An optical device includes a base and an optical element chip and translucent member attached to the base. A wiring is buried in the base. One end of the wiring is an internal terminal portion. The other end of the wiring is an external terminal portion. A semiconductor chip incorporating peripheral circuits, etc., and a metal wire for connecting a pad electrode of the semiconductor chip and the wiring are buried in the base. The semiconductor chip incorporating peripheral circuits, etc., and the metal wire are buried together with the wiring in the base by molding, whereby the optical device and the semiconductor chip incorporating peripheral circuits, etc., are integrated into a single package.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical device, such as an optical device, a light receiving device for use in an optical pickup system, a hologram unit, or the like, and to a production method thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, an optical device incorporated in video cameras, digital cameras, digital still cameras, and the like, has been provided as a package element wherein a light receiving region is covered with a translucent plate while an imaging device, such as a CCD, or the like, is mounted on an adapter, such as a base made of an insulating material, or the like.
For the purpose of decreasing the size of the optical device, the imaging device mounted on the adapter, such as a base, is in the form of a bear chip (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-58805).
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional optical device. The optical device is mainly made of a ceramic material or plastic resin. Referring to FIG. 6, the optical device includes a base 131 which is in the form of a frame having an opening 132 in the central portion, an imaging element 135 attached to the lower surface of the base 131 which includes a CCD, etc., a translucent plate 136 made of glass attached onto the upper surface of the base 131 to face the imaging element 135 through the opening 132 provided therebetween.
On the lower surface of the base 131, a reentrant cavity 133 is formed in a region around the perimeter of the opening 132. A wiring 134 formed by a gold plated layer is provided to cover a region extending from a vicinity of the opening 132 at the lower surface of the base 131 to the outer perimeter side surface of the base 131 as shown in FIG. 6. An imaging element 135 is attached to the perimeter of the reentrant cavity 133 at the lower surface of the base 131 such that a light receiving region 135a is exposed to the opening 132.
Near the perimeter region of the upper surface of the imaging element 135, an electrode pad (not shown) is provided for transmitting a signal between the imaging element 135 and external devices. An internal terminal section is formed at an end of the wiring 134 adjacent to the opening 132. The internal terminal section of the wiring 134 and the electrode pad are electrically connected to each other with a bump (protruded electrode) 138 interposed therebetween. The imaging element 135, the wiring 134 and the bump 138 are sealed with a sealing resin 137 provided around the imaging element 135 at the lower surface of the base 131.
As described above, the light receiving region 135a of the imaging element 135 is provided in a closed space formed at the opening 132. This optical device is mounted on a circuit board while the translucent plate 136 is at the upper side of the device as shown in FIG. 6. An external terminal section is formed on the lower surface of the base 131 in a region of the wiring 134 which exists outside the area of the reentrant cavity 133. The external terminal section is used for connecting to an electrode on the circuit board.
Although not shown, a mirror tube incorporating an imaging optical system is provided above the translucent plate 136. As for the positional relationship between the mirror tube and the light receiving region 135a, the required accuracy is determined such that the relationship is within a predetermined tolerance.
Light which comes from an object to be imaged is focused on the light receiving region 135a of the imaging element 135 by the imaging optical system incorporated in the mirror tube. The focused light is photoelectrically converted by the imaging element 135.
An example of an optical device which has a structure different from that of the conventional base 131 shown in FIG. 6, e.g., a base having a generally flat shape wherein a reentrant cavity is not formed in the surface on which an imaging element is mounted, has been known (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-43554). In such a case, an external terminal section in an outer perimeter portion which is outside the perimeter of an opening of the base and an electrode on a circuit board are connected by a solder ball having a large diameter, or the like. The gap between the lower surface of the imaging element and the upper surface of the circuit board is adjusted by the solder ball.
A solid state imaging device having such a structure has a small package height, and the area occupied by such a solid state imaging device is small. Thus, this solid state imaging device is suitable for high density packaging.
The above-described structure is basically employed also in a light receiving device used in an optical pickup system which performs writing, reading and rewriting of information in/from a recording medium, such as DVDs, CDs, MDs, etc., and an optical device, such as a hologram unit in which a plurality of components of an optical pickup are integrated.

Optical device and production method thereof


A driving device that outputs signals of different polarities from plural output terminals includes: a first power source wire that connects power terminals of some of plural first output circuits each outputting a signal of one polarity and power terminals of some of plural second output circuits each outputting a signal of the other polarity; and a second power source wire that connects power terminals of the rest of the plural first output circuits and power terminals of the rest of the plural second output circuits, the second power source wire being different from the first power source wire.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a signal line driving device and, more specifically, to a device for driving multiple signal lines such as image signal lines for a display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A schematic view of a known driving device for driving multiple signal lines is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-292807 (JP-A2006-29807), for example. In JP-A 2006-29807, according to data signals to be outputted from a data latch, according to data signals to be outputted from a data latch, each of positive gradation selectors SEL1, 3, etc. selectively outputs one voltage from a set of multiple positive voltages, or each of negative gradation selectors SEL2, 4, etc. selectively outputs one voltage from a set of multiple negative voltages. The voltages are then inputted respectively into amplifiers AMP1, 3, etc. for the positive gradation and amplifiers AMP2, 4, etc. for the negative gradation. These amplifiers output gradation output signals depending on the predetermined drive capabilities of the amplifiers, and the output signals are then supplied to output terminals S1, S2, etc. through switches SW11, etc. Here, the driving device is provided with the set of the positive voltages and the set of the negative voltages so as to be applied to a display device of alternate current drive type, as typified by a display device using liquid crystal materials, for example. More specifically, the set of the positive voltages are higher than a predetermined voltage ½AVDD, while the set of the negative voltages are lower than that. The amplifiers AMP1, 3, etc. for the positive gradation are arranged in parallel to an array of the output terminals S1, S2, etc., and commonly connected to a power source wire AVDD and a ground wire AGNDP that are extending along the array of the amplifiers AMP1, 3, etc. Similarly, the amplifiers AMP2, 4, etc. for the negative gradation are arranged to be parallel to the array of the output terminals and to be adjacent to the array of the amplifiers for the positive gradation in the back and forth direction, and are also commonly connected to the power source wire AVDDN and the ground wire AGND that are extending along the amplifiers AMP2, 4, etc. According to input from the selectors, the amplifiers for the positive gradation each generate a positive output signal that is higher than a reference voltage, while the amplifiers for the negative gradation each generate a negative output signal that is lower than the reference voltage. The switches SW11, etc perform a switchover between the positive and negative output signals to alternately output these signals from output terminals adjacent to each other. Consequently, the positive and negative output signals are alternately outputted from the output terminals S1, S2, etc.
According to a review of the inventor of this application, a drive circuit of JP-A 2006-29807 mentioned above has a risk that the output signals may be made unstable due to fluctuations in source voltages caused by resistance components of a power source wire connected to the amplifier. In other words, when an amplifier AMP1 supplies an output signal of positive gradation voltage to an output terminal S1, for example, a large current has to flow from the power source wire AVDD to the output terminal S1. In contrast, no current flows from the amplifier AMP1 to a ground wire AGNDP, or some transient current or some penetration current flows, depending on performance of the amplifier. This also applies to other amplifiers AMP3, 5, etc., for the positive graduation voltages. Thus, a large current from the power source wire AVDD in concentration is supplied to the AMP1, 3, 5, etc., and thereby causes a voltage drop in the power source wire AVDD. On the other hand, when an amplifier AMP2 supplies an output signal of negative graduation voltage to an output terminal S2, for example, a large current has to flow from the output terminal S2 to the ground wire VGND, while no or slight current flows from the power source wire AVDDN to the amplifier AMP2. This also applies to other amplifiers AMP4, 6, etc. for the negative graduation voltages. Thus, the currents from the AMP2, 4, 6, etc. concentrate on the ground wire AGND, and the large current causes a voltage rise in the ground wire AGND. As such, the voltage drop in the power source wire and the voltage rise in the ground wire occur and result in noise of the power source. Consequently, the output terminals S1, etc. output the output signals having unstable potentials. In particular, a device for driving signal lines of a display device such as an LCD driver or the like tends to have a larger and larger number of output signal lines. For example, the number of output signal lines is conventionally about 240 channels, but nowadays the number has increased to a maximum of 960 channels. Thus, in a configuration and layout of a circuit having multiple output amplifiers, the effect of a voltage drop due to resistance components of the power source wire is considered to be increasingly significant as the number of outputs increases.

Signal line driving device comprising a plurality of outputs


A shock absorbing assembly includes a block securely mounted in a bicycle seat tube and having a vertical threaded bore through which an adjusting bolt passes. A fixed block is mounted in the seat tube above the block, having an upper side and a lower side to which a distal end of the adjusting bolt is securely attached. An upper block is slidably mounted in the seat tube above the fixed block. A spring is mounted between the fixed block and the upper block. A seat post is received in the seat tube with a bottom end thereof resting on the upper side of the movable upper block. A transverse bore is formed in the seat post at a section above the seat tube. A seat mechanism includes an upper ring element, a lower ring element, and a pair of guiding rods extending therebetween. A balance rod passes through the transverse bore in the seat post and has two vertical holes through which the guiding rods pass. The lower ring element has inner threadings to engage with threadings formed on an outer periphery of the upper end of the seat tube.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shock absorbing assembly for a bicycle seat.
2. Description of related art
A kind of shock absorbing assembly has been proposed to absorb shocks so as to comfort the cyclist during cycling. However, in such an assembly, when the cyclist sits on the seat, the shock absorbing spring is immediately compressed, even though no shock is encountered. Thus, the spring is often in a compressed status which shortens the life thereof. Furthermore, the seat post tends to be lowered and impacts and thus might damage the guiding pins when subjected to a shock. Moreover, the inner peripheral surface of the seat tube and the outer periphery surface of the seat post are easily worn due to frequent frictional motion therebetween.
Therefore, there has been a long and unfulfilled need for an improved shock absorbing assembly to mitigate and/or obviate the above-mentioned drawbacks.

