The present invention is a cardiac rhythm-monitoring device, which allows patients to perform a preliminary screening for supraventricular arrhythmia. The device detects beat-to-beat heart rhythms (i.e. the R-R interval between individual heart beats) and performs a screening test to determine if there are indications of arrhythmia. The test looks for variance in the R-R interval that is outside of the normal range, either using a pre-constructed chart based upon general population studies to determine the normal range of variance or using normal distribution analysis of the patient's own heart rhythm to determine the normal range of variance for determining irregular heartbeats, and if there are multiple irregularities within the sensed time frame, the patient is warned of potential supraventricular arrhythmia. By sensing both electrical impulses form the heart and mechanical responses to the heartbeat, the device may augment its analysis.

Supraventricular arrhythmia is a particular type of electrical disturbance of the rhythm of the heart. It is an arrhythmia originating in the upper chambers of the heart, which can lead to an irregular, abnormal heartbeat. Supraventricular arrhythmia is a fairly common occurrence, and as people get older, their chance of experiencing supraventricular arrhythmia will typically increase. Supraventricular arrhythmia itself is not an immediately life-threatening condition. Current research, however, has revealed that supraventricular arrhythmia predisposes a patient to such life threatening conditions as stroke, cardiomyopathy, and congestive heart failure. Consequently, it is important for doctors to be able to detect supraventricular arrhythmia as early as possible, since the earlier that supraventricular arrhythmia is diagnosed and treated, the greater the chance that the arrhythmia or its dangerous side effects can be treated, reducing the risks of stroke, cardiomyopathy, and congestive heart failure. Furthermore, it is important to be able to monitor the arrhythmia over time, since duration is an important factor in evaluating the health risks associated with supraventricular arrhythmia and ongoing monitoring also allows doctors to regulate the amount of medication that patients take as treatment for supraventricular arrhythmia.
Unfortunately, patients often will not even realize that they are experiencing supraventricular arrhythmia, since secondary symptoms may not appear or may be difficult to recognize. The standard technique for detecting arrhythmias employs an electrocardiogram ("ECG"), which uses several electrical leads attached to the patient's chest to monitor the patient's heart during a visit to the doctor's office (where the ECG machine is located). An ECG is a medical diagnostic device that produces a fairly detailed readout of the patient's heart rhythm, which a medical professional may interpret in order to evaluate how a patient's heart is functioning during the visit to the doctor's office. An ECG often does not monitor a patient's real-time beat-to-beat rhythm, however; instead, it may process the patient's heart rhythm over discrete time intervals (such as 5 seconds) to provide a "snapshot" heart rhythm output for interpretation by a medical expert. Consequently, it may be difficult for even medical professionals to detect supraventricular arrhythmia using an ECG. A real-time, beat-by-beat analysis of the patient's heart rhythm would allow for more accurate assessment of a patient's heart rhythm in order to detect the presence of an arrhythmia.
Furthermore, supraventricular arrhythmia is often an intermittent, sporadic condition, such that the use of an ECG during a visit with a doctor may not reveal any irregularity in the heart rhythm, since the patient may not be experiencing the arrhythmia at that time. In such a case, regular (periodic) or continuous monitoring of the patient's heart rhythm would be better able to detect supraventricular arrhythmia. Once supraventricular arrhythmia has been detected, regular monitoring is also recommended in order to determine the duration of the arrhythmia, since sustained supraventricular arrhythmia lasting more than 24 to 48 hours greatly increases the chance of a blood clot forming that could cause a stroke in the patient.
Regular monitoring would also allow for adjustment of the dosage of medications treating the supraventricular arrhythmia (or the secondary symptoms) based upon the patient's daily condition. Once an arrhythmia has been detected, doctors often prescribe blood-thinning drugs (anti-coagulants), such as Coumadin® (Warfarin Sodium), in order to reduce the chances of blood clot formation, or anti-arrhythmia medications, in order to stabilize the heart rate. Unfortunately, both the blood-thinning drugs and the anti-arrhythmia medications may have side effects, some of which can be medically serious. Therefore, doctors may prefer daily monitoring of the patient's heart rhythm for supraventricular arrhythmia, so that they may lower the dosage of drugs that the patient takes as the arrhythmia subsides (as opposed to the current practice of maintaining the same dosage level between doctor visits, which are typically spaced six months apart). This may reduce the side effects experienced by the patient. A device that a patient could use to monitor their heart rhythm, searching for signs of supraventricular arrhythmia, would address all of these needs. Since a patient would operate such a device, it should be simple, portable, convenient, low-cost, self-contained, non-invasive, and automatically assess the patient's likelihood of arrhythmia.
The present invention of the Cardiac Rhythm Monitoring Device ("CRMD") is designed to perform all of these functions. It is not designed to be used exclusively by doctors as the primary device for sensing, detecting, diagnosing, or classifying arrhythmias. Rather, the CRMD allows for periodic monitoring of the rhythm of a patient's heart, warning the patient if it detects potential supraventricular arrhythmia activity. This can be useful when a doctor suspects that a patient has experienced intermittent supraventricular arrhythmia, but the ECG does not record any abnormal heart rhythms during the visit to the doctor's office. The CRMD can provide a preliminary warning of the possibility of a serious supraventricular arrhythmia, alerting the patient to see a doctor for a more thorough analysis of their rhythms. If the CRMD detects supraventricular arrhythmia for over a 24-hour period, for example, the patient has a greater need for medical attention than if the duration of the arrhythmia is shorter. And, the CRMD can be used in conjunction with blood-thinning medications or anti-arrhythmia medications to regulate the dosage according to the condition of the patient's heart rhythm.
The CRMD may be used in a discrete, periodic manner, or it may be used to continuously monitor the patient's heart rhythm. In the first embodiment, the patient, as described above, would typically use the CRMD periodically. In the second embodiment, however, the CRMD could also be used continuously, which would be especially useful for detecting intermittent supraventricular arrhythmia. In that case, the patient would wear the CRMD continuously throughout the day. This would allow for continuous, uninterrupted monitoring of the patient's heart rhythm, such that the CRMD would be able to warn the patient immediately whenever it detects a potential supraventricular arrhythmia. The patient would then be able to seek prompt medical treatment from medical professionals, who could apply confirmatory tests to verify an arrhythmia and provide the appropriate level of treatment to the patient. For this type of continuous monitoring to be effective, however, the CRMD must not interfere substantially with patient's lifestyle (or else the patient will not wear it). Thus, convenience factors (such as small size, light-weight, and unobtrusive configuration) will be incorporated into the design of the device.


An objective of the present invention is to provide methods for synthesizing polynucleotides comprising an unknown nucleotide sequence in a region containing their 5′-end. By using a single gene-specific primer, nucleotide sequences complementary to each other are added respectively at the 5′-and 3′-ends of a desired polynucleotide, to synthesize a desired polynucleotide. Requisite nucleotide sequences can be easily added by incubating with a primer, double-stranded DNA, and template-dependent DNA polymerase. By applying the present invention to 5′ RACE, genes expressed in a low-level, which cannot be obtained by known methods, have been efficiently obtained.

