A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a method involving capturing spectral interference from an optical coherence tomography imaging probe comprising a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) scanning mirror, and a partial reflector for supplying images to an image sensor. Additional embodiments are disclosed.

Biomedical imaging combines many principles of electrical engineering, physics, medicine, and biology. One emerging biomedical imaging modality is optical coherence tomography (OCT). OCT is the optical analogue to ultrasound imaging, except near-infrared light is used, rather than sound, to generate high-resolution, cross-sectional optical images based on the intrinsic optical scattering properties of tissue. Because light is used, cellular-level resolution, on the order of 5-10 microns, is feasible, to imaging depths up to 3 mm in highly-scattering tissue such as skin, or completely through the eye, the retina, and into the choroidal (vascular) areas behind the retina. There are numerous applications for OCT in medicine and surgery, where it can be thought of as performing an "optical biopsy" of tissue, rather than having to physically resect tissue, process it, and section it for observation on microscope slides using a standard white-light microscope.
OCT has been demonstrated extensively in medical, surgical, and biological applications since its inception in 1991, offering unique imaging performance including non-contact, high resolution, and real-time imaging. Among several applications, ophthalmic imaging using OCT has been the most successful application. First, the eye provides a uniquely suitable medium for OCT due to its transparent nature, minimal scattering, and excellent light penetration compared to other biological tissues. Second, imaging of the eye has grown significantly in importance for the diagnosis of ocular diseases. However, there are few techniques available other than scanning laser polarimetry and confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy.
Third, OCT provides information showing cross-sectional structures of the cornea and retina that cannot be obtained by any other non-invasive diagnostic technique, enabling an enhanced understanding of the pathogenesis of disease and the response to therapy. These properties have made OCT a unique ophthalmic diagnostic modality, and a commercially available product. The first commercially available OCT, called OCT 1000 (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc), was marketed in 1996. A variety of commercial ophthalmic OCT systems have since developed. In 2006, the first high-speed, high-resolution OCT 3 (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc) became the "gold standard" for retinal imaging. Current commercial ophthalmic OCT systems and their performance specifications are summarized in FIG. 1.

The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois


This invention provides a means for suppressing radiated electromagnetic radiation in high current AC/DC power supplies. This radiation is the result of rectifier diode transient noise which is propagated through the electrical network of the power supply. The transient noise is propagated through the electrical and mechanical connections of the diodes to the transformer secondary. These connections have stray impedance which allows high frequency noise to be propagated through them. The stray impedances can be modulated to suppress the high frequency noise propagation without adding discrete inductor or capacitor elements to the electrical network. The modulation of the stray impedances is accomplished by adjusting the current sharing between rectifier diodes. This is accomplished by splitting the parallel connection between rectifier diodes, and making the connection of the diodes to the transformer secondary at various points along the secondary. The separate impedance of both the transformer and the individual connections will modulate the existing stray impedance to suppress the radiated electromagnetic noise.

Switching mode power supplies provide a means of converting an A/C power source into a D/C power source. The means of converting the power source from A/C to D/C includes a rectifier which blocks the transmission of one half of an A/C waveform. The A/C waveform is placed across a diode within the rectifier add when the waveform is essentially in a first phase the diode conducts current. When the diode is essentially in a second phase the diode does not conduct current. When the diode makes the transition from conducting (i.e., on) to non-conducting (i.e., off), a high frequency ringing current occurs during turn off. This current produces an undesirable signal noise or electromagnetic interference (EMI). This is especially true of high current power supplies. The electromagnetic interference can be one of two types, a) conducted or b) radiated. Conducted EMI is primarily emitted and measured at the A/C input of the power supply and has a relatively low frequency of generally less than 10MHz. Radiated EMI is typically emitted at a high frequency, and is measured at any number of places around the power supply. Generally, power supplies have been shielded to suppress the escaped EMI, however, the shielding has only limited effect depending on the frequency of the EMI. The higher the frequency of the EMI, the less effective the shielding, because the shield capacitively passes the interference to the surroundings.
The D/C current flow generated by the power supply is a result of the rectifier diodes being continually switched on and off. This switching generates noise on the internal nodes of the power supply due to ringing in the circuit. That is, the electrical elements in the power supply have been formed in such a manner as to allow voltage transient signals, from switching the diode from "on" to "off", to propagate through the circuit. The noise propagates into the area surrounding the power supply as electromagnetic interference because of the A/C nature of the ringing signal and the capacitive nature of the power supply with respect to surrounding objects. The transients are a result of the stray impedance inherent in the circuit as a result of the mechanical size of a high current power supply Also, the more current the power supply handles, the larger the transients become and the bigger the EMI problem. The stray impedances, and therefore the EMI, can be suppressed or shifted in frequency but not eliminated because stray impedance is a part of mechanically building the power supply.
Prior art techniques have tried to suppress the problem by putting a discrete inductor in series with the rectifier diode. The inductor acts to not allow the current through the diode to change significantly faster than the switching required by the A/C signal on the secondary winding of the power supply. This is an effective method of suppressing the EMI from the rectifier circuit, however, it has two problems. First, the inductor has its own stray capacitance from being assembled into the power supply. As a result, the EMI will not be effectively suppressed by the inductor because the capacitance will pass high frequency noise. Second, typical ferrite core inductors have core leakage, acoustic noise (low frequency), and voltage regulation problems in addition to and separate from EMI problems.
Both the shielding and the discrete element network solution to the radiated EMI problem are not effective for the same basic reason. This is that high frequency effects in power supplies are generated because of parasitic elements inherent in the power supply design. Changing the basic design of the power supply does not significantly increase control over the parasitic effects, and therefore, control over the high frequency effects is limited.

Suppression of radiated EMI for power supplies

International Business Machines Corporation


In a fast partial regeneration process, the second stage of a cryopump is heated as purge gas is applied to the cryopump. In a test loop, the purge gas is turned off and the roughing valve is opened. If the cryopump is judged to be sufficiently empty of gases from the second stage by being roughed to a sufficiently low pressure in a short period of time the system proceeds to a reconditioning phase. If the system fails the test, however, it is repurged with a burst of warm purge gas and then retested. After passing the emptiness test, the pressure is further reduced by the roughing pump as heat is applied to the second stage. The heat is then turned off for cool down as the system continues to be rough pumped to a base pressure. At about the base pressure, the roughing valve is cycled to maintain the cryopump pressure at a level near to the base pressure. Where multiple cryopumps are coupled to a common roughing pump manifold, they are processed through a partial regeneration sequence in lock step to avoid cross contamination.

Cryogenic vacuum pumps, or cryopumps, currently available generally follow a common design concept. A low temperature array, usually operating in the range of 4.degree. to 25.degree. K., is the primary pumping surface. This surface is surrounded by a higher temperature radiation shield, usually operated in the temperature range of 60.degree. to 130.degree. K., which provides radiation shielding to the lower temperature array. The radiation shield generally comprises a housing which is closed except a frontal array positioned between the primary pumping surface and a work chamber to be evacuated.
In operation, high boiling point gases such as water vapor are condensed on the frontal array. Lower boiling point gases pass through that array and into the volume within the radiation shield and condense on the lower temperature array. A surface coated with an adsorbent such as charcoal or a molecular sieve operating at or below the temperature of the colder array may also be provided in this volume to remove the very low boiling point gases such as hydrogen. With the gases thus condensed and/or adsorbed onto the pumping surfaces, only a vacuum remains in the work chamber.
In systems cooled by closed cycle coolers, the cooler is typically a two-stage refrigerator having a cold finger which extends through the rear or side of the radiation shield. High pressure helium refrigerant is generally delivered to the cryocooler through high pressure lines from a compressor assembly. Electrical power to a displacer drive motor in the cooler is usually also delivered through the compressor.
The cold end of the second, coldest stage of the cryocooler is at the tip of the cold finger. The primary pumping surface, or cryopanel, is connected to a heat sink at the coldest end of the second stage of the cold finger. This cryopanel may be a simple metal plate of cup or an array of metal baffles arranged around and connected to the second-stage heat sink. This second-stage cryopanel also supports the low temperature adsorbent.
The radiation shield is connected to a heat sink, or heat station, at the coldest end of the first stage of the refrigerator. The shield surrounds the second-stage cryopanel in such a way as to protect it from radiant heat. The frontal array is cooled by the first-stage heat sink through the side shield or, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,356,810, through thermal struts.
After several days or weeks of use, the gases which have condensed onto the cryopanels, and in particular the gases which are adsorbed, begin to saturate the cryopump. A regeneration procedure must then be followed to warm the cryopump and thus release the gases and remove the gases for the system. As the gases evaporate, the pressure in the cryopump increases, and the gases are exhausted through a relief valve. During regeneration, the cryopump is often purged with warm nitrogen gas. The nitrogen-gas hastens warming of the cryopanels and also serves to flush water and other vapors from the cryopump. Nitrogen is the usual purge gas because it is relatively inert, and is available free of water vapor. It is usually delivered from a nitrogen storage bottle through a fluid line and a purge valve coupled to the cryopump.
After the cryopump is purged, it must be rough pumped to produce a vacuum about the cryopumping surfaces and cold finger which reduces heat transfer by gas conduction and thus enables the cryocooler to cool to normal operating temperatures. The roughing pump is generally a mechanical pump coupled through a fluid line to a roughing valve mounted to the cryopump.
The typical regeneration process takes several hours during which the manufacturing or other process for which the cryopump creates a vacuum must idle. In most systems, it is only the second stage which requires regeneration. Therefore, partial regeneration processes have been used in which the second stage is warmed to release gases from only that stage as the refrigerator continues to operate to prevent release of gases from the first stage. It is critical that gas not be released from the first stage because that gas would contaminate the warm second stage, and such contamination would require that the cryopump be put through a full regeneration cycle. Since the refrigerator continues to operate and the cryopanels remain at relatively cool temperatures, the cool down time after the partial regeneration process is significantly less than that of a full regeneration.
Control of the regeneration process is facilitated by temperature gauges coupled to the cold finger heat stations. Thermocouple pressure gauges have also been used with cryopumps. Although regeneration may be controlled by manually turning the cryocooler off and on and manually controlling the purge and roughing valves, a separate regeneration controller is used in more sophisticated systems. Leads from the controller are coupled to each of the sensors, the cryocooler motor and the valves to be actuated. A cryopump having an integral electronic controller is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 4,918,930.

