plate at a high speed, which will generate a big impact noise and also reduce the life of the exhaust valve. Experiments have shown that compressor with an exhaust valve has a noise increase of at least 5 to 10 decibels compared with a compressor without an exhaust valve. In addition, the exhaust, backflow and exhaust of the compressor are continuously circulated, resulting in continuous noise.
In order to suppress such noise, the related conventional technology provides a muffler M at the exhaust hole (as shown in FIG. 4, which is a perspective view showing the muffler M according to the related technology). However, when the muffler M is used, only the noise in part of the entire frequency band (for example, high-frequency noise) can be suppressed. Moreover, due to the arrangement of the muffler, a pressure drop will be caused, which adversely affects the performance of the compressor and the entire refrigeration system. In addition, the additional installation of the muffler complicates the manufacturing process, increases the manufacturing cost and requires additional installation space for the muffler due to the increase in the number of components, and correspondingly degrades the operation reliability of the compressor.

Damping apparatus for exhaust valve in compressor, exhaust valve assembly, and compressor

Emerson Climate Technologies (Suzhou) Co., Ltd.


The present invention relates to an organic light emitting diode comprising: a first electrode; a second electrode facing the first electrode; a hole injecting layer or a hole transport layer, which is interposed between the first electrode and the second electrode; and a light emitting layer, wherein the hole injecting layer or the hole transport layer comprises at least one type of amine compound represented by chemical formula A or chemical formula B, and the chemical formula A and the chemical formula B are the same as those included in the description of the invention.

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), based on self-luminescence, are used to create digital displays with the advantage of having a wide viewing angle and being able to be made thinner and lighter than liquid crystal displays. In addition, an OLED display exhibits a very fast response time. Accordingly, OLEDs find applications in the full color display field or the illumination field.
In general, the term "organic light-emitting phenomenon" refers to a phenomenon in which electrical energy is converted to light energy by means of an organic material. An organic light-emitting diode using the organic light-emitting phenomenon has a structure usually including an anode, a cathode, and an organic layer interposed therebetween.
In this regard, the organic layer may have, for the most part, a multilayer structure consisting of different materials, for example, a hole injecting layer, a hole transport layer, a light-emitting layer, an electron transport layer, and an electron injecting layer in order to enhance the efficiency and stability of the organic light-emitting diode. In the organic light-emitting diode having such a structure, application of a voltage between the two electrodes injects a hole from the anode and an electron from the cathode to the organic layer. In the luminescent zone, the hole and the electron recombine to produce an exciton. When the exciton returns to the ground state from the excited state, the molecule of the organic layer emits light. Such an organic light-emitting diode is known to have characteristics such as self-luminescence, high luminance, high efficiency, low driving voltage, a wide viewing angle, high contrast, and high-speed response.
Materials used as organic layers in OLEDs may be divided into luminescent materials and charge transport materials, for example, a hole injecting material, a hole transport material, an electron injection material, and an electron transport material according to the functions thereof and, as needed, further into an electron-blocking material or a hole-blocking material.
With regard to related arts pertaining to hole transport layers, reference may be made to Korean Patent No. 10-1074193 (issued Oct. 14, 2011), which describes an organic light-emitting diode using as a hole transport layer a compound having a core structure in which a carbazole structure is fused with at least one benzene ring, and Korean Patent No. 10-1455156 (issued Oct. 27, 2014), which describes an organic light-emitting diode in which the HOMO energy level of an auxiliary light-emitting layer is set between those of a hole transport layer and a light-emitting layer.
In spite of enormous effort for fabricating organic light-emitting diodes as in conventional technologies including the cited documents, however, there is still continued need to develop novel organic light-emitting diodes having more improved emission efficacy.

Organic light emitting diode having high efficiency


A medical imaging system comprising: a microwave antenna array comprising a transmitting antenna and a plurality of receiving antennae, wherein the transmitting antenna is configured to transmit microwave signals so as to illuminate a body part of a patient and the receiving antennae are configured to receive the microwave signals following scattering within the body part; a processor configured to process the scattered microwave signals and generate an output indicative of the internal structure of the body part to identify a target within the body part; and an ablation probe comprising an ablation needle movable relative to the microwave antenna array; wherein the receiving antennae are further configured to receive microwave signals scattered or emitted by the ablation needle and the processor is further configured to monitor a position of the ablation needle and to guide the ablation needle to the identified target within the body part which it can be used to perform an ablation procedure.