Isolation of full-length complementary deoxyribonucleic acid (cDNA) is a key step in the investigation of gene expression, gene function, protein structure, and protein-protein interactions. The polynucleotide amplification process is one of the most important steps of the isolation process. The most common technique for amplifying polynucleotides is the PCR (polymerase chain reaction) method. DNA syntheses by the PCR method involve repetitive complementary chain syntheses in the direction from a primer to the 3′ end. In the PCR method, newly synthesized DNA is utilized as a template after denaturation, and thus the reaction products exponentially increase. Primers used in the PCR reaction comprise nucleotide sequences complementary to the 3′-side region of a desired nucleotide sequence. Accordingly, the nucleotide sequence of at least a region to be annealed by a primer should be known in advance. In other words, DNA of unknown nucleotide sequence cannot be selectively amplified by the PCR method.
However, circumstances exist wherein DNAs of unknown nucleotide sequence need to be selectively amplified. For example, it is often necessary to elicit a full-length gene based only on its partial nucleotide sequence. However, it is particularly difficult to synthesize a cDNA from the 5′-side region of an mRNA. Accordingly, cDNAs having incomplete 5′-side nucleotide sequences are often cloned. To reveal the full-length nucleotide sequence of an incomplete cDNA lacking a 5′-side nucleotide sequence requires the selective amplification of DNAs comprising such unknown 5′-end nucleotide sequences.
In addition, differential display methods, whose goal is to acquire genes having specific functions, often results in the acquisition of nucleotide fragments and partial gene sequences. When the resulting nucleotide sequences do not match with known gene sequences, identification of the entire nucleotide sequence of these genes is required. In such cases, acquisition of full-length genes based on fragmentary nucleotide sequences is attempted.
Methods for acquiring the full-length gene based on a partial gene sequence are known. A typical method is the RACE (rapid amplification of cDNA ends) method. With this method, the region between a known site and each end of an unknown mRNA sequence is amplified (Frohman, M. A. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 1988 December, 85: 8998-9002). Specifically, the RACE method employs a gene having unknown terminal nucleotide sequence as a template, and amplifies a region containing that unknown nucleotide sequence by PCR using primers directed to a region of known nucleotide sequence. By determining the nucleotide sequence of the PCR products, the unknown nucleotide sequence can be revealed. There are some known variations of the RACE method, including, for example, the SMART (switching mechanism at 5′ end of RNA transcript) method (Nucleic Acids Res. 27/6, 1558-1560, 1999) and the Marathon-ready cDNA method, both supplied by Clontech. Other variations of the RACE method are also known. For example, by ligating both ends to cyclize the DNA, and by using a region of known nucleotide sequence, a PCR primer can be designed even for a DNA having unknown nucleotide sequences at its ends. However, this method lacks specificity for the 5′-end of mRNA. Accordingly, it is particularly unsuitable for acquisition of a full-length gene having unknown 5′-side. Another method involves the linking of an oligonucleotide of known sequence to the 3′-end of a cDNA first strand. However, this method requires a step of purifying the first strand after synthesis.
While the currently known methods have their advantages and have proved to be quite useful, problems still arise. For example, because nonspecific products are often amplified, the specific target cDNA makes up only a small fraction of the total yield. Thus, acquiring the full-length sequence of a gene having low transcription level remains difficult, particularly in circumstances where the mRNA is longer. Accordingly, a new RACE method capable of acquiring full-length sequences based on a very small amount of mRNA would be of particular benefit.

Methods for synthesizing polynucleotides using a single primer


A method for fabricating a refastenable absorbent garment includes moving a continuous body panel web in a machine direction and successively fixedly securing a plurality of discrete fastener pieces, spaced along the machine direction, to the body panel web. Each of the fastener pieces comprises a first and second end also spaced along the machine direction. The method further includes successively cutting said body panel web and each of the fastener pieces along a cross direction between the first and second ends of each of the fastener pieces and thereby forming a plurality of discrete body panels each comprising opposite side edges and a plurality of pairs of fastener members fixedly secured to one of the plurality of body panels and a next successive body panel.

The present invention relates generally to a refastenable absorbent garment, and in particular, to a method for fabricating refastenable absorbent garments.
Absorbent garments can be configured in many different forms. For example, absorbent garments can be configured as a pant-type, pull-on garment, or as a diaper-type product that is drawn up between the legs and fastened about the waist with various fastening systems. Pant-type, pull-on garments are often provided with various elastic elements that can conform to the body of the user and provide a comfortable, snug fit. Such garments, however, often do not have a refastenable mechanism that allows the garment to be easily removed after use or to be adjusted during use.
On the other hand, diaper-type products, which can be configured with fastening systems that allow the user to detach and reattach various fasteners so as to provide a refastenable absorbent garment, often are not configured with various elastic elements, for example around the waist, and may not conform well to the body of the user and/or may provide a bulky appearance beneath the user""s garments. Moreover, such garments are typically produced as an xe2x80x9copenxe2x80x9d product, which is open at the sides and which cannot be pulled on like a pant-type garment. Some consumers prefer a pull-on type garment, since the garment is appled to the user like conventional underwear. Therefore, there remains a need for an improved absorbent garment, and in particular a pant-type garment, that is refastenable and provides a snug fit with a non-bulky appearance.
In addition, manufacturing facilities are often configured to fabricate one particular type of product. As such, these facilities may not provide the flexibility to transition between fabricating a conventional pull-on type garment and fabricating a refastenable garment using a single manufacturing line or asset. Therefore the need also remains for improved methods and assemblies for manufacturing refastenable absorbent garments.
Briefly stated, in one aspect, the invention is directed to a method for assembling a refastenable absorbent garment. In one preferred embodiment, the method includes moving a continuous body panel web in a machine direction and successively fixedly securing a plurality of discrete fastener pieces, spaced along the machine direction, to the body panel web. Each of the fastener pieces includes a first and second end also spaced along the machine direction. The method further includes successively cutting the body panel web and each of the fastener pieces along a cross direction at a location between the first and second ends of each of the fastener pieces and thereby forming a plurality of discrete body panels each comprising opposite side edges and a plurality of pairs of fastener members fixedly secured to one of the plurality of body panels and a next successive body panel.
In one preferred embodiment, each of said fastener pieces includes a refastenable portion formed proximate at least both of the first and second ends thereof. In one preferred embodiment, the method further includes releasably engaging the body panel web with the refastenable portions of each of the plurality of discrete fastener pieces.
In another aspect, the method further includes successively cutting, and preferably perforating, the body panel web along a cross direction at plurality of locations between the location where the base web and fastener pieces are fixedly secured and the location where the refastenable portions releasably engage the body panel web. Preferably, the successive perforations are made prior to fixedly securing the plurality of discrete fastener pieces to the body panel web.
In another aspect, the fastener pieces each include a first and second side. In one preferred embodiment, the first side is fixedly secured to the body panel web. The second side includes the refastenable portion, which preferably faces away from the body panel web. In an alternative preferred embodiment, the first side also includes the refastenable portion, which faces, and is preferably releasably engaged with, the body panel web.
In yet another aspect, the refastenable garment includes a first and second body panel and a crotch portion extending therebetween. In one preferred embodiment, the crotch portion is folded such that the first and second body panel webs face each other. In one preferred embodiment, the first and second body panel webs are attached at a plurality of cross direction attachment locations spaced along the machine direction to form a plurality of side seams. Also in one preferred embodiment, the first and second body panel webs are cut along the cross direction at the side seams to form the discrete absorbent garments. In one preferred embodiment, the side seams are formed simultaneously with the fixed securement of the fastener pieces to the body panel web.
In another aspect, the method further comprises successively fixedly securing a plurality of discrete extension panels to the second body panel web at an attachment location and successively cutting the second body panel web and extension panels along a cross direction at the attachment location.
In yet another aspect, a refastenable absorbent garment includes a first body panel having first and second opposite side edges, a second body panel having first and second opposite side edges and a crotch portion extending between the first and second body panels. At least a first and second fastener member are secured to and extend outboard from the first and second opposite side edges of the first body panel respectively. Each of the first and second fastener members comprises a refastenable portion. A first and second extension member are secured to and extend outboard from the first and second opposite side edges of the second body panel respectively. The refastenable portion of the first fastener member releasably engages the first extension member and the refastenable portion of the second fastener member releasably engages the second extension member. In one preferred embodiment, the refastenable portion comprises a hook material.
The present invention provides significant advantages over other absorbent garments and methods and apparatus for the manufacture thereof. For example, in one embodiment of a pant-type garment, the user can pull the garment on or off like underwear. However, by making the absorbent garment refastenable, it can be applied without needing to pull the garment on or off like a pant-like garment, if desired. For example, the garment can be pulled on like a pant-type garment, and removed like a diaper-type product by disengaging the fastener members and breaking the lines of weakness. Alternatively, the garment can be pulled on and off like a pant-like garment, and can thereafter be converted to a refastenable garment, if desired. For example, the garment can be made bigger or smaller simply by adjusting the positioning of the fasteners. Moreover, in one particular application, wherein the garment is used by adults, for example with occasional incontinence problems, the garment can be pulled up or down by the user, or the fastening system may be disengaged and engaged repeatedly by the user while the garment remains unsoiled over an extended period of time.
In one preferred embodiment, the absorbent garment includes elastic elements extending along the waist region. The elastic elements provide a snug, comfortable fit that does not create a bulky appearance beneath the user""s outer garments. The combination of the refastenable fasteners with the elastic elements further enhances the fit and appearance of the garment.
The process and apparatus also provide significant advantages. For example, the manufacturer can easily switch between the manufacture of a non-refastenable, pant-type product and a refastenable product simply by introducing a plurality of fastener pieces, and applying those fastener pieces to one or both of the front and rear body panels. Other modules may be added or omitted as desired. For example, a cutter may be introduced to make various cross direction cuts, for example perforations, in the front or rear body panel, and various bonders and rotators can be introduced to align and apply the fastener pieces. In this way, the machinery and equipment used to fabricate the body panels and crotch portion can be integrated into both processes, thereby maximizing the use of the assets and reducing the costs and space needed for the manufacturing facility.
In addition, the size of the absorbent garment can be easily changed, simply by increasing or decreasing the length of the fastener pieces, without changing the machine pitch of the stream of products. In particular, the distance between the side edges of the body panel(s), otherwise defined as the lateral width of the absorbent garment, can be maintained as a constant, while at the same time lengthening or shortening the fastener members such that they can accommodate larger or smaller users respectively. In this way, the process can be quickly modified to manufacture different size products without having to reconfigure various machines and apparatus. For example, the distance between the cuts made by various dies and cutters doesn""t have to be altered, which greatly reduces the amount of down time when making product changes.
The present invention, together with further objects and advantages, will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Method and apparatus for assembling refastenable absorbent garments