Cryopump with electronically controlled regeneration


The present invention provides a suction cleaning module comprising: a first housing, a second housing, a third housing and a fan blower. The second housing, connected to the bottom of the first housing, has a shell section such that a suction channel is formed between the shell section and the first housing and has a dust collection space communicating with the suction channel. The third housing, respectively coupled to the first and second housing, has a filtered flow outlet. The fan blower connected to the third housing has a flow inlet and a flow inlet corresponding to the filtered flow outlet.

With the rapid development of automation technology and artificial intelligence, robots play an increasingly important role in the human environment. In recent years, service robots have undergone rapid development, with cleaning robots as the main application. The cleaning robots covers a wide range, and may be classified into industrial and domestic robots according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR). Domestic floor cleaning robots (vacuum cleaners) have been growing rapidly in recent years, and have become the mainstream product in the market, with an annual output of more than 2.5 million units. It is estimated that the global production value of cleaning robots will grow by six times, from 300 million US dollars in 2007 to 1.8 billion US dollars in 2014, showing great development potential.
One consideration about cleaning robots is the cleaning performance, which varies with different designs of the brush and vacuum module. If only the vacuum module is used, a larger suction force is required for drawing heavy granular powder particles, resulting in increased power consumption and noises. In addition to the design using only the vacuum module, a design combining the brush module with the vacuum module also exists. The brush module is used for collecting and guiding granular powder particles, such as dust and dirt, to the suction hole of the vacuum module for enabling the same to be removed by suction. However, even with the help of the brush module, the vacuum cleaning devices that are currently available still can not operating with satisfactory cleaning performance while maintaining low power consumption and low noise.
There is a conventional automatic vacuum cleaner disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,883,201, which is an autonomous floor-cleaning robot capable of executing a floor cleaning process primarily by the use of its brush module while using its vacuum module for assisting the sweeping operation of the brush module. In this autonomous floor-cleaning robot, the dust cartridge and the fan blower are modularized designed to be integrated at the rear of the robot, whereas the dust cartridge is designed to be inserted inside the housing of the autonomous floor-cleaning robot as a flat drawer. Moreover, in U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 20070157420, a robot cleaning system is disclosed, which includes a first cleaning unit, i.e. s robot cleaner, to perform an automatic cleaning process while moving by itself in an area to be cleaned, and a second cleaning unit, i.e. a manual cleaner, to perform manual cleaning while being coupled to the first cleaning unit as it is moved by a user in an area to be cleaned. The first cleaning unit has a dust outlet to deliver dust to the second cleaning unit when the first cleaning unit is coupled to the second cleaning unit via the dust outlet of the first cleaning unit, and thereby, the robot cleaning system is capable of removing dust and debris collected in a robot cleaner during manual cleaning without having to dismantle the robot cleaner. In addition, there is a dust collector for autonomous floor-cleaning device disclosed in U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 20070028574, which is a container mounted in the air flowing path inside an autonomous floor-cleaning device at a position located at the top of the autonomous floor-cleaning device. As the air flowing path is designed to be detachable from the fan blower of the autonomous floor-cleaning device, the whole dust collector can be removed from the autonomous floor-cleaning device from the top thereof.

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A foldable hand tool for use with cleaning golf club heads which has an open position and a closed position. The tool has a first section having a first inner side; a second section having a second inner side; and a connector section. The connector section is connected pivotably to the first section at a first connection point, and the connector section is connected pivotably to the second section at a second connection point. The first connection point and the second connection point are spaced from one another and positioned such that the first inner side of the first section is capable of contacting the second inner side of the second section when the tool is in the closed position.

Small portable hand tools are used for many various applications. Pocket knives, box cutters, and screw drivers are a few examples of such tools. Tools of this type can be used to perform a multitude of tasks.
The sport of golf has become extremely popular over the past several years. As the sport has grown in popularity, golf equipment has advanced as well in an effort to allow the players to achieve the best result for their individual ability level.
Golf clubs are designed such that the face that strikes the golf ball is angled. The angled face of the club causes the ball to be lifted upon impact. A set of golf clubs has clubs with various angles applied to the club faces. A club is selected with a particular angled face according to the trajectory desired (i.e., amount of loft) for a particular golf shot. Golf clubs are numbered, with the lower numbered clubs having a smaller angle (i.e., the club face is angled less relative to the club shaft), with the angle of the club face increasing as the club number increases.
When an angled golf club face contacts a golf ball, it is important that the ball does not slip or skid across the club face. To prevent this from happening, the face of the club head has a series of cuts or grooves on it that typically extend across the club face horizontally. These grooves grip the ball upon impact and impart a rotation to ball. The grooves on the club face help a golfer to control the spin or rotation of the ball and to control the trajectory or loft of the shot, which is critical to accurate placement of a golf shot.
Golfers often play under many conditions that tend to cause the club heads to become soiled, such as wet surfaces, sand, tall grass, dirt, and mud. This can cause a build-up of dirt, grass, or debris on the face of the golf club. This can impair the performance of the club by filling the grooves in the club face, which minimizes or eliminates their ability to function as designed. In addition, as golf clubs become older, constant use begins to cause a wearing away of the grooves. This results from repeated impact with golf balls that over time cause the grooves to become less pronounced.
The degradation of the grooves in the club face either by contamination or wear causes a reduction in the effectiveness of the club to impart the desired rotation on the golf ball, which results in the golfer having less control over the shot. Accordingly, there is a need for a device that can clean and recondition the golf club.
Apparatuses for cleaning golf club heads currently exist. These usually entail the use of wire brushes, water, and large containers. Portable club cleaners have been used, but these devices are still larger than desired and often cause damage to the golf bag they are carried in because they contain sharp edges or areas that can catch or tear on the golf bag material, or the pocket of the golfer carrying the device.
What is desired is a portable tool that can be used to clean or recondition the face of a golf club head and which folds into a compact, smooth configuration when not in use. It is also desirable to provide a hand tool having a novel means of folding. The present invention fulfills this need among others.


Disclosed herein are nanoparticles containing MERS virus proteins in polymer structures, and compositions containing the nanoparticles formulated for administration as immunogenic compositions. Also provided herein are vector constructs encoding the proteins, and host cells containing the vector constructs. The disclosure also includes methods of making the nanoparticles and administering them to vertebrates, including methods of inducing immune responses to MERS that reduce or prevent infection by the virus.

Coronaviruses can cause disease in animals such as humans. SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) is one example of such a disease. Recently, a new coronavirus has emerged, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), which is associated with human fatalities. MERS-CoV has been identified as a "threat to global health" by the World Health Organization (WHO), and has been reported in 21 countries in the Middle East and Europe. MERS-CoV is a highly pathogenic respiratory virus that causes severe respiratory distress and potentially renal failure in infected individuals [1, 2].
Coronaviruses attach to the membrane of cells via interaction of their Spike (S) glycoproteins on the surface of the virion with their cognate receptor on host cells (e.g. dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4), found on a variety of human cells including lung and kidney cells). The S glycoprotein consists of an N-terminal 51 domain that contains the receptor binding domain (RBD) and an S2 domain responsible for virus-cell fusion. The MERS-CoV RBD consists of a core domain that has been co-crystallized with the human DPP4 protein, showing that it interacts with blades 4 and 5 of DPP4 [11]. In other coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV, antibodies to the RBD are able to neutralize and inhibit growth of the virus in vitro [12-14]. In mouse models of SARS-CoV, vaccine induced and passively transferred neutralizing antibodies have proven to be effective in inhibiting lung pathogenesis and death [15]. However, Antibody Dependent Enhancement (ADE) in human immune cells has been reported for SARS CoV in vitro though its clinical significance in vivo is unknown.
Human convalescent plasma and/or immunoglobulin has been used effectively to prevent and treat many viral infectious agents [16]. Public Health England and the International Severe Acute Respiratory & Emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC) identified passive immunotherapy with neutralizing antibodies (including convalescent plasma) as a MERS-CoV treatment approach that warrants priority study. However, production of large quantities of anti-pathogen human plasma and/or immunoglobulin with high affinity and avidity antibodies currently requires donations by convalescent humans that can limit widespread availability of these human derived products for a number of cultural, infrastructure, and logistical reasons. Alternative means to rapidly produce specific human polyclonal immunoglobulin to prevent and treat infectious agents, including MERS-CoV, are needed.