Various medical imaging techniques are known for examining the human body. Such imaging techniques may be used to interrogate tissues and organs in order to identify abnormalities, such as tumors or lesions. For example, X-ray (mammography), microwave imaging, ultrasound, MRI are all common imaging modalities. Such techniques are commonly used to examine breast tissue, but may also be used in other areas of the body, such as the liver, pancreas, prostate, thyroid, lungs, ovaries and lymph nodes.
Once identified, a target, such as a tumor, can be treated using a suitable procedure. Typically, surgical resection has been the standard treatment of primary solid tumors localized to organs such as the lung, colon, and breast. However, needle ablation techniques such as radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and microwave ablation (MWA) provide a minimally invasive, nonsurgical alternative.
RFA uses a needle electrode to deliver radiofrequency current to the target which causes localized heating sufficient to achieve necrosis of malignant tissue, with only minimal destruction of the surrounding healthy cells.
RFA relies on electrical conduction through the tissue: RF current is able to pass through tissue because of the abundance of ionic fluid present. However, tissue is not a perfect conductor and RF current causes resistive heating (the Joule effect). Direct RF heating occurs within a few millimeters of the applicator (electrode), but a large portion of the final ablation zone is created when thermal conduction pushes heat into more peripheral areas around the electrode.
MWA uses a needle antenna or antennae to deliver microwave electromagnetic (EM) energy to the target.
MWA occurs as a result of dielectric heating of tissue. Dielectric heating occurs when an alternating EM field is applied to an imperfect dielectric material. In tissue, heating occurs because the EM field forces water molecules in the tissue to oscillate. The bound water molecules tend to oscillate out of phase with the applied fields, so some of the EM energy is absorbed and converted to heat. The best EM absorbers contain a high percentage of water (e.g., most solid organs) while less heating occurs in tissues with low water content (e.g., fat).
The invention seeks to provide a system which improves the treatment of a target within a body part.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A spectral sensitivity correcting device in a photoelectric tristimulus colorimeter which comprises three light receiving systems for the measurement of tristimulus values. Signals indicative of respective outputs from two of the light receiving systems multiplied by predetermined correction coefficients are added to or subtracted from an output from the remaining light receiving system so that spectral sensitivity characteristics of the remaining light receiving system can approach predetermined spectral sensitivity characteristics.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a photoelectric tristimulus colorimeter and, more particularly, to a calibrating system in the photoelectric tristimulus colorimeter for calibrating the spectral sensitivity.
1. Description of the Prior Art
As standards for expressing color in term of quantified values, the CIE (Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage) has recommended, in 1931, the standard colorimetric observer in which the tristimulus values of the radiant flux coming from a given point or area in space and subsequently evoking a sensation of color after having irradiated the central part of the observer's retina exhibit such respective spectral sensitivity curves as shown by solid lines 1, 2 and 3 in the graph of FIG. 6. This signifies that a measurement of the color of an object using three photodetector systems having respective spectral sensitivities duplicating closely the CIE standard color-matching functions, that is, the tristimulus values, can provide a clue as to the color perceived by an observer when the latter receives the color stimuli.
To quantify the color, it is a general practice to utilize a spectrophotometer for the determination of the tristimulus values by measuring the spectral distributions of the radiant flux from a test piece, multiplying the respective measurements of the spectral radiant flux distributions by color-matching functions of the tristimulus values and integrating the resultant products individually. However, as a handy method for the quantification of the color, the use is made of a photoelectric colorimeter in place of the spectrophotometer, which colorimeter makes use of three light receiving elements having respective spectral sensitivities so chosen as to duplicate the spectral tristimulus values for the measurement of the radiant flux coming from an object to give a unique point in the chromaticity diagram.
The present invention pertains to the photoelectric tristimulus colorimeter. The accuracy with which the photoelectric tristimulus colorimeter can give accurate measurements depends on how and to what extend the spectral sensitivities of the three photodetector systems used therein can duplicate the CIE standard color-matching functions as closely as possible. However, the standard color-matching functions recommended by the CIE are not the functions that give respective peak sensitivities at particular wavelengths, but are continuous functions drawn for a wavelength range having a certain bandwidth containing three waveforms having different peak wavelengths which overlap with each other. Therefore, it is not easy to design each light receiving element of the photoelectric tristimulus colorimeter so as to duplicate the CIE standard color-matching functions and an error tends to be pronounced in sensitivity, which error may eventually result in an erroneous indication of the color through a display unit. A deviation in spectral sensitivity is found not only in the light receiving elements of an identical manufacturing lot, but also in those used in different colorimeters and, therefore, an error in measurement tends to be found among the colorimeters.
Various means have hitherto been suggested to compensate for the error. According to the prior art, the use has been made of a plurality of reference samples for calibration purpose each having a known chromaticity. In this instance, the measurement is corrected by determining outputs from the respective light receiving elements relative to various colors, calculating the ratios of actually measured values of the outputs from the light receiving elements relative to reference values corresponding to the known chromaticities of the reference samples (Reference value/Actually measured value) to give calibration constants, storing the calibration constants for the various colors in the form of a table, and selecting an optimum one of the calibration constants from the table which corresponds to the actually measured chromaticity of the sample for the actual correction of the measured value according to the selected calibration constant.
However, the conventional method has a problem in that the optimum calibration constant cannot be properly selected where the chromaticity of the sample measured lies intermediate between one calibration point and another calibration point since the calibration points are of a definite number. In such case, the error tends to occur and, also, since a reference reflector member is used in the determination of the calibration constant and various component parts of illuminating and light receiving systems intervene, effects vary depending on the presence or absence of gloss and a surface condition of an object to be measured. In an extreme case, the error tends to be amplified. While the calibration constant is varied depending on the point in the chromaticity diagram, the prior art method is not a method of correcting the spectral sensitivity curve itself and, therefore, no sufficient effect cannot be obtained.
While the spectral sensitivity characteristics of the light receiving system including filters used to divide rays of light to be measured into three primary color components and associated light receiving elements are required to duplicate the color-matching functions of the CIE standard observer, a deviation from the standards tends to occur in the actually manufactured colorimeter.