A system and method for selectively altering the rotational speed of one of the axles joined to a differential in order to keep that axle at optimal speed for a given set of conditions. In the system, a differential is attached to a driveshaft. A first axle is coupled to the differential, wherein the differential transfers rotational energy from the driveshaft to the first axle. This causes the first axle to rotate at a second rotational speed when the driveshaft turns at a first rotational speed. An electric motor is provided that is mechanically coupled to the first axle for selectively altering the second rotational speed. The electric motor is variable, therein enabling the second rotational speed to be altered as needed. Changes in the rotational speed of the first axle are imparted to a second axle through the gearing of the differential.

1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to axle differentials, such as those used as part of the drive train on automobiles. More particularly, the present invention relates to differentials that contain active mechanisms to compensate for slip in at least one of the axles.
2. Prior Art Description
Most automobiles have engines and transmissions. The engine and transmission is used to turn a driveshaft. The driveshaft is connected to a differential. The differential transfers the rotational energy of the driveshaft to the axles and wheels of the automobile.
When an automobile is driving in a straight line, the wheels on the left side of the vehicle and the wheels on the right side of the vehicle rotate at the same speed. However, when the automobile makes a turn, the wheels on the outside of the turn must travel farther than the wheels on the inside of the turn. Consequently, the wheels on the outside of the turn must rotate at a slightly faster rate than the inside wheels during the turn. The use of differentials enables opposing axles on opposite sides of the vehicle to rotate at different speeds. As such, the wheels of the vehicle can each rotate at the proper speed to accommodate a turn.
Most prior art differentials are designed assuming that the wheels of the automobile will be encountering good road conditions. In real life, this is not always the case. Roads are often covered in snow, ice, dirt, gravel, mud and the like that can make a wheel skid slightly during a turn. In such situations, differentials may misinterpret the conditions and allow too much power to be applied to the slipping wheel. This can adversely affect the safety of the vehicle.
In attempts to limit such traction problems, some vehicle manufacturer's use limited-slip differentials. A limited-slip differential is a type of automotive differential gear arrangement that allows for some difference in angular velocity of the output shafts, but imposes mechanical boundaries on the disparity. In an automobile, such limited-slip differentials are sometimes used in place of a standard differential, where they convey certain dynamic advantages, at the expense of greater complexity. In the prior art, there are many different types of limited slip differentials. However, the present invention relates generally to electronic limited slip differentials. In an electronic limited slip differential, sensors and various electromechanical components are used to automatically adjust the differential depending upon driving speed and traction conditions. Such prior art is exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 7,357,748 to Kelly, entitled Limited Slip Differential.
Prior art electronic limited slip differentials have certain innate problems. Being limited slip differentials, such prior art differentials do allow for some slip of the axles and wheels, albeit that the slip is limited in range. Under certain circumstances, even limited slip can detract from the safety of a vehicle. Torque transfer is another common problem associated with limited slip differentials. Limited slip differentials endeavor to redirect torque to the axle with the most traction. However, some torque is always lost to the axle of the slipping wheel. Furthermore, differentials are traditionally mechanical devices. The addition of electronics to differentials has increased their complexity and corresponding cost of manufacture. The use of electronic controls within the differential makes the differential expensive to build and difficult to repair.
A need therefore exists for an improved differential system that precisely controlled at all times and allows for no significant slip in the controlled axles. A need also exists for a differential that has the precision of electronic controls, yet is simple and inexpensive to manufacture. These needs are met by the present invention as described and claimed below.

Differential system with a differential rate governed by an auxiliary electric motor and its associated method of operation


An AF control apparatus for a zoom lens system includes a movable lens group serving as a zooming lens group and a focusing lens group in the zoom lens system; a focusing table which stores focusing data for the movable lens group; a zooming table which stores zooming data for the movable lens group, the zooming table having different data from the focusing table; and a driving device for moving the movable lens group in an optical axis direction of the zoom lens system according to data stored in the focusing table and the zooming table.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an AF (auto focusing) control apparatus for a zoom lens for controlling movable lens groups serving as a zoom lens and a focusing lens.
2. Description of the Related Art
The publication of Japanese Patent No. 2548307 discloses a zoom lens system having a plurality of lens groups. In this zoom lens system, only the rearmost lens group positioned closest to the image side operates as a focusing lens group. However, since the focusing sensitivity of the rearmost lens group is almost constant regardless of the focal length of the zoom lens system, the moving distance of the rearmost lens group during focusing is larger at the telephoto side than at the wide-angle side. Therefore, in such an AF mechanism, the AF operation at the telephoto side requires a large amount of time. Also, in order to shorten the minimum photographing distance as much as possible, a large moving distance of the rearmost lens group is required. However, the moving distance of the rearmost lens group cannot be sufficiently increased since interference with the lens group provide in front of the rearmost lens group must be avoided. Therefore, the minimum photographing distance cannot be shortened very much.
In this regard, an AF control apparatus has been developed in which two lens groups in a zoom lens system having a plurality of lens groups serve as a focusing lens. The two lens groups are moved together along an optical axis so as to reduce the moving distance of the two focusing lens groups during an AF operation and to shorten the AF operation time and the minimum photographing distance particularly in a telephoto side (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 7-120678).
Such an AF control apparatus with two movable lens groups may be configured through, for example, providing pulse motors for moving the two focusing lens groups in a direction of an optical axis, and driving the pulse motors according to data stored in a focusing table.
In such an AF control apparatus, a simpler control system can be configured through controlling the pulse motors during zooming by use of a focusing table.
However, in the case when the image magnification is changed stepwise from a wide-angle side to a telephoto side, a zooming operation carried out via focusing table data sometimes results in a reversed phenomenon in which an image magnification becomes larger than that of the previous zoom step, or an unchanged phenomenon in which a magnification does not change in an intermediate zoom step. If images are continuously displayed on the monitor of a digital camera under this situation, the user may notice such unnatural zooming. Such a reversed phenomenon or unchanged phenomenon also occurs when magnification is varied stepwise from a telephoto side to a wide-angle side.