Shock absorbing assembly for a bicycle seat


A printing press is comprised of at least one printing cylinder. A displaceable inking unit and a displaceable plate changing device can alternatingly be placed against the printing cylinder or can be moved out of contact with it. The inking unit and the plate changing device are coupled together so that their respective displacements are accomplished by a common drive. The two move in opposite directions with respect to the printing cylinder and may be connected together. Alternatively, each may have its own drive, with the two drives being coupled together by a common controller.

A method and a device for operating a single- or a multi-color printing installation, preferably a printing press of satellite construction, is known from DE 34 46 619 A1. That printing press has at least one first stationary machine group, with a counterpressure cylinder and with preferably four transfer cylinders, as well as at least one second, displaceable machine group having at least an arrangement consisting of a forme cylinder, an inking unit and a dampening unit. An arrangement of a forme cylinder, an inking unit and a dampening unit is assigned to each transfer cylinder. The displaceable machine group contains all of these arrangements in a common frame. All of its forme cylinders can be simultaneously brought into contact or out of contact with their assigned transfer cylinders. A printing forme changing device, adapted for working together with a forme cylinder, is not provided.
A multi-color sheet-fed rotary printing press is known from DE 1 169 959 B1. An inking unit can be moved away, along an inclined track, from the assigned forme cylinder of a printing group which is fixedly arranged in place in the printing press. No printing forme changing device working together with a forme cylinder, is provided in this prior art printing press.
A printing group with a central frame section and with two lateral frames, which two lateral frames are arranged on opposite sides of the central frame section and which are movable and, in particular, which are displaceable, is known from DE 102 21 330 A1. Forme cylinders and associated transfer cylinders are arranged in the central frame section. Inking systems, which are assigned to the forme cylinders, are arranged in the lateral frames. In an operating state, in which the lateral frames are moved away from the central frame section, and thus are separated, a printing forme changing device is brought into an operative position with respect to a forme cylinder, in place of an inking unit which had been placed against this forme cylinder. A motor-driven mechanism, preferably a linear motor, is provided for the lateral frames, and a drive unit is provided for moving the printing forme changing device. The movements of the inking unit and of the printing forme changing device occur independently of each other and occur one after the other.

Printing press comprising coupled inking unit and printing form changing device


A method of preparing graphene, including preparing graphite; and putting the graphite in the inside of a vessel and applying vibration at a frequency of 55 Hz to 65 Hz to the vessel.

In general, graphene is a semi-metallic material having a thickness corresponding to a carbon atom layer in which carbon atoms are two-dimensionally arranged in a hexagonal shape and connected by sp2 bonds. The graphene not only has excellent electrical conductivity, but also has structural and chemical stabilities and excellent thermal conductivity. Also, since the graphene is composed of only carbon, a relatively light element, a one-dimensional or two-dimensional nanopattern is easily processed. Above all, the graphene sheet is an inexpensive material, wherein it has excellent price competitiveness in comparison to conventional nanomaterials.
Due to these electrical, structural, chemical, and economic characteristics, it is predicted that graphene may replace silicon-based semiconductor technology and transparent electrodes in the future, and, particularly, it is expected that graphene may be applied to a flexible electronic device field due to excellent mechanical properties.
Due to the excellent properties of graphene, various methods capable of more effectively mass-producing graphene from a carbon-based material, such as graphite, have been proposed or studied.
Among them, a method of preparing graphene by grinding graphite together with a dispersant is used (Korean Patent No. 10-1682007). However, when the above method is used, since the graphene formed during a preparation process is excessively ground due to the dispersant, it is difficult to obtain graphene with desired size and shape, and thus, there is a limitation in that process yield is low and manufacturing cost is high. Also, since type and ratio of the dispersant may be optimally adjusted according to a raw material such as graphite, flexibility of the process may be reduced.
Therefore, there is a need for a new method of preparing graphene in which a dispersant is not used.


A kayak paddle has blades configured to generate forward kayak momentum in each one of the three paddling movements, being more effective than known paddles, using its hydrodynamic profile to reduce formation of turbulent and eddy currents when moved in the water both, during insertion and retrieval. The paddle is characterized by a blade with a cross section in which both edges are curved, the frontal face is convex, and the back face is either flat, concave or both, but not convex, so as to benefit from the water flow around the surface or “Bernoulli Effect”, specifically on insertion in deep water and retrieval from it, producing forward motion of the kayak due to such hydrodynamic forces.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a paddle used to improve forward propulsion of conventional kayaks, and specifically, the invention refers to a hydro-impelled paddle whose design allows the use of water patterns to generate forward propulsion during the full paddling process: from insertion in the water, pulling and extraction or retrieval out of the water.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98.
The kayak, invented by Eskimo hunters, is a long narrow water vessel that allows fast displacement in rough or calm seas, by means of a paddle that sinks alternatively on both sides of the kayak, and is pulled backwards to attain forward propulsion. The paddle as has been used for centuries is a board with variable length and extremes flattened, with a width of less than 4″ and a thickness less than 2″, and gradually rounded towards the center or shaft to about 1¼ for hands placement and comfortable handling. The flat extremes or blades have two functions: to cut the water when immersing and taking out the water, and to power the boat forward, once it is deep by offering resistance to the pulling action. The action of immersing and taking out the paddle will have no effect on impelling the boat forward. The entry and exit are two necessary steps to get the blade deep where force is done.
The action of traditional paddles is exclusively based on water resistance against the flat cross section of the blade when pulled parallel to the longitudinal axis of the kayak, but opposite to the motion direction. In this way water is used as a support or resistance surface for propulsion. Nevertheless, around the blade there are eddies and turbulences exiting the side walls, resulting naturally in power loss.
Europeans copied the kayak scheme, but not the traditional paddles, developing paddles made with an almost 6 feet shaft and two wide, flat, concave or spoon shaped blades on the extremes. They are made of wood, or a metal shaft and plastic blades or fiberglass reinforced plastic or carbon reinforced plastic, on either shaft and/or blades. Among improvements, some paddles are made with some asymmetry with respect to the shaft axis.
The most important innovation is the so called "Lituanian paddle" described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,737,126 (Lindeberg, et al. 1988), consisting of wing shaped euro blades, so as to get higher water grip and power. The blade design has the leading edge rounded and the trailing edge sharpened, with a convex frontal or "reverse" face and a concave back or "power" face.
The effect achieved by Lindeberg's paddle is so notable that it became the Olympic standard, and all modern competing paddles use this principle, with only small variations on the curved shape or tilting with respect to the shaft axis. The "Euro modified Paddle" or "Wing Paddle", once immersed in the water, with the blade in an almost vertical position, travels horizontally and perpendicular to the boat displacement. The motion is horizontal after immersion, starting by the front of the boat and as close as possible to the hull, and emerging by the user's hip, two or three feet away from the boat. Looking from above it appears as an inverted V, with the tip in front of the boat and the open side by the waist, alternating sides in the paddling action. The effect of the wing blade traveling horizontally away from the boat, with an almost vertical shaft, is to propel the boat forwards.
All the motion and effect of the Wing Paddle is unidirectional. The blade enters the water fast, and is displaced sideways and the exit is at the end of that trajectory.
The mentioned Wing Paddles are not useful for those who paddle using the Greenland style with long thin narrow paddles and flat blades. Greenland paddles use the flat and sharp edge to cut the water and immerse deeply, close to the kayak hull. Once in the bottom the flat cross section serves to power the boat still close to the kayak, and when the pulling action is finished the paddle must exit from the bottom slicing the water with the sharp edge. Motion is decomposed in three stroke sections: Insertion to depth, pulling, and retrieval from bottom.
Lindeberg's paddle could perform the first two motions, if user wanted to use it in that way, entry to depth using the curved leading side, pull at the bottom with certain torsion due to the asymmetry of the blade placed with its maximum cross-section pushing against the water, but paddle extraction would not be possible. The reason being that the sharp edge would become the leading edge and the convexity on one side and concavity on the other creates turbulence and forces a violent rotation of the paddle with the consequence of loss of speed and stability.


The invention concerns a centrifugal positive blocking brake for shutter drives. The brake includes centrifugal blocks, central spring element, and a drive motor comprising a drive shaft. A turntable is coupled with the drive shaft. The central spring element having a preloaded spring is centrifugally guided in a recess of the turntable. Either side of the spring is connected with a radially movable engaging tab element. Two different radially acting abutments are disposed on the central spring element and are movable towards recess. The engaging tab element has at least one engaging tab pointing radially inwards. The centrifugal block is attached to the engaging tab element. In the de-energized state of the drive motor, the engaging tab elements together with the centrifugal blocks disposed on them engage into detents of a frame-fixed detent disc with at least one engaging tab in a frictionally and positively locking manner. When voltage is applied and the drive motor starts, the engaging tabs disengage, the individual centres of mass of the central spring element, preloaded spring, the engaging tab element, the engaging tab, and two centrifugal block parts are on one symmetry axis. This invention creates a centrifugal positive blocking brake which is small in size and constructively simple and causes locking of the shutter when de-energized.