Spectral sensitivity correcting device in a photoelectric tristimulus colorimeter


In one example, a method includes outputting, for display at a presence-sensitive display, a graphical user interface including a text display region and a graphical keyboard. The method further includes receiving an indication of a first gesture detected at a location within the text display region, and selecting, based at least in part on the location within the text display region, at least a portion of a character string included in the text display region. The method further includes receiving, while the first gesture is detected at the presence-sensitive display, an indication of at least a portion of a second gesture to select at least one key of the graphical keyboard, and outputting, responsive to receiving an indication of a termination of at least the second gesture, a replacement character string for display within the text display region to replace the portion of the character string.

Some computing devices (e.g., mobile phones, tablet computers, etc.) may provide a graphical keyboard as part of a graphical user interface for inputting text using a presence-sensitive display (e.g., a screen). The graphical keyboard may enable a user of the computing device to enter text (e.g., for an e-mail, a text message, or a document, etc.). For instance, a presence-sensitive display of a computing device may output a graphical (or "soft") keyboard that enables the user to enter data by indicating (e.g., by tapping) keys displayed at the presence-sensitive display.
A graphical keyboard may enable a user to delete and/or replace one or more portions of text. For instance, in some examples, a user may repeatedly select a backspace key or delete key included in the graphical keyboard to delete characters of text. Certain techniques may enable a user to select a portion of text (e.g., a word) and enter replacement text by providing gesture input at or near the graphical keyboard. However, in such examples, a user may experience difficulty precisely selecting the portion of text when the text is small in size relative to the input medium of a user (e.g., relative to the size of a user's finger). Moreover, using such techniques, a user may typically have to provide additional input (e.g., subsequent touch input) to the computing device to reposition a cursor or carat prior to inserting additional text at the end of a sentence. As such, deleting and/or replacing characters when using a graphical keyboard may be difficult and may reduce the speed at which the user may interact with the computing device.


Catheter devices for diagnosing and treating discogenic pain are provided. The catheter devices comprise a tubular body configured for insertion into an intervertebral disc and a pressure measuring device disposed along the length of the tubular body, the pressure measuring device configured to measure the pressure within the intervertebral disc. The catheter devices are capable of measuring the pressure within an intervertebral disc of a subject while the subject is moving.

Discogenic pain is a form of back pain arising from one or more intervertebral discs in the spine. Discogenic pain occurs when there is a structural abnormality in an intervertebral disc, such as degeneration, a tear or herniation. In disc degeneration, fluid from the outer fibrous annulus surrounding an intervertebral disc is lost, causing the disc to become brittle. When the disc becomes so brittle that it cracks, the disc releases chemicals that may be a source of discogenic pain. Discogenic pain is also associated with activities that increase the pressure within the intervertebral disc, i.e., the intradiscal pressure. Sitting, bending forward, coughing and sneezing can increase the intradiscal pressure and lead to discogenic pain. In some cases, disc degeneration is chronic, resulting in a condition known as Degenerative Disc Disease.
To diagnose and treat discogenic pain, it is important to accurately locate the source of pain. Currently, discography is the most common way of diagnosing discogenic pain. During discography, a needle is inserted into an intervertebral disc suspected of causing the back pain and a contrast medium is injected into the disc through the needle. Using fluoroscopy, the physician can determine whether the contrast medium is properly positioned within the nucleus of the disc to get an idea about the health of the disc. If the disc is healthy, the contrast medium will stay in the nucleus. If the disc is damaged or degenerated, the contrast medium can spread easily throughout the disc. If the disc is ruptured, the contrast medium can actually discharge out of the nucleus. In addition, the injection of the contrast medium into the disc may cause pain, due to the chemical composition of the contrast medium and/or the increased pressure in the disc upon injection. During the procedure, the patient may be asked to respond if any pain is experienced, especially pain that mimics the condition that the patient is complaining of. Through a combination of subjective analysis of radiographs and a subjective description of the pain reported by the patient, the physician attempts to determine whether the particular disc is causing the patient's pain. In this type of discography procedure, the patient generally remains immobilized.
Despite the widespread use of discography, there are some drawbacks. Some clinicians theorize that if a discogram is positive according to commonly used criteria, then the tested disc is the source of the patient's pain. However, there is no universally accepted definition of the criteria for a positive discogram. As a result, interpretation of discograms is somewhat controversial. Not only does the test rely on subjective feedback, but results themselves have been shown to have a high rate of false positives and false negatives, with a significant number of patients with no back pain having positive discograms. Similarly, some patients have reported feeling a replication of their usual pain during discography, even though it is later found that another, non-discogenic cause was the actual origin of the pain. Moreover, discography is not a particularly selective technique in that it cannot necessarily target a particular portion of the intervertebral disc that is damaged and causing a subject's pain.
In another method of diagnosing and treating discogenic pain, a catheter is inserted into an intervertebral disc. The subject may assume a position that causes the discogenic pain and an anesthetic or analgesic is injected into the disc. The patient is then asked to report whether or not the injected substance has allievated the pain. However, like the conventional disography procedure described above, this method relies on subjective feedback and is not particularly selective. In addition, this method provides only limited data, i.e., the presence or absence of pain.