AF control apparatus for zoom lens system


An optical disk having its disk inventory at the picker level is disclosed. The library includes two library controllers and four pickers. Each library controller maintains a list of the storage media in the entire library, but has no disk location inventory. The library controllers are not coupled to each other. Each picker has exclusive access to a set of storage cells and internal peripheral storage devices. In addition, the picker controller for each picker maintains the disk location inventory for the disks accessible by such picker. During a failure condition which prevents one library controller from accessing a particular storage medium, the other library controller can be signalled to attempt to access such storage medium. The overhead associated with maintaining two identical copies of the inventory in the library controllers is therefore eliminated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automated storage library having the inventory of its contents at the picker level. More particularly, the present invention is an automated storage library having a plurality of library controllers and pickers with the library inventory maintained in the picker controllers to permit any library controller to access any storage medium in the library without knowledge of the storage cell or drive in the library in which the storage medium resides.
2. Description of the Related Art
The main components of a computer system includes host processors, input/output (I/O) devices, and storage. Processors are the brain of computer systems, performing arithmetic and logical operations. I/O devices permit data to be input to or output from the system. A keyboard is an example of an input device and a printer is an example of an output device. Storage includes means for temporarily and permanently storing information, including user data and the instructions which direct computer operations. Storage may be within a processor, such as an integrated circuit main memory, or may be peripheral thereto, such as magnetic disks, magnetic tapes, and optical disks. A machine used to write to and read from such peripheral storage is known as a peripheral storage device and typically includes a device controller for translating processor commands into the physical actions of the device itself. Each of the computer system components may be divided into subcomponents and may be distributed across various locations within the computer system.
It is inefficient to store all of the data in a computer system on a single type of storage. Storing all data in main memory is too costly and storing all data on peripheral storage reduces performance. Thus, a typical computer system includes both main memory and one or more types of peripheral storage arranged in a data storage hierarchy. As the need for storage has increased, automated storage libraries have been developed to manage the storage of removable data storage media.
Automated storage libraries include a plurality of storage cells for retaining disks, tapes, or the like, a robotic picker mechanism, and one or more internal peripheral storage devices. Each storage medium may be contained in a cassette or cartridge for easier handling by the picker. The picker operates on command to transfer the storage media between the storage cells and internal peripheral storage devices without manual assistance. Once a storage medium is mounted in a peripheral storage device, data may be written to or read from that medium for as long as the system so requires.
Several automated storage libraries are shown. IBM Corporation introduced the 3850 Mass Storage Subsystem for the storage and retrieval of magnetic tape modules in the 1970's. More recently, several firms have introduced automated storage libraries for magnetic tape cartridges and optical disk cartridges. For example, magnetic tape cartridge libraries are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,654,727, 4,864,438, and 4,864,511. Examples of optical disk libraries can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,271,489, 4,527,262, 4,614,474, and 4,766,581. These libraries are designed to attach to a computer system in which a host processor maintains an inventory of the location of each storage media therein. To access a file of data in the library, the host processor must first identify the storage medium upon which the file is stored and then determine the storage cell or internal peripheral storage device in which such storage medium resides. The host processor then commands the appropriate picker controller and/or peripheral storage device controller to access the file. Should a failure cause the loss the storage media inventory, a new inventory is generated by transferring each storage medium to a peripheral storage device for its identification. In the alternative, some libraries include a vision system on a picker which allows the inventory to be generated without transferring each storage medium to a peripheral storage device. Instead, the vision system is used to identify each storage medium while it resides in a storage cell.
Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,483, hereby incorporated by reference, discloses an automated storage library in which the storage media inventory is maintained in a system or library controller, similar to that in a host processor. Upon receipt of a request for access to a storage medium in the library, the library controller uses its inventory to locate the storage medium. The library controller then directs the appropriate picker controller and/or peripheral storage device controller, as required. Should a failure cause the library controller to lose its inventory, a new inventory must again be generated.
Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,589, hereby incorporated by reference, discloses an automated storage library with various redundancies to improve data accessibility. The library includes two library controllers and four pickers. Each library controller maintains a storage media inventory for the entire library. Each picker has exclusive access to a set of storage cells and internal peripheral storage devices. Normally, one library controller directs the operation of two pickers and the other library controller directs the operation of the other two pickers, but each library controller is coupled to each picker. The library controllers are also coupled to each other such that both of their storage media inventories are updated as storage media and transferred about the library, regardless of the picker(s) used for the transfer operations. During a failure condition which prevents one library controller from accessing a particular storage medium, the other library controller can be signalled to attempt to access such storage medium. This is possible because both library controllers have the required storage media inventory. Should a single library controller lose its inventory, such inventory can be generated simply by accessing the inventory in the other library controller. Unfortunately, the time required to maintain two identical copies of the storage media inventory for the entire library is overhead which degrades library performance. Furthermore, such overhead increases as the activity in the library increases.