In principle, a great variety of different individual technical solutions are known as active or also as passive braking systems for shutter drives. Shutter drives with active electromagnetic or electromechanical brakes consume additional energy and generate considerable switching noise when actuated. Furthermore, they also need a relatively large mounting space as can be seen, e.g. from EP 000 0002 234 245 and DE 20 2005 007 921. The advantage of passively acting braking systems is that they need no auxiliary energy and occupy a smaller mounting space.
DE 10 2005 047 296 B3 describes a centrifugal brake having a brake drum that surrounds the rotating element at least partially and at least one centrifugal block which is disposed on the rotating element and is substantially radially movable between the rotating element and an inner wall of the brake drum. An additional braking device is provided for actuation when the rotating element exceeds a predefined speed. This makes it possible to bring the rotating element rapidly to a standstill. Generally, such brakes are not used for stopping a rotational speed strongly or even rigidly, but only for limiting it. From a defined rotational speed, the centrifugal blocks start moving radially outwards from their rest position as a result of the centrifugal force acting on them. When a defined actuating speed is reached, the centrifugal blocks come in contact with the brake drum so that friction and, related to this, a braking effect occurs. In specific application cases the brake drums are also used to stop the rotating element.
From U.S. Pat. No. 4,216,848 a braking device for a rod-like element is known, where centrifugal blocks can be brought in contact with a so-called brake shoe to cause it to rotate and move axially towards the rod. During this, a brake wheel is pushed against a brake disc, finally braking the rod-like element.
DE 10 2015 106 833 A1 describes a centrifugal brake for shutter drives, having two spring elements which apply a holding force in addition to a braking force. This centrifugal brake is coupled to a drive shaft of the shutter drive and is actuated by the shutter drive motor. It is constructed to act inversely, i.e. not braking as known, but locking and decoupling on start-up. It has a turntable coupled with the shutter drive shaft via a shaft flange. Two or more centrifugal blocks are disposed and slidably guided in the turntable. When the shutter drive is in a de-energized state, the centrifugal blocks with their partially overarching brake blocks engage, frictionally or positively locking, with the surface of a friction ring that is fixedly disposed at the motor housing frame. When the drive motor starts, the brake blocks are released, i.e. disengaged. The radial distance of the brake blocks is maintained until the current is switched off and the drive motor 11 comes to a standstill. Then the centrifugal blocks with the angled brake blocks are radially pulled inside, acting as a reliable lock. The spring elements are dimensioned such that the brake blocks provide a sufficient holding torque. However, problems of wear may occur when they are frequently actuated.
Furthermore, DE 93 13 666.8 U1 describes a braking device for an electric motor, in particular a tubular electric motor provided with a purely mechanical brake with at least one brake pad, brake blocks and elastic means. When the brake is at rest, the brake blocks are pushed against a brake pad, using spring force. The brake is provided with flyweights which move the elastic means out of their braking position under the influence of the centrifugal force. At rest (de-energized), this brake is active, and when the electric motor starts, the brake is released by the action of centrifugal force. The brake blocks are specifically configured in the form of crown segments which are hinged at one end to a brake block carrier. The elastic means used are arc-shaped springs. This braking device as a frictional blocking brake is constructively relatively long in the axial direction and therefore requires considerable mounting space.

Centrifugal positive blocking brake for shutter drives and shutter drives using the same


Boundary lines which are contours of uneven marks are detected in a sample original image of the sidewall surface of a sample tire, and a mask image showing the position of the boundary lines is generated. Thereupon, a height offset image which shows a height of the uneven marks is generated by, in use of a plurality of discrete height threshold values, classifying the height of regions in the sample original image which remain after excluding regions corresponding to the positions of the boundary lines shown in the mask image. An unevenness-excluded image is generated by excluding the uneven marks from an inspection image of a sidewall surface of a tire under inspection, by subtracting the height offset image from the inspection image. A shape defect in the sidewall surface of the tire under inspection is inspected on the basis of the unevenness-excluded image.

A tyre has a structure composed by layering together various materials, such as rubber, chemical fibers, steel cords, and the like. If there is an irregular portion in this laminated structure, then a protuberance (convex portion) known as a "bulge", or a recess (concave portion) known as a "dent" or "depression", occurs in a portion which has relatively weak pressure resistance, when the tyre is filled with air. Upon inspection, a tyre in which a shape defect, such as a bulge or dent of this kind, has occurred must be excluded from shipment, due to safety problems and problems of external appearance.
Therefore, in a final step of tyre manufacturing (an inspecting step after vulcanization of the tyre material), the tyre surfaces, and in particular the side wall surfaces of the tyre, are inspected for irregular shape defects. Indicator marks (marks constituted by normal unevennesses) which indicate the model and size of the product, and the makers logo, etc., are formed in the sidewall surfaces of a tyre. Therefore, in a shape defect inspection process for a sidewall surface, it is necessary to ensure that these indicator marks are not mistakenly detected as shape defects.
Conventionally, an inspection for irregular shape defects of this kind has been carried out manually, by visual inspection and tactile inspection, but in recent years, automated technology, such as laser ranging sensors, three-dimensional shape measurement devices and camera-based image inspection, and the like, and inspection technology which is not affected by marks formed by normal unevennesses, has been incorporated into the field.
For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a tyre shape detection device which detects a surface shape of a tyre by capturing an image of a line light beam irradiated onto the surface of the tyre while the tyre rotates relatively, and performing shape detection using a light-section method, on the basis of the captured image. This device comprises line light beam irradiating means for irradiating a plurality of line light beams in continuous fashion from a direction that is different to a detection height direction in one light-section line, so as to form the one light-section line on the surface of the tyre, and imaging means for capturing images in a direction in which respective main light beams of the plurality of line light beams irradiated onto the surface of the tyre are reflected regularly with respect to the surface of the tyre.
In particular, this tyre shape detection device detects a tyre surface shape by irradiating a plurality of line light beams in continuous fashion onto the tyre surface and capturing images of the plurality of line light beams thus irradiated.
Furthermore, Patent Document 2 discloses a method of inspecting a three-dimensional shape of one or more figures formed by unevennesses in a tyre surface. This method comprises a step of acquiring unevenness distribution data by measuring an unevenness height in relation to various surface area elements including these figures in a prescribed tyre surface region, a step of identifying a tyre surface portion corresponding to a model figure, in the tyre surface region, on the basis of three-dimensional shape data of the model figure which is previously prepared as a template of the figure and the acquired unevenness distribution data, and a step of determining a degree of matching between the unevenness distribution data of the identified tyre surface portion and the three-dimensional data of the model figure, in respect of each figure, and judging the acceptance or rejection of the three-dimensional shape of the figure of the basis of this degree of matching.
In particular, this method of inspecting tyre unevenness figures is a technique for inspecting defects by calculating a degree of matching between three-dimensional unevenness distribution data obtained by irradiating sheet light onto a tyre surface and three-dimensional shape data of a model figure created from CAD data. In this technology, the suitability or unsuitability of the normal uneven figures (text, etc.) themselves is judged, and therefore a model figure previously prepared as a template of a normal uneven figure is used as teaching data. The template is created from tyre CAD data or mold CAD data.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2008-221896
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-331274
In the tyre shape detection device according to Patent Document 1, it is possible to detect the surface shape of a tyre by a light-section method, and therefore the shape of unevennesses in the tyre surface can be detected. However, it is not possible to tell whether a detected shape of unevennesses in the tyre surface is a normal figure which is formed in the tyre surface, or a defect. Moreover, if there is a defect at the position of a normal figure, then it becomes even more difficult to detect that defect.
Therefore, by creating teaching data (reference data) using the tyre CAD data or mold CAD data as disclosed in Patent Document 2, it might be possible to obtain values which are not affected by deformation or defects in the tyre, and to avoid the difficulties of the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1. However, since tyres are products made of rubber and since tyres are inspected in an inflated state in the tyre shape inspection which is the subject of the invention in Patent Document 1, then there is a large amount of deformation in the tyre with respect to the CAD data. For this reason, an enormous volume of calculations and computations is required just to match the coordinates of the CAD data with the corresponding coordinates on the tyre, and therefore the method in Patent Document 2 is difficult to apply practically.
Moreover, a method which uses actually measured tyre height data as teaching data can readily be inferred from the method using CAD data which is disclosed in Patent Document 2. According to this method, it is possible to acquire actual height data, in a simple fashion.
However, in this case, the tyre height image which is used as teaching data must contain only normal uneven figures, and must be completely free of irregular defects (bulges/dents) which are the object of detection, or height variations caused by "runout" components, which are large undulating deformations in the tyre circumference direction. If height image data which contains irregular defects that are the object of detection, or runout components, is used as teaching data, then although normal uneven marks, such as text, are planarized (excluded) by difference processing during on-line inspection, the irregular defects and runout components present in the teaching data will be transferred to the height image under inspection, and hence height image data of this kind cannot be used as teaching data for inspection. Furthermore, it is not practicable to manufacture a perfectly smooth tyre which is free of runout components, for the express purpose of registering teaching data.