A wet friction plate is constructed such that a carbon based friction material is placed on an outer peripheral side of a friction plate and a paper based friction material is placed on an inside of a carbon based friction material. A transmission torque occupied by the paper based friction material is smaller than that occupied by the carbon based friction material. The wet friction plate can prevent a sudden unexpected slip at low temperature.

Conventionally, as a wet type friction plate used for a brake of an automatic transmission for an automobile, a wet type friction plate is equipped with a core plate in a disc shape and friction members are pasted and fixed at plural portions at a predetermined interval in the circumferential direction of the core plate. The plurality of the friction members uses two or more types of materials whose characteristics are different. (For example, see Patent Document 1).
The wet type friction plate above-mentioned is characterized in that it is higher in friction coefficient, the variation of the friction coefficient is smaller and is excellent in mechanical strength by changing the materials of the members of two types of friction plates when it is compared with a wet type friction plate on which one type of a friction member is alternately provided and fixed.
On the other hand, carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) are used as a friction member. In the case where the CFRP are used, there is a defect in that "chattering" or "grabbing chatter" is generated at the time when it is quickly stopped from the state where it is driven at low speed revolutions. Therefore, in order to resolve this defect, a friction plate in which "chattering" is prevented by alternately pasting a CFRP and a paper member at a predetermined interval at the same distance from the center of the core plate has been proposed. However, in the case of this friction plate, at a low temperature, it has a problem in that, for example, at the time when an electric chain block winds up a load slightly smaller than the load at which friction clutch works, and it winds down the load, a sudden, unexpected slip occurs.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-330989


The medical laser unit (1) includes at least one laser body (3) being made of laser material (4). A first type of a pump light source (11) is designed and arranged to continuously excite the laser material (4) and to generate continuous laser radiation (7). A second type of a pump light source (16) is designed and arranged to excite the laser material (4) by pulses and to generate pulsed laser radiation (7). A transmitting unit is designed and arranged to transmit the continuous laser radiation (7) and the pulsed laser radiation (7) to a surgical application site. More particularly, the medical laser unit (1) has two modes of operation, a first mode for cutting with continuous laser radiation (7) and a second mode for fragmenting with pulsed laser radiation (7) of short time and high power laser pulses.