Automated storage library having inventory at picker level

International Business Machines Corporation


A CATV station 1 for broadcasting a television program is connected to an internet network B. The CATV station 1 is connected to a terminal device 2. The terminal device includes a tuner section T for receiving a broadcasting signal for the television program transmitted from the CATV station, an interface section S for making transmission/reception of a telephone signal for the internet network B and a switching circuit 5 which is connected to the interface section, a telephone set 3 and a public switched phone network C. The switching circuit 5 selectively connects the telephone set 3 to the interface section S or the public switched phone network. In this configuration, the internet telephone can be used without doing troublesome operations, and the public switched phone network or internet network can be selected according to the facility of the internet terminal device on the side of a called party so that telephone call can be executed easily.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for using an internet telephone and a terminal device employed therefor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, an internet telephone for having a call through an internet network has become prevalent.
The internet telephone refers to having audio call in real time using dedicated software between internet terminals such as personal computers to each of which a microphone and a speaker are connected.
Such an internet telephone has an advantage that it can use a long-distance call or international telephone call at a low price at the expense of only connecting contract fee with an internet connecting dealer called xe2x80x9cinternet service providerxe2x80x9d and telephone fee from the public switched phone network to a neighboring access point.
However, where such an internet telephone is employed in general homes or SOHO (small office home office), as shown in FIG. 3, it is necessary to connect an internet terminal point (unit) IP such as a personal computer, which is separate from a telephone set TEL for the public switched phone network, to an NTT line TS which is the public switched phone network and hence to prepare two kinds of telephone set s.
FIG. 3 shows a case where a telephone set TEL for a public switched phone network and an internet terminal point IP are connected to an NTT line TS through a terminal adapter TA of ISDN.
The internet telephone cannot be employed if a called party is not provided with hardware and software necessary for the internet telephone. Further, even if the called party is provided with such tooling, if the internet terminal point on the side of the called party has not been booted, the internet telephone cannot be employed.
Therefore, in the above cases, when a calling party intends to make a call again over the public switched phone network, he must take up the telephone set TEL to make a call.
When the calling party wants to use the internet telephone, if the internet terminal such as a personal computer is not always on, he must boot the internet terminal point every time. Therefore, a general home or SOHO where the internet terminal point has not been always booted cannot make the internet telephone immediately so that the complicate operation for making the internet telephone is required. This makes it difficult to use the internet telephone.
The present invention has been accomplished to solve the problems encountered in the use of the internet telephone as described above.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide an internet telephone system which can use the internet telephone without making the above troublesome operation, and can easily make a call by selecting a public switched phone network or an internet network according to the installing state of an internet terminal point and the booting state thereof.
A secondary object of the invention is to provide an internet telephone terminal device which constitutes such a internet telephone system.
In order to attain the first object of the invention, in accordance with the first aspect of the invention, there is provided an internet telephone system comprising:
an internet network;
a CATV station connected to the internet network so as to broadcast a television program;
a public switched phone network; and
a terminal device connected to the CATV station and the public switched phone network and including a tuner section for receiving a broadcasting signal for the television program transmitted from the CATV station, an interface section for making transmission/reception of a telephone signal for the internet network and a switching circuit which is connected to the interface section, a telephone set and the public switched phone network, wherein the switching circuit selectively connects the telephone set to the interface section or the public switched phone network.
In the above internet telephone system, the CATV station is connected to the internet network, and the terminal device is connected to the CATV station through a transmission cable.
The terminal device receives the broadcasting signal (RF signal) transmitted from the CATV station through the transmission cable by the tuner section, subjects the broadcasting signal to prescribed video signal processing and audio signal processing and supplies the resultant signal to a television receiver connected to the terminal device.
In the terminal device, the switching means incorporated therein is connected to the telephone set and the public switched phone network such as NTT.
Where the call by the internet telephone through the internet network is to be executed, the telephone set is connected to the interface section by the switching means, whereby the transmission/reception of the telephone signal is executed between the telephone set and internet network through the interface section.
Where the call by the public telephone through the public switched phone network is to be executed, the telephone set is connected to the public switched phone network by the switching means, whereby the transmission/reception of the telephone signal is executed between the telephone set and public switched phone network.
In accordance with the internet telephone system as described above, when the user wants to use the internet telephone, by using the terminal device for the CATV the power of which is usually always xe2x80x9conxe2x80x9d, he is not required to wait until the terminal device is booted.
A user can selectively use the internet telephone or the public telephone by a single telephone set. Unlike before, therefore, it is not required to provide the internet terminal in addition to the public telephone set.
Further, in accordance with the status of the telephone facilities on the side of the called party, the calling party can use easily properly the public telephone or internet telephone which is cheap in the calling fee. Further, when the calling party calls through the internet telephone, even the called party has not yet booted the internet terminal device, the calling party immediately calls again through the public switched phone network using the same telephone set.
In order to attain the first object, preferably, the terminal device comprises audio control means for controlling an amplification factor of an audio signal of the television program supplied from the tuner section when a telephone signal is supplied from the telephone set, interface section or public switched phone network to the switching means.
In such a configuration, where the call by the internet telephone or public telephone is executed, when the switching means of the terminal device is supplied with a telephone signal from the telephone set, from the internet network through the interface section or from the public switched phone network, the audio control means limits an amplification factor of an audio signal of the television program in the tuner section to a prescribed value.
In accordance with this configuration, during the call by the internet telephone or public telephone, since the sound volume issued from the television receiver is automatically reduced, the call by the telephone set cannot be impeded by the sound issued from the television receiver.
In order to attain the first object, the switching means selectively connects the telephone set to the interface section or the public switched phone network on the basis of a switching signal supplied from the telephone set.
Namely, the switching between the call by the internet telephone in the terminal device and that by the public telephone is made by a switching signal issued from the telephone set when the calling operation by the telephone set is done.
For this reason, the call by the internet telephone or by the public switched phone network can be easily selected on the side of the telephone set.
In order to attain the above object, preferably, the switching signal is outputted in accordance with a discrimination signal appended to a telephone number.
Specifically, the call by the internet telephone or by the public switched phone network is selected by inputting the discrimination code (e.g. number such as 1 and 2) corresponding to the internet telephone or public telephone when the telephone number of the called party is input to the telephone set.
For this reason, the call by the internet telephone or by the public telephone can be easily selected by simple operation of inputting the discrimination code on the side of the telephone set.
In order to attain the second object of the invention, there is provided a terminal device for an internet telephone system comprising:
a tuner section for receiving a broadcasting signal for the television program transmitted from the CATV station, the tuner section being connected to the CATV station;
as an interface section for making transmission/reception of a telephone signal for the internet network; and
a switching circuit connected to the interface section, a telephone set and a switched phone network, the switching circuit for selectively connecting the telephone set to the interface section or the public switched phone network.
The terminal device is connected to the CATV station, which is connected to the internet network, through a transmission cable. The incorporated switching means is connected to the telephone set and the public switched phone network such as NTT.
The terminal device receives the broadcasting signal (RF signal) transmitted from the CATV station through the transmission cable by the tuner section, subjects the broadcasting signal to prescribed video signal processing and audio signal processing and supplies the resultant signal to a television receiver connected to the terminal device.
Where the call by the internet telephone through the internet network is to be executed, the telephone set is connected to the interface section by the switching means, whereby the transmission/reception of the telephone signal is executed between the telephone set and internet network through the interface section.
Where the call by the public telephone through the public switched phone network is to be executed, the telephone set is connected to the public switched phone network by the switching means, whereby the transmission/reception of the telephone signal is executed between the telephone set and public switched phone network.
In accordance with the terminal device, when the user wants to use the internet telephone, by using the terminal device for the CATV the power of which is usually always xe2x80x9conxe2x80x9d, he is not required to wait until the terminal device is booted.
A user can selectively use the internet telephone or the public telephone by a single telephone set. Unlike before, therefore, it is not required to provide the internet terminal in addition to the public telephone.
Further, in accordance with the status of the telephone facilities on the side of the called party, he can use easily properly the public telephone or internet telephone which is cheap in the calling fee. Further, when the calling party calls through the internet telephone, even when the called party has not yet booted the internet terminal device, the calling party immediately calls again through the public switched phone network using the same telephone set.
In order to attain the second object, preferably, the terminal device further comprises audio control means for controlling an amplification factor of an audio signal of the television program supplied from the tuner section when a telephone signal is supplied from the telephone set, interface section or public switched phone network to the switching means.
In such a configuration, where the call by the internet telephone or public telephone is executed, when the switching means of the terminal device is supplied with a telephone signal from the telephone set from the internet network through the interface section or from the public switched phone network, the audio control means limits an amplification factor of an audio signal of the television program in the tuner section to a prescribed value.
In accordance with this configuration, during the call by the internet telephone or public telephone, since the sound volume issued from the television receiver is automatically reduced, the call by the telephone set cannot be impeded by the sound issued from the television receiver.
In order to attain the second object, the switching means selectively connects the telephone set to the interface section or the public switched phone network on the basis of a switching signal supplied from the telephone set.
Namely, the switching between the call by the internet telephone in the terminal device and that by the public telephone is made by a switching signal issued from the telephone set when the calling operation by the telephone set is done.
For this reason, the call by the internet telephone or by the public switched phone network can be easily selected on the side of the telephone set.
In order to attain the second object, preferably, the switching signal is outputted in accordance with a discrimination signal appended to a telephone number.
Specifically, the call by the internet telephone or by the public switched phone network is selected by inputting the discrimination code (e.g. number such as 1 and 2) corresponding to the internet telephone or public telephone when the telephone number of the called party is input to the telephone set.
For this reason, the call by the internet telephone or by the public telephone can be easily selected by simple operation of inputting the discrimination code on the side of the telephone set.
The above and other objects and features of the invention will be more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Internet telephone system and terminal device


