In a method of synthesizing voiced speech from pitch prototype waveforms by time-synchronous waveform interpolation (TSWI), one or more pitch prototypes is extracted from a speech signal or a residue signal. The extraction process is performed in such a way that the prototype has minimum energy at the boundary. Each prototype is circularly shifted so as to be time-synchronous with the original signal. A linear phase shift is applied to each extracted prototype relative to the previously extracted prototype so as to maximize the cross-correlation between successive extracted prototypes. A two-dimensional prototype-evolving surface is constructed by unsampling the prototypes to every sample point. The two-dimensional prototype-evolving surface is re-sampled to generate a one-dimensional, synthesized signal frame with sample points defined by piecewise continuous cubic phase contour functions computed from the pitch lags and the phase shifts added to the extracted prototypes. A pre-selection filter may be applied to determine whether to abandon the TSWI technique in favor of another algorithm for the current frame. A post-selection performance measure may be obtained and compared with a predetermined threshold to determine whether the TSWI algorithm is performing adequately.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains generally to the field of speech processing, and more specifically to a method and apparatus for synthesis of speech from pitch prototype waveforms by time-synchronous waveform interpolation (TSWI).
II. Background
Transmission of voice by digital techniques has become widespread, particularly in long distance and digital radio telephone applications. This, in turn, has created interest in determining the least amount of information that can be sent over a channel while maintaining the perceived quality of the reconstructed speech. If speech is transmitted by simply sampling and digitizing, a data rate on the order of sixty-four kilobits per second (kbps) is required to achieve a speech quality of conventional analog telephone. However, through the use of speech analysis, followed by the appropriate coding, transmission, and resynthesis at the receiver, a significant reduction in the data rate can be achieved.
Devices that employ techniques to compress speech by extracting parameters that relate to a model of human speech generation are called speech coders. A speech coder divides the incoming speech signal into blocks of time, or analysis frames. Speech coders typically comprise an encoder and a decoder, or a codec. The encoder analyzes the incoming speech frame to extract certain relevant parameters, and then quantizes the parameters into binary representation, i.e., to a set of bits or a binary data packet. The data packets are transmitted over the communication channel to a receiver and a decoder. The decoder processes the data packets, unquantizes them to produce the parameters, and then resynthesizes the speech frames using the unquantized parameters.
The function of the speech coder is to compress the digitized speech signal into a low-bit-rate signal by removing all of the natural redundancies inherent in speech. The digital compression is achieved by representing the input speech frame with a set of parameters and employing quantization to represent the parameters with a set of bits. If the input speech frame has a number of bits Ni and the data packet produced by the speech coder has a number of bits No, the compression factor achieved by the speech coder is Cr=Ni/No. The challenge is to retain high voice quality of the decoded speech while achieving the target compression factor. The performance of a speech coder depends on (1) how well the speech model, or the combination of the analysis and synthesis process described above, performs, and (2) how well the parameter quantization process is performed at the target bit rate of N0 bits per frame. The goal of the speech model is thus to capture the essence of the speech signal, or the target voice quality, with a small set of parameters for each frame.
A speech coder is called a time-domain coder if its model is a time-domain model. A well-known example is the Code Excited Linear Predictive (CELP) coder described in L. B. Rabiner and R. W. Schafer, Digital Processing of Speech Signals 396-453 (1978), which is fully incorporated herein by reference. In a CELP coder, the short term correlations, or redundancies, in the speech signal are removed by a linear prediction (LP) analysis, which finds the coefficients of a short-term formant filter. Applying the short-term prediction filter to the incoming speech frame generates an LP residue signal, which is further modeled and quantized with long-term prediction filter parameters and a subsequent stochastic codebook. Thus, CELP coding divides the task of encoding the time-domain speech waveform into the separate tasks of encoding of the LP short-term filter coefficients and encoding the LP residue. The goal is to produce a synthesized output speech waveform that closely resembles the input speech waveform. To accurately preserve the time-domain waveform, the CELP coder further divides the residue frame into smaller blocks, or sub-frames, and continue the analysis-by-synthesis method for each sub-frame. This requires a high number of bits No per frame because there are many parameters to quantize for each sub-frame. CELP coders typically deliver excellent quality when the available number of bits No per frame is large enough for coding bits rates of 8 kbps and above.
Waveform interpolation (WI) is an emerging speech coding technique in which for each frame of speech a number M of prototype waveforms is extracted and encoded with the available bits. Output speech is synthesized from the decoded prototype waveforms by any conventional waveform-interpolation technique. Various WI techniques are described in W. Bastiaan Kleijn and Jesper Haagen, Speech Coding and Synthesis 176-205 (1995), which is fully incorporated herein by reference. Conventional WI techniques are also described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,517,595, which is fully incorporated by reference herein. In such conventional WI techniques, however, it is necessary to extract more than one prototype waveform per frame in order to deliver accurate results. Additionally, no mechanism exists to provide time synchrony of the reconstructed waveform. For this reason the synthesized output WI waveform is not guaranteed to be aligned with the original input waveform.
There is presently a surge of research interest and strong commercial needs to develop a high-quality speech coder operating at medium to low bit rates (i.e., in the range of 2.4 to 4 kbps and below). The application areas include wireless telephony, satellite communications, Internet telephony, various multimedia and voice-streaming applications, voice mail, and other voice storage systems. The driving forces are the need for high capacity and the demand for robust performance under packet loss situations. Various recent speech coding standardization efforts are another direct driving force propelling research and development of low-rate speech coding algorithms. A low-rate speech coder creates more channels, or users, per allowable application bandwidth, and a low-rate speech coder coupled with an additional layer of suitable channel coding can fit the overall bit-budget of coder specifications and deliver a robust performance under channel error conditions.
However, at low bit rates (4 kbps and below), time-domain coders such as the CELP coder fail to retain high quality and robust performance due to the limited number of available bits. At low bit rates, the limited codebook space clips the waveform-matching capability of conventional time-domain coders, which are so successfully deployed in higher-rate commercial applications.
One effective technique to encode speech efficiently at low bit rate is multimode coding. A multimode coder applies different modes, or encoding-decoding algorithms, to different types of input speech frames. Each mode, or encoding-decoding process, is customized to represent a certain type of speech segment (i.e., voiced, unvoiced, or background noise) in the most efficient manner. An external mode decision mechanism examines the input speech frame and make a decision regarding which mode to apply to the frame. Typically, the mode decision is done in an open-loop fashion by extracting a number of parameters out of the input frame and evaluating them to make a decision as to which mode to apply. Thus, the mode decision is made without knowing in advance the exact condition of the output speech, i.e., how similar the output speech will be to the input speech in terms of voice-quality or any other performance measure. An exemplary open-loop mode decision for a speech codec is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,414,796, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and fully incorporated herein by reference.
Multimode coding can be fixed-rate, using the same number of bits N0 for each frame, or variable-rate, in which different bit rates are used for different modes. The goal in variable-rate coding is to use only the amount of bits needed to encode the codec parameters to a level adequate to obtain the target quality. As a result, the same target voice quality as that of a fixed-rate, higher-rate coder can be obtained at a significant lower average-rate using variable-bit-rate (VBR) techniques. An exemplary variable rate speech coder is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,414,796, assigned to the assignee of the present invention and previously fully incorporated herein by reference.
Voiced speech segments are termed quasi-periodic in that such segments can be broken into pitch prototypes, or small segments whose length L(n) vary with time as the pitch or fundamental frequency of periodicity varies with time. Such segments, or pitch prototypes, have a strong degree of correlation, i.e., they are extremely similar to each other. This is especially true of neighboring pitch prototypes. It is advantageous in designing an efficient multimode VBR coder that delivers high voice quality at low average rate to represent the quasi-periodic voiced speech segments with a low-rate mode.
It would be desirable to provide a speech model, or analysis-synthesis method, that represents quasi-periodic voiced segments of speech. It would further be advantageous to design a model that provides a high quality synthesis, thereby creating speech with high voice quality. It would still further be desirable for the model to have a small set of parameters so as to be amenable for encoding with a small set of bits. Thus, there is a need for a method of time-synchronous waveform interpolation for voiced speech segments that requires a minimal amount of bits for encoding and yields a high quality speech synthesis.
The present invention is directed to a method of time-synchronous waveform interpolation for voiced speech segments that requires a minimal amount of bits for encoding and yields a high quality speech synthesis. Accordingly, in one aspect of the invention, a method of synthesizing speech from pitch prototype waveforms by time-synchronous waveform interpolation advantageously includes the steps of extracting at least one pitch prototype per frame from a signal; applying a phase shift to the extracted pitch prototype relative to a previously extracted pitch prototype; upsampling the pitch prototype for each sample point within the frame; constructing a two-dimensional prototype-evolving surface; and re-sampling the two-dimensional surface to create a one-dimensional synthesized signal frame, the re-sampling points being defined by piecewise continuous cubic phase contour functions, the phase contour functions being computed from pitch lags and alignment phase shifts added to the extracted pitch prototype.
In another aspect of the invention, a device for synthesizing speech from pitch prototype waveforms by time-synchronous waveform interpolation advantageously includes means for extracting at least one pitch prototype per frame from a signal; means for applying a phase shift to the extracted pitch prototype relative to a previously extracted pitch prototype; means for upsampling the pitch prototype for each sample point within the frame; means for constructing a two-dimensional prototype-evolving surface; and means for re-sampling the two-dimensional surface to create a one-dimensional synthesized signal frame, the re-sampling points being defined by piecewise continuous cubic phase contour functions, the phase contour functions being computed from pitch lags and alignment phase shifts added to the extracted pitch prototype.
In another aspect of the invention, a device for synthesizing speech from pitch prototype waveforms by time-synchronous waveform interpolation advantageously includes a module configured to extract at least one pitch prototype per frame from a signal; a module configured to apply a phase shift to the extracted pitch prototype relative to a previously extracted pitch prototype; a module configured to upsample the pitch prototype for each sample point within the frame; a module configured to construct a two-dimensional prototype-evolving surface; and a module configured to re-sample the two-dimensional surface to create a one-dimensional synthesized signal frame, the re-sampling points being defined by piecewise continuous cubic phase contour functions, the phase contour functions being computed from pitch lags and alignment phase shifts added to the extracted pitch prototype.