This application claims the benefit of co-pending German Patent Application No. 100 55 179 entitled xe2x80x9cLaservorrichtung, insbesondere fxc3xcr chirurgische Anwendungenxe2x80x9d, filed on Nov. 8, 2000.
The present invention generally relates to a laser unit. More particularly, the present invention relates to a medical laser unit to be used in the field of surgery. For medical applications and especially surgical applications, interaction between the laser radiation and the tissue is required. In surgical applications, it is desired to make it possible to cut soft tissue supplied with blood and also soft tissue not supplied with blood with the laser radiation only with a thin coagulation edge being located about the cutting region, but with sufficient hemostasis in any case. On the other hand, it is desired to be capable of coagulating soft tissue in a specific way and to fragment, erode or remove hard body materials by pulsed laser radiation of short time high power laser pulses. For example, the relevant hard materials may be bones, urinary concretion and gall stones. At the same time, it is desired to make the handling of the laser radiation as simple and safe as possible. It is ideal not to transmit the laser radiation as a free beam, but rather through a protected articulated mirror arm or an optical wave guide which delivers the laser radiation to the respective surgical site.
Laser units which serve to produce either continuous laser radiation or pulsed laser radiation are known. A known laser for producing continuous laser radiation is produced and sold by the assignee of this application. It includes a laser rod made of laser material as a laser body. To excite the laser material, there is a plurality of laser diodes as pump light sources the pump light of which is introduced into the laser rod at its longitudinal end. The pump light is kept in the laser rod by index guidance, meaning total reflection, until it will be absorbed by the laser material over an absorption length of approximately the same size as twice the length of the laser rod. Cooling of the laser rod over its entire circumference with an enclosed cooling coat results in an rotational symmetric temperature distribution around the axis of the laser rod. Pump light which is not absorbed after the first pass through the laser material returns at the far end of the laser rod at an optical coating being highly reflective for the pump light wave length into the laser material for a second pass. The continuous laser radiation of the known laser unit has a wavelength in the region of 2 xcexcm and it is suitable to cut and also just to coagulate soft tissue and to achieve excellent hemostasis in well circulated tissues like prostate, kidney and liver. Cutting power or cutting efficiency is good, and there are a good cutting results which have a thin coagulation edge which typically is less than approximately 1 mm. However, the continuous laser radiation of the known laser unit is not suitable to erode and to fragment hard materials.
Laser units for producing continuous laser radiation with laser diodes as pump light sources are also known in embodiments of known laser units including transversal pump geometries.
Furthermore, laser units in which a laser body made of laser material, for example also a laser rod, is excited by a flash lamp as pump light source in a transversal pump geometry are also known. The pump light power of a flash pump may be increased in a way that the pulse-like laser radiation is realized at pulse peak power in the multi Kilowatts region and the pulse energy of the single pulses occurs in the multi Joule region. However, the pulse repetition rate is limited by the decreasing laser efficiency with increasing laser material temperature which typically occurs under flash lamp pumping. A longitudinal pump geometry which would be interesting for thermal reasons is difficult to be realized with one flash lamp since the wavelength of the pump light for this purpose has to be adjusted to approach an energy level shortly above the transition to be excited to attain population inversion at the laser transition and the required absorption length in the laser rod. Such fine tuning is not possible with flash lamps which rather radiate in a wide-band way. Furthermore, geometric radiation characteristics of the flash lamp oppose to the introduction of the delivered pump light into the laser rod. The pulsed laser radiation of the known laser unit including the flash lamp as pump light source allows for eroding and fragmenting hard materials in a good way. The single pulses initiate shockwaves which destruct the respective hard material in a controlled manner. In case of pulsed laser radiation of the known pulsed laser, cutting power and cutting quality is not good in soft tissue. In case of high rates of pulses, cutting power and cutting quality is increased. However, the cut edges are strongly fringed due to the way of pulsing. Coagulation only of soft tissue is less efficient with pulsed laser radiation of which the repetition rate does not exceed 50 Hz in the known laser unit including a flash lamp as a pump light source compared to coagulation with continuous laser radiation of the other known continuous wave laser unit.
The present invention relates to a medical laser unit for surgical applications. The medical laser unit includes at least one laser body being made of laser material. A first type of a pump light source is designed and arranged to continuously excite the laser material and to generate continuous laser radiation. A second type of a pump light source is designed and arranged to excite the laser material by pulses and to generate pulsed laser radiation. A transmitting unit is designed and arranged to transmit the continuous laser radiation and the pulsed laser radiation to a surgical application site. More particularly, the present invention relates to a medical laser unit which has two modes of operation, a first mode for cutting and a second mode for fragmenting. The medical laser unit for surgical applications includes at least one laser rod being made of laser material, at least one laser diode being designed and arranged to continuously excite the laser material and to generate continuous laser radiation and at least one flash lamp being designed and arranged to excite the laser material by pulses and to generate pulsed laser radiation. The laser diode and the flash lamp are designed and arranged to excite the laser material of the laser rod to generate continuous laser radiation in a first mode of operation in which the laser diode excites the laser material above a laser threshold. In a second mode of operation, the laser diode and the flash lamp are designed and arranged to simultaneously excite the laser material of the laser rod to generate pulsed laser radiation, the laser diode exciting the laser material below the laser threshold and the flash lamp additionally exciting the laser material above the laser threshold. The unit further includes at least one transmitting unit being designed and arranged to transmit the continuous laser radiation and the pulsed laser radiation to a surgical application site.
The novel laser unit fulfills all requirements of surgical applications, meaning it is suitable to cut soft tissue with a thin coagulation edge and excellent hemostasis of well circulated tissue, to purely coagulate soft tissue as well as to erode and to fragment hard materials.