Device and method for inspecting tyre shape


An unexpanded perlite ore polishing composition is shown. The composition comprises base material having grains of unexpanded perlite ore of a selected distribution of particle sizes which undergo fracturing of the grains as a function of an abrasive force applied to the base material. The selected distribution of particle sizes includes a significant volume of grains of unexpanded perlite ore having a (d90) particle size in a range of about 101 to about 229 μm. The base material is responsive to an abrasive force being applied thereto during polishing resulting in continued fracturing of the grains of unexpanded perlite ore to yield a final polishing composition having a sufficiently low level of abrasiveness under said abrasive force making it suitable for use in polishing. Compositions for polishing acrylic dentures and CRT tube surfaces using the unexpanded perlite ore polishing composition and methods for polishing the same are also shown.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a unexpanded perlite ore polishing composition and method for polishing selected materials wherein an unexpanded perlite ore composition having grains of a selected distribution of particle sizes resulting in continued fracturing of the grains subject to an abrasive force applied to the composition during polishing. This results in an increase in the number of grains of unexpanded perlite ore having a smaller particle size than the selected distribution of particle sizes for efficient polishing and more particularly relates to a unexpanded perlite ore polishing composition and method for selectively abrading and polishing polymers, including acrylic polymers, dentures and other parts, components and articles fabricated from materials suitable for polishing with unexpanded perlite ore including optical glass, lenses and cathode ray tubes (CRT) surfaces subject to an abrasive force.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known in the art to use granular compositions for abrasion and polishing of the surfaces of an article.
Certain applications utilize pumice as an abrasive material or as an abrasive material additive to a polishing composition. Pumice is a rock froth formed by the extreme puffing of liquid lava by expanding gases liberated from solution in the lava prior to and during solidification. Pumice and pumicite are porous, glassy forms of lava, rich in silica. Both plumice, the massive form, and pumicite, the powder or dust form, have been widely used as a mild abrasive for polishing operations.
FIGS. 1 and 2 labeled "Prior Art" are scanning electron micrographs of pumice grains at magnifications of 100× and 300×, respectively. As depicted in the micrographs of FIGS. 1 and 2, the grains or particles of pumice have a plurality of large pores, or more specifically vesicles, that are an essential part to the definition of rock type. The large pores are separated by a plurality of substantially parallel planes with sharp edges or strata defining the structure thereof. The pumice, when used as an abrasive in a polishing material, typically generates scratches which is generally undesirable. The scratches are formed in the surface of an article by the aforementioned sharp edges of the pumice grains. Scratches generally require additional polishing using a fine polishing composition to remove the same and to polish the surface of the article to the desired finish.
A polish composition and method of use which utilizes suitable mild abrasives, such as pumice, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,235,824.
It is also known in the art to use abrasive material in combination with individual grains of pumice in coated abrasive articles comprised of a backing having a layer of grains adherently bonded thereto by a binding material, an example of which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,840,090.
It is also known in the art to have a granular composition which utilizes pumice as a part thereof, an example of which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,891,473.
It also known in the art that toothpaste can be formulated to include a lightweight, low density solid filler such as expanded perlite as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,139,820.
It is also known in the art to utilize low-density expanded perlite as an abrasive in toothpaste as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,553. Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,553 discloses a specific use of an expanded perlite in toothpaste which disintegrates when subjected to small mechanical stress, e.g., under the conditions of tooth brushing, into smaller, sharp-edged particles and that the same are well suited as a cleaning body in the toothpaste. U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,553 further discloses that the relatively course particles of expanded perlite have a size of the order of about 1 μm to 150 μm, the major portion being of about 20 μm. The expanded perlite particles are disclosed as performing a very short-lasting, but intensive cleaning action and are immediately comminuted into still finer particles which then perform a desired, mild polishing action down to a fine polishing. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,553, the specification recites that only the exploded (expanded) perlite is used in the toothpaste disclosed therein.
Toothpastes utilizing an expanded perlite are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,597,553 and 5,124,143.
It is also known in the art to utilize exploded (expanded) perlite in a water-free prophylectic paste containing expanded perlite as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,139,820.
It is also known in the art that a cleaning composition containing a type II endoglycosidase includes an expanded perlite abrasive as a part thereof as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,395,541.
It is also known in the art to use a blend of polishing and cleaning agents in a prophylaxis procedure for stain removal and polishing of teeth. Such a blend of polishing and cleaning agents are generally known as prophy paste and may include fluoride ions. Certain of the known prophy paste use expanded perlite and pumice as grit material in the prophy paste. Examples of prophy paste using expanded perlite and pumice are the 3M brand prophy pastes known as 3M™ CLINPRO™ prophy paste and NUPRO® brand prophy paste sold by DENTSPLY. Other known prophy paste products are sold by WhiteHill Manufacturing, Inc. under the trademark Professional Prophy Products.
It is also known to incorporate "soft abrasive" polish into dental floss and dental tape, and such products are sold by WhiteHill Manufacturing, Inc. under the trademark Professional Prophy Products.
An oral prophalaxis paste which includes a preselected grade and amount of abrasive material such as pumice, clay or diatimoceous earth is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,280,707.
It is also known in the art to utilize pumice as an abrasive material for polishing a CRT glass panel wherein the polishing thereof is conducted in the presence of the abrasive material including the pumice in a state of slurry. In polishing CRT glass panels, the polishing pressures are in a range of about 0.2 kg/cm2 (200 kg/cm2) to 2.0 kg/cm2 (2000 kg/cm2), more preferably in the range of about 0.4 kg/cm2 (400 kg/cm2) to about 1.2 kg/cm2 (1200 kg/cm2). Generally, when the abrasive or polishing force is less than about 0.2 kg/cm2 (200 kg/cm2), the abrasive or polishing force is usually insufficient and the efficiently of the polishing is reduced. Further, it is known to use multiple grades of pumice to affect the polishing process. Typically, a coarse grade pumice is first used in the polishing process to polish the surface of a CRT which is then followed by polishing using a medium grade pumice.
It is also known to use only a single grade of pumice, typically a finer grade, for polishing a CRT surface and to then use a final polishing operation that employs a cerium oxide to obtain the desired polished surface.
Polishes are used to maintain a glossy finish or sheen on surfaces as well as to prolong the useful lives of these surfaces. Appearance enhancement provided by polishes generally results from materials that smooth and clean surfaces through abrasive action, or leave a glossy coating, or both. A description of polishes and uses thereof are set forth at pages 444 through 453 in the Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, John Wiley & Sons, 1996, 4th Edition, Vol. 19) (the "Chemical Technology, Vol. 19 Reference"). The Chemical Technology, Vol. 19 Reference is incorporated herein by reference.
Many materials have been used as abrasives, usually in one of three forms in polishing operations: grit (loose, granular, or powdered particles); bonded materials (particles are bonded into wheels, segments, or stick shapes); and coated materials (particles are bonded to paper, plastic, cloth, or metal). Grit is often useful for polishing, buffing, lapping, pressure blasting, barrel finishing, jet cutting, and high-pressure jet cutting. Natural abrasives of commercial significance include diamond, corundum, emery, garnet, silica, sandstone, tripoli, pumice, and pumicite, and to a lesser extent, powdered feldspar and staurolite. A description of abrasives and uses thereof are set forth at pages 17 through 37 of the Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, John Wiley & Sons, 1991, 4th Edition, Vol. 1 (the "Chemical Technology, Vol. 1 Reference"). The Chemical Technology, Vol. 1 Reference is incorporated by reference.
Other known Natural Glasses and Macerals are disclosed and described in Appendix A, Natural Glasses and Macerals, page 540 through 542, in Mineralogy, W. H. Freeman and Company, 2nd Edition (the "Mineralogy Reference"). The Mineralogy Reference is incorporated by reference.
Materials including Thermoplastic materials and thermoset materials generally recognized as "engineering materials", including acrylic polymers, are disclosed and described at pages 371 through 511 of The Handbook of Industrial Materials, Elsevier Advanced Technology, 2nd Edition (the "Industrial Materials Reference"). The Industrial Materials Reference is incorporated by reference herein.
Glasses comprise a wide variety of vitreous amorphous polymers consisting of repeating siloxane (i.e., —(Si—O)—) units in the polymer chain. Some glasses are naturally occurring, such as perlite. Others, such as soda-lime glasses, are produced synthetically. Soda-lime glass is made by melting batches of raw materials containing the oxides of silicon (i.e., SiO2), aluminum (i.e., Al2O3), calcium (i.e., CaO), sodium (i.e., Na2O), and sometimes potassium (i.e., K2O), or lithium (i.e., Li2O) together in a furnace, and then allowing the melt to cool so as to produce the amorphous product. Glasses may be made in a wide variety of shapes, including sheets or plates, cast shapes, or fibers. Often, glass is not sufficiently smooth as first produced, for the intended end use, and requires further polishing.
Among the glasses requiring polishing for final use include cathode ray tubes and television tubes, eyeglasses, photographic optical components, and laser optical components. These glasses are prepared in a wide array of chemical compositions, and thus have various hardnesses and physical properties. Being a natural glass itself, the unexpanded perlite ore polishing composition is useful for polishing glasses, provided the glass is equal to or less than the hardness of the unexpanded perlite ore polishing composition.
It is also known in the art to etch or polishing a surface of an article using a method and apparatus for blowing an airstream containing use submicron particles thereacross. One example of a surface process method by blowing submicron particles is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,928,719.
Principles of grinding and polishing of materials, such as plastics and polymers, including the use of grinding, hand polishing and automated polishing systems are described in Pages 1 through 10 of the STANDARD GUIDE FOR PREPARATION OF PLASTICS AND POLYMERIC SPECIMENS FOR MICROSTRUCTURAL EXAMINATION, Designation: E 2015-99, American Society for Testing and Materials (the "ASTM Standard Guide Reference"). The ATSM Standard Guide Reference in Section 11 captioned "Polishing" sets forth information relating to rough polishing and fine or final polishing. ATSM Standard Guide Reference includes methods for measuring flatness of a polished surface, typical applied pressures to obtain the desired polishing and effective wheel speeds for automated polishing. The disclosures set forth in the ATSM Standard Guide Reference can be used in practicing this invention.
The rate at which the final polishing of a surface can be obtained using the unexpanded perlite ore composition of the present invention can be by microscopical analysis by reflected light.
For example, if the selected distribution of selected sizes of the grains of unexpanded perlite ore composition have a (d90) having a larger particle size, e.g. greater than 245 μm, then the rate at which the unexpanded perlite ore composition comminutes or fractures will be higher which is desirable for a higher level of coarse polishing. On the other hand, if the selected distribution of selected sizes of the grains of unexpanded perlite ore composition have a (d90) having a smaller particle size, e.g. about 100 μm, then the rate at which the unexpanded perlite ore composition comminutes or fractures will lower which is desirable for a fine polish level.
It is envisioned that measurements of rates of effective coarse polishing and fine polishing can be determined by microscopical analysis of a polished surface using reflected light in a manner similar to the method described in Pages 1 through 4 of the STANDARD PRACTICE GUIDE FOR PREPARING COAL SAMPLES FOR MICROSCOPICAL ANALYSIS BY REFLECTED LIGHT, Designation: D2797-85 Reapproved 1999), American Society for Testing and Materials (the "ASTM Microscopical Analysis Reference"). The ATSM Microscopical Analysis Reference in Section 9 captioned "Preparation of Briquet Surface" sets forth information relating to grinding and polishing of a briquet on a lap to obtain a surface suitable for microscopic examination. The same method can be used to determine the effectiveness of both coarse polishing and fine polishing of a desired surface.
The disclosure of all of the above references and Patents and other references referred into this specification are hereby incorporated by reference as if set forth verbatim herein.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Unexpanded perlite ore polishing composition and methods