Synthesis of speech from pitch prototype waveforms by time-synchronous waveform interpolation


An electrical receptacle for use with an annunciator for indicating the removal of an electrical plug from the electrical receptacle. The electrical receptacle includes neutral switching contacts actuated in response to the insertion of a plug into the receptacle. An input circuit in the annunciator apparatus monitors the state of the neutral switching contacts and couples signals produced when a plug is removed to a latching circuit thereby to produce an audible or electrical indication of plug removal.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to annunciator apparatus and more particularly to apparatus that announces the unauthorized or inadvertent removal of a plug from an electrical receptacle.
2. Description of Related Art
The removal of an electrical plug from a receptacle is a common occurrence. In many situations this step occurs as a normal event. However, in others this step represents an unauthorized or inadvertent action that requires some immediate response. For example, removing the plug of an electrical appliance in a store may indicate that someone is stealing the appliance. In other situations the removal of the plug may indicate that critical apparatus has ceased to function. In these or other situations it is important to announce the occurrence of such a step by audible or electrical signalling.
These situations, particularly attempted thefts of electrical equipment, have led to the development of various theft deterring apparatus. The simplest apparatus for deterring theft comprises mechanical locking assemblies, such as cables and locks, that physically bind an appliance to a wall, counter or other fixture to prevent its physical removal. Such mechanical assemblies, however, can be cumbersome to use, especially in stores where individuals properly may move the appliances. It is relatively easy for an individual intent on stealing the appliance to defeat these mechanical locking assemblies and remove the appliance. Moreover, these assemblies do not inherently have any capability to announce the occurrence of unauthorized actions.
There is a range of alarms and other annunciator apparatus that provides on-site or remote signalling that are used in a theft deterring role. In one approach electrical receptacles are modified to provide mechanical or optical switching functions that respond to the presence or absence of a ground or neutral plug terminal or the like. Alarm circuits provide an alarm whenever a plug is not present. The following United States Letters Patent disclose various embodiments of such apparatus:
______________________________________ 3,090,948 (1963) Cremer 3,192,518 (1965) Sliman 4,097,843 (1978) Basile 4,591,732 (1986) Neuenschwander 4,845,719 (1989) Posey ______________________________________
In accordance with other approaches separate electronic monitoring units mount on appliances or centrally disposed electronic circuits monitor wire lengths or other conditions that could indicate the removal of an electrical plug. The following United States Letters Patent disclose apparatus of this general category:
______________________________________ 4,327,360 (1982) Brown 4,680,574 (1987) Ruffner 4,736,195 (1988) McMurtry et al 4,945,335 (1990) Kimura et al ______________________________________
The following United States Letters patent disclose apparatus that monitors the insertion or removal of a plug from a receptacle:
______________________________________ 4,075,617 (1978) Wireman 4,028,691 (1977) Zeder ______________________________________
The Wireman patent discloses a structure including modified poles in an electrical receptacle. Specifically each receptacle contains an added spring coil between a neutral connection and an auxiliary contact. The auxiliary contact has insulating portions on either side of a conductive portion. Each insulating portion isolates the neutral and auxiliary connections when a plug is either in place or removed. A momentary contact occurs as a plug is inserted or removed. Alarm circuitry associated with the receptacle responds to both transient conditions by sounding an alarm. An operator must shift the system to a test mode to disable the alarm circuit before inserting a plug. If the system is not in a test mode, plug insertion will produce an alarm. Thus, this apparatus may produce false indications of problems unless specific operating steps are followed.
In accordance with the Zeder patent, filed by the same Applicant as the present invention, a plunger extends through the center of each receptacle of a duplex outlet. Each plunger controls corresponding external switching contacts that constitute an input to an alarm circuit. Any time a plug is removed, spring bias on the corresponding switch contacts opens the switch and an alarm sounds. A special cover can be located in any unused pole position to prevent erroneous alarms, but such covers are subject to being lost. The plunger can be broken; when this occurs, the entire receptacle must be replaced. It is also possible to block the plunger while the plug is installed and then remove the plug without any alarm. Despite these characteristics, apparatus constructed in accordance with the Zeder patent has been accepted for a number of applications where theft deterrence and other monitoring are important.

Electrical receptacle for use with annunciator apparatus for monitoring electrical connections


A back plate structure for a reflective type active matrix liquid crystal display and methods for forming the same, is described. The structure includes an array of reflective electrodes for selectively altering the molecular alignment of liquid crystal material confined above each of the reflective electrodes and an array of light shields spatially offset with the array of reflective electrodes so that the light shields block light passing through portions of gaps formed between adjacent reflective electrodes. Each of the reflective electrodes also has a corresponding light shield which is electrically connected to that reflective electrode so that the liquid crystal material confined above portions of the gaps between adjacent reflective materials can also be altered by the electrically connected light shields. The structure also includes a plurality of positively biased diffusion regions formed in areas where incident light is expected to strike the surface of the silicon substrate, where the positively biased diffusion regions act as electron "collectors" and the grounded silicon substrate acts as a hole "collector" for any electrons and holes generated by the photons of light striking the surface of the silicon substrate.