The novel laser unit leaves the known concept of fulfilling all requirements of surgical applications with one single way of generating laser radiation. Consequently, the novel medical laser unit includes both elements to produce or generate continuous laser radiation as well as such ones to produce pulsed laser radiation of high pulse peak power at a short pulse duration. The generation of continuous laser radiation is to be understood as either real so called continuous wave laser radiation or as quasi continuous wave laser radiation consisting of single pulses following one after the other very rapidly and overlapping. The repetition rate of the single pulses preferably is well above approximately 100 Hz. Preferably, it is at least approximately 200 Hz. Clean cutting of soft tissue without fringing effects of the cut edges is possible with such continuous laser radiation. If the suitable wavelength of the laser radiation determining its absorption in the tissue is chosen, thin layers of coagulated tissue are attained, and coagulation only of soft tissue is possible without problem. To fragment, disintegrate and ablate hard materials, the novel laser unit uses the known principle of pulsed laser radiation with the shockwave resulting therefrom. In this case, pulsed laser radiation means to include separate single pulses at high pulse peak power in the multi Kilowatts region and pulse energy of the single pulses in the multi Joule region. The high pulse peak power results in an immediate conversion of the absorbed laser energy, in the generation of heat and in the sudden evaporation of water being present in the respective tissue. The sudden increase of pressure inside hard materials, like bone or urinary concretion, results in fragmentation of this material. Only a comparatively small portion of the absorbed laser energy reaches the directly adjacent tissue due to thermal conduction, and it there leads to the desired coagulation which is spatially limited (not in uncirculated materials like, for example, kidney stones). Heat damage of the adjacent tissue is kept within the predetermined limits by a suitable choice of the average power and of the operating time of the laser.
For example, laser diodes belong to the first type of pump light sources for the generation of continuous laser radiation. For example, flash lamps belong to the other second type of pump light sources for originating pulsed laser radiation.
The laser material may be doped with Tm3+ ions and/or with Ho3+ ions. The ions Tm3+ and Ho3+ are the most known laser ions which have a laser wavelength of approximately 2 xcexcm, meaning in the region of approximately 1.8 to 2.2 xcexcm. This laser wavelength stands for an absorption length in soft tissue substantially consisting of water which leads to controlled coagulation and thin coagulation edges during cutting of soft tissue. In case a flash lamp is used as the second type of pump light source, the laser material may be further doped with Cr3+ ions as a sentiziser for the white pump light of the flash lamp.
The pump light sources of the first type serving to generate continuous laser radiation may excite the laser material of a laser rod as laser body in a longitudinal and/or in a transversal pump geometry. The pump light sources of the other second type which serve to generate pulsed laser radiation may excite the laser material of a laser rod as laser body in a transversal pump geometry. These pump geometries correspond to separately known laser apparatuses.
In the novel laser unit, the laser material being excited by the pump light sources of the two types may be distributed to two laser bodies, at least the laser material of one laser body being excited by the pump light sources of the first type and the laser material of at least one other laser body being excited by the pump light sources of the second type. The two laser bodies may each be arranged in their own resonator. However, embodiments of the novel laser unit in which the pump light sources of the first type and of the other pump light sources of the second type excite the laser material of the same laser body are preferred. This means that the novel laser unit, for example, includes only one single laser rod made of laser material. This laser rod is then excited in longitudinal and/or in a transversal pump geometry by laser diodes. In the transversal pump geometry, excitation by a flash lamp serves to generate pulsed laser radiation.
In an especially preferred embodiment of the novel laser unit, the pump light sources of the second type excite the laser material of the laser rod while, at the same time, the laser material is excited by the pump light sources of the first type. The excitation of the laser material by the pump light sources of the first type remain below the laser threshold. In this example, this means that the laser material of the laser rod experiences basic excitation by the pump light coming from the laser diodes to generate pulsed laser radiation. The excitation of the laser material does not reach or exceed a laser threshold. To generate pulsed laser radiation, the laser threshold is shortly exceeded by additional pump light pulses produced by the flash lamp. The basic excitation or pre-excitation of the laser material may be utilized for the generation of pulsed laser radiation by the flash lamp excitation. Consequently, the entire laser pulse energy does not have to be achieved by the flash lamp which generally is less efficient and which generates more heat in the laser material than a narrow bandwidth laser diode with a suitable wavelength for minimized loss of quantum energy. In this way, it is possible to realize effective cooling of the laser rod over its radial circumference despite the high energy and the high power of the pulses released by the flash lamp. The flash lamp itself does not have to emit pump light of high energy and power because of the pre-excitation by the laser diodes. Thus, a comparatively affordable flash lamp providing white pump light even through a cooling coat for the laser rod is acceptable, whereas, normally, such a white pump light, if used at a power level to exceed the laser threshold alone, would heat up the laser material to an unacceptable extent. This is especially the case with Ho3+ or Tm3+ doped Laser materials and other laser ions with a strongly temperature depending gain. It is to be understood thatxe2x80x94if both the continuous laser radiation and the pulsed laser radiation originates from the same laser materialxe2x80x94the radiations have the same wave length. This is an advantage as the transmitting unit for both kinds of laser radiation only has to be adapted to one laser light wave length, and the laser light wavelength of both kinds of laser radiation may have the optimum wave length of approximately 2 xcexcm. In the novel laser unit, it is possible to achieve continuous laser radiation of a laser power of approximately 100 Watts. For this purpose, the novel laser apparatus may also include a plurality of laser rods being arranged in series or in parallel. Not all of these laser rods have to be excitable by pump light sources of the second type in addition to their excitation by associated pump light sources of the first type. The double excitation of one single laser rod by pump light sources of both types generally is sufficient to generate continuous and pulsed laser radiation.
In the novel laser unit, the pulsed laser radiation may reach a pulse peak power of approximately 10 kW at pulses of approximately 0.5 to 1.0 msec pulse duration and approximately 1 Joule pulse energy. In this way, effective erosion and fragmentation of hard materials is realized at minimum thermal effects.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following drawings and the detailed description. It is intended that all such additional features and advantages be included herein within the scope of the present invention, as defined by the claims.