Immunogenic middle east respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) compositions and methods


A method and device for exchanging catheters and microcatheters over exchange length wires is disclosed. The device consists of a hollow tube in a loop configuration attached to a base in which the extracorporeal segment of an exchange-length guidewire is inserted. The superior aspect of the tubular loop has a longitudinal slit which allows to and fro movement of catheters using a catheter holder having a handle that protrudes through the slit for easy manipulation.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an extra-corporeal medical device and method to facilitate exchange of catheters and delivery devices during catheter based procedures requiring a plurality of catheters.
II. Related Art
Guidewires are routinely and extensively used in a variety of medical procedures that include the introduction of a catheter into the vascular system of a patient. In many cardiovascular procedures, for example, a guide catheter with a central guidewire advanced through the vascular system until the site to be treated is reached. Thereafter, the initial or guide catheter may be removed and replaced with another over-the-wire (OTW) catheter designed to perform the therapeutic procedure. During such a procedure, it is often necessary to change the catheter while the guidewire remains in place.
Thus, exchanging catheters and delivery devices has become the essence of catheter-based procedures. Catheters vary in diameter from about 0.008 to about 0.087 inches and the length ranges from 70 to 150 cm. Delivery devices include stents and coil delivery systems ranging in diameter from 0.50 to 1 inch and length up to 150 cm.
Currently, as indicated, the vessels of interest are first accessed by small flexible guide catheters. These catheters have limited ability to perform therapeutic procedures and have to be replaced with larger diameter stiffer catheters which lack the structural flexibility and maneuverability required to access tortuous vessel paths as the primary catheter. Once the guide catheter is in position, the exchange length wire has been placed in a desired vascular segment. Once the exchange length wire is in position, the guide catheter is pulled back over the wire.
The exchange length guidewire includes two segments, an intracorporeal segment and an extracorporeal segment. The intracorporeal segment is the portion of the guidewire that resides in the human vascular system during a procedure. The majority of this segment is either covered by a catheter or lying freely in the intravascular compartment. The proximal portion is covered by an insertion sheath or similar device usually placed in the femoral artery. The insertion sheath may contain a Tuohy Buorst device, or the like, to seal the entry into the vascular system. The extracorporeal segment refers to the portion that is outside of the patient's body and exits through the insertion sheath or hub of the catheter.
The extracorporeal proximal portion of the guidewire that protrudes from the vascular system of the patient must be longer than the length of the over-the-wire (OTW) catheter to enable the guidewire to be held when it exits the guidewire lumen of the OTW catheter prior to the distal end of the OTW catheter entering into the vasculature. This enables one to hold the guidewire first at a point distal to the catheter and later at a point proximal to the catheter when the guidewire exits from the proximal end of the guidewire lumen of the OTW catheter. Because of this, the overall length of a guidewire required to advance an OTW catheter over a prepositioned guidewire must be greater than the length of the segment of the guidewire pre-positioned within the vasculature.
The catheter exchange task requires the guidewire to be stabilized manually and the catheter to be replaced to be retracted gently without displacing the wire. The wire/catheter system has to be kept under constant tension in a straight trajectory with no redundancy to avoid displacing the exchange length wire. The insertion sheath through which the catheter and wire are placed also needs to be stabilized during the procedure.
In a typical exchange procedure, once approximately 10-20 cm of the catheter is outside the insertion sheath, one individual (operator #1) continues to move back pulling the catheter while holding the wire stable in increments. Another individual (operator #2) stabilizes the insertion sheath, and activates and reviews the fluoroscopic monitor. Once the catheter is completely out of the insertion sheath, the operator #2 grabs the unsheathed wire, while operator #1 continues to pull the catheter until it is completely removed. Subsequently, the new catheter is advanced on the wire. Operator #1 holds the proximal end of the wire and stabilizes the proximal end of the catheter while it moves forward. Operator #1 must move forward with the advancing catheter to have appropriate control of the wire. The operator #2 pushes the catheter forward through the introducer sheath while activating and reviewing the fluoroscopic monitor until 10-20 cm of the proximal portion of the catheter remain outside the insertion sheath allowing the operator #2 to control both the wire and the catheter. As is apparent, the procedure is cumbersome, requires two operators, and the need for extensive use of a fluoroscope may result in relatively high doses of radiation to a patient.
Thus, it would present a distinct advantage if the exchange of over-the-wire (OTW) catheters and the accompanying delivery devices during catheter-based procedures could be facilitated and simplified and rapidly preformed by a single operator.

External loop for exchanging catheters and delivery devices over exchange length wires during catheter based procedures


In one aspect, described is a rotary engine having a purge port located rearwardly of the inlet port and forwardly of the exhaust port along a direction of the revolutions of the rotor, the purge port being in communication with the exhaust port through each of the chambers along a respective portion of each revolution, and the inlet and outlet ports being relatively located such that a volumetric compression ratio of the engine is lower than a volumetric expansion ratio of the engine.

Rotary engines, such as for example Wankel engines, use the eccentric rotation of a piston to convert pressure into a rotating motion, instead of using reciprocating pistons. In these engines, the rotor includes a number of apex or seal portions which remain in contact with a peripheral wall of the rotor cavity of the engine throughout the rotational motion of the rotor to create a plurality of rotating cavities when the rotor rotates.
In Wankel engines, the inlet and exhaust ports are usually designed mechanically to allow a minimum overlap between them during the intake and exhaust portions of the cycle, such as to purge the exhaust cavity of combustion gases prior to re-filling the intake cavity with a fresh supply of air. Failure to purge the exhaust cavity of the combustion gases may result in a reduction in cycle volumetric efficiency. However, overlap of the ports may limit the range of volumetric compression ratio that can be obtained. Therefore, there remains a need for improvement in optimizing how rotary engines may be operated.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Rotary internal combustion engine with exhaust purge


A joint cover in an aircraft has a clamp section and a cover section for covering a joint. The clamp section is used to mount the cover section over the joint. The joint cover conceals the joint and secures the joint from intrusion of foreign objects. One example presents information to passengers, incorporating visual displays or other devices within the cover section. For example, the joint cover may include a cover section and a clamp section of an elastic material that deforms under pressure, concealing the joint even during compression and decompression of the aircraft, which causes movement of the panels defining the joint.

In aircraft, interior furnishings, such as ceiling or wall panels, are attached to the primary structure or other supporting aircraft elements using appropriately mounted holder or attachment elements. The fuselage of the aircraft deforms significantly during flight, because of pressure differences, for example. Therefore, sometimes significant tensions act on the attachments or panel elements, which result in deformation or displacement of the panels and in visual changes of the gap or joint dimensions in relation to one another.
Aircraft cabins are all manufactured by approximately the same technological method. All components, such as wall paneling elements (window panels, window front plates, ceiling panels) receive complex edge radii and are suspended in the space, partially three-dimensionally. A fixed bearing and a movable bearing ensure mobility in the event of fuselage deformations. In this case, large movements or deformations of the fuselage are immediately visible to the passenger.
Elastic visual covers within or behind the joints, such as weatherstripping ("Kederbänder"), routinely malfunction during daily operation and require regular repair.
Furthermore, the required removal, installation, maintenance, and repair of the window panels or window front plates are time-consuming and costly factors in daily operation.
The components and joints in the spherical areas of the cabin are particularly subjected to special requirements.


The invention relates to a continuous cable winch comprising a drive unit (20) and an output unit (60) for applying a drive force to a cable, which output unit is coupled to the drive unit (20).

Winches in general have been known for a long time and are used to lift loads or people, in particular to bridge vertical differences, in all areas of industry. A specific type of winch is the so-called continuous cable winch in which the cable is guided through the winch instead of rolling on the winch, for example in a drum. The cable can hang down, for example, on one or both sides of the continuous cable winch due to the force of gravity or on account of a load acting on it, so that the continuous cable winch does not need to store that part of the cable which is guided through the continuous cable winch. As a result, continuous cable winches can have, in principle, an unlimited stroke or gage length. Continuous cable winches of this kind can be used, in particular, when an infrastructure for fastening external winches is held ready and/or can be held ready in a lift shaft or on a building.
Continuous cable winches are usually used for transporting people or material, for example in window-cleaning gondolas.
By way of example, AC motors which can be connected to a power supply system by means of a plug-in connector are used as drives in continuous cable winches.
These superstructures of continuous cable winches usually have the disadvantage that voltage dips in the power supply system have a direct effect on the drive unit and the continuous cable winch can accordingly drop to an unstable operating point. This operating behavior leads, in particular, to continuous cable winches being used only to a limited extent in countries with a poor electricity supply.
Against this background, the present invention was based on the object of providing a continuous cable winch which mitigates the above-described disadvantages as far as possible, and in particular of enabling a continuous cable winch to be used in countries with a poor electricity supply.
The invention solves the problem on which it is based by way of a continuous cable winch of the kind outlined in the introductory part which has the features as claimed in claim 1.