This invention relates in general to active matrix liquid crystal displays and in particular, to an active matrix liquid crystal display having light blocking, pixel enhancement, and photocurrent reduction features.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,862,360 issued to Dill et. al., describes one construction of an active matrix liquid crystal display ("AMLCD"). The AMLCD is formed by confining a thin layer of liquid crystal material between two plates. One plate is a glass (also referred to herein as "front plate"), which has one large transparent electrode formed on a surface adjacent to the confined liquid crystal material. The other plate, is a processed silicon substrate (also referred to herein as "back plate"), which has a plurality of reflective electrodes formed on a surface adjacent to the confined liquid crystal material.
The plurality of reflective electrodes define a plurality of pixels organized in a matrix array of rows and columns. To activate a pixel in the AMLCD, appropriate voltages are applied to a reflective electrode uniquely associated with that pixel and the front plate electrode. By applying such voltages to the reflective electrode and the front plate electrode, the molecular alignment of the liquid crystal material sandwiched between the two electrodes is altered. Depending upon the type of liquid crystal material being used, the material then acts as either a light valve or a light scattering medium to incident light entering through the front plate, passing through the liquid crystal material, and then being reflected back through the liquid crystal material and the front plate by the reflective electrode. For a general discussion on the structure and operation of such active matrix liquid crystal displays, see, e.g., Kaneko, E., LIQUID CRYSTAL TV DISPLAYS, KTK Scientific Publishers, Tokyo, 1987.
FIG. 1 illustrates an enlarged view of a portion of a front plate of an active matrix liquid crystal display (looking from the direction of entering incident light). Through the glass plate and its transparent electrode, the reflective electrodes (e.g., 11, 12, 21 and 22) can be seen on a silicon substrate 30. In laying out the reflective electrodes (e.g., 11, 12, 21 and 22) in an array of rows and columns on the silicon substrate 30, two key dimensions are the pixel pitch "PP" and the gap width "GW", as measured between adjacent reflective electrodes (e.g., 11 and 12).
Not shown in FIG. 1, but formed beneath each of the reflective electrodes (e.g., 11, 12, 21 and 22) is a field effect transistor ("FET") and a storage capacitor. The FET and storage capacitor associated with each reflective electrode, act together as an elemental sample and hold circuit for "sampling" a display signal transmitted to the source region of the FET through a signal electrode bus (also referred to herein as a "display signal bus") under the control of a row scanning signal transmitted to the gate electrode of the FET through a scanning electrode bus (also referred to herein as "row bus" or "gate bus"), and "holding" the voltage level of the display signal in the storage capacitor which is connected to the drain region of the FET, for the reflective electrode which is also connected to the drain region of the FET.
Gaps (e.g., 14) are required between each pair of adjacent reflective electrodes (e.g., 11 and 12) in order to electrically isolate the pair from each other. It is well known that for optimal viewing characteristics, the gap width "GW" should be minimalized and the smaller the ratio of the gap width "GW" to the pixel pitch "PP" the better. This is because the liquid crystal material over the gap areas is not controlled by the reflective electrodes and as a consequence, noticeable lines may appear on the display surface along these gap areas when the ratio of the gap width "GW" to the pixel pitch "PP" becomes too large.
Due to design and/or manufacturability limitations, each metallization process has a minimum gap width "GW" associated with that process. Because of this minimum gap width "GW" limitation, the gap width "GW" cannot continue to shrink proportionally with the pixel pitch "PP", as the pixel pitch "PP" gets smaller and smaller. Consequently, as the ratio of the gap width "GW" to the pixel pitch "PP" starts to increase, eventually, the ratio can become visually objectionable.
For example, in one metallization process, the minimum gap width "GW" might be 3.0 .mu.m. Using this minimum gap width, when the pixel pitch is 300.0 .mu.m, the gap width to pixel pitch ratio is only 1%, which makes the gap hardly noticeable visually. However, if the pixel pitch shrinks to 30.0 .mu.m, then the gap width to pixel pitch ratio becomes 10%, which may make the gap objectionable visually.
Another problem created by large gap widths is that when incident light passes through the gaps (e.g., 14), photons of light strike the silicon substrate 30 and generate electrons and holes that can affect the proper operation of the FETs and storage capacitors associated with each of the reflective electrodes (e.g., 11, 12, 21 and 22). A number of approaches have been developed in the past to counteract the effects of this phenomena.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,103,297 issued to McGreivy et. al., describes a method of heavily doping the processed surface of a silicon substrate to desensitize the surface against incident light. The method requires additional processing steps over those conventionally required to form an AMLCD. Briefly stated, the extra steps comprise the steps of masking the surface with a layer of photoresist so as to expose all but the areas in which the FETs will be formed, ion implanting the exposed portions, then removing the mask. Such additional steps, however, objectionably add to the cost of fabricating an AMLCD of the type described.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,239,346 and 4,602,850 issued to Lloyd and DeBenedetti, respectively, both describe forming a continuous sheet of metallization to shield the substrate from incident light. In both approaches, the continuous sheet of metallization is formed beneath the reflective electrodes of the AMLCD and above the silicon substrate of the AMLCD, so as to shield the substrate from incident light passing through the gaps between the reflective electrodes. To provide electrical connections to the reflective electrodes, an array of holes conforming to the array of reflective electrodes is formed in the continuous sheet of metallization such that at least one hole is made directly beneath each reflective electrode. Connections are then formed through each of the holes which connect each of the reflective electrodes to their respective drive circuitry on the silicon substrate. Lloyd thereupon suggests using its continuous sheet of metallization as a common ground plate for the storage capacitors associated with each of its reflective electrodes, and DeBenedetti suggests using its continuous sheet of metallization as a third electrode to bias the liquid crystal for faster response times when voltages are selectively applied to the individual reflective electrodes.
One undesirable aspect of the Lloyd approach is that the signal electrode buses which transmit display signals to each of the FETs of the reflective electrodes, are not formed of metal. In Lloyd, the signal electrode buses comprise parallel diffusion channels formed in the silicon substrate. Since these diffusion channels have considerably higher resistance-capacitance characteristics than metal, they form far slower transmission paths for the display signals. As a consequence, the refresh rate to update a frame of the AMLCD must be accordingly slower.
Although it is not known what the signal electrode buses are formed of in DeBenedetti, it is believed that they are most likely formed of parallel polysilicon strips on the surface of the silicon substrate. Since these polysilicon strips, like the diffusion channels of Lloyd, have considerably higher resistance-capacitance characteristics than metal, they form far slower transmission paths for the display signals and as a consequence, the refresh rate to update a frame of the AMLCD must be accordingly slower.
One technique for forming metallized signal electrode buses which is compatible with forming a continuous sheet of metallization as a light shield, is to form the signal electrode buses in a third metallization layer wherein a first metallization layer is used for the continuous sheet of metallization used as the light shield, and a second metallization layer is used for the reflective electrodes. A second technique of forming metallized signal electrode buses is to form the signal electrode buses in the same layer as the reflective electrodes. The advantage of this second technique over the first technique is that only two layers of metallization need be formed. Since the continuous sheet of metallization used as a light shield is continuous, the signal electrode buses cannot be formed in the same metallization layer as the continuous sheet of metallization.
Both of these techniques for forming metallized signal electrode buses are undesirable, however. The problem with the first approach is that a third metallization layer would substantially and objectionably add to the cost of fabricating an AMLCD of the type described, and the problem with the second approach is that forming the signal electrode bus on the same layer as the reflective electrodes would increase the gap width size between adjacent reflective electrodes and consequently, deteriorate the AMLCD's visual characteristics.

Light blocking, pixel enhancement and photocurrent reduction in active matrix liquid crystal displays


An orthdontic/facial orthopedic appliance for use in applying a pulling force to select teeth, the associated arch, and or jaw component(s) for moving/modifying and positioning the same. The appliance includes a frame supported primarily on the forward cranial portions of the patient's head and shaped to outline the area of the patient's face lateral to the forehead, eyes, nose and mouth, doe not apply force to the temporo-mandibular joint and is stationary against the face during lower jaw movement. The pulling force is in the form of elastic elements connected at one end to a member fixed to the frame and extending therefrom in a manner to be forward of the patient's mouth when the appliance is in a position of use, and at the other end thereof to selected teeth of the patient such that the pulling force pulls the selected teeth, associated arch, and/or upper jaw component(s) in a direction toward the frame. A strap portion adapted to connect to the frame and to be worn around the head is provided to enhance support and stability of the appliance to the head.. A method of straightening teeth and the associated arch using the orthodontic/facial orthopedic appliance is also described herein.

Orthodontic anterior traction appliances have been developed which are worn on the head or face of the patient for applying force to selected teeth and/or jaw component(s) to move/modify and position the same. In designing such appliances, important factors to consider are patient comfort including allowing the patient to see clearly and talk while the appliance is worn, adjustability to fit all patients properly, stability of the appliance on the patient's head, and a high degree of versatility in application of force to the patient's teeth and supporting structures.
Typical anterior traction appliances such as a face crib include a frame adapted to be worn on the head of the patient, a forehead rest carried by the frame and adapted to contact the patient's forehead, a chin rest carried by the frame and adapted to contact the patient's chin, and a mouth bow extending forwardly of the patient's mouth when the appliance is in a position of use adapted to be operatively connected by elastic (rubber) bands to selected teeth of the patient. The forehead pad and chin pad function in a manner supporting and positioning the appliance against the patient's face and preventing slippage or undesired movement of the appliance thereby enhancing stability in a manner which is comfortable to the patient.
However, the chin cup is anchored against the patient's chin when providing support and adjustment for the frame. Consequently, lower jaw movement such as that which occurs when talking can cause the movement of the appliance. This, in turn, could interfere with the teeth adjusting process and thereby have a detrimental effect. Further, when the chin cup is in a position of use against the patient's face pressure is exerted against the lower jaw, transmitted unfavorably against the mandibular joint as it relates to the temporal bone and associated disc (meniscus) between (TMJ) which is shown to have a detrimental effect. Therefore, a face crib which is stationary against the patient's face during lower jaw movement and anchored in such a manner that pressure in not exerted against the lower jaw would be desirable.


Security elements that are flexible, that can be used for merchandise and preferably can remain on the merchandise, that are difficult to locate, that can be incorporated into the merchandise during its manufacture and that have a simple design, i.e., merchandise security elements that can be economically produced and used. A merchandise security element which is intended for use in connection with acoustomagnetic merchandise security systems formed of a flat section of a swingable metal foil and a flexible, magnetic metal foil which are arranged in an overlapping fashion within a predetermined surface region and which are fixed relative to one another by means of a non-conductive spacer that cannot be magnetized and is arranged in between the two metal foils within the overlapping surface region.

The present invention relates to a flexible merchandise security element that is intended for use in connection with acoustomagnetic merchandise security systems.
In the technology for the security of merchandise, the entryways of certain areas are scanned by transmitting/receiving units. The security elements generate a defined reflection of the transmitted frequencies that is registered by the receivers and then made available for evaluation. During the evaluation, signals can be generated or access to certain areas can be blocked or granted.
Merchandise security elements of this type which are used in so-called acoustomagnetic systems and also referred to as AM labels are generally known and broadly used. They are used to identify merchandise that has been applied with such labels or that have such labels incorporated into the merchandise.
Previously known AM labels-consist of a plastic housing, a metal plate and a magnetic plate. The magnetic plate has a north-south polarization, and the metal plate is positioned at a precisely defined distance from the magnetic plate. The dimensions of both plates are also exactly defined. Tolerances are on the order of tenths of a millimeter.
Acoustomagnetic system locks which consist of transmission and reception units detect the resonance of such labels at a frequency of approximately 58 kHz and are triggered. In order to prevent the triggering caused by these labels, high a.c. currents are generated by large copper coils that erase the north-south pole structure on the magnetic strip. Consequently, the acoustomagnetic system locks no longer respond.
However, labels of this type can be very easily manipulated. Such a manipulation may, for example, consist of a malicious deactivation.
Merchandise security elements which are used in acoustomagnetic merchandise security systems usually consist of a permanent magnet and a pivotable metal plate, so-called Metglass. Conventional merchandise security elements are available in the form of so-called labels that, for example, have dimensions of approximately 1xc3x974 cm and are resistant to bending. Labels of this type are stiff and not suitable for use on soft, flexible merchandise, e.g., textiles and the like. In addition, it is easy to ascertain the position of these known labels, i.e., these labels can be manipulated. For example, the magnetic properties can be purposefully altered or the labels can be mechanically destroyed. When used in the textile industry, labels of this type must be removed because they would otherwise affect the intended use of the textiles.
Based on this state of the art, it is according to an object of the present invention to provide merchandise security elements that are flexible, that preferably can remain on the merchandise, that are difficult to locate, that can be incorporated into the merchandise during its manufacture and that have a simple design, i.e., and which can be economically produced and used.
The above and other objects of the present invention can be attained with a merchandise security element that is intended for use in connection with acoustomagnetic merchandise security systems, and which comprises a flat section of a swingable metal foil and a flexible, magnetic metal foil which are arranged in an overlapping fashion within a predetermined surface region and which are fixed relative to one another by means of a non-conductive spacer that cannot be magnetized and is arranged in between the two metal foils within the overlapping surface region.
The merchandise security element according to the invention is formed exclusively of flexible materials. The term xe2x80x9cflexiblexe2x80x9d in the sense of the present invention pertains to the ability to bend the materials. The merchandise security element comprises two foil sections that are arranged at a predetermined distance from one another, where one overlaps the other within a predetermined region. In order to ensure the overlapping region and the mutual distance between the two foils, a spacer is arranged between the two foils, and the foils are fixed in this position.