Thermally annealed superparamagnetic core shell nanoparticles of an iron oxide core and a silicon dioxide shell having high magnetic saturation are provided. A magnetic core of high magnetic moment obtained by compression sintering the thermally annealed superparamagnetic core shell nanoparticles is also provided. The magnetic core has little core loss due to hysteresis or eddy current flow.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to superparamagnetic core shell nanoparticles having an iron oxide core and a silica shell which have high magnetic saturation and a magnetic core produced with these high magnetic saturation nanoparticles. The core of the present invention is suitable for utility in power generation parts such as stators, rotors, armatures and actuators or any device whose function is dependent upon an efficient magnetic core, i.e., a magnetic core having a high magnetic moment, minimal magnetic hysteresis and no or little eddy current formation.
2. Discussion of the Background
Many electronic devices rely on magnetic cores as a method of transferring a magnetic field. Due to inefficiency caused by core loss, a portion of this power is lost, typically as waste heat. A core's magnetic properties have the ability to greatly concentrate and enhance magnetic fields. Thus, improving and implementing core materials with low loss as well as high magnetic permeability would enormously enhance the efficiency of the device. With increased interest in environmentally-conscious devices, the implementation of improved magnetic core material across millions and millions of devices that require them (all computers, TVs, cell phones, vehicle power electronics, etc.) could produce significant benefits for global energy conservation.
Magnetic materials generally fall into two classes which are designated as magnetically hard substances which may be permanently magnetized or soft magnetic materials which may be reversed in magnetism at low applied fields. It is important in soft magnetic materials that energy loss, normally referenced as "core loss" is kept to a minimum whereas in hard magnetic materials it is preferred to resist changes in magnetization. High core losses are therefore characteristic of permanent magnetic materials and are undesirable in soft magnetic materials.
Soft magnetic core components are frequently used in electrical/magnetic conversion devices such as motors, generators and transformers and alternators, particularly those found in automobile engines. The most important characteristics of soft magnetic core components are their maximum induction, magnetic permeability, and core loss characteristics. When a magnetic material is exposed to a rapidly varying magnetic field, a resultant energy loss in the core material occurs. These core losses are commonly divided into two principle contributing phenomena: hysteresis and eddy current losses. Hysteresis loss results from the expenditure of energy to overcome the retained magnetic forces within the core component. Eddy current loss, the other source of core loss, refers to circular currents setup within the magnetic core due to the applied magnetic field, as explained by Faraday's Law. Eddy current losses are brought about by the production of induced currents in the core component due to the changing flux caused by alternating current (AC) conditions. These circular currents create a magnetic field anti-parallel to the applied field, decreasing the overall field within the core. In order to reduce eddy current formation, materials with low electrical conductivities are used.
Thus magnetic core inefficiency is measured in terms of core loss. To improve core loss, the magnetic core must demonstrate a reduced measure of magnetic hysteresis as well as lowered eddy current formation. Applicants have described a magnetic core of significantly reduced magnetic hysteresis and low eddy current formation obtained by sintering superparamagnetic core shell nanoparticles having an iron oxide core and silica shell into a monolithic core structure in U.S. application Ser. No. 13/529,316, filed Jun. 21, 2012, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
These nanoparticles, while offering exceptionally low to zero coercivities (HC), typically have decreased magnetic saturations (MS). One possible reason for this lower magnetic saturation is canted spin alignment due to defects near the surfaces of these nanoparticles. It is believed that defects near the surface (be they crystalline or spin orientation defects) become kinetically trapped during the synthesis of the nanoparticles. Such atomic scale disorder lowers the MS and limits the maximum magnetic flux capacity of a magnetic device such as an inductor.
Thus, the magnetic saturation (Ms) is a second important magnetic property of a material. Magnetic saturation is empirically measured and is representative of the total magnetic moment of a material sample. A low Ms can limit the application utility of a material and therefore, a high Ms is an important property to be an effective and useful magnetic material.
The magnetic saturation is influenced by a number of factors, which includes material composition, crystallinity and the stress-strain exerted on the material during production.
The use of powdered magnetic materials allows the manufacture of magnetic parts having a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Conventionally, however, these materials made from consolidated powdered magnetic materials have been limited to being used in applications involving direct currents. Direct current applications, unlike alternating current applications, do not require that the magnetic particles be insulated from one another in order to reduce eddy currents.
Conventionally, magnetic device parts are constructed from powders by compaction of the powders to a defined shape and then sintering the compact at temperatures of 600° C. or higher. Sintering the part following compaction, is necessary to achieve satisfactory mechanical properties in the part by providing particle to particle bonding and hence strength. However, sintering may cause volume changes and results in a manufacturing process with poor dimensional control.
In other conventional processes designed to prepare parts having minimum eddy current losses, the magnetic particles are coated with thermoplastic materials before pressing. The plastic is provided to act as a barrier between the particles to reduce induced eddy current losses. However, in addition to the relatively high cost of such coatings, the plastic has poor mechanical strength and as a result, parts made using plastic-coated particles have relatively low mechanical strength. Additionally, many of these plastic-coated powders require a high level of binder when pressed. This results in decreased density of the pressed core part and, consequently, a decrease in magnetic permeability and lower induction. Additionally, and significantly, such plastic coatings typically degrade at temperatures of 150-200° C. Accordingly, magnetic parts made in such manner are generally limited to utility in low stress applications for which dimensional control is not critical.
Thus, there remains a need for magnetic powders to produce soft magnetic parts, having increased green strength, high temperature tolerance, and good mechanical properties, which parts have minimal or essentially no core loss and high magnetic moment.
Conventionally, ferromagnetic powders have been employed for the production of soft magnetic core devices. Such powders are generally in a size range measured in microns and are obtained by a mechanical milling diminution of a bulk material. Superparamagnetic nanoparticle materials having particle size of less than 100 nm have found utility for magnetic record imaging, as probes for medical imaging and have been applied for targeted delivery of therapeutic agents. However, the utilization of superparamagnetic powders for production of core magnetic parts has until now, been Limited.
For example, Toyoda et al. (U.S. 2011/0104476) describe a soft magnetic material of iron or an iron alloy particle having a grain size of from 5 to 400 μm which is provided with an oxide insulative coating including silicon oxide. The coated particles are mixed with an organic substance which is a non-thermoplastic resin and at least one of a thermoplastic resin and a higher fatty acid. The content of the organic substance in the mixed material is from 0.001 to 0.2% by mass. The mixed material is compression molded and then subjected to a heat treatment at a temperature between the glass transition temperature and the thermal decomposition temperature of the non-thermoplastic resin. The molded and heat treated structure is indicated to be useful for electric and electronic components such as a motor core or a transformer core.
Hattori et al. (U.S. 2006/0283290) describe silica coated, nitrided iron particles having an average particle diameter of 5 to 25 nm. The particles are "substantially spherical" and are useful for magnetic layers such as a magnetic recording medium.
Ueta et al. (U.S. 2003/0077448) describes a ferromagnetic raw metal powder (primarily iron) having a coating of various oxide materials including silicon. Claim 1 provides a ferromagnetic powder which is surface coated with a silicone resin and a pigment. The coated particle has a diameter on the order of 100 microns. Warm pressing of the powder to produce a core is described as well as annealing of a core at elevated temperature.
Tokuoka et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 7,678,174) describe an iron based powder particle having an iron or iron alloy core and an oxide type insulating coating, including silicon oxide. An ester wax is also added to the particle surface. The coated powder particles are on the order of 200 microns in size as described in Example 1. The lubricated powder is pressure molded to form a molded body and the molded body heat treated.
Blagev (U.S. Pat. No. 5,512,317) describes an acicular magnetic iron oxide particle having a magnetic iron oxide core and a shell containing a silicate compound and cobalt (II) or iron (II) compound as a dopant. The doped acicular particles have a length typically of about 0.15 to 0.50 μm and are employed in magnetic recording media.
Nomura et. al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,451,245) describes acicular magnetic particles having a largest dimension of about 0.3 μm which are suitable for magnetic recording media. Hydrated iron oxide particles are first coated with an aluminum or zirconium compound, then heated to form a hematite particle. This formed particle is then coated a second time with an aluminum compound followed by a reduction treatment. Silicon compounds may be included in either coating to enhance the properties of the particle.
Soileau et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,765) describes a core obtained by compaction of iron powder which has been coated with an alkali metal silicate and then a silicone resin polymer. The iron particles to which the coating is applied have a mean particle size of 0.002 to 0.006 inches. The core is prepared by compaction of the powder at greater than 25 tons per square inch and then annealing the pressed component.
Yu et al. (J. Phys. Chem. C 2009, 113, 537-543) describes the preparation of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles encapsulated in a silica shell. Utility of the particles as magnetic binding agents for proteins is studied.
Tajima et al. (IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 41, No. 10, October, 2005) describes a method to produce a powder magnetic core described as warm compaction using die wall lubrication (WC-DWL). According to the method an iron powder coated with a phosphate insulator was compacted under a pressure of 1176 MPa at a temperature of 423° K to produce a core type structure.
Sun et al. (J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2002, 124, 8204-8205) describes a method to produce monodisperse magnetite nanoparticles which can be employed as seeds to grow larger nanoparticles of up to 20 nm in size.
Bumb et al. (Nanotechnology, 19, 2008, 335601) describes synthesis of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles of 10-40 nm encapsulated in a silica coating layer of approximately 2 nm. Utility in power transformers is referenced, but no description of preparation of core structures is provided.
Mazzochette et al. (U.S. 2012/0106111) describes a magnetic anisotropic conductive adhesive composition which contains an adhesive binder and a conductive nano-material filler. The adhesive binder is a UV, radiation or heat curable resin such as epoxy, acrylate or urethane. The conductive filler particles may be paramagnetic or ferromagnetic and include aluminum, platinum, chromium, manganese, iron and alloys of these. The particles may be coated with a conductive metal such as gold, silver, copper or nickel. In application, the adhesive is applied to the substrate structure, exposed to a magnetic field to align the particles and the resin cured while the field is applied.
Archer et al. (U.S. 2010/0258759) describes metal oxide nanostructures which may be hollow or contain an inner core particle. In one embodiment, this reference describes coating α-Fe2O3 spindle particles with a SiO2 layer, then coating those particles with a SnO2 layer. Porous double-shelled nano-cocoons were prepared by application of two SnO2 layers, annealing the particles at 550 to 600° C. and then dissolving the SiO2 from the particle. The magnetic properties of the particles are mentioned within a general description.
Liu (U.S. 2010/0054981) describes bulk nanocomposite materials containing both hard phase nanoparticle magnetic material and soft phase nanoparticle magnetic material. The two components are mixed and warm compacted to form the bulk material. Prior to the warm compaction, the materials may be heated annealed or ball milled. Liu describes that the density of the compacted bulk material increases with increasing compaction temperature and pressure. The soft phase materials include FeO, Fe2O3, Co Fe, Ni CoFe, NiFe and the hard phase materials include FePt, CoPt, SmCo-based alloys and rare earth-FeB-based alloys. Various methods to prepare magnetic nanoparticles are described, including a "polyol Process." In Example 1, a bulk nanocomposite of FePt and Fe3O4 is prepared and tested for properties. A phase transition with increasing temperature is confirmed by showing corresponding changes in magnetic properties such as saturation magnetization and coercivity.
Ueta et al. (U.S. 2003/0077448) describe preparation of an iron-based powder having an insulate coating of multiple layers. The iron based powder is first painted with a solvent based silicone resin composition and a pigment. The solvent is dried away and the silicone resin cured. An outer layer of a metal oxide, nitride or carbide is then applied. The coated powder is then formed into a core, optionally with annealing to remove the strain due to pressing. Ueta suggests that the annealing causes thermal degradation of the silicone to form a silica layer including the pigment on the iron base particle.
Bergendahl et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 8,273,407) describe a method to form a thin film of magnetic nanoparticles on a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer. The film contains aggregates of magnetic nanoparticle clusters which are separated from one another by a distance of from 1 to 50 nanometers. Clusters of the magnetic nanoparticles are first applied to the substrate and the clusters are thermally annealed or irradiated with UV or laser to form aggregates. The magnetic nanoparticles may be Fe, Ni, Co, NiCo, FeZn, borides of these, ferrites, rare earth metals or alloy combinations. An insulator coating is placed over the magnetic aggregates. The insulator material may be SiO2, Si3N4, Al2O3, ceramics, polymers, ferrites, epoxies, Teflon or silicones.
Sun et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,972,046) describes a process of forming a hard-soft phase, exchange-coupled magnetic nanocomposite. According to the method solvent dispersions of hard phase nanoparticles and soft phase nanoparticles are mixed, and the solvent removed to obtain self-assembled structures. Coatings of the nanoparticles are removed in an annealing treatment to form a compact nanoparticle self-assembly wherein the nanoparticles are exchange coupled. The soft magnetic materials include Co, Fe, Ni, CoFe, NiFe, Fe2O3 and other oxides. The hard magnetic materials include CoPt, FePt, SmCo based alloys and rare earth-FeB-based alloys. The nanocomposites may be compacted to form a high density nanocomposite that is devoid of spaces between the magnetic materials in order to obtain a bulk permanent magnet. Sun et al. describe a direct relationship of coercivity and annealing temperature up to a temperature of agglomeration of the nanoparticles.
None of the above references disclose or suggest that thermal annealing of core shell nanoparticles having an iron oxide core and silica shell results in a significant increase in magnetic saturation. Likewise, none of the above references disclose or suggest a monolithic magnetic core constructed by heated compression of thermally annealed nanoparticular iron oxide encapsulated in a silicon dioxide coating shell, wherein the particles are directly compacted without addition of lubricant or other material to facilitate particle adherence.