A mounting apparatus for a turbine exhaust case (TEC) is provided. The mounting apparatus may include a neck, support links and a plurality of fastening pins. The neck may include an upper portion that is receivable within a pylon associated with the TEC and at least one neck aperture extending therethrough. The support links may downwardly extend from a lower portion of the neck. The support links may be configured to at least partially receive a section of the TEC. Each support link may include at least one link aperture extending therethrough. The fastening pins may include at least one neck pin extending through the neck aperture and at least one link pin extending through the link aperture of each support link.

Gas turbine engines of aircrafts are generally supported and secured below a pylon associated with the aircraft. In order to additionally support the weight of the engine, both while the aircraft is static and in flight, an aft mount structure is typically connected between the aft section of the turbine engine and the associated pylon. In supporting the aft section of the turbine engine, the aft mount aids in withstanding not only gravitational forces but also various forces encountered in flight. Moreover, the aft mount serves to maintain the position of the turbine engine relative to the associated pylon and aircraft in the presence of axial thrust forces caused by operation of the turbine engine as well as any lateral aerodynamic forces introduced during flight.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, however, currently existing aft mounts 2 typically involve a complex arrangement of components, which not only occupies a lot of the space surrounding the turbine engine, but also adds to the overall time and cost associated with manufacturing, assembly and installation. For instance, the aft mount 2 shown may include a mount plate 4 which attaches to a pylon (not shown) associated with the turbine engine 6, a plurality of short links 8 which attach the mount plate 4 to the aft section 10 of the turbine engine 6, and a pair of long thrust links 12 connecting the mount plate 4 to a body of the turbine engine 6. For each additional point of connection between the components within the aft mount, the aft mount is exposed to another area of potential failure and subjected to additional costs. The structure of such aft mounts further make it more difficult to provide any redundancy to each of the points of connection. Furthermore, the size and space occupied by the aft mount limits the space available for other critical components.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved structure that can be used to mount a gas turbine engine onto a pylon of an aircraft while overcoming the deficiencies of the prior art. More specifically, there is need for a mounting structure which sufficiently aids in supporting a gas turbine engine against axial thrust forces as well as any lateral aerodynamic forces, while reducing the overall space that is occupied by the structure, as well as the overall cost of implementation. There is also need for a more simplified mounting structure which provides for more redundancy and significantly fewer points of potential failures.


Disclosed is an exemplary optical sensing system including at least one light source for emitting light in a first wavelength range and light in a second wavelength. An image sensor is provided for detecting light emitted from the at least one light source. The optical sensing system also includes a first optical filter disposed in a first optical path extending between the light source and the image sensor, the first optical filter configured to pass light emitted in the first wavelength range, and to substantially block light emitted in the second wavelength range. A second optical filter is disposed in a second optical path extending between the light source and the image sensor, the second optical filter configured to pass light emitted from the at least one light source in the second wavelength range, and to substantially block light emitted in the first wavelength range.

Optical imaging systems may employ multiple selectable magnifications. Selecting between available magnifications typically involves mechanical manipulation of optical elements to achieve a selected magnification. The switching may be accomplished manually or by means of a mechanized drive system. Mechanical switching mechanisms may involve complex designs that can be expensive to produce. Mechanical switching mechanisms may also be less reliable due to moving parts that may be prone to wear and breakage.

Optical sensing system including electronically switched optical magnification


The present invention provides a single set of mass spectrometer capable of selectively performing the following two modes of analyses according to the purpose of analysis: the first mass spectrometry mode in which the analysis can be repeated at short intervals of time; and the second mass spectrometry mode in which the analysis can be performed with high mass resolution and high accuracy. In an embodiment of the present invention, ions ejected from an ion source 1 travel along a straight path B, on which gate electrodes 3 are provided. When a voltage is applied from an MS mode selection controller 7 to the gate electrodes 3, the ions are introduced into a loop orbit A. Located on the loop orbit A is a second ion detector 6, which is a nondestructive type of ion detector. Detection signals of the second ion detector 6 are sent to a data processor 9, which extracts flight time spectrum data from those signals and Fourier-transforms those data to convert the time axis to a frequency axis. From the frequency spectrum thus created, the mass-to-charge ratio of each ion is calculated with high accuracy. When no voltage is applied to the gate electrodes 3, the ions ejected from the ion source 1 travel along the straight path B and arrive at a first ion detector 5. This mode of analysis requires only a short period of time and can achieve a high level of time resolution.

In general, a time of flight mass spectrometer has a flight space in which neither electric nor magnetic field is present. Into this space, ions that have been given an initial kinetic energy by an electric field are introduced, and the flight time of each ion is measured until it reaches an ion detector. Based on this flight time, various ion species are separated with respect to their mass-to-charge ratios. To improve the mass resolution of this type of mass spectrometer, it is preferable to make the flight distance of the ions as long as possible. However, if the flight space is straight, it is often difficult to linearly extend the flight distance due to the limited overall size of the apparatus and other factors. To address this problem, various structures for increasing the effective flight distance have been proposed.
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-78987 discloses a mass spectrometer having multiple electric fields arranged to form a closed-loop or spiral (pseudo-loop) orbit, such as a circular orbit or an "8"-shaped orbit. Ions are introduced into this orbit and fly along the orbit multiple times until they are separated according to their mass-to-charge ratios. Finally, the separated ions are detected by the ion detector. However, the flight time thereby measured has some errors resulting from various factors independent of the mass-to-charge ratio. Examples of such factors include: dispersion of the initial kinetic energy given to the ions; dispersion of the starting points of the ions; temporal change (or jitter) of each ion at the starting time; and temporal change (or jitter) of each ion at the point of detection by the ion detector. These errors will lower the analysis accuracy.
To solve this problem, the mass spectrometer disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-79037 includes an ion detector capable of measuring the flight time (or elapsed time) of each turn of the ion in the loop orbit. Based on the detection signals of the ion detector, a flight time spectrum having a peak at each turn of the ion is created. Then, this spectrum data is Fourier-transformed to convert the time axis to a frequency axis. On the resultant frequency spectrum, each frequency peak corresponding to each mass-to-charge-ratio is identified to calculate the mass-to-charge ratio. In this data processing, the Fourier-transformation removes the aforementioned error factors that are independent of the mass-to-charge ratio. Therefore, the mass-to-charge ratio thereby calculated is very accurate. While the ions are flying along the loop orbit, even if one ion flying at a higher speed laps another ion flying at a lower speed due to the difference between their mass-to-charge ratios, the mass spectrometer can separately detect these ions having different mass-to-charge ratios. Thus, the measuring range of the mass-to-charge ratio is expanded.
The use of Fourier-transformation in a time of flight mass spectrometer having a loop orbit significantly enhances the accuracy and mass resolution of the analysis. However, to improve the accuracy, it is necessary to considerably increase the number of turns of each ion species. In practice, it may be 1000 turns or more, so that one cycle of analysis takes a long time. Therefore, this type of mass spectrometer is not suitable for a situation where the analysis needs to be repeated at short intervals of time. One example is an analysis using the mass spectrometer as a detector of a gas chromatograph or liquid chromatograph. In this case, the mass spectrometer needs to repeatedly analyze the sample eluting from the column of the chromatograph. If the time required for one cycle of analysis is long, the time resolution will be accordingly low and the detector may fail to detect some of the sample components.
In contrast, the normal type of time of flight mass spectrometer can repeat the analysis at much shorter intervals of time than the type having a loop orbit. Its time resolution can be set so high as to prevent the detection failure of the sample components. Moreover, as opposed to the Fourier-transformation type, the normal type directly receives (i.e. destroys) ions and has an accordingly high sensitivity, so that it can detect even a small amount of ions. However, the normal type is disadvantageous in that it is not high in analysis accuracy and mass resolution. In summary, in a mass spectrometric analysis of a sample eluting from a chromatograph, if it is necessary to avoid the detection failure of the sample components and also perform a high resolution analysis of some specific components, the same sample must be measured twice using different systems, which consumes time and labor.
To solve this problem, the present invention provides a mass spectrometer capable of appropriately switching its mass-analyzing operation between the first mode having high time resolution and the second mode having high mass resolution and high accuracy.