Georg Siegel Gesellschaft mit beschrxc3xa4nkter Haftung zur Verwertung von gewerblichen Schurtzrechten


When an operation receiver receives an operation for starting automatic start-up processing, a display controller causes a display to display a first direction image indicating a working order of a plurality of objects to be controlled, sequentially changes a display mode of a status image corresponding to an object that has worked to a first mode, and changes a display state of each of a plurality of operation images to an operable first state or an inoperable second state. When the operation receiver receives an operation for starting automatic stop processing, the display controller causes the display to display a second direction image indicating a stopping order of the plurality of objects in a reversed manner of the first direction image, sequentially changes a display mode of a status image corresponding to an object that has stopped to a second mode.

A sulfur chemiluminescence detector (hereinafter referred to as an SCD), which is a component analysis device for quantitative detection of the content of sulfur in a sample mixture, has been known. For example, JP 2015-59876 A describes a gas chromatograph using the SCD.
On the other hand, JP 2010-256375 A describes a chromatograph data processing device that displays operations and setting items required for measurement of chromatographic data in a flow chart based on the flow of a series of operations.

Sulfur chemiluminescence detector analysis system, display control method and non-transitory computer readable medium


An access tube is used for accessing an anatomic space, such as a pericardial space between the parietal and visceral pericardia. The access tube is advanced against the parietal pericardium and an anchor structure thereon embedded into the parietal pericardium. The access tube can then be used to separate the parietal and visceral pericardia and enlarge the pericardial space. After such enlargement, a needle or other access device can be introduced through the access tube into the pericardial space to provide access for a wide variety of purposes, including aspiration, infusion, and guidewire placement.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to medical devices and methods. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods and devices for accessing the pericardial space in a minimally invasive manner.
The human heart is enveloped within a tissue structure referred to as the pericardium. The pericardium includes two major portions. The portion of the pericardium which lies immediately over the surface of the heart is referred to as the visceral pericardium. The second portion is formed as a sac around the visceral pericardium and is referred to as the parietal pericardium. Normally, the visceral and parietal pericardia lie in close contact with each other and are separated only by a thin layer pericardial fluid. The space (really more of a potential space) between the visceral and parietal pericardia is referred to as the pericardial space.
Access to the pericardial space can be necessary or beneficial under a variety of circumstances. Open surgical access can be obtained via open sternotomy where the patient's sternum is divided and the parietal pericardium exposed. Alternatively, the pericardial space can be approached from a skin incision made below the xiphoid through which the parietal pericardium is identified. Such approaches, however, are highly traumatic, requiring general anesthesia and useful only under compelling circumstances. Access to the pericardial space can also be achieved using a thoracoscopic approach. Under general anesthesia, the left lung is deflated after which multiple holes are made for the thoracoscope and various instruments. The pericardium is then entered using standard videoscopic techniques. The thoracoscopic approach typically requires the placement of a chest tube and admission to the hospital for the initial 1-2 post-operative days.
In patients who require drainage of a large pericardial effusion, a simple percutaneous approach can be used. Through a small (2-4 mm) cutaneous incision between the xiphoid and costal cartilage, a spinal needle (18-20 gauge) is advanced in a superior/posterior fashion. At appropriate intervals, the stylet is removed and fluid aspiration is attempted. If no fluid is obtained, the stylet is replaced and the needle advanced again. This cycle is repeated until fluid is aspirated. If the needle is advanced too far, the heart can be punctured and is why a large pericardial effusion must be present on ensure adequate separation of the visceral-and parietal pericardia.
A minimally invasive method for accessing the pericardial space is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,827,216 to Igo et al. A pericardiocentesis apparatus is introduced via a subxiphoid approach to the heart. A vacuum is applied at a distal end of the device to form a "bleb," i.e., a locally expanded region in the pericardium. A needle can then be penetrated through the bleb, and the needle used for drawing fluids, delivering drugs, or the like. Although theoretically plausible, the ability to reliably maintain a seal against the pericardium can be problematic.
For these reasons, it would be desirable to provide additional and improved methods and apparatus for the minimally invasive access to a patient's pericardial space. The methods and devices should be suitable for a wide variety of minimally invasive approaches to the pericardium, including at least intercostal/transthoracic and subxiphoid approaches, and the like. The methods and devices should further provide for secure and stable capture of the parietal pericardium and permit the opening of a large space or volume between the parietal and visceral pericardia. Such access methods and apparatus should be useful for a wide variety of procedures to be performed in the pericardial space, including fluid withdrawal, drug delivery, diagnostic and therapeutic electrophysiology procedures, pacemaker lead implantation, defibrillator lead placement, transmysocardial revascularization, transmysocardial revascularization with drug delivery, placement of the left ventricular assist devices, placement of the arterial bypass graphs, in situ bypass, i.e., coronary artery-venous fistulae, placement of drug delivery depots, closure of the left arterial appendage, and the like. At least some of these objectives will be met by the invention described herein.
2. Description of the Background Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,827,216, describes a pericardial access tube which draws a vacuum on the parietal pericardium as part of an access procedure, as discussed above. U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,428, describes a method for accessing the pericardial space for defibrillation lead implantation by grasping the parietal pericardium with forceps and cutting the pericardium with a scalpel. U.S. Pat. No. 4,281,659, describes a probe system having paired helical wires for securing the probe to a patient's skin. U.S. Pat. No. 4,164,943, describes a catheter anchor having multiple helical wires for securing the anchor to a patient's skin. U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,890, describes a trocar cannula anchor having a tapered thread for placement in a percutaneous tissue penetration. U.S. Pat. No. 5,332,398, describes and intramedullary catheter having a threaded end for implantation into a bone.

Methods and apparatus for pericardial access


Apparatus and method for increasing the bandwidth of an optocoupler includes cascode coupling the optocoupler driver transistor with a buffer so as to reduce voltage variations across the driver transistor.

The present invention is related in general to optocouplers, and in particular to a high speed optocoupler that exhibits improved performance in an analog signal mode.
In an optocoupler, a driver stage takes an input signal and converts it to an optical signal. The optical signal is then sensed by a detector stage, which converts it back to an electrical signal. Ideally, the two stages (driver and detector) introduce little or no delay or distortion into the signal being coupled.
Some common applications for optocouplers are isolated switching power supplies, medical sensor isolation, and isolation of process control transducers to name only a few. In particular, isolated switching power supplies typically use one or more optocouplers to provide isolation in a feedback loop. Optocouplers do an excellent job of isolation, minimizing circuit complexity and reducing cost. One of the disadvantages of using an optocoupler is its relatively low bandwidth. As switching frequencies and bandwidth for isolated power supplies continue to be increased to reduce size and accommodate high di/dt loads, the bandwidth of the optocoupler becomes a significant limitation on power supply performance.
For the reasons stated above and for additional reasons stated hereinafter, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for an improved optocoupler. The above-mentioned problems of optocouplers and other problems are addressed by the present invention, at least in part, and will be understood by reading and studying the following specification.


The invention is directed to an adaptor for converting a conventional office chair into a multifunctional office/fitness chair. The adaptor comprises a seat connector, a pair of rowing shafts, a seat post holder, and a foldable footrest. By adjusting the angle of the backrest up to 120°, a user can use the converted chair either as a conventional office chair, or as a fitness chair capable of assisting the user to do sit-up exercises in a rowing motion which focuses the exercise forces on the abdominal muscles, burns abdomen fat pad, and therefore effectively reduces waist line. Further, because the rowing motion is assisted by the backrest and armrest, the risk to injure the neck or back is eliminated.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a multifunctional adaptor for converting a conventional chair into a multifunctional office/fitness chair.
2. Description of the Related Art
A national-wide survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revealed that the number of overweight individuals increases linearly during the past 20-years. Currently, 56% of the US population has overweight problems, 1 in 5 is obese, and 7.3% has overweight related diabetes. Since the anterior abdomen is not covered by bone or cartilage, it has the greatest tendency and capacity for fat accumulation and expansion. All or nearly all the fat accumulation starts at, and over 90% of the excessive fat are stored in, the abdomen region. Overly accumulated fat directly compresses the liver, diaphragm, and gastrointestinal tract; disturbs blood circulation; increases heart and lung workload; and has been implicated as the primary cause for heart, lung, kidney diseases, and related death. A follow-up study (1997-2006) of over 100,000 American men and women by the American Cancer Society showed that individuals with an increased waist line have a two-fold increase in the mortality rate over individuals with a normal waist line.
More and more studies have shown that physical exercise is one of the most effective ways to improve general health. In particular, sit-up has been found to be the most effective exercise for reducing fat in anterior abdomen. Unfortunately, with the protruded fat pad, it is difficult for overweight individuals to do sit-up exercise. Also, it is not easy for elders to do sit-up exercise due to weakened muscles. In addition, doing sit-up without the appropriate protection may cause back and neck injuries.
In a previous invention, U.S. Pat. No. 7,549,705, we have developed a specialized multifunctional office/fitness chair for assisting abdominal muscle exercise. The chair has a pivot capable of rotating chair backrest up to about 90 degrees away from the seat surface, and allowing a user to adjust the backrest to various angles. Depending on the angles, the chair can be used as a regular chair, or a recliner, which is capable of assisting a user to do sit-up and other exercises, and effectively reduces the anterior abdomen fat. Scientific study has shown that 3-5 minute exercise with the multifunctional chair could burn an equivalent amount of calories that would have required 10-15 minute moderate speed running on a tread mill Noticeable waist line reductions are observed within two weeks on test volunteers using the multifunctional chair 5-7 minutes per day. However, as the multifunctional chair requires a special design with a unique structural configuration, the choices available to the users in chair comfort and preference are limited.
To improve the chair design and offer more functions, the present invention provides an adaptor which can be used to convert a conventional office chair into a multifunctional office/fitness chair. The converted multifunctional chair not only retains all the exercising functions of the previous multifunctional chair, but also allows the user to select and gain additional preferred chair design features, such as the choice of the construction materials, adjustable chair heights, 360 degree swivel around a chair seat post, and rollers for easy relocation, etc.