Abstract: According to the invention, it is proposed that the drive unit (20) has a frequency converter (30) with a primary side (32) for drawing current from a power supply system (33) and a secondary side (36) for outputting an AC voltage (UU, UV, UW), an AC motor (40) for driving the continuous cable winch (10) at a variable rotation speed (ω1), which AC motor is supplied with the AC voltage (UU, UV, UW) by the frequency converter (30), a control unit (50) which is interconnected with the frequency converter (30) and the AC motor (40) for the purpose of controlling the drive unit (20), wherein the control unit (50) is designed to change the rotation speed (ω1) of the AC motor (40) by means of the frequency converter (30).


A system for transceiving data based on a clock transition time is provided. A transmitting device included in the system includes at least one first transmitting circuit configured to transmit data via a wired channel by changing a clock transition time based on the data, wherein the at least one first transmitting circuit includes a skew controller configured to output a skew clock generated by controlling a duty ratio and a skew of an input clock, and a phase-difference modulator configured to output a transmission signal including information about the data generated by changing a transition time of the skew clock based on the data.

The inventive concepts relate to a transmitting device for transmitting data based on a clock transition time, a receiving device for identifying data based on a difference between a clock transition time of a reference signal and a clock transition time of a reception signal, and a system including the transmitting device and the receiving device.
As a computational capacity of a computing system has exponentially increased due to complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) scaling, higher speed data communication is required to support an increased amount of data communication between computing system modules. However, it is getting more and more difficult to achieve a higher speed of data communication because signal integrity may be degraded due to channel discontinuity at higher speeds. The channel discontinuity causes irregular inter-symbol interference (ISI) due to signal reflection, which may induce a communication error in the higher speed data communication. Thus, it is difficult to realize higher speed communication in a channel having channel discontinuity.
A representative example of a channel having severe ISI due to channel discontinuity may include a multi-drop channel mainly used for a memory interface.

System for transceiving data based on clock transition time


A vitreous silica-based plastic refractory comprising at least 50 wt. % vitreous silica having a purity of at least 99% silica, a refractory plasticizer, and a bonding system containing an alpha alumina-containing alumina capable of reacting with phosphoric acid to form an aluminum phosphate bond and phosphoric acid.

The present invention relates to vitreous silica-based plastic refractory mixes and plastic refractories bonded with aluminum phosphate which have a long shelf life, low bulk densities as compared to other plastics, excellent resistance to both acids and alkalies, high-strengths, excellent thermal shock resistance and good abrasion resistance.
Plastic refractories are well known products, namely being mixtures of ground refractory materials in stiff plastic form suitable for ramming into place to form monolithic linings. These plastic refractories are commonly installed by hand using mallets or by conventional pneumatic hammers. Such plastics are utilized in making rapid repairs in a wide variety of vessels as well as for forming monolithic linings for heating furnaces, boiler settings, forging ovens, annealing ovens and furnaces, cupolas, magnesium electrolytic cells, titanium chlorinators, in certain areas of incinerators, in devices used to refine petroleum, and many other industrial applications where the lining is prone to thermal shock and acid or alkali contact at high temperatures.
A number of different refractories have been utilized in order to make a plastic which will be resistant to both acid and alkalies, have better creep resistance at high temperatures and thermal shock resistance as well as a suitable shell life. It has been known to primarily use aluminous or silicon carbide aggregates as well as various types of bonding phases, primarily aluminum phosphate in order to increase the strength, acid resistance and thermal shock resistance, but such plastics still have been unsatisfactory.
Salazar U.S. Pat. No. 4,440,865 discusses a means of improving the shelf life and wet strength of plastics. This patent describes use of perlite, which is a form of silica, but it is weak and friable and could not be used in a plastic which is rammed during installation.

Vitreous silica-based plastic refractory


A system and method for searching and presenting data may include receiving a search request, storing data in an in memory database, accessing that data by one or more 64 bit processors, determining exact or approximate matches among the data to the search request, building a machine-readable data file including the search results, and serving the data file to a user's machine, where it is visible through a portal interface, which may be local or remotely served to the user's machine. The system may employ 64 bit technology in order to access and serve significant amounts of information, including mappings between code set and other data that may include mappings to one or more code sets. The system also may employ raw TCP/IP sockets to reduce latency and increase search speed.

Concept based terminology mapping may be incredibly useful when it comes to managing terminology and applying the terminology to multiple aspects of a record system, e.g., an electronic health record system, which may rely upon one or more terminology or code sets for one or more aspects of a business.
Although these terminology mappings undoubtedly are useful, there may be several difficulties in their implementation. For example, problems may arise in the areas of initial implementation, updates, and searchability. One example of an interface terminology mapping method that may address many of these issues and may be useful in managing multiple code sets may be described and claimed in the commonly-owned pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/660,512, titled "Method and System for Concept-Based Terminology Management," the contents of which are incorporated by reference.
In addition, while terminology mapping such as that described in the '512 application may provide an advantageous way of managing terminology, issues may arise in the distribution of the terminology to various entities. For example, there may be difficulties in distributing information to multiple entities that may be contained within a single, interrelated organization—such as doctors and billing departments within a hospital—or that may comprise multiple, independent organizations—such as entities at different, unaffiliated hospitals.
While care providers may benefit from robust and accurate terminology distribution, e.g., by enabling the providers to create and maintain detailed, accurate health records and by facilitating complete, accurate billing, it also may be useful for the care provider to have access to additional information at least tangentially related to the patient's visit. For example, the practitioner may benefit from immediate access to recent studies or courses of treatment relating to the same condition the patient has. The practitioner also may wish to supply the patient with additional information relevant to the patient's visit, and it would be useful to have that information immediately available without requiring an extensive search by the practitioner.
What are needed are a system and method that address the issues presented above.

System and method for implementing a 64 bit data searching and delivery portal


A method and a dental implant treatment planning and surgical guide design system based on a full anatomy model (FAM). A FAM consists of models for bones, teeth, and nerves, and a virtual stone model. A virtual stone model is not only a surface model of the soft tissue and tooth surfaces of a patient, but also a color map of tissue thickness data. It also contains the insert direction of a surgical guide. The treatment planning and surgical guide system uses the full anatomy model as a unique reference throughout the workflow. Its implant placement, restoration preview and surgical guide design are all based on the anatomy model.

Dental implant treatment planning software systems normally work in two modes, single scan or dual scan. With single scan protocol, a patient is CT-scanned, the DICOM files are loaded into a software system, the jaw bone structure and remaining teeth are segmented and modeled in 3D space, and implant placements are simulated with the 3D bone/tooth model and the DICOM slices. In the dual scan mode, a so-called radiographic guide is made with radio-opaque markers. The patient is scanned wearing the radiographic guide, and the guide is then scanned separately. When the DICOM files are loaded into the system, the 3D bone/tooth model is created, the radiographic guide model is generated, and implants are placed with references to the 2D slices and the 3D model. More details of these workflows can be found in publications (Materialise, Philippe B Tardieu, etc.) and software documents of SimPlant, NobelGuide and EasyGuide, etc., which are the state-of-the-art of such workflows. All of the systems would place implants with 2D slices. SimPlant introduced 3D implant placement recently.
Very few publications are relevant to the topic that how implants are placed with references to CT scans data. Orentlicher (US 2007/0059665 A1) described a workflow in which CT scans are converted into files of some format, and doctors/technicians can download the converted files to place implants. Technically, this is same as what SimPlant has implemented. The converted files are the bone/tooth model and 2D slices, so the implant placement is based on the 2D slices and 3D bone/tooth model. Yang (US 2008/0193896) disclosed an approach trying to combine the CT scan data with physical cast models, which is related to the idea that implants need to be placed with references to the actual geometry of the patient's anatomy including soft tissues.
Another area of treatment planning system is the restoration preview. The idea is to put together a patient's anatomy structure, implants, abutments, and crowns to preview and evaluate the aesthetics of a treatment plan. The software function to add virtual teeth to the 3D graphics views can be found in commercial systems (www.materialise.com.Dental, SimPlant from Materialise). Unfortunately, the virtual teeth are added to a model with only jaw bones and teeth, other than a model that also includes soft tissues. This makes the virtual tooth functionality inconsistent with the actual needs of aesthetics evaluation.
As far as the soft tissue model is concerned, Christensen (U.S. Pat. No. 7,758,345B1) disclosed an approach to create a physical model with both bone and soft tissues from imaging data. A hard tissue model is created from scan data. So is a scan prosthesis (or radiographic guide in this disclosure) model. The hard tissue model is modified with some supporting structures, then the model of the scan prosthesis is attached to it, and finally "moldable" material is used to mold a model of the patient's soft tissue between the three-dimensional model of the scan prosthesis and the modified hard tissue model by pressing the three-dimensional model of the scan prosthesis against the one or more support structures.
From the implant placement to the restoration preview, surgical guide CAD/CAM, and implant surgery, there are three references involved. First is the implant placement reference. If the implants are placed with 2D DICOM slices, the slice data is the placement reference. If the 3D model combining jaw bones and teeth is used, in other words implants are placed in a 3D graphics view of the 3D model, this model would be the placement reference. The second reference is called "aesthetics reference" in the remainder of this document, which is basically a duplicate of the patients' anatomy including soft tissues. When the aesthetics of an implant case is assessed, one would like to see how the implants and restorations go along with the soft tissues. Using combinations of bone and teeth as aesthetics references is not a good practice, but has been the reality in prior art since the tissue models were not available. The third reference is the base model that is used to create a surgical guide. For a single scan case, the bone/tooth model will be trimmed and offset and drilled to create a surgical guide, so the surgical guide reference is the bone/tooth model. For dual scan cases, the model of the radiographic guide is registered with the bone structure, and then used as the base for the surgical guide.
With the state-of-art treatment planning, the placement reference may not be the surgical guide reference, and the aesthetics reference does not actually exist in treatment planning systems, which makes it impossible to preview restorations with the actual patient anatomy. The digital modeling of soft tissues, as well as its usage in planning stage, is missing in the implant planning systems and techniques.