An insulated, substantially rectangular building block is disclosed. The block contains two spaced, outer supportive parts which are interlockably connected with each other and which extend along the length of the block; and a curvilinear inner insulating material is present in the space between the supportive parts. Each of the outer supportive parts has a configuration which differs from that of the other such part. The insulating material is wedge-shaped, and it fits into a space between said supportive parts which is defined by walls which extend inwardly from the top of the building block to its bottom.

Building blocks with improved insulating properties are well known to those skilled in the art. Thus, for example, a number of such building blocks are described in column 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,185,434 of Jones. As is disclosed in the Jones patent, most of the prior art building blocks contain webs or bridges across the ends and/or the middle of them between the cavities, and an unacceptable amount of heat is lost through these thermally conductive paths.
The Jones patent discloses a building block which does not contain connecting webs or bridges between its front and rear walls, which are maintained in spaced relationship by an insulating material between them; and it claims a wall construction comprised of a plurality of such building blocks. However, such wall construction may contain connecting mortar bridges or openings between the building blocks, and heat may readily flow from one side of a wall to the other.
The interior walls of the building block of the Jones patent define a multiplicity of right angles, and the interior surfaces of this building block create many stress points, thereby facilitating fracture upon the application of stress.
Another insulated building block is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 4,551,959 of Schmid. This building block has two spaced supportive parts separated from one another by a quantity of insulating material positioned between the parts. At column 2 of his patent, Schmid discloses a building block in which the insulating portion extends slightly beyond the confines of the space between its block parts so that, when the block is used in a wall in which adjacent blocks of like construction are joined with mortar, its insulating portion engages the insulating portion of an adjacent block and provides, with the insulating portion of adjacent blocks, a continuous barrier of insulation through the wall.
The two parts of the building block of the Schmid patent are held together by insulating material between such parts. When the block of the Schmid patent is subjected to conditions which will tend to degrade and/or weaken the insulating material (such as those one might encounter in a fire), the Schmid block will tend to lose its structural integrity.
It is an object of this invention to provide a building block which does not contain thermally conductive webs or bridges between the walls which allow the flow of heat from one wall to another.
It is another object of this invention to provide a building block which, when it is joined to one or more adjacent building blocks of similar construction with mortar, will form a wall construction which does not contain webs or bridges between its walls allowing the flow of heat from one side of the wall to the other.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a building block which does not contain any large air cavities.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a building block which will retain its structural integrity when the insulating material in it is weakened or destroyed.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a building block which, when joined with mortar to building blocks of similar construction, will provide a construction wall which is less likely to crack when subjected to stress from earthquakes than prior art construction walls.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a building block with improved sound insulating properties.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a building block with improved heat storage properties.


An apparatus for lapping a workpiece including a plurality of magnetic heads supported by a tool is disclosed. The lapping apparatus comprises a rotary-lapping table having an abrasive surface, and a lapping device assembly provided so as to be movable with respect to the abrasive surface of the lapping table. The lapping device assembly includes a device provided at a lower portion of the lapping device assembly for supporting the tool and a device for respectively applying predetermined loads to a plurality of load applying portions of the tool. The load applying portions of the tool is disposed along the longitudinal direction of the tool. The load-applying device applies the loads from a plurality of different directions to at least one of the load applying portions of the tool so that the tool is deformed into a predetermined shape.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates an apparatus and a method for lapping magnetic heads, and in particular to an apparatus and a method for lapping a workpiece provided with a plurality of magnetic heads supported by a tool.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a thin film magnetic head, which is used in a disc drive in a computer, is manufactured in a batch process. In this process, a workpiece, provided with a ceramic bar (thereafter being divided into sliders) on which a row of transducers including a plurality of thin film magnetic heads are arranged, is lapped such that throat heights in gaps of the respective transducers are adjusted to have desired values at which optimum data signal processing can be realized.
A problem that exists in lapping such magnetic heads so as to obtain desired throat heights is that the ceramic bar or the workpiece is stressed and/or has an undesirable curvature or bow. Namely, when the ceramic bar is stressed and/or has an undesirable curvature or bow, a lapping apparatus can not uniformly lap the ceramic bar. For example, even if the throat heights of the magnetic heads on a center of the ceramic bar have optimum values, the throat heights of the magnetic heads on both ends of the ceramic bar might be too low or too high to have optimum values.
An apparatus for lapping magnetic heads, which can solve such problem, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,356. A ceramic bar is adhered to a bottom of a tool, which likes a long thin plate. The apparatus adjusts throat heights of thin film magnetic heads arranged on the ceramic bar to be optimum by correcting the curvature of the ceramic bar and lapping the corrected ceramic bar while measuring resistances whose values are changed by the throat heights.
In the lapping apparatus disclosed in the U.S. patent, the curvature of the ceramic bar is corrected by applying loads in up and down directions to three portions of the tool provided along the longitudinal direction of the tool. The applied loads are changed in accordance with the abrasive amount of the magnetic heads obtained by resistances changed by the throat heights.
The throat heights of the magnetic heads need to be lapped with higher accuracy in the feature. However, as mentioned above, the lapping apparatus disclosed in the U.S. Patent applies loads in an up and down direction to three portions of the tool provided along the longitudinal direction of the tool. The lapping apparatus therefore can only deform the ceramic bar into such a shape that is approximated by a fourth order curve. As a result, shape patterns of the throat heights of the values of the magnetic heads to be lapped are limited to curves, which are approximated by a fourth order curve or a less than fourth order curve.
On the contrary, the distribution of values of the throat heights of the ceramic bar lapped by a conventional lapping apparatus actually has a complicate shape pattern such as a shape pattern which is approximated by a sixth order curve or a more than sixth order curve. The conventional lapping apparatus therefore can not correct the throat heights with accuracy in the case that the distribution pattern of the throat heights has such complicate shape pattern.
FIG. 28 shows a distribution of values of throat heights of the ceramic bar along a longitudinal direction of the bar when a conventional lapping apparatus laps a 50 mm long ceramic bar by automatically controlling throat heights of the bar. In FIG. 28, a solid line is a sixth order curve showing a distribution pattern of values of the throat heights of the bar, and a broken line is a fourth order curve showing a distribution pattern of values of the throat heights of the bar. As clearly shown in FIG. 28, the actual distribution pattern of values of the throat heights of the bar can be accurately approximated by the solid line of the sixth order curve.
As mentioned above, the actual distribution pattern of the values of the throat heights of the bar can be approximated by a sixth order curve or a more than sixth order curve. On the contrary, shape patterns of the throat heights of the magnetic heads to be lapped are limited to curves which are approximated by a fourth order curve or a less than fourth order curve when using a conventional lapping apparatus. Therefore, as show in FIG. 28, the conventional lapping apparatus can not correct portions having distribution pattern of the throat heights of the bar which are only approximated by high order curves.
Accordingly, the conventional lapping apparatus can not correct the throat heights of the ceramic bar with accuracy if the throat heights of the magnetic heads need to be lapped with higher accuracy.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for lapping magnetic heads which can accurately correct a curvature or bow of a workpiece.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for lapping magnetic heads which can accurately correct a curvature or bow of a workpiece in accordance with a distribution pattern thereof.
The above objects are achieved according to the present invention by providing an apparatus for lapping a workpiece including a plurality of magnetic heads supported by a tool, the apparatus comprising a rotary lapping table having an abrasive surface, a lapping device assembly provided so as to be movable with respect to the abrasive surface of the lapping table, the lapping device assembly including means provided at a lower portion of the lapping device assembly for supporting the tool and means for respectively applying predetermined loads to a plurality of load applying portions of the tool, the load applying portions of the tool being disposed along the longitudinal direction of the tool, and the load applying means applying the loads from a plurality of different directions to at least one of the load applying portions of the tool so that the tool is deformed into a predetermined shape.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the load applying means has means for applying a vertical load to at least one of the load applying portions of the tool.
In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the load applying means has means for applying a horizontal load to at least one of the load applying portions of the tool.
In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the load applying means has means for applying a rotating load to at least one of the load applying portions of the tool.
In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the tool supporting means supports the tool at about a longitudinal center portion of the tool.
In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the lapping device assembly further includes means for tilting the lapping device assembly about a tilt shaft parallel with the abrasive surface.
In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus further comprises means for oscillating the lapping device assembly in a predetermined angle.
The above objects are also achieved according to the present invention by providing a method for lapping a workpiece including a plurality of magnetic heads, the method comprising the steps of providing a tool for supporting the workpiece, a rotary lapping table having an abrasive surface, and a lapping device assembly provided so as to be movable with respect to the abrasive surface of the lapping table, said lapping device assembly including means provided at a lower portion of the lapping device assembly for supporting the tool, attaching the tool to the tool supporting means of the lapping device assembly, the tool having a plurality of load applying portions disposed along the longitudinal direction thereof, and lapping the plurality of magnetic heads of the workpiece by applying the loads from a plurality of different directions to at least one of the load applying portions of the tool so that the tool is deformed into a predetermined shape.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the lapping step includes the step of applying a vertical load to at least one of the load applying portions of the tool.
In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the lapping step includes of the step of applying a horizontal load to at least one of the load applying portions of the tool.
In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the lapping step of includes the step of applying a rotating load to at least one of the load applying portions of the tool.
In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the tool supporting means supports the tool at about a longitudinal center portion of the tool.
In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprises the step of tilting the lapping device assembly about a tilt shaft parallel with the abrasive surface.
In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprises the step of oscillating the lapping device assembly in a predetermined angle.
The above and other objects and features of the present invention will be apparent from the following description by taking reference with accompanying drawings employed for preferred embodiments of the present invention.