Adaptor for converting conventional office chair into a multifunctional office/fitness chair


In a first manufacturing step of an active matrix liquid-crystal panel, a transparent conductor film and a metal film are sequentially accumulated on a substrate in this order so as to form a two-layer film. The two-layer film including the transparent conductor film and the metal film is subjected to photoetching to simultaneously form at least a pixel electrode (transparent conductor film) and a gate electrode (metal film) of a thin-film transistor according to a predetermined pattern. In a fabrication process near the end of the fabrication, when the source and drain electrodes of the thin-film transistors are formed, the metal film on the pixel electrode is simultaneously removed. Since the removal of the metal film protecting the pixel electrode is simultaneously achieved at a point near the final process, protection of the pixel electrode is guaranteed, thereby realizing improvement of the yielding and reduction of the production process.

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display panel of an active matrix type, and in particular, to a method of manufacturing an active matrix panel employing an amorphous silicon thin-film transistor.
Conventionally, an active matrix panel includes a thin-film transistor (TFT) having a structure described, for example, in the JP-A-60-189970 or JP-A-63-9977.
However, in the JP-A-60-189970, although the construction of the JP-A-60-189970 is identical to that of the present invention in a point that a channel protective film is consecutively formed so as to follow a gate insulation film and a semiconductor film, description has not been given of a reduction of the process step by employing a self-alignment in association with work of the respective layers. Based on the drawings thus disclosed, there are effected several operations of photolithography and hence there is required a long process, which leads to a problem of productivity.
Moreover, also in the JP-A-63-9977, the constitution is equal to that of the present invention in that the gate electrode and the pixel electrode are formed at the same time; however, an operation to remove a metal film disposed on the pixel electrode is simultaneously achieved when a work is conducted on the gate insulator film by use of the self-alignment. In consequence, a surface of the pixel electrode (transparent conductor film) is likely to be subjected to a quality change (to increase resistance) through various kinds of processing. Since the metal film on the pixel electrode also serves as a protective film, the removal of the metal film is desirably accomplished in a process to be effected as late as possible. Furthermore, the channel protective film is not successively formed in the structure of the thin-film transistor described in this article.
As described above, according to the prior art technology, considerations have not be given so as to produce the active matrix panel through a simple process with a high productivity. Development of the market of the liquid-crystal display can be achieved by a technology which enables a large amount of active matrix panels (to be simply referred to as a panel herebelow) to be produced at a lower cost. In consequence, improvement of the yielding in the panel production and minimization of the production process step have been essential problems to be solved. Although not described in the prior technologies above, the panel requires, in addition to the thin-film transistor portion, such functional units as a pixel electrode section, an additional capacity portion, a wiring intersection portion of double layer, and a terminal portion. For these functional sections, a lower conductor film, an upper conductor film, an insulation film, a semiconductor, a doped semiconductor containing impurity, and/or a protective film are/is required to be disposed if necessary.

Method of manufacturing active matrix panel


A thin board holding device 2A for holding a thin board in a plane state to measure the thickness of a thin board is disclosed, which has a number of spot supports 3 with adsorbing portion for holding a thin board 1 attached by suction to the top. The thin board 1 is held in a multiple point support fashion to the spot supports 3. By moving a measuring terminal of a measuring instrument to a measuring point on the thin board, which has one surface of the thin board 1 set on the thin board holding device 2A, the level of the other surface of the thin board 1 from a reference surface A supporting the thin board holding device at a reference position is measured. The dimension from the reference position A to a thin board adsorption surface 3a of the spot support 3 is used as a computational constant, and the thickness of the thin board is calculated from the measured level of the other surface of the thin board 1 and the computational constant.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a thin board holding device for holding a thin board in a plane state to measure the thickness of the thin board and also to a method of and an apparatus for the thin board thickness measurement on holding a thin board in a plane state.
2. Description of the Related Art
The thickness of a thin board, such as a film-like sheet or a silicon wafer, is usually measured with a micrometer.
To measure the thickness, the thin board is held with one hand, and the micrometer is operated with the other hand. Therefore, when the thin board is inserted into and pushed out from the space between micrometer measurement terminals, the thin board may strike or be distorted between the terminals, and this may result in its breakage.
Therefore, it is difficult to accurately measure the thickness of a thin board, particularly a large diameter and fragile thin board such as a silicon wafer.
FIG. 13 shows a related technique, in which displacement gauges 101 and 102 provided on a frame 100 over and under a thin board 1 under measurement measures the thickness of the thin board 1.
In this system, the displacement gauges 101 and 102 should be such that their relative positions are not varied and that the thin board under measurement can be passed between them. Therefore, the system is inevitably rather elaborated, and a high technical level is necessary.
In addition, in this system it is necessary to move a silicon wafer to measure the thickness thereof at a plurality of designated points, so that greater caution and time are required to prevent breakage of the wafer, thus reducing the production rate and increasing the cost of manufacture. It has been desired to solve this problem.

Thin board holding device and method of and apparatus for measuring thickness of thin board


A Phospho Silicate Glass layer is used for an insulation layer between a lower wiring layer including a refractory metal silicide and an upper wiring layer in a semiconductor device of a multilevel interconnection structure. A reflow treatment is performed on the Phospho Silicate Glass layer using steam. A part of the lower wiring layer is oxidized during the reflow treatment, and the resistivity of the lower wiring layer is simultaneously lowered during the reflow treatment.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention concerns a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device having a multilevel interconnection structure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, a Boron-doped Phospho Silicate Glass layer is used as an insulating layer between a lower wiring layer and an upper wiring layer. Since the Boron-doped Phospho Silicate Glass layer (BPSG) layer is easily smoothened by a heat treatment, it is preferable to use the BPSG layer as an interlayer between the lower and the upper wiring layers for preventing a formation of concave depression which sometimes causes a break in the upper wiring layer.
FIGS. 1A to 1F are cross sectional views illustrating a conventional method for manufacturing a semiconductor device having a PSG layer as an insulating layer between a lower wiring layer and an upper wiring layer.
At first, as shown in FIG. 1A, a semiconductor substrate 10 having a main surface is prepared. Then insulating layer 11 is formed on the semiconductor substrate 10. Next, a polysilicon layer and a refractory metal silicide layer, such as molybdenum silicide, are deposited successively on the insulating layer 11, and are selectively removed to form lower wiring layers made of the polysilicon layer 12 and the refractory metal silicide layer 13.
Then, as shown in FIG. 1B, an oxidizing treatment is performed to form an oxide layer 14 at the exposed portion of the polysilicon layer and the refractory silicide layer 13 so as to control the resistivity of the lower wiring layer. Then, a silicon oxide layer 15 is deposited by a Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) as an insulation layer or a passivation layer.
Next, as shown in FIG. 1C, a Boron-doped Phospho Silicate Glass layer (BPSG) 16 and a Phospho Silicate Glass layer (PSG) 17 are deposited successively. In the following description, the term "Phospho Silicate Glass" is used as a generic term which includes both the PSG and the BPSG, and the PSG and the BPSG are distinguished each other, for convenience.
Then, as shown in FIG. 1D, a heating treatment is performed in an ambient environment to which a Phosphorus, in the form of POCl.sub.3 has been added, so as to smoothen the BPSG layer 16 and the PSG layer 17. This process is called reflow process.
Then, the PSG layer 17 is removed using, e.g., an ammonium fluoride (NH.sub.4 F) etchant. (FIG. 1E)
Next, an upper wiring layer 20 of, e.g., aluminum (Al), is deposited. (FIG. 1F)
In the conventional process if the step coverage of the BPSG layer 16 is poor, a space or a void 18 is sometimes formed and remains even though the reflow process of the BPSG layer has been carried out, as shown in FIG. 1C and FIG. 1D. Due to the high density of components required in large scale integration, the pitch between the adjacent lower wiring layers becomes narrow. Thus, the step coverage of the BPSG layer can become unsatisfactory. Furthermore, when the PSG layer 17 is removed, a hole 19 is sometimes formed due to an invasion of etchant into the void 18, as shown in FIG. 1E. Thus, the upper wiring layer 20 becomes thin at the step portion, and tho upper wiring layer 20 is sometimes broken.
If the etching at the hole 19 progresses to a large extent, the insulating layers 15 and 14 may also become etched. Thus, a short circuit between the upper wiring layer 20 and the lower wiring layer 12, 13 is sometimes formed.
Furthermore, in the conventional process, the oxidation process of the lower wiring layer and the heat treatment for the reflow process are performed individually. Thus, there is a problem that the time required for the production process for the semiconductor device becomes excessively long.
Moreover, the refractory metal silicide layer is directly exposed to the oxidizing ambient. Thus, the amount of molybdenum (Mo) in the refractory metal silicide layer is significantly influenced by the change of the oxidation condition. Thus, the delicate control of the resistivity of the refractory metal silicide is difficult.