Method and system of anatomy modeling for dental implant treatment planning


Shapes and orientations of contacts or other closed contours on an integrated circuit are characterized by calculating Elliptic Fourier descriptors. The descriptors are then used for generating design rules for the integrated circuit and for assessing process capability for the manufacturing of the integrated circuit. Monte Carlo simulation can be performed in conjunction with the elliptic Fourier descriptors.

Semiconductor circuit manufacturing is subject to certain design rules for laying out features on wafers. As semiconductor circuits become more highly integrated, it is important to design semiconductor chips in such a manner as to provide more elements on a chip for a higher yield in the final product. The minimum feature size depends on the chemical and optical limits of a particular lithographic system, and the tolerance for distortions of the shape. Variation of a critical dimension can be caused by line edge roughness (LER) occurring during lithographic processing of the semiconductor wafer. For contacts or other closed contours on an integrated circuit, their shapes and orientations, including LER, are of significant concern for generating design rules and assessing process capability for the manufacturing of integrated circuits.
Conventionally, a single ellipse is used to fit closed contours, such as contacts, to determine their shape. Then, LER is characterized by fitting the shape and calculating the standard deviation of the residuals. The frequency components of the roughness can thus be retrieved. For contacts or any other closed contours on the chip, usually the shape information which contains both orientation and low frequency components of the edge is the key factor for the function of the device. However, the traditional methods do not provide shape information, and the detailed roughness information at specific orientations is lost and cannot be retrieved.
A need therefore exists for an improved method for accurately determining both the shape and orientation of closed contours on a semiconductor chip, especially at the 22 nanometer (nm) and 15 nm technology nodes.

Shape characterization with elliptic fourier descriptor for contact or any closed structures on the chip


An adjustable, telescoping seat support allows the height of a bicycle seat to be adjusted to a number of seat height positions safely while bicycle is in motion. An elongated tubular seat post is clamped to a bicycle frame in a stationary position. A bicycle seat is attached to an end of a tubular seat holder that is slidably posited over the stationary tubular seat post. A coil spring placed inside the tubular seat holder provides an extending force on the tubular seat post and the tubular seat holder such that the seat support is capable of extending to a raised seat position and compressing to a lowered seat position. The seat is locked into raised and lowered seat positions by a plunger locking portion that is attached to the elongated tubular seat holder and which remains at a fixed position relative to the seat for all seat height positions.

Virtually all bicycles have adjustable seat posts for adjusting the bicycle seat to the rider's desired position. Generally, seat posts slide inside the upright seat post receiving shaft of the bicycle frame and are locked into position with a clamp. It is essential to fix the seat in the proper position, in which maximum pedal leverage and energy efficiency are attained. Lower positions place excessive stress on the knees, and higher positions cause the rider to rock from side to side to reach the bottom of the pedal stroke, causing lower back strain.
Experienced bicycle riders change their body position based on terrain and road configuration, and often need additional seat heights for their different positions. For example, on steep descents, the rider needs a lower center of gravity to keep the back of the bicycle on the ground. Currently, when reaching a hill, the rider must stop the bicycle, loosen a clamp, change the seat height, and then tighten the clamp. This process is repeated whenever a seat height change is required. In addition to being time consuming, changing the seat height adds unnecessary and disruptive breaks to the ride.
In the U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,039, issued to Hawker, a spring-loaded seat support is described. The seat support disclosed by Hawker is adaptable to a bicycle frame and allows the bicycle seat to move up or down. However, the seat support does not provide a way to position and lock a bicycle seat into up or down positions, but rather serves as a shock absorbing seat support.
U.S. Pat. No. 510,993, issued to Riess, describes a spring-loaded seat support mechanism used to raise a seat from an initial depressed position. Before mounting the bicycle, the rider must manually adjust the seat to the lower position. The seat then automatically rises to the preferred height when the rider exerts pressure on the seat. Because the seat mechanism only works in one direction, it is not very useful for riders needing to raise and lower the seat without stopping the bicycle.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,644,504, issued to Vick, discloses a bicycle seat adjusting device that enables a rider to adjust the seat in both directions while riding. The device is relatively large, has many working parts and would be difficult to manufacture or fix. In addition, the device requires a polygonal seat post, rather than a standard cylindrical seat post.
An adjustable seat support that is capable of adjusting a seat height while a bicycle is in motion has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,150,851, issued to Cienfuegos. The seat support described is not readily transferable from one bicycle to another because the mechanism for adjusting the seat height is an integral part of the bicycle frame itself. In a later patent issued to Cienfuegos. U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,592, this problem is overcome with an independent seat replacement unit that consolidates all of the parts of the seat support. However, this design places the locking and positioning portion of the seat support at a position near the horizontal portion of the bicycle frame. Mountain bicycles are designed with low frames and long seat posts, such that there is significant distance between the horizontal portion of the bicycle frame and the bicycle seat. A locking and positioning portion of a seat support system attached near the horizontal frame portion of the bicycle can be very difficult for the rider to reach while the bicycle is in motion and may cause the rider to lose balance while attempting to change the seat position. Further, since the locking and positioning mechanism changes its location relative to the rider with each new seat position, the rider will have to search for location of the locking and positioning mechanism while riding, again making the seat adjustment procedure unsafe. Also, the seat support device described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,592 extends far into the upright seat post receiving shaft of the bicycle frame, which is not possible with all bicycle frame designs.
None of the prior art devices meets the requirements of adaptability, portability, and ease of use, wherein the seat support has a locking and positioning portion that is independent of the bicycle frame and remains in a constant, easily reachable position relative to the bicycle seat. Therefore, there is still need for a commercially viable option that satisfies the stated requirements.


An exponent unit receives an operand and outputs an exponent of the operand that is equal to the number of consecutive bits of the operand that have the same value as the most significant bit (MSB) of the operand. The exponent unit can obtain an exponent value of an operand having a bit width that is greater than a processing bit width of a leading one detector (or a leading zero detector).

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to a data processing system and, in particular, to a data processing unit including an exponent unit for outputting the number of consecutive bits having the same value as a most significant bit of an operand.
2. Background Description
An exponent unit used in a data processing system, such as a digital signal processor (DSP), outputs the number of consecutive bits having the same value as a most significant bit (MSB) of an operand. An exponent value, which is output from such an exponent unit, is used as shift information for performing a fixed point arithmetic operation or a multiplication/division arithmetic operation, enhancing the operation speed of the data processing system.
For example, if a binary xe2x80x9c0.0000011xe2x80x9d is expressed with the fixed-point number, left shifting is performed five times. An exponent thereof is a decimal xe2x80x9c5xe2x80x9d. Using an exponent unit for a fixed point change, an exponent can easily be obtained. That is, an exponent having the same value as a most significant bit is a decimal xe2x80x9c6xe2x80x9d. And, subtracting xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d from the xe2x80x9c6xe2x80x9d makes the xe2x80x9c5xe2x80x9d.
It is understood that as the number of bits of data used in a data processing system for accurate data expression rises, a processing bit width of circuits formed therein must increase. Therefore, if the processing bit width of the data processing system increases, then that of the exponent unit must also increase. This causes increases in hardware area and manufacturing costs.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an exponent unit of a data processing system which can process at least double data bits with a minimal addition of hardware.
To achieve the above and other objects of the present invention, there is provided an exponent unit adapted to receive an operand and to output an exponent of the operand, and a data processing system including the exponent unit. The exponent of the operand output from the exponent unit is equal to the number of consecutive bits of the operand that have the same value as the most significant bit (MSB) of the operand.
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided an exponent unit adapted to receive an operand and to output an exponent of the operand The exponent unit includes a detection device adapted to detect a number of consecutive bits of the operand having a same value as a most significant bit (MSB) of the operand, and to output a detection value corresponding thereto. A mantissa and carry control device is adapted to output the detection value as a mantissa signal in at least one of a single precision mode and, when a previous first status bit is set and the MSB is identical to a previous second status bit, in a double precision mode. The mantissa and carry control device is also adapted to generate a carry signal in the double precision mode, when the previous first status bit is set and the MSB is identical to the previous second status bit. An augend control device is adapted to output an exponent of a previous operand as an augend signal. A logic circuit is adapted to set a first status bit and to set a second status bit to a lowest bit of the operand, when all bits of the operand have an identical value. An adder is adapted to add the mantissa signal, the augend signal, and the carry signal to obtain a sum thereof, and to output the sum as the exponent of the operand. The single precision mode and the double precision mode are sequentially generated, and the exponent of the operand is equal to the number of consecutive bits of the operand having the same value as the MSB of the operand.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a data processing system. The data processing system includes an exponent unit adapted to output an exponent of an operand that is equal to a number of consecutive bits of the operand having a same value as a most significant bit (MSB) of the operand. A status register is adapted to store previous first and second status bits. A decoder is adapted to decode an instruction including the operand, to supply the operand and the previous first and second status bits stored in the status register to the exponent unit when the decoded instruction is an exponent instruction, and to output a mode signal having a first level or a second level depending upon whether the decoded instruction is a single precision exponent instruction or a double precision exponent instruction, respectively. The exponent unit includes first and second latches, a mantissa and carry control device, an augend control device, a logic circuit, and an adder. The first and second latches are adapted to latch the previous first and second status bits supplied from the status register, respectively. The detection device is adapted to detect the number of consecutive bits of the operand having the same value as the MSB, and to output a detection value corresponding thereto. The mantissa and carry control device is adapted to output the detection value as a mantissa signal when the mode signal is at the first level or when the mode signal is at the second level, the previous first status bit is set, and the previous second status bit is identical to the MSB, and to output a carry signal when the mode signal is at the second level, the previous first status bit is set, and the previous second status bit is identical to the MSB. The augend control device is adapted to output an exponent of a previous operand as an augend signal when the mode signal is at the second level. The logic circuit is adapted to set a first status bit and to set a second status bit to a lowest bit of the operand, when all bits of the operand have an identical value. The adder is adapted to add the mantissa signal, the augend signal, and the carry signal to obtain a sum thereof, and to output the sum as the exponent of the operand. The first and second latches are further adapted to retain a latched value for a predetermined time, and the single precision exponent instruction and the double precision exponent instruction are sequentially generated.
These and other aspects, features and advantages of he present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings.