Lisa Laser Products OHG Fuhrberg and Teichmann


A vibratory mechanism includes first and second eccentric weights connected to a gearbox. The gearbox includes an inner shaft, an outer shaft and first and second planetary gear sets. The first and second planetary gear sets are connected to a motor that drives the first and second eccentric weights during operation via the inner shaft and outer shaft respectively. A phase control device is operatively connected to the second planetary gear set to index the second eccentric weight relative to the first eccentric weight.

This invention relates generally to a vibratory compactor machines and, more particularly, to an infinitely variable amplitude and frequency vibratory mechanism.
Vibratory compactor machines are commonly employed for compacting freshly laid asphalt, soil, and other compactable materials. For example these compactor machines may include plate type compactors or rotating drum compactors with one or more drums. The drum type compactor functions to compact the material over which the machine is driven. In order to compact the material the drum assembly includes a vibratory mechanism including inner and outer eccentric weights arranged on a rotatable shaft within the interior cavity of the drum, for inducing vibrations on the drum.
The amplitude and frequency of the vibratory forces determine the degree of compaction of the material, and the speed and efficiency of the compaction process. The amplitude of the vibration forces is changed by altering the position of a pair of weights with respect to each other. The frequency of the vibration forces is managed by controlling the speed of a drive motor in the compactor drum.
The required amplitude of the vibration force may vary depending on the characteristics of the material being compacted. For instance, high amplitude works best on thick lifts or harsh mixes, while low amplitude works best on thin lifts and soft materials. Amplitude variation is important because different materials require different levels of compaction. Moreover, a single compacting process may require different amplitude levels because higher amplitude may be required at the beginning of the process, and the amplitude may be gradually lowered as the process is completed.
Conventional vibratory compactor machines are problematic in that the amplitude and frequency of the vibration force can only be set to certain predetermined levels, or the mechanisms for adjusting the vibration amplitude are complex. One such vibratory mechanism is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,350,460 issued to Lynn A. Schmelzer et al. on Sep. 21, 1982 and assigned to the Hyster Company.
The present invention is directed to overcome one or more of the problems as set forth above.
In one aspect of the invention a vibratory mechanism is provided. The vibratory mechanism includes an inner eccentric weight that is rotatably supported within a housing and an outer eccentric weight coaxially rotatably positioned about the inner eccentric weight. An inner shaft is operatively connected to the inner eccentric weight and an outer shaft is coaxially positioned about the inner shaft and operatively connected to the outer eccentric weight. A gearbox is operatively connected to the inner shaft and the outer shaft. The gearbox is adapted to index the outer eccentric weight relative to the inner eccentric weight.
According to another aspect of the invention, a method of operating a vibratory mechanism of a work machine is provided. The vibratory mechanism has a gearbox for adjusting a vibration amplitude. The gearbox includes an inner drive shaft connected with an inner eccentric weight and an outer shaft, surrounding at least a portion of the inner shaft, connected with an outer eccentric weight. The method includes operating the gearbox to change a phase difference between the inner eccentric weight and the outer eccentric weight to change the vibration amplitude.


This invention concerns a sub-harmonic homodyne mixer suitable for operation at the millimeter waveband (MMW); for instance the 60 GHz RF radio band. The mixer comprises: A first pair of transistors connected together with common source and common drain, and having an input port across their gates to receive the in-phase voltage signal from a local oscillator. A second pair of transistors also connected together with common source and common drain, and having an input port across their gates to receive the quadrature voltage signal from the local oscillator. Wherein, an input voltage port is defined directly across the common sources of the first and second pairs of transistors, and an output voltage port is defined between the common drains of the first pair of transistors and the common drains of the second pair of transistors. According to another aspect the present invention is a transceiver comprising a mixer according to the first aspect.