Method for manufacturing a semiconductor device having a phospho silicate glass layer as an interlayer insulating layer


The present invention provides a low-cost artificial fingerprint liquid for quantitatively and with a good reproducibility evaluating an anti-staining property, and a fingerprint adhering property or a fingerprint removing property on the surface of an optical disk such as a reproduction-only optical disk, optical recording disk, magneto-optical recording disk, various displays such as a CRT, and various substances such as glass. An artificial fingerprint liquid comprising a fine-particle-form substance and a dispersion medium capable of dispersing the fine-particle-form substance. The dispersion medium preferably has a surface tension ranging from 20 to 50 mN/m at 25° C., and preferably is selected from at least one of higher fatty acid, derivative of higher fatty acid, terpens, and derivatives of terpens. The fine-particle-form substance is at least one selected from inorganic fine particles and organic fine particles. The present invention provides a testing method for an optical information medium using the artificial fingerprint. The present invention provides an optical information medium which is good in the property of wiping off an organic stain, such as a fingerprint, adhering to a surface of the optical recording medium and which can maintain good recording/reproducing property over a long period.

When an optical disk such as a reproduction-only optical disk, optical recording disk, magneto-optical recording disk, various displays such as a CRT, or various substances such as glass are used, the adhesion of stains or fingerprints to the surface thereof is caused on the basis of various stain materials. The adhesion of these stains or fingerprints is unpreferable, and the surface of the various substances is usually subjected to an appropriate surface treatment in order to improve an anti-staining property thereof, decrease a fingerprint adhering property or improve a fingerprint removing property.
For example, about an optical disk, investigations are being made on various water repellent or oil repellent treatments to the surface of the optical disk. In order to check the effect of improving the anti-staining property by the surface treatments, in many cases, there is used a manner of adhering a fingerprint actually onto the optical disk surface and, then, evaluating the wiping-off property thereof with the naked eye. However, such an evaluating manner is poor in quantitativeness and reproducibility.
On the assumption that if the water repellency or the oil repellency of the optical disk surface is high, stain materials are easily removed, the following is frequently performed: measurement of the contact angles of various liquids, such as water and aliphatic hydrocarbons, to the above treated-surface. However, the evaluation based on the contact angle or surface free energy is, in a sense, an indirect evaluating manner. Accordingly, it can be properly used as a manner for evaluating the anti-staining property in only a highly restricted case where the above-mentioned assumption that if the water repellency or the oil repellency is high, excellent anti-staining property is exhibited comes into effect. This evaluating manner gives only a relative evaluation result at best. In other words, when this evaluating manner is applied to an optical disk surface, it is substantially impossible that a threshold value which represents whether or not the disk can be used without causing any practical problem is determined for the contact angle or surface free energy.
In recent years, it has been desired that about optical information media the recording density thereof is made higher in order to store a mass of data such as moving image data. Thus, researches and developments are being actively made for making the density of recording capacity higher. As one of them, the following suggestion is made: as seen in, for example, a DVD, the recording/reproducing wavelength thereof is made short and the numerical aperture (NA) of the objective lens is made large, thereby making the condensed spot diameter of the reproducing/reproducing beam small. As compared with a CD, a recording capacity (4.7 GB/surface) 6 to 8 times that of the CD is actually attained by changing the recording/reproducing wavelength from 780 nm to 650 nm and changing the numerical aperture (NA) from 0.45 to 0.60. Recently, as a method for recording high-quality moving images for a long time, an attempt has been made to make the recording/reproducing wavelength short up to about 400 nm and making the numerical aperture high up to 0.85, so as to attain a recording capacity 4 times or more that of DVD.
However, when the recording density is made high in this way, the condensed spot diameter of the recording/reproducing beam becomes small. Consequently, the recording medium becomes more sensitive to dust, dirt, fingerprints or the like adhering to the laser beam incident side surface of the medium than the prior art. In particular, about stains containing an organic material, such as fingerprints, a large effect is produced when the stains adhere to the laser beam incident side surface. Since the stains are not easily removed, many countermeasures have been considered so far.
For example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication Nos. 10-110118 (1998) and 11-293159 (1999) suggest that when a hard coat agent coated film is formed on a surface of an optical disk substrate made of polycarbonate or the like, a non-crosslinking type fluorine type surfactant is incorporated into the hard coat agent. In order to evaluate the anti-staining property of the hard coat surface of the optical disk, there is performed an operation of adhering an artificial fingerprint liquid wherein a small amount of sodium chloride, urea and lactic acid is dissolved in a mixture solution of water and ethanol onto the surface of the hard coat under pressure, using a pseudo fingerprint, and then determining the wiping-off property thereof with the naked eye. This artificial fingerprint liquid is a liquid described in JIS K2246: 1994 "Rust Preventing Oil". The JIS standard prescribes a performance-testing method for rust preventing oils used for temporary rust-prevention of metal materials such as steel. Accordingly, the artificial fingerprint liquid is prepared to determine the corrosiveness of metal materials. For this reason, the liquid is not useful at all for purposes other than this. Even if the artificial fingerprint liquid made mainly of water and ethanol is adhered onto a surface of an optical disk substrate made of resin such as polycarbonate, in reality the artificial fingerprint liquid is repelled and is not fixed on the substrate surface in almost all cases. It can be considered from this fact that the resin substrate surface exhibits the same wiping-off property against the artificial fingerprint liquid whether the surface is not subjected to any surface treatment or is subjected to surface treatment. That is, it is hardly significant to use the artificial fingerprint liquid prescribed in JIS K2246: 1994 for evaluation of the anti-staining property or the fingerprint removing property of an optical disk surface.
From such an actual situation, it is desired to develop an artificial fingerprint liquid for quantitatively and with a good reproducibility evaluating the anti-staining property, the fingerprint adhering property or the fingerprint removing property on an optical disk surface. It is also desired to develop a testing method for an optical information medium using the artificial fingerprint liquid.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Artificial finger print liquid, testing method for optical information medium using it, and optical information medium


A multispectral imaging device in accordance with one embodiment comprises: an illumination unit for emitting LED lighting to the skin for skin illumination; and a detection unit for causing light reflected from the skin to be incident on a camera, wherein the illumination unit is arranged on the outer side of the detection unit, so that a path of the LED lighting emitted from the illumination unit is formed on the outer side of the detection unit, and a path of the light reflected from the skin is formed on the inner side of the detection unit.

Generally, in order to verify a skin condition or detect a skin ailment, a patient may visit a hospital or a skin care shop for a thorough examination using a skin diagnosing device. The skin diagnosing device used in the hospital or the skin care shop may be manipulated by a doctor or an expert. Also, the doctor may confirm a diagnosis based on a result acquired from the skin diagnosing device. Thus, it is difficult for the patient to perform the diagnosis using the skin diagnosis device by himself or herself.
Among various skin diagnosing devices, devices having a spectral imaging function may have a higher diagnostic accuracy than a typical skin diagnosing device and be capable of performing a quantitative analysis. However, most of the devices may be large in size and expensive and thus, unsuitable for use in home.
To solve this, there has been developed a multispectral imaging device small-sized to be carried by a user and detachably attached to a mobile device. A typical multispectral imaging device may perform multispectral imaging by rotating an optical filter wheel using a small motor and changing an optical filter. In a case of using a motor, an image acquisition speed of the multispectral imaging may be low and there is a limit in reducing a size, which may reduce the portability.
Also, a skin diagnosing device without the multispectral imaging function such as a wood lamp may be used to detect the skin disease or perform the skin diagnosis. The wood lamp may be based on a principle that when an ultraviolet ray is irradiated to the skin, different colors appear based on a sebum, a sensitivity, and a keratin condition of the skin. The wood lamp may be used to check a condition of the skin that can not be seen with the naked eye and thus, help to make proper skin care in accordance with a type of skin.
However, the wood lamp may have a low portability and represent the skin condition using only colors on a screen, which makes it difficult for a non-specialist user to accurately diagnose the current skin condition.

DAEGU GYEONGBUK INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


A movable plug-head for a travel-type battery charger. A metallic n-shaped stationing clamp replaces the conventional plastic clamp and conductive metallic spring plates so that the number of components and thickness of the n-shaped stationing clamp are reduced. Ultimately, material and assembling cost as well as overall thickness of the charger are all reduced.