A snap ring for applications requiring cleanliness has a novel recessed interior contour that reduces debris generation during installation of the snap ring. The snap ring is suitable for applications where a reduction in debris generation is desirable, such as to retain an actuator pivot bearing in information storage devices like magnetic hard disk drives.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to snap rings designed for use in clean environments and particularly to snap rings for use in information storage devices.
2. Background Information
In hard disk drives, magnetic heads read and write data on the surfaces of co-rotating disks that are co-axially mounted on a spindle motor. The magnetically-written "bits" of written information are therefore laid out in concentric circular "tracks" on the surfaces of the disks. The disks must rotate quickly so that the computer user does not have to wait long for a desired bit of information on the disk surface to translate to a position under the head. In modern disk drives, data bits and tracks must be extremely narrow and closely spaced to achieve a high density of information per unit area of the disk surface.
The required small size and close spacing of information bits on the disk surface has consequences on the design of the disk drive device and its mechanical components. Among the most important consequences is that the magnetic transducer on the head must operate in extremely close proximity to the magnetic surface of the disk. However, because there is relative motion between the disk surface and the head due to the disk rotation and head actuation, continuous contact between the head and disk can lead to tribological failure of the interface. Such tribological failure, known colloquially as a "head crash," can damage the disk and head, and usually causes data loss. Therefore, the magnetic head is typically designed to be hydrodynamically supported by an extremely thin air bearing so that its magnetic transducer can operate in close proximity to the disk while physical contacts between the head and the disk are minimized or avoided.
The head-disk spacing present during operation of modern hard disk drives is extremely small—measuring in the tens of nanometers. Obviously, for the head to operate so closely to the disk the head-disk interface must be kept clear of debris and contamination—even microscopic debris and contamination. In addition to tribological consequences, contamination and debris at or near the head disk interface can force the head away from the disk. The resulting temporary increases in head-disk spacing cause magnetic read/write errors. Accordingly, magnetic hard disk drives are assembled in clean-room conditions and the constituent parts are subjected to pre-assembly cleaning steps during manufacture.
Another consequence of the close spacing of information bits and tracks written on the disk surface is that the spindle rotation and head actuator motion must be of very high precision. The head actuator must have structural characteristics that allow it to be actively controlled to quickly seek different tracks of information and then precisely follow small disturbances in the rotational motion of the disk while following such tracks.
Characteristics of the actuator structure that are important include stiffness, mass, geometry, and boundary conditions. For example, one important boundary condition is the rigidity of the interface between the actuator arm and the actuator pivot bearing.
All structural characteristics of the actuator, including those mentioned above, must be considered by the designer to minimize vibration in response to rapid angular motions and other excitations. For example, the actuator arm can not be designed to be too massive because it must accelerate very quickly to reach information tracks containing desired information. Otherwise, the time to access desired information may be acceptable to the user.
On the other hand, the actuator arm must be stiff enough and the actuator pivot bearing must be of high enough quality so that the position of the head can be precisely controlled during operation. Also, the interface between the actuator arm and the pivot bearing must be of sufficient rigidity and strength to enable precise control of the head position during operation.
Actuator arm stiffness must also be sufficient to limit deflection that might cause contact with the disk during mechanical shock events that may occur during operation or non-operation. Likewise, the interface between the actuator arm and the pivot bearing must be of sufficient strength to prevent catastrophic structural failure such as axial slippage between the actuator arm and the actuator pivot bearing sleeve during large mechanical shock events.
In many disk drives, the actuator arm (or arms) is fixed to the actuator pivot bearing sleeve by a snap ring known as the actuator pivot bearing snap ring. The actuator pivot bearing snap ring typically includes one or more out-of-plane bends that function as a preloaded axial spring after assembly. The action of the actuator pivot bearing snap ring as a preloaded axial spring prevents separation and slippage at the interface between the actuator arm and the pivot bearing during operation and during mechanical shock events.
State of the art snap rings are typically metal parts that achieve their final shape through the use of a stamping die. The stamping die tends to slightly round the edges on one face of each snap ring. This rounding is known as stamping "die roll" and it can typically survive subsequent forming (e.g. coining) steps (if any).
The actuator pivot bearing snap ring may be installed with its face having edges with stamping die roll adjacent to and in contact with the actuator arm structure. In this case, the other face of the snap ring will be adjacent to and in contact with a surface of the pivot bearing sleeve. Alternatively, the actuator pivot bearing snap ring may be installed with its face having edges with stamping die roll adjacent to and in contact with the pivot bearing sleeve. In this case, the other face of the snap ring will be adjacent to and in contact with a surface of the actuator pivot bearing sleeve.
The actuator arm structure is typically fabricated from aluminum or an alloy of aluminum and is therefore typically softer and more easily burnished than the pivot bearing sleeve, which is typically fabricated from stainless steel. Therefore, less debris comprising aluminum are generated if a conventional snap ring is installed in an orientation such that its face having edges with stamping die roll are adjacent to and in contact with the actuator arm structure.
Although debris comprising aluminum may be reduced by specifying orientation of the snap ring when installed, most state-of-the-art attempts to improve post-fabrication cleanliness of disk drive components have focused on pre- and post-assembly cleaning steps and on environmental cleanliness during assembly. The industry's marked reliance on cleaning steps survives even though assembly in clean environments and post-assembly cleaning steps are not thorough in their removal of contaminants and debris. Less frequently, disk drive designers consider the generation of debris and contamination earlier in the design of sub-components. Still, such consideration is often restricted to the selection of lubricants and adhesives.
Consequently, there remains much scope in the art for reducing debris generation via novel changes to the basic design or assembly of various sub-components of the disk drive. Since only one of the faces of a conventional snap ring has stamping die roll, regardless of the snap ring's orientation one of its faces will be prone to generate debris (either through burnishing of the surface of the actuator arm structure or via contact with the pivot bearing sleeve).
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an actuator pivot bearing snap ring that can generally prevent or generally reduce the creation of debris during assembly rather than relying on debris removal by post-assembly cleaning steps. Although the need in the art was described above in the context of magnetic disk drive information storage devices, the need is also present in other applications where a snap ring is used in a clean environment that must remain as free as possible of debris and contaminants.

Snap ring with recessed interior contour


A keyboard sustain pedal stabilizer is for use with a keyboard sustain foot pedal. The keyboard sustain pedal stabilizer comprises a stabilizer base, and a pedal-retention area in cooperative engagement with the stabilizer base. The pedal-retention area includes a retaining structure, the retaining structure enabling secure retention of the keyboard sustain foot pedal within the pedal-retention area. The retention structure may be an end-wall in combination with a pair of opposing sidewalls, a recess in combination with a pair of opposing sidewalls, or a recess in combination with an end-wall. The keyboard sustain pedal stabilizer may also include an expanded position and a retracted position, the expanded position being for cooperative engagement with the keyboard sustain pedal, the retracted position being for transporting the keyboard sustain pedal stabilizer. The under surface of the stabilizer has non-slipping properties.