Superparamagnetic iron oxide and silica nanoparticles of high magnetic saturation and a magnetic core containing the nanoparticles

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.


A mounting apparatus of a flexible board which connects a first electrical member, movable in an optical axis direction, to a second electrical member, which is movable relative to the first electrical member. The apparatus includes a cylindrical support provided between the first and second electrical members, and an axially elongated mounting opening is provided in the cylindrical support, in which the flexible board can be received. An elastically deformable mounting member is fitted in the mounting opening by elastically deforming the same. The elastically deformable mounting member holds the flexible board, which is wrapped around the mounting member, in a manner such that the bent portion of the flexible board is perpendicular to the direction of relative movement of the first and second electrical members.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for mounting and holding a flexible printed circuit board or sheet to a taking (i.e., photographing) lens or the like.
2. Description of Related Art
In a conventional compact camera having a bifocal or zoom lens, a flexible printed circuit board is used to electrically connect a lens controller (i.e., lens control unit), provided in a lens barrel to control the operations of an automatic focusing mechanism or an automatic aperture and shutter control mechanism, etc., and a body controller (i.e., camera body control unit), provided in a camera body. The lens controller is mounted to a movable frame which is supported by a holding frame or the lens barrel, etc. The movable frame is moved in an optical axis direction, for example, by a zooming operation. The flexible printed circuit board is secured, for example, to the lens barrel by machine screws or double-sided adhesive tape. However, such assembly of the flexible printed circuit board is very troublesome.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to eliminate the above-mentioned drawback by providing an apparatus in which a flexible printed circuit board can be simply mounted to a taking lens, etc.

Mounting apparatus of flexible printed circuit board


A sound converter includes a rectangular frame, a first suspension seated on an upper side of the frame to vibrate, a second suspension attached to a bottom surface of the first suspension and electrically connected to a voice coil to vibrate, a magnetic circuit including a center magnet, a plurality of sub-magnets spaced apart from the center magnet by a certain distance to define a magnetic gap, a plurality of top plates positioned above the center magnet and each sub-magnet, and a bottom plate positioned below the center magnet and each sub-magnet, and a third suspension connecting a lower end or a lower end lateral surface of the voice coil to the frame to vibrate. The voice coil is attached to a bottom surface of the second suspension. The third suspension is positioned through spaces defined by the sub-magnets being spaced apart from each other.