This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 90218083, filed Oct. 23, 2001.
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a movable plug-head. More particularly, the present invention relates to a movable plug-head for a traveling battery charger.
2. Description of Related Art
Information appliances represents another milestone for the electronic industry after the computer revolution. The so-called information appliances refer to a broad category of devices having communication or networking capability and serve as a means to provide information and recreational activities. According to such definition, information appliances may link up with a network to transmit/receive voice messages and network data. For example, mobile telephones, personal digital assistants (PDA), web pads and notebook computers are all regarded as information appliances. In general, rechargeable batteries provide the power necessary for operating information appliances such as mobile telephones, personal digital assistants and notebook computers. To prevent power shortage, many traveling people will carry, aside from a set of spare batteries, a small lightweight battery charger for charging the rechargeable batteries.
FIGS. 1a and 1b are perspective views of a conventional travel charger. The travel charger has a main body 100 comprised of a top cover 110 and a bottom cover 120. A pair of parallel open grooves 121 is formed on the bottom cover 120 so that the two metal plates 200 of a plug-head may fold out from the main body 100. To reduce volume and increase portability, the metallic plates 200 of the plug-head may be bent back into the open groove 121 as shown in FIG. 1a. To use the charger, the metal plates 200 are turned from a hidden horizontal position to a position vertical relative to the main body 100 as shown in FIG. 1b.
FIGS. 2a to 2c are explosive views showing the components constituting the conventional travel-type charger in FIGS. 1a and 1b. The two metallic plates 200 are connected together through a rotary axle 210. The rotary axle 210 is gripped by a groove 122 on the bottom cover 120. The rotary axle 210 is able to rotate along a groove 112 on a support frame 111 attached to the top cover 110. There is an L-shaped gripping block 220 between the two metallic plates 200. Furthermore, the L-shaped gripping block 220 has end surfaces having a first protruded spine 221 and a second protruded spine 222 thereon respectively. The gripping block 220 is gripped by the two sidewalls 403 of an n-shaped stationing clamp 400. The gripping block 220 and the n-shaped stationing clamp 400 are both made from a non-conductive plastic material. When the metallic plates 200 of the plug-head are folded back into the open grooves 121, the second protruded spine 222 of the gripping block 220 and its other surface are gripped by the two sidewalls 403 of the n-shaped stationing clamp 400. Due to the protruded profile of the spine 222, the sidewalls 403 of the n-shaped stationing clamp 400 expand a little and increase the grip of the gripping block 220. Hence, the metal plates 200 of the plug-head remain in a stable position. On the other hand, as the metal plates 200 rotate to a position vertical to the main body 100, the first protruded spine 221 of the gripping block 220 and its other surface are gripped by the two sidewalls 403 of the n-shaped stationing clamp 400. Similarly, due to the protruded profile of the spine 221, the sidewalls 403 of the n-shaped stationing clamp 400 expand a little and increase the grip of the gripping block 220. Hence, the metal plates 200 of the plug-head remain again in a stable position. With the second ends 202 of the respective metal plates 200 jutting out from the main body 100, the charger may plug into a socket (not shown) to obtain a necessary power source. In the meantime, the first ends 201 at another end of the metal plates 200 are pulled into the main body 100 and gripped by springy clips 500 on a substrate board 300. Hence, the metal plates 200 and contact points on the substrate board 300 are electrically connected.
The conventional travel-type charger mainly uses an n-shaped stationing clamp together with a gripping block having two protruded spines to position the metallic plates of the plug-head either hidden within the main body or exposed outside the main body. In addition, the conventional design also needs a pair of metallic springy clips for electrical connectivity. Thus, more components are required and assembling cost is increased.
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide a travel-type battery charger having a metallic n-shaped stationing clamp that functions also as a metallic clip for reducing overall thickness of the charger. In addition, the charger uses fewer components and hence reduces material and assembling cost.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the invention provides a movable plug-head device suitable for a travel-type battery charger. The charger comprises of a top cover, a bottom cover and a substrate board. The top cover and the bottom cover together form a complete main body with the substrate board enclosed inside the main body. The top cover has two open grooves running parallel to each other. The movable plug-head of this invention includes a plug-head and two stationing clamps. The plug-head is engaged to the inner surface of the bottom cover. The plug-head is composed of two metallic plates, a rotary axle and two clamping blocks. The metallic plates are positioned inside the long and linear open grooves, each a mirror reflection of each other. The metallic plates have a first end and a second end. The first end of the metallic plates extends into the main body. The rotary axle is attached to the metallic plates close to the first end. The rotary axle is mounted inside the main body so that the metallic plates may rotate from a horizontal position inside the open grooves to a vertical position with the second end of the metallic plates exposed outside the bottom cover of the main body.
The clamping blocks are positioned at the respective first end of the metallic plates. The clamping blocks have a first planar surface, a second planar surface, a third planar surface and a fourth planar surface. The first planar surface and the second planar surface are perpendicular to each other. The third planar surface and the first planar surface are parallel to each other. The fourth planar surface and the second planar surface are parallel to each other. The first planar surface has a first protruded spine and the second planar surface has a second protruded spine.
The two stationing clamps are attached to the inner surface of the bottom cover. The stationing clamps are made using a conductive material. Each stationing clamp has two gripping spring plates, a first spring plate and a second spring plate. The first spring plate is attached to and electrically connected with the substrate board. The two spring plates are roughly parallel to each other. Each stationing clamp grips a clamping block. The second spring plate is in contact with the second end of the metallic plate after the metallic plate is turned from a position inside the open groove to a vertical position relative to the bottom cover. When the metallic plates are retracted into the open groove, the spring plates of each stationing clamp grip the second protruded spine and the fourth planar surface of the clamping block respectively. On the other hand, when the metallic plates are rotated into a vertical position relative to the bottom cover, the spring plates of each stationing clamp grip the first protruded spine and the third planar surface of the clamping block respectively.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary, and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.


A power amplifier system for high efficiency signal amplification of digitally modulated carrier signal or multi-carrier signals is disclosed. The linearity of the amplifier is improved by providing dynamic load line adjustments through implementation of suitably defined transfer functions employing dynamic control of operational aspects of active devices in the power amplifier.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to radio frequency (RF) amplifiers. More particularly, the present invention is related to radio frequency power amplifiers used in wireless communication applications such as cellular base stations where signals with high peak to average ratios are generated and amplified.
2. Description of the Prior Art and Related Background Information
Most digitally modulated carrier signals used in modern telecommunication systems have an amplitude envelope showing a large peak to average ratio. In such systems, to preserve signal integrity and prevent transmitter spurious emissions, the amplifying device has to maintain linearity by having sufficient headroom for the signal peaks, albeit producing a modest average output power and therefore having a low efficiency. Hence, the amplifier efficiency and its linearity are practically mutually exclusive.
Even from the early days of AM broadcasting and in more recent complex transmission systems such as satellite communications, cable TV applications and cellular telephony, the carrier amplifiers have been mostly used in conjunction with some means of linearization to achieve the required performance. Feedback and in RF frequency bands, feedforward linearization are widely used linearization techniques. Analog predistortion has been used since the early days of satellite communication where frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems were employed for sharing transponder bandwidth. In recent years, with the advent of digital signal processing (DSP), digital predistortion has received much attention.
Nonetheless, despite the significant efforts directed to linearization of RF power amplifiers, such techniques typically come at the expense of amplifier efficiency. Therefore, it is desirable to have additional techniques to achieve linearity and improve efficiency in RF amplifiers. Also, it is desirable to provide linearization techniques which may have reduced costs compared to the above known techniques, or which may improve performance, employed alone or in combination with the above techniques.

RF amplifier employing active load linearization


A printing process for use in a computer system includes process steps to compare a first polygon object to subsequent polygon objects and/or compare a first bitmap to subsequent bitmaps, and to store only the attribute data of the first polygon object and/or attribute data of the first bitmap if the attribute data of the first polygon object is the same as the attribute data of subsequent polygon objects, and attribute data of first bitmap and subsequent bitmaps is the same.