Keyboards have the advantage over acoustic pianos in terms of portability, versatility, and ease of amplification but many keyboards lack the capacity for expression of pianos. With the right foot pedal, however, a keyboard can communicate compositions from the likes of Debussy and even achieve effects far beyond the capabilities of the highest-quality concert pianos. Currently, there are available a selection of keyboard sustain, volume and expression pedals sure to contain the perfect accessory to take keyboard performances to the next level.
Shoes, including athletic shoes, work boots, dress shoes, overshoes, and all manner of footwear, provide poor traction on many wet surfaces. The difficulties of moving across a slippery surface, often result in inconvenience and injury. Slips, falls, and resultant injuries are typically caused by a lack of good footing. And even if a musician does not actually fall, the need to maintain one's proper balance on a wet or a slippery surface may cause loss of rhythm for a musician.
A keyboard sustain pedal is known for use with modern pianos and keyboards. When pressed, the keyboard sustain pedal sustains all the damped strings on the piano by moving all the dampers away from the strings and enabling them to vibrate freely. All notes played will continue to sound until the vibration naturally ceases, or until the pedal is released.
Conventionally, musicians use foot pedals for various musical effects. While playing musical instruments and depressing the foot pedals, the musician may find that the foot pedal has slipped from the original position. The musician, while playing, will need a foot to reach and return the foot pedal to the original position.
Some prior art regarding this invention includes:                U.S. Pat. No. 7,511,212 (Chang) discloses a musical instrument stand assembly with a foldable pedal. The musical instrument stand assembly with a foldable pedal includes a main stand body, and the main stand body includes a main rod, and the bottom of the main rod includes two support rods each with a recession, and the recession includes a first circular serration; two side frames, and a sidewall of each side frame includes a protrusion and a second circular serration at the protrusion, and each side frame is installed by engaging each protrusion with the recession of each support rod, such that the first and second circular serrations are engaged with each other. With the design of rotably engaging the two side frames and the two support rods, the main stand body of the musical instrument has the function of adjusting its inclination with respect to a vertical position, and the effect of conveniently folding the pedal of the musical instrument.        U.S. Pat. No. 7,655,854 (Wang) discloses a pedal support for percussion instruments. The pedal support comprises a frame including a perpendicularly door-shaped supporting portion and a horizontal mounting portion, the supporting portion being fixed on the mounting member and including two ends, each having a positioning hole formed thereon, the two positioning holes axially coupling with two L-shaped connecting members individually so that the connecting members allow to swing between a first position and a second position, and each of the connecting members including a retaining slot; and a U-shaped piece being pivotally connected to one end of the mounting portion, wherein as the connecting members are located at the first position, the connecting members and the frame are in a retracted status, as the connecting members are located at the second position.        U.S. Pat. No. 9,858,904 (Gold) discloses an insertable percussion system. The system includes a percussion instrument; an inserting/retracting coupled to the percussion instrument for moving the first percussion instrument to a desired position with respect to a second percussion instrument; the inserting/retracting mechanism including a motor, an input device for receiving an operation instruction and generating an operation signal based on the operation instruction, a feedback mechanism for obtaining position information of the first percussion instrument and generating a feedback signal representative of the position information, and a controller electrically coupled to the input device, the motor. The feedback mechanism for actuating the motor is based on the operation signal and the feedback signal.
Typically, musicians try to prevent the foot pedal from moving and sliding on the floor by placing a brick or some other heavy object behind the keyboard sustain foot pedal.
What is needed is a keyboard sustain pedal stabilizer that does not have any moving parts, has no connection to the keyboard stand, is easy to use, requires no set-up time, is compact and readily transportable, and is compatible with essentially any keyboard sustain foot pedal.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a keyboard sustain pedal stabilizer that stabilizes the keyboard sustain foot pedal.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide an attachable pedal cover comprised of a rubber-type pad with an anti-slip means for preventing slipping of the keyboard sustain pedal stabilizer engaging in a stable manner with the floor.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a keyboard sustain pedal stabilizer for a keyboard sustain foot pedal that is compatible with floors having varying textures and hardness.


Bleached polyacrylic acid crosslinked cellulosic fibers, methods for making the fibers, and products including the fibers. The bleached polyacrylic acid crosslinked cellulosic fibers are polyacrylic acid crosslinked cellulosic fibers that have been treated with one or more bleaching agents to provide crosslinked cellulosic fibers having improved whiteness.

Cellulosic fibers are a basic component of absorbent products such as diapers. These fibers form a liquid absorbent structure, a key functioning element in the absorbent product. Cellulosic fluff pulp, a form of cellulosic fibers, is a preferred fiber for this application because a high void volume or high bulk, liquid absorbent fiber structure is formed. This structure, however, tends to collapse on wetting. The collapse or reduction in fiber structure bulk reduces the volume of liquid which can be retained in the wetted structure and inhibits the wicking of liquid into the unwetted portion of the cellulose fiber structure. Consequently, the potential capacity of the dry high bulk fiber structure is never realized and it is the fiber structure's wet bulk which determines the liquid holding capacity of the overall fiber structure.
Fiber structures formed from crosslinked cellulosic fibers generally have enhanced wet bulk compared to those formed from uncrosslinked fibers. The enhanced bulk is a consequence of the stiffness, twist, and curl imparted to the fiber as a result of crosslinking. Accordingly, crosslinked fibers are advantageously incorporated into absorbent products to enhance their wet bulk.
Polycarboxylic acids have been used to crosslink cellulosic fibers. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,137,537; U.S. Pat. No. 5,183,707; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,563. These references describe absorbent structures containing individualized cellulosic fibers crosslinked with a C2-C9 polycarboxylic acid. Absorbent structures made from these individualized, crosslinked fibers exhibit increased dry and wet resilience and have improved responsiveness to wetting relative to structures containing uncrosslinked fibers. Furthermore, a preferred polycarboxylic crosslinking agent, citric acid, is available in large quantities at relatively low prices making it commercially competitive with formaldehyde and formaldehyde addition products.
Despite the advantages that polycarboxylic acid crosslinking agents provide, cellulosic fibers crosslinked with low molecular weight polycarboxylic acids such as citric acid, tend to lose their crosslinks over time and revert to uncrosslinked fibers. For example, citric acid crosslinked fibers show a considerable loss of crosslinks on storage. Such a reversion of crosslinking generally defeats the purpose of fiber crosslinking, which is to increase the fiber's bulk and capacity. Thus, the useful shelf-life of fibers crosslinked with these polycarboxylic acids is relatively short and renders the fibers somewhat limited in their utility. Polymeric polycarboxylic acid crosslinked fibers, however, exhibit a density that remains substantially unchanged over the life-time of fibrous webs prepared from these fibers. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,620,865. This resistance to aging or reversion of density relates to the stable intrafiber crosslinks formed using polymeric polycarboxylic acid crosslinking agents. In contrast, cellulose fibers crosslinked with citric acid show a considerable increase in density, accompanied by a loss of bulk and absorbent capacity over time. Generally, the increase in density indicates a decrease in the level of crosslinking (i.e., reversion) in the fibers. In addition to density increase, the loss of crosslinking in the fibrous web results in a less bulky web and, consequently, diminished absorbent capacity and liquid acquisition capability.
Unfortunately, citric acid or polycarboxylic acid crosslinking agents can cause discoloration (i.e., yellowing) of the white cellulosic fibers at the elevated temperatures required to effect the crosslinking reaction.
Bleaching is a common method for increasing pulp brightness of pulp. Industry practice for improving appearance of fluff pulp is to bleach the pulp to ever-higher levels of brightness (the Technical Association of the Pulp & Paper Industry ("TAPPI") or the International Organization for Standardization ("ISO")). Traditional bleaching agents include elemental chlorine, chlorine dioxide, and hypochlorites. However, bleaching is expensive, environmentally harsh, and often a source of manufacturing bottleneck. Widespread consumer preference for a brighter, whiter pulp drives manufacturers to pursue ever more aggressive bleaching strategies. While highly bleached pulps are "whiter" than their less-bleached cousins, these pulps are still yellow-white in color. A yellow-white product is undesirable. Countless studies suggest that consumers clearly favor a blue-white over a yellow-white color. The former is perceived to be whiter, i.e., "fresh", "new" and "clean", while the latter is judged to be "old", "faded", and "dirty".
In addition to fiber discoloration, unpleasant odors can also be associated with the use of α-hydroxy carboxylic acids such as citric acid. Recently, it was found that the characteristic odor associated with citric acid crosslinked cellulosic fibers could be removed and the brightness improved by contacting the fibers with an alkaline solution (e.g., an aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide) and an oxidizing bleaching agent (e.g., hydrogen peroxide). See U.S. Pat. No. 5,562,740. In the method, the alkaline solution raises the finished fiber pH preferably to the 5.5-6.5 range from about 4.5. This, in combination with the oxidizing bleaching agent, eliminates the "smokey and burnt"odor characteristics of the citric acid crosslinked fibers. The oxidizing bleaching agent also helps to increase final product brightness.
Accordingly, there exists a need for crosslinked cellulosic fibers having advantageous bulk and improved brightness and whiteness. The present invention seeks to fulfill these needs and provides further related advantages.


An electronic device includes an instrument panel that includes a display opening, where the instrument panel is located in a first plane; a circuit board located inside the electronic device, where the circuit board includes a display device that includes a display area, and where the display area is located in a second plane that is different from the first plane; and a waveguide that couples the display area to the display opening and guides light, and/or an image displayed in the display area, from the display area to the display opening.

Electronic devices may need to interact with the environment, with users, or with other electronic devices using input devices, output devices, or communication interface devices. An electronic device may include a housing structure that may protect the electronic device from the environment and may shield the electronic device from other electronic devices. The housing structure may be configured to hold the input devices, output devices, or communication interface devices of the electronic device. For example, the housing structure may include an instrument panel into which the input devices, output devices, or communication interface devices are mounted. However, the instrument panel may not be large enough to hold all the required devices, or mounting the input/output/communication devices at or near the panel may be difficult or impractical. Designing a housing structure that can accommodate all the required input devices, output devices, or communication interface devices may therefore be quite challenging.