A typical sound converter (for example, a microspeaker, etc.) does not use a broadband sound source due to communication technology limitations. However, with the development of the information communication technology, the reproduction bandwidth of the sound source to be reproduced in the sound converter has been widened, and with the increase of the required power, the structure of the typical sound converter has limitations in terms of characteristics and reliability.
In order to solve these problems, the present applicant filed and registered Korea Patent No. 10-1200435, entitled by "High power microspeaker" (hereinafter, referred to as 'the conventional patent'), which includes a frame, a protector, a yoke assembly coupled to the frame and having a magnet, a diaphragm disposed in the frame to generate vibration, a voice coil coupled to the diaphragm to vibrate the diaphragm, a terminal disposed at one side of the frame to provide electrical connection between a lead wire of the voice coil and an external terminal, and a damper formed of an FPCB having an inner part to which a center diaphragm, a side diaphragm and the voice coil are attached, an outer part to which the side diaphragm is attached and which is brought into contact with the frame and the protector, a support part which serves to connect the voice coil, the outer part and the inner part and which includes a land part to which a lead-in wire of the coil is soldered or welded, and a connection part which extends to the outside of the outer part and which provides electrical connection between the terminal disposed at the frame and the outer part.
The conventional patent of the present applicant has a limitation in suppressing split vibration because the vibration system is composed of the diaphragm, the damper formed of the FPCB and the voice coil, with a small distance between the diaphragm and the damper and with a relatively large distance to the lower end of the voice coil in which motion is generated by a magnetic force.
In addition, the conventional patent of the present applicant has a risk of thermal deformation because the fresh air does not smoothly flow into the diaphragm.


The invention provides a hoof angle measuring device for use on horses. A base is configured to be held against the bottom of a horse hoof and a pivoting arm can then be aligned with the forward edge of the hoof to define the hoof angle. Without physical or electrical contact with the base or arm, an enclosed sensor detects relative angular position between the base and arm. Supporting circuitry also provided in an enclosure accepts signal voltage from the sensor and provides a protected digital display of the measured angle magnitude for the user.

The present invention pertains to devices for measuring physical parameters of a horse's hoof in the context of caring for horses. Particularly, the invention presents devices and methods for measuring the angle between the forward surface of the hoof and the plane of the bottom of the hoof. Measuring of this angle is essential to the task of caring for the legs and feet of a horse and in shoeing a horse.
These aspects are well known and various devices have been developed to measure different physical parameters of horse hoofs. Despite the long history of this art and science, the tools available for this work continue to be very crude. This is believed to be, at least in part, due to the rough and extreme environment presented by horses and their care. Care of horses is often in uncontrolled environment and present many sources of dirt, water, and other sources of abrasive or corrosive materials that may harm delicate or precise tools. In addition, movement of horses and their surrounding equipment pose risk of impact damage. For these reasons, prior art farrier tools including hoof angle measuring tools are often large and durable and consequently lacking in precision. What is needed is an easily used, yet precise angle measuring device with a design that can survive the inherent environment of equine care.


Apparatus for processing a signal of a predetermined intermediate frequency (IF) to generate in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) components thereof comprises: an analog-to digital converter circuit for sampling and digitizing the IF signal to generate digitized data samples thereof at a sampling rate that produces consecutive digitized data samples that are separated in phase by a substantially fixed phase angle 2xcfx80/n, where n is an integer greater than zero; first digital circuitry coupled to the analog-to digital converter circuit for demodulating the digitized data samples by multiplying every n consecutive digitized data samples with n respectively corresponding digital reference samples; and second digital circuitry coupled to the first digital circuitry for combining selected ones of the demodulated samples based on the substantially fixed phase angle to generate digital data samples of the I and Q components of the IF signal. The apparatus may include third digital circuitry coupled to the second circuitry for generating digital data samples of a log video component of the IF signal from the digital data samples of the I and Q components. The first, second and third digital circuitry may be programmed into a gate array integrated circuit.

The present invention is directed to intermediate frequency (IF) signal processors, in general, and more particularly, to a digital IF processor for sampling and digitizing an IF signal to generate digital data samples thereof at a sampling rate that produces consecutive samples separated in phase by a substantially fixed phase angle 2xcfx80/n, where n is an integer greater than zero, and for processing such data samples digitally to generate digital data samples of in-phase (I), quadrature (Q) and log video (log V) components thereof, the digital IF processor preferably for use in an avionic system for detecting and decoding transponder reply signals from received radio frequency (RF) signals.
Avionic Systems are sometimes applied to the receiving and processing of radio frequency (RF) signals to establish certain information, like the range and bearing of the signal source and the signal information content, for example, which may provide guidance in the navigation of the aircraft. For example, an avionics system for warning of potential air-to-air collisions receives and processes RF signals transmitted from transponders of other aircraft. The operation of such avionic systems, generally referred to as traffic control and collision avoidance systems or TCAS, have been standardized by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In such TCAS systems, the transponders of aircraft are interrogated from ground based radars or other aircraft with request for information signals at 1030 MHz. The transponders reply with signals at 1090 MHz which contain the requested information. Aircraft in the vicinity of the responding aircraft are equipped with avionics to receive and process the RF reply signals to determine range, bearing and altitude information for each responding aircraft. With this information, the avionic system of the receiving aircraft may determine whether or not the responding aircraft is a threat to air-to-air collision therewith and provide a warning thereof.
An exemplary TCAS used in present aircraft is shown in the block diagram schematic of FIG. 1. Generally, these systems include an omni-directional antenna 10 mounted on top of the aircraft for receiving transponder reply signals at 1090 MHz from other aircraft. The antenna 10 may be configured to generate xcexa3 and xcex94 signal components of the reply signals which are supplied to a receiver of the avionics. Typically, the receiver which consists of analog circuitry comprises an RF section 12 for demodulating the RF xcexa3 and xcex94 signals to IF xcexa3 and xcex94 signals, denoted as xcexa3xe2x80x2 and xcex94xe2x80x2 respectively; and an IF section 14 for further demodulating the xcexa3xe2x80x2 and xcex94xe2x80x2 signals to lower IF or baseband signals, denoted as xcexa3xe2x80x3 and xcex94xe2x80x3, respectively. The IF section 14 may also produce a log V signal component. Further included in the avionics is a phase comparator circuit 16 which processes the xcexa3xe2x80x3 and xcex94xe2x80x3 signals to produce the I and Q components thereof. One or more analog-to-digital converters (A/D) 18 digitize the I, Q and log V signals at a predetermined sampling rate and the digitized samples of the I, Q and log V signals are temporarily stored in a set of buffers 20 for later processing in a reply digital processor 22. Reference is made to the U.S. Pat. No. 5,387,915, issued Feb. 7, 1995, entitled xe2x80x9cMethod and Apparatus For Detecting and Decoding Transponder Reply Signalsxe2x80x9d, and assigned to the same assignee as the instant application, for a more detailed description of the structure and operation of TCAS I avionics.
Such avionics are always under scrutiny for improvement, like reducing costs, weight, size, production time and adaptability for changing functionality and compensating for noise interference, for example. The present invention of a digital IF processor replaces the current analog circuitry for IF signal processing, denoted as 24 in FIG. 1, and affords the aforementioned improvements thereover.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, apparatus for processing a signal of a predetermined intermediate frequency (IF) to generate in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) components thereof comprises: an analog-to digital converter circuit for sampling and digitizing the IF signal to generate digitized data samples thereof at a sampling rate that produces consecutive digitized data samples that are separated in phase by a substantially fixed phase angle 2xcfx80/n, where n is an integer greater than zero; first digital circuitry coupled to the analog-to digital converter circuit for demodulating the digitized data samples by multiplying every n consecutive digitized data samples with n respectively corresponding digital reference samples; and second digital circuitry coupled to the first digital circuitry for combining selected ones of the demodulated samples based on the substantially fixed phase angle to generate digital data samples of the I and Q components of the IF signal. The apparatus may include third digital circuitry coupled to the second circuitry for generating digital data samples of a log video component of the IF signal from the digital data samples of the I and Q components.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a digital intermediate frequency (IF) processor for processing IF sum (xcexa3) and delta (xcex94) signals to generate in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) components of each of the xcexa3 and xcex94 signals comprises: a first analog-to digital converter circuit for sampling and digitizing the IF xcexa3 signal to generate digitized data samples thereof at a sampling rate that produces consecutive digitized data samples of the IF xcexa3 signal that are separated in phase by a substantially fixed phase angle 2xcfx80/n, where n is an integer greater than zero; a second analog-to digital converter circuit for sampling and digitizing the IF xcex94 signal to generate digitized data samples thereof at the sampling rate to produce consecutive digitized data samples of the IF xcex94 signal that are separated in phase by the substantially fixed phase angle; a first digital IF channel coupled to the first analog-to digital converter circuit for processing the digitized data samples of the IF xcexa3 signal to generate digitized data samples of the I and Q components thereof, a second digital IF channel coupled to the second analog-to digital converter circuit for processing the digitized data samples of the IF xcex94 signal to generate digitized data samples of the I and Q components thereof, and wherein each of the I and Q digital IF channels including: first digital circuitry coupled to the corresponding analog-to digital converter circuit for demodulating the digitized data samples by multiplying every n consecutive digitized data samples with n respectively corresponding digital reference samples; and second digital circuitry coupled to the first digital circuitry for combining selected ones of the demodulated samples based on the substantially fixed phase angle to generate digital data samples of said I and Q components of the corresponding IF signal. Each digital IF channel of the processor may include third digital circuitry coupled to the corresponding second circuitry for generating digital data samples of a log video component of the corresponding IF signal from the digital data samples of the I and Q components thereof.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, an avionic system for detecting and decoding transponder reply signals from received radio frequency (RF) signals comprises: an antenna for receiving the RF signals and configured to produce sum (xcexa3) and delta (xcex94) component signals thereof; an RF receiver circuit for demodulating the RF xcexa3 and xcex94 component signals into intermediate frequency (IF) xcexa3 and xcex94 component signals, respectively; a first analog-to digital converter circuit for sampling and digitizing the IF xcexa3 signal to generate digitized data samples thereof at a sampling rate that produces consecutive digitized data samples of the IF xcexa3 signal that are separated in phase by a substantially fixed phase angle 2xcfx80/n, where n is an integer greater than zero; a second analog-to digital converter circuit for sampling and digitizing the IF xcex94 signal to generate digitized data samples thereof at the sampling rate to produce consecutive digitized data samples of the IF xcex94 signal that are separated in phase by the substantially fixed phase angle; a first digital IF channel coupled to the first analog-to digital converter circuit for processing the digitized data samples of the IF xcexa3 signal to generate digitized data samples of the in-phase (I), quadrature (Q) and log video (log V) components thereof; a second digital IF channel coupled to the second analog-to digital converter circuit for processing the digitized data samples of the IF xcex94 signal to generate digitized data samples of the I, Q and log V components thereof; and a reply processor for processing the digitized data samples of the I, Q and log V components of each of the IF xcexa3 and xcex94 signals to detect and decode transponder reply signals.