This invention relates to printer drivers and, in particular, to a printer driver that caches polygons and bitmap images to generate a reduced size printer description file.
Personal computers are widely used to print complex documents containing text, graphics and images. The Internet also provides users easy access to thousands of images and compound documents.
Various sophisticated word processing and desktop publishing applications are available to users that can generate complex graphics made up of polygon objects and bitmap images. Polygon objects have three or more sides with regular or irregular shapes. Complex objects, for example, a human face can be divided into a plurality of polygon objects for rendering purposes.
Preparing such complex documents on a computer for printing requires several image-processing operations performed either by the application or by printer driver software normally included with the printer or downloaded from the Internet. As a consequence of incorporating images and complex graphics into a document, today""s computer systems are taxed due to processing large amounts of data. Furthermore, large memory storage is needed to store processed documents before they are sent to a printer. Several approaches to document preparation and printing exist.
One such technique is called xe2x80x9cspoolingxe2x80x9d that allows returning the CPU to the user as quickly as possible from a print job. The printer image is spooled as a xe2x80x9cspool filexe2x80x9d on the computer""s hard disk and sent to the printer as a background process only when the CPU is freed from its primary task. This allows the printer driver to return control of the computer back to the user without having to wait for the actual output to be produced.
Windows operating systems (Windows 95 and 98, Microsoft Corp.) use a method known as enhanced metafile format (EMF) spooling. In EMF spooling, the operating system (OS) spools up all of the calls that an application makes to the printer driver and saves the calls in a spool file along with a copy of the data that represents the image. The spooled file is written to a disk. Then the spooled file with the image data is read from the disk and handed to the printer driver.
The printer driver takes the spooled file and creates a high level Printer Description Language File (xe2x80x9cPDL filexe2x80x9d) and stores the PDL file on the disk. The PDL file is sent to the printer engine, processed and printed. If the PDL file is too large, it affects CPU performance and consumes a large amount of disk space.
EMF spooling has not solved all the drawbacks in the present printing systems because a large amount of data is still passed through the system. For example, roughly 20 megabytes of data are needed to represent a typical 24 bit, 8xe2x80x3 by 10xe2x80x3 image at 300 dpi, and 80 megabytes of data are needed at 600 dpi. Depending upon the complexity of the images, the PDL file can become very large when a user generates polygon objects or bitmaps. This slows down the printing system by taxing the CPU and also uses a lot of memory space.
Hence, what is needed is a method and system that minimizes the amount of data handled by the printer driver, reduces the memory storage space requirements, and eases the demand on the CPU.
The present invention addresses the foregoing by providing a method that reduces the size of the PDL file and hence reduces memory storage requirement and improves CPU performance during the printing process.
In one embodiment, the present invention concerns a method performed in a printing process by a printer driver for use in a computer system, including process steps to receive a first polygon object, with a corresponding clipping rectangle and corresponding attribute data, and to store attribute data of the first polygon object. Thereafter, the process receives other polygon objects, with corresponding clipping rectangles and attribute data, and compares attribute data of the polygon objects after the first polygon object with the attribute data of the first polygon object. Finally, the process stores the clipping rectangles corresponding to the first polygon object and the polygon objects after the first polygon with same attribute data as the first polygon object, as a linked list.
In another embodiment, the present invention concerns a method performed in a printing process by a printer driver for use in a computer system, including process steps to receive a first bitmap image with a corresponding clipping rectangle and corresponding attribute data, and to store the attribute data of the first bitmap image. Thereafter, the process receives other bitmap images after the first bitmap image, with corresponding clipping rectangles and attribute data, and compares attribute data of bitmap images after the first bitmap image to the attribute data of the first bitmap image. Finally, the process stores the clipping rectangles corresponding to the first bitmap image and the bitmap images with the same attribute data as the first bitmap image, as a linked list.
By virtue of the foregoing aspects of the present invention, PDL file size as processed by the printer driver for a document containing polygon objects and/or bitmap images is reduced. Hence, memory space to store the PDL file is reduced, and CPU performance during the printing process is improved.

Printer driver for generating a reduced printer description file

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A successive approximation register analog-to-digital converter includes: a digital-to-analog converter to generate an analog voltage based on an input voltage sampled in accordance with a sampling clock and a digital code; a comparator to receive the analog voltage; a controller to generate the digital code based on an output of the comparator; a delay circuit to delay a signal based on the output of the comparator and to feed back the delayed signal to a reset terminal of the comparator; an adjustment circuit to count a number of edges of a signal generated in a loop that feeds back the delayed signal, and to adjust an amount of delay of the delay circuit based on a count value; and a sampling clock generation circuit to generate the sampling clock based on the signal generated in the loop and the external clock signal.

1. Field
The embodiments discussed herein relate to a successive approximation register analog-to-digital (AD) converter.
2. Description of Related Art
A successive approximation register analog-to-digital (AD) converter includes a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), a comparator, and a DAC control circuit. The successive approximation register AD converter samples an input voltage during a sampling period, holds the sampled voltage, and successively compares the sampled voltage with voltages to be compared during a comparison period that follows the sampling period. A plurality of voltages to be compared are generated in certain increments, i.e., ½ Vref, ¼ Vref, ⅛ Vref, . . . , in accordance with digital codes from the DAC control circuit. Vref may be a reference voltage. The comparator compares the voltages to be compared, which correspond to the digital codes, with the sampled voltage. The DAC control circuit changes a digital code in accordance with the comparison results of the comparator. A comparison operation is performed successively N times with the value of a voltage to be compared changing from a large value to a small value. An N-bit digital code corresponding to the sampled voltage is determined by the N-times successive comparison operations.
A related art is disclosed in, for example, Masato Yoshioka, Kiyoshi Ishikawa, Takeshi Takayama, and Sanroku Tsukamoto in "A 10b 50MS/s 820 μW SAR ADC with On-Chip Digital Calibration," 2010 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, Digest of Technical Papers, pp. 384-385.

Successive approximation register analog-to-digital converter, and operating clock adjustment method therefor


A pouch for absorbing liquids. On one embodiment, the ouch is formed from two distinct layers of sheet material--one including thermoplastic fibers for the purpose of heat sealing and the other a tearable tissue paper capable of tearing upon expansion of the water-absorbent material contained between the sheet material layers. In another embodiment, the pouch is manufactured to include a relatively weak sealed seam, e.g., formed by heat sealing adjacent sheet material layers together, that has a weaker bonding strength than one or more other sealed seams, such that upon expansion of the water-absorbent material, the relatively weak seam separates or delaminates into its separate layers to allow the absorbent to spread beyond the pouch at the relative weak seam. In both embodiments, the pouches contain an inner layer of water-insoluble, liquid-absorbing material, such as cross-linked sodium polyacrylate.

Over the years a great deal of progress has been achieved in providing new and improved fluid absorbing media in items such as diapers, sanitary napkins, incontinent garments and industrial spill absorbing ropes, pigs, and the like.
The following U.S. patents disclose various types of fluid and liquid absorbing devices. DePhillips, U.S. Pat. No. 2,527,299 discloses a water impermeable sheet material which is capable of passing vapors therethrough. Hoey U.S. Pat. No. 3,901,240 discloses a permeable polymeric liner on an absorbent pad of foam which disintegrates upon flushing in a sewage system. Kemp U.S. Pat. No. 3,953,638 discloses a multi-ply, absorbent, wiping product having a relatively inextensible inner ply that is bonded to highly extensible outer plys. Burkholder Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 3,959,569 discloses a process for preparing water absorbent articles such as bandages and absorbent pads.
Hoey U.S. Pat. No. 4,069,366 discloses a permeable polymeric liner for absorbent pad used in sanitary napkins, wound dressings and the like. Holst, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,200,558 discloses a process for producing hydrophilic articles from water insoluble polymers. Erickson U.S. Pat. No. 4,293,609 discloses a flexible absorbent laminate made from a crushed film of lightly cross-linked or water soluble hydrophilic polymers. Fowler U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,309 discloses a moisture absorbent pad of wood pulp impregnated with a starch polymer or an acrylic based polymer and useful in absorbing liquid wastes such as urine and the like.
Wahlquist, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,192 discloses a nonwoven, melt blown, absorbent barrier fabric useful in hospitals, such as surgical drapes and the like. Dehnel U.S. Pat. No. 4,392,908 discloses a process for making water-absorbent articles having water-soluble polymers fixed to a water-absorbent substrate. Dawn, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,411,660 discloses an absorbent product for body wastes such as urine and fecal matter employing multiple layers of material for passing and absorbing fluids and liquids, and having a layer for contact with the skin which is leak-proof. Michaels U.S. Pat. No. 4,223,061 discloses an internal body drug dispenser using liquid swellable material to expand and disperse the drug.
Korpman U.S. Pat. No. 4,449,977 discloses a flexible, non-disintegrative, absorbent product having a water-insoluble, non-swelling matrix. Haq, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,603,069 discloses a sheet-like article for wiping hard surfaces and the like having an inner layer of liquid absorbing material and bonded together with spot welds between outer sheets. McFarland, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,604,313 discloses a fabric-like material containing melt blown material and wood fibers deposited on a foraminous belt. Ness U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,457 discloses an absorbent facing material and method for making the same having a significant one-way valve characteristic for aqueous fluids. Ito, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,364,992, discloses a two-layer absorbent article having a super-water-absorbing polymer. Duncan U.S. Pat. No. 4,701,369 discloses an opaque, polymer film laminate having an absorbent surface for absorbing and containing liquids, and Duncan U.S. Pat. No. 4,702,954 discloses an opaque, barrier layer capable of transmitting a vapor therethrough.
McCabe U.S. Pat. No. 4,124,116 discloses a liquid-absorbing enclosure containing absorbent granules surrounded by a filter paper and a dissolvable paper sealed together along the outermost edges. The Cullen, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,749,600 teaches water-absorbent pouches containing water-soluble outer covering material.
One aspect of the present invention is to provide a new and improved pouch for absorbing fluids and more particularly to provide a new and improved pouch for absorbing and containing aqueous fluids leaking from packaging, shipping containers and the like during shipment and/or storage.
Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a new and improved pouch of the character described which is especially well adapted for absorbing body fluids, urine, fecal matter, blood and other aqueous body wastes and contaminants in a highly efficient manner to preclude contamination and damage to the immediate environment should liquid leakage occur.
Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a new and improved low cost, highly absorbent pouch of the character described which is resistant to rupture when dry, and is capable of absorbing large quantities of liquid much in excess of the weight and unswollen volume of the pouch itself and easily rupturable, when wetted, to allow the absorbent material to expand beyond the outermost periphery of the pouch.
Still another aspect of the present invention is to provide a new and improved pouch of the character described which will allow for the internal water-absorbing material to break through an outer paper material after absorbing a high volume of liquid.
A further aspect of the present invention is to provide a new and improved pouch of the character described that encapsulates a water-swellable, water-absorbent material, e.g., super-absorbent polymer, between paper or fabric sheet material layers, wherein edges of the pouch are sealed together such that upon expansion of the water-absorbent material, one or more of the seams will separate (delaminate) to permit the material to spread outwardly from the pouch in a desired direction or in a plurality of directions.
Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a new and improved pouch of the character described which is relatively low in cost and yet still capable of absorbing many times its own volume and weight in aqueous liquids.