Mixers are used in transceivers, such as mobile phones and Wi-Fi devices, to convert low frequency signals to high frequency signals, and high frequency signals to low frequency. Mixers essentially receive two signals at different frequencies and produce several outputs at different frequencies resulting from the mix. Filters are then used to select the output signal having the frequencies of interest.
In general, a mixer makes use of a locally generated artificial RF signal (from a local oscillator), to convert the received signal into the outputs.
In communications receivers and transmitters, a 'superheterodyne' mixer indicates the use of more than one mixing stage to step between the radio frequency (RF) signal that is transmitted and the baseband information signal. Superheterodyne architectures generally require off-chip components and are more expensive to implement than single chip solutions.
In contrast 'homodyne' refers to the direct conversion between RF and baseband (usually there are at least two quadrature baseband signals). Direct conversion avoids the use of intermediate stages and frequencies, and requires less filters and amplifiers. As a result homodyne circuits are generally more cost-effective to integrate.
There are however drawbacks to direct conversion. For instance, in a receiver where the local oscillators provide an artificial RF frequency at the same frequency as the received RF, then an unwanted DC offset can appear in the baseband output. To address this problem the local oscillators can be arranged to generate a signal at a given fraction of the RF frequency; as a result the artificial RF and received RF are different. Mixers that use this technique are termed 'sub-harmonic mixers'.
Another problem arises where there is noise in the output of the power amplifier. Where this noise is near to the frequency of the local oscillator it can 'pull' the local oscillator frequency to 'lock' onto the noise frequency. This corrupts the output but can also be alleviated by sub-harmonic mixing.
Referring now to FIG. 1(a), in a homodyne receiver 10 an antenna 12 receives a modulated RF signal. After reception this signal is passed through a filter 14 and an amplifier 16 before mixing with a locally generated signal at half the RF frequency at mixer 18. The output of mixer 18 passes through another filter and amplifier 20 to provide the analogue baseband signal. A digital baseband signal becomes available after processing in the analogue to digital converter (ADC) 22.
Referring next to FIG. 1(b), a transmitter 40 takes a digital baseband signal and passes it through a digital to analogue converter (DAC) 42 to generate an analogue baseband signal. The analogue signal is passed through an amplifier 44 and then mixed with a locally generated RF signal at mixer 46 to up-convert it. Further amplification 48 and filtering 50 results in the RF signal, modulated with the analogue baseband signal, being provided to transmitting antenna 52 for transmission.
The architecture of a conventional mixer, as used in FIG. 1, is shown in FIG. 2. Mixer 60 comprises a first pair of transistors 62 and 64 connected with common source and common drain. The in-phase signal from the local oscillator LO1 is applied across the gates 66 and 68 of this pair of transistors. A second pair of transistors 70 and 72 are also connected with common source and common drain. The quadrature signal from the local oscillator LOQ is applied across the gates 74 and 76 of the second pair of transistors. All four sources are connected together 78. The input voltage is applied to the common source of all four transistors 78 via a further transistor 80 connected between the common source 78 and a matching network 90. The matching network is generally designed using L matching or inductive degeneration. The output Vout is taken from between the common drain 82 of the first pair and the common drain 84 of the second pair of transistors. A matching network may also be provided at the gate of further transistor 80.


An oburator includes a solid substantially stiff rod of a nonhydrophilic polymer coated with a layer of a hydrophilic polyurethane which may have an antithrombogenic agent bulk distributing therein. When the hydrophilic polyurethane comes into contact with an aqueous liquid such as water, saline or a body fluid, it absorbs the liquid and expands thereby enlarging the diameter of the obturator. Another aspect of the invention is an assembly of a catheter and the obturator of the invention. When the obturator is emplaced in the catheter and brought into contact with a liquid, it expands, releases the antithrombogenic agent and contacts the lumen wall of the catheter thereby forming a seal which prevents backflow of a body fluid.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to catheterization of a patient, and more particularly relates to an obturator assembly which prevents backflow of blood or other body fluid during a catheterization procedure.
2. Background of the Invention
For many applications, a catheter, after insertion into a patient, must be maintained in place for periods up to two weeks or more. During this time, medication changeovers may be alternated with periods when no solutions are being administered to the patient. It is essential that patency of the catheter be maintained during changeover periods.
In the current state of the art, patency of a vascular access catheter, with or without an attached intravenous drip, is generally maintained in one of three ways. A sterile aliquot of heparin solution may be injected into the catheter. This method, often termed a heparin lock, is costly since expensive heparin may be required for prolonged periods. Alternatively, a sterile bolus of normal saline solution may be injected into the catheter. Both of these methods must be done routinely and often; however, because of normal diffusion at the tip of the catheter, blood may replace infused heparin or saline solutions. A common result is the loss of patency through the formation of a clot near the tip of the catheter. In a third method for maintenance of patency, a stainless steel or plastic obturator may be inserted loosely inside the catheter and attached with a leur connector. These devices are primitive and do not completely seal the catheter so that blood may seep back into the space between the catheter and obturator. This backflow of blood not only may clot and occlude the catheter or interfere with subsequent removal of the obturator, but also is an excellent breeding ground for infection.
Hydrophilic polymers which absorb water and expand, often termed hydrogels, have long been known. Karakelle et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,743,629 discloses hydrophilic polyurethane compositions which absorb significant amount of water, expand and allow species soluble in water to permeate through the composition by a partition type permeability process.
Hydrophilic polyurethanes which absorb water and expand have been used to manufacture over-the-needle catheters. These catheters are emplaced in a patient's vein by mounting the catheter by a press fit over a needle or catheter inserter used to puncture the vein. The catheter, due to its hydrophilic nature absorbs water so that its diameter expands releasing the needle and leaving the catheter emplaced and ready for administration of a solution. Exemplary of such over the needle catheters is the disclosure of Luther in U.S. Pat. No. 4,668,221. Luther does not, however, address the problem of maintaining patency of the patented catheter after removal of the needle.
A definite need exists in the art for a reliable, improved and inexpensive method to maintain patency in an indwelling catheter during medication changeovers. The present invention addresses this need.

Expandable obturator and catheter assembly including same