L-3 Communications Avionics System, Inc.


The technology provides a multi-purpose dietary supplement that includes, in nutritionally effective amounts for humans, an orally ingestible combination of antioxidants, naturally-occurring substances and extracts of naturally-occurring substances. The naturally-occurring substances and extracts of naturally-occurring substances include at least: finely divided silica hydride; a polyphenol; ginkgo biloba leaf extract; rhodiola rosea root; bacopa monniera extract; a glutathione precursor; a phytoalexin; a bioflavonoids; CoQ10 and a phospholipid.

1. Technical Field
The technology relates to dietary supplements for human ingestion, and more particularly to supplements that include powerful antioxidants and a plurality of naturally-occurring components and/or components derived from naturally-occurring substances.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years there has been continuing and growing interest in foods and the potential health benefits of a diet that incorporates certain kinds of foods, and minimizes other kinds of foods. The so-called "food pyramid" has been revised in an attempt to influence the diet of the population toward foods that are currently believed will better maintain health. At the same time, there has been growing concern among sectors of the population regarding the nature of the available food supply. For example, is it "natural" as opposed to genetically engineered? Is it organically grown using only "natural fertilizers" and free of chemical fertilizers and pesticides? Is it sustainably farmed? Is it free of added hormones? As a result, consumers have many choices about the foodstuffs they can consume, and have some guidance, based on current understanding of human dietary requirements, of what constitutes a healthy diet.
Despite the increased consumer awareness of diet and its potential effects on health, the typical diet often lacks essential amounts of certain necessary elements. For example, many still have lower than recommended intake of calcium to strengthen bones and maintain bone density. Others may lack certain vitamins, or minerals like zinc or magnesium. In addition, there is a growing awareness that certain foods and herbs may include important elements for maintaining health, even though these may not be found in significant amounts in the "food pyramid diet." Accordingly, there has lately been a strong interest in particular fruits, berries and vegetables, such as acai berries, broccoli, and pomegranates. In addition, there has been growing interest in ancient herbs and teas, such as rooibos tea that has high levels of anti-oxidants which may reduce the levels and harmful effects of free radicals in the body. There has also been significant interest in newly-developed food extracts, such as omega-3 fatty acids derived from certain fish and flax seeds, to promote cardio-vascular health.


Described herein are methods for determining a target musculoskeletal activity cycle (MSKC) to cardiac cycle (CC) timing relationship. The method may include detecting a first characteristic of a signal responsive to a CC timing of a user that repeats at a frequency that corresponds to a heart rate of the user; detecting a second characteristic of a signal responsive to a rhythmic musculoskeletal cycle activity (MSKC) timing of the user that repeats at a frequency that corresponds to the MSKC rate of the user; determining a value representative of an actual timing relationship between the first characteristic and the second characteristic; detecting a third characteristic of a signal corresponding to a physiological metric that varies with the actual timing relationship between the first and second characteristics; and determining a target value representative of a preferred timing relationship between the first and second characteristics.

Blood is circulated through the body by the heart during its rhythmic pumping cycle, which consists of two distinct periods—systole and diastole. Heart muscle contracts to eject blood from the ventricles during the systolic period of each cardiac cycle (CC). Ejection of blood from the ventricles generates arterial blood pressure and flow adequate to deliver blood throughout the body. The blood transports oxygen, nutrients and metabolic products, removes carbon dioxide and waste, and facilitates critical physiological functions such as heat exchange. The heart subsequently relaxes during the diastolic period of the CC, when the atrial and ventricular chambers refill with blood in preparation for the heart's next contraction.
Unlike the rest of the body, which receives most of its blood flow during the systolic portion of the arterial pressure cycle, contraction of the heart during systole generates high forces within the heart's muscular walls, preventing blood from flowing through the heart muscle itself at that time. Therefore, the heart's own arterial blood supply is delivered primarily during diastole, when the heart muscle is relaxing and the heart chambers are filling for the next contraction, while at the same time the lower residual blood pressure in the aorta pushes blood through the coronary arteries and into the myocardial muscle to supply the heart with its needed oxygen and nutrients.
In addition to the heart's pumping function, the musculoskeletal (MSK) system also pumps arterial and venous blood throughout the body during physical activity in a couple of important ways. First, skeletal muscle contraction and relaxation cycles during rhythmic physical activities cause regular oscillations in peripheral arterial and venous blood pressure or flow due to intermittent compression of the vasculature that travels within, between, and adjacent to the skeletal muscles. Second, MSK movement can lead to periodic acceleration and deceleration of the intravascular volume of blood against gravity and inertia.
When rhythmic muscle contractions and MSK movements are favorably coordinated with the timing of the heart's pump cycle, the MSK and cardiac pumping systems can augment one another to increase blood flow to and perfusion of important areas of the body with less pumping energy expended by the heart. This favorable coordination of these two pumping systems can be referred to as "musculoskeletal counterpulsation" (MCP). During MCP, maximum rhythmic MSK-induced blood pumping consistently increases central arterial blood pressure when the heart is relaxing and refilling between contractions (i.e. during diastole), and the maximum cardiac induced pumping (systole) consistently occurs between MSK induced maximal central arterial pressure events. On the other hand, when rhythmic muscle contractions and MSK movements occur with uncoordinated, or worse, unfavorably coordinated timing, blood flow and perfusion are decreased along with a concurrent decrease in pumping efficiencies. Unfavorable coordination occurs, for example, when the cardiac and MSK systems consistently pump blood maximally into the central circulation at substantially the same time during rhythmic physical activity. This unfavorable coordination of the two pumping systems can be referred to as "inverse musculoskeletal counterpulsation" (iMCP).
Typically, when individuals walk, run, bicycle, or participate in any rhythmic physical activity, most experience favorable coordination between MSK blood pumping and CC blood pumping only intermittently. Even when an individual's heart rate (HR) and MSK activity cycle rate (MSKR) happen to be substantially equal, the respective timing of the two pumping systems may result in favorable or unfavorable coordination, or somewhere in between. A certain degree of "cardio-locomotor synchronization" can occur during rhythmic physical activity, in which the timing of an individual's MSK pump cycle relative to the heart's pump cycle tends, statistically, to naturally favor MCP. However, when such synchrony does occur, it is usually only a temporary phenomenon since HR and/or MSKR can change as environmental factors vary (e.g., running in hilly terrain or variable wind) or with any of several physical changes, such as alterations in effort, speed, hydration, temperature, catecholamine levels, or fatigue.
The benefits of favorable coordination between MSK movements and the heart's pump cycle can include improved perfusion and oxygenation of cardiac and peripheral skeletal muscle and possibly other tissues; decreased HR due to increased cardiac preload and stroke volume; decreased systolic blood pressure and pulse pressure; decreased required respiratory effort to meet decreased oxygen demands; and reduced muscle fatigue due to improved skeletal muscle perfusion. These benefits can potentially lead to increased physiological efficiency, decreased myocardial stress, increased aerobic energy production, improved aerobic fat metabolism, enhanced individual performance, and a potential increase in the health benefits and safety of rhythmic physical activity. Conversely, unfavorable coordination between MSK movements and the heart's pump cycle can lead to the opposite of all of these effects.
Some of the general approaches that we have described for favorably coordinating MSKC and CC timing during rhythmic physical activity include (1) the provision of adaptive real-time MSKC timing prompts to a user, (2) automated means of adjusting exercise equipment settings in order to adaptively modify a user's MSKC timing; and (3) automated means of adjusting artificial cardiac pacemaker systems to adaptively adjust the timing of the CC relative to the MSKC of the user. Each of these general approaches may require the identification and use of sensed physiological metrics to assist with identifying a target timing relationship between the MSKC and CC of the user, measuring physiological impacts of the timing relationship, and tracking progress in favorably influencing physiology over time.
The methods and systems described below are for guiding a user to obtain and maintain favorable coordination of MSKC and CC hemodynamics, and more directly, to achieve or maintain system calibration, to increase the accuracy of identifying, achieving, and maintaining target pump timing relationships, and/or to track the effectiveness of achieving physiological benefit during rhythmic physical activity.

Systems and methods for coordinating musculoskeletal and cardiovascular or cerebrovascular hemodynamics