Using a waveguide to display information on electronic devices


Provided is a light weight and remarkably flexible sheet-shaped radio wave absorber having excellent radio wave absorbing capacity in milliwave band frequencies. The invention is a milliwave band radio wave absorption sheet comprising a radio wave reflection layer (A), a radio wave absorption layer (B) disposed above the layer (A) so as to be parallel thereto, and a protective layer (C) disposed above the layer (B) so as to be parallel thereto. The layer (B) has, at a frequency of 79 GHz, a dielectric constant, wherein the real part is 10 to 20 and the absolute value of the imaginary part is 4 to 10. The layer (B) has a film thickness of 200 to 400 μm. The absolute value of the imaginary part/real part from the dielectric constant is within a range of 0.30 to 0.60. The layer (C) has, at a frequency of 79 GHz, a dielectric constant, wherein the real part is 1.5 to 8.0 and the absolute value of the imaginary part is less than 1.0, and has a film thickness of 50 to 200 μm. In the milliwave band radio wave absorption sheet, the optical reflectance at an incident angle of 60° is 50% or greater, and the optical reflectance at an incident angle of 20° is 25% or greater. In addition, the invention provides a milliwave band radio wave absorption method using the radio wave absorption sheet, and a radio wave damage prevention method involving the installation of the radio wave absorption sheet.

Radio waves are emitted from communication devices such as radios, televisions and wireless communication devices, while radio waves are also emitted from electronic devices such as cellular phones and personal computers which have been increasing in number with the development of information technology in recent years. A conventional method for avoiding malfunctioning of electronic devices and communication devices due to radio waves is to install a radio wave absorber (Electro Magnetic Absorber, EMA) that efficiently absorbs radio waves and converts the absorbed radio waves to heat energy, either near to or remote from the site where radio waves are generated.
An example of installing a radio wave absorber remotely from the site where radio waves are generated is a highway electronic toll collection system (ETC). An ETC is a system that, when an automobile passes through a highway toll gate exit, exchanges billing and other information using microwaves at a frequency of 5.8 GHz transmitted between a roadside antenna installed at the toll gate and the automobile antenna. At toll gates where such an ETC system has been installed, microwaves emitted from the antenna may be reflected by the toll gate roof or other parts, or extraneous radio waves from adjacent ETC lanes may leak, often causing communication errors. Such communication errors are reduced by installing radio wave absorbers on the toll gate roof or between ETC lanes. (See PTL 1).
Such radio wave absorbers are widely used, and radio wave absorbers made of a variety of materials and in different forms have been developed according to different purposes and uses.
Incidentally, pyramidal radio wave absorbers and stacked radio wave absorbers are types of radio wave absorbers that absorb radio waves across a wide band.
A pyramidal radio wave absorber is a radio wave absorber of a type in which radio wave energy is attenuated as the waves pass through the interior of the absorber. PTL 2 describes a radio wave absorber wherein a material comprising a foamable organic resin such as foamable polyethylene as the base material, kneaded with a conducting material such as carbon black or graphite, is molded into a shape with many connected pyramids. If the radio wave absorber itself has a concavo-convex form with pyramidal shapes, it is possible to reduce the cross-sectional area of the radio wave absorber surface section (the incident direction of radio waves), inhibiting reflection of incident waves at the surface and facilitating entry of radio waves into the absorber, and as the cross-sectional area of the absorber increases, radio waves that have entered into the absorber can be efficiently converted to heat energy.
A stacked radio wave absorber, on the other hand, is designed to absorb radio waves by stacking a radio wave reflection layer and a plurality of radio wave absorption layers, and as an example, PTL 3 discloses a radio wave absorber having a magnetic loss layer that includes metal powder and a binder formed on the surface of a metal sheet.
In recent years, electronic devices and communication devices have shifted toward products that utilize high frequency radio waves. For example, radio waves in the milliwave band are currently being used in a wide range of fields, including milliwave radars mounted on vehicles to prevent automobile collision, and millimeter radio waves utilized in high power irradiation radars used in the aerospace industry.
Although radio wave absorbers have been developed that absorb radio waves in the milliwave band, most of these are pyramid types, which have been associated with problems because the base materials undergo degeneration or deformation with passing time or by heat, resulting in lower radio wave absorption. In addition, because pyramidal radio wave absorbers are bulky they have been problematic due to difficult handling at installation locations, and also complex manufacturing steps.
In addition, conventional stacked radio wave absorbers have not reached a satisfactory level in terms of radio wave absorption in the milliwave band, and especially absorption frequency bandwidth. Technical difficulties have therefore existed in the design of lightweight and flexible radio wave absorbers that are capable of absorption in a wide milliwave band width, and that can be attached to curved surfaces.

Milliwave band radio wave absorption sheet and milliwave radio wave absorption method


A light emitting diode (LED) structure including a substrate, a polymer layer, and an epitaxy layer is provided. The polymer layer is disposed on the substrate, wherein the polymer layer has a chemical formula of:

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to a semiconductor structure and a manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly, to a light emitting diode structure and a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, in the manufacturing method of the light emitting diode structure, an epitaxy layer is first grown on an epitaxy substrate. However, since the epitaxy substrate absorbs light, a wafer bonding method is needed to bond the epitaxy layer and a transparent transfer-substrate. Next, the epitaxy substrate is removed so the epitaxy layer may be transferred onto the transfer-substrate to avoid affecting light emission. Currently, the material of the adhesive layer used by the wafer bonding method includes silicon dioxide or benzocyclobutene (BCB). When a silicon dioxide layer is used as the adhesive layer, silicon dioxide needs to first be deposited on the transfer-substrate via plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). Then, a polishing process and an activation process are performed on the deposited silicon dioxide layer to form a good bonding surface. Next, the epitaxy layer and the transfer-substrate are aligned, and the epitaxy layer and the transfer-substrate are bonded via a method of a high temperature (such as 300° C.) for a long time (such as 1 hour) and a high pressure (such as 3,000 N/cm2). Lastly, the epitaxy substrate is removed to complete the manufacture of the light emitting diode.
When a benzocyclobutene layer is used as the adhesive layer, benzocyclobutene needs to first be coated on the epitaxy layer and the transfer-substrate via a spin coating method. Then, a baking procedure is performed on the coated benzocyclobutene. Next, the epitaxy layer and the transfer-substrate are aligned, and the epitaxy layer and the transfer-substrate are bonded via a method of a high temperature (such as 220° C.) for a long time (such as 3 hours) and a low pressure (such as 1,100 N/cm2). Lastly, the epitaxy substrate is removed to complete the manufacture of the light emitting diode. However, the costs required for the two manufacturing methods are higher and the manufacturing steps are more complex. Moreover, since both materials require a high temperature for a long time to bond the epitaxy layer and the transfer-substrate, defects may be generated in the epitaxy layer and the quality thereof may be damaged due to the high temperature. Therefore, the luminous efficiency of the resulting light emitting diode structure may be affected.

Light emitting diode structure and manufacturing method thereof

Abstract: wherein M represents sodium, zinc, magnesium, or potassium. The epitaxy layer is disposed on the polymer layer. The epitaxy layer is bonded to the substrate via the polymer layer.


A clutch assembly includes a hub rotatable about an axis and at least partially surrounding a cavity, a damper ring within the cavity, able to revolve about the axis, rotatable relative to the hub, a spring, a friction disc, forced elastically by the spring into contact with the damper ring, and a second friction disc contacting the damper ring and providing a reaction to the force of the spring.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a friction damper for an automatic transmission clutch hub.
2. Description of the Prior Art
During normal operating mode of an automatic transmission for a motor vehicle, vehicle occupants may hear and feel an objectionable noise and vibration, transmitted through a clutch hub that is connected by splines to the friction plates of the clutch.
The noise is generated by torsional vibration from the stick slip of the friction clutch during engagements and disengagements while the automatic transmission is producing a gear change. Shifting from a current gear to a new gear usually involves disengaging a clutch, whose engagement is required to produce the current gear ratio, and engaging a second clutch, whose engagement is required to produce the new gear. Engagement and disengagement of a clutch may result in self-excitation of the clutch as the clutch slips.

Friction damper for a transmission clutch


The data transfer has room for improvement of reduction in the operating electric current flowing on the signal bus and correct acquisition of the large amount of data. Each of data, a first clock signal and a second clock signal, a phase of which shifts by a predetermined amount from the first clock signal, has an amplitude that is smaller than an amplitude of a power supply voltage, and each of a semiconductor device and a memory device takes input of data in synchronization with rise edges of first and second clock signals.

AI (Artificial Intelligence) and system-on chip devices (SoC) for use in Cognitive application need to mount neural-network compatible function such as a large-scale multiply-accumulate (add) computing circuit thereon to simultaneously process a large amount of data. For the necessity of writing/reading repetition for the large amount of data, information such as a weight of the neural network at a high speed, a memory configuration having a large volume in a broadband is demanded. Besides, power increase in operation has become a problem. Therefore, it is more important to reduce a signal bus operating electric current that occupies a lot of consumed electric current in the memory chip or the SoC chip.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2007-208616 (Patent Document 1) describes a semiconductor system that receives data while using multi-phase clock signals and latches the data.