Apparatus and method for lapping magnetic heads


Disclosed herein is a plane heater that generates heat by using graphene or the like as the conductive heat generation material thereof. The plane heater includes: a nonconductor substrate; a heat generation material applied to the nonconductor substrate; and a pair of electrodes configured to generate resistance heat in the heat generation material. The pair of electrodes include a first electrode configured to be connected to one pole of a power source, and a second electrode configured to be connected to the other pole of the power source. The sectional areas of at least some portions of the first electrode and the second electrode are determined such that a plurality of electric circuits formed by the first electrode, the heat generation material, and the second electrode can have the theoretically same resistance.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a plane heater in which graphene or the like is used as the conductive heat generation material thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, plane heaters may be applied to the glass surfaces of freezing display cases, window systems, the glass surfaces or sheets of automobiles, the mirrors of bathrooms, electric rice cookers, etc.
Such a plane heater is generally configured such that a conductive heat generation material, such as graphene or the like, is applied to a nonconductive substrate and, for example, a first electrode, i.e., a positive electrode, and a second electrode, i.e., a negative electrode, are coupled to the conductive heat generation material. Then, when a direct or alternating current voltage is applied to the first electrode and the second electrode, current flows across the conductive heating material and thus resistance heat is generated.
However, in conventional plane heaters, local overheating occurs at power input points due to large amounts of current at the power input points, and relatively low heat generation occurs in portions far from the power input points. Accordingly, a problem arises in that heat generation is not uniform throughout the plane heaters. Therefore, it is difficult to apply the conventional plane heaters to devices requiring uniform heating.
[Prior Art Document]
[Patent Document]
Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2015-0033290


Each of a plurality of electronic control units (i.e., ECUs) of a vehicle control system has a memory for recording data regarding a system operation condition of the vehicle control system. When one of the ECUs detects an occurrence of a predetermined abnormal event, that ECU records data regarding the system operation condition of the vehicle control system, which is held by that ECU, in the memory of that ECU. Further, the detecting ECU notifies the other ECUs of the occurrence of the predetermined abnormal event. Accordingly, each of the remaining ECUs records data regarding the system operation condition of the vehicle control system held by each of them to its memory. In such manner, even if multiple ECUs are installed as the vehicle control system, a vehicular data recording apparatus is enabled to record required data at a time of occurrence of a predetermined event.

Conventionally, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-3685 (JP '685), a data recording apparatus for recording data that represents a system operation condition of a system when an event occurrence of the system triggers the recording of the data. The data recording apparatus is equipped with an analysis object data temporary save unit for storing analysis object data for a recent period of a predetermined time length or for a predetermined number of data acquisition times; an event occurrence determination unit for determining an occurrence of an event based on event occurrence determination data; and a data storage unit for storing the data stored in the analysis object data temporary save unit in association with an event data after a predetermined time period from the determination of the occurrence of the event.
As described above, due to the storage of the event data in association with the analysis object data, the device in JP '685 enables event analysis of a complicated event by using various event factors such as an event type, an event source, an event condition, and the like. Further, because event data itself is associated with the analysis object data for the distinction of event factors, the stored amount of data is decreased to use only a small area of a memory.
The data recording apparatus in JP '685 is configured to have only one electronic control unit (ECU) to provide an analysis object data temporary save unit, an event occurrence determination unit, and as well as a data storage unit, for storing, in the memory, the analysis object data generated during a predetermined period before and after the occurrence of an event. Therefore, when the detection of the occurrence of the event and the storage of the analysis object data are performed by only one electronic control unit, the required data is successfully stored.
However, for example, an in-vehicle control system controlling a travel condition of a hybrid vehicle has various devices under its control, such as an engine, a motor, brakes, a transmission, a steering, a battery, and the like. Therefore, multiple electronic control units are installed in a vehicle for controlling the devices, and each of the devices may be controlled under cooperative operation of the multiple electronic control units.
When multiple electronic control units are installed in such manner, the data which should be recorded at the time of the occurrence of an event may exist in a dispersed manner in those electronic control units. Therefore, even when the occurrence of an event is detected in one of the electronic control units, the recordation of all of the required data at the time of such occurrence of an event may be difficult.


In an apparatus for safety monitoring of protective arrangements with normal or enhanced safeguard for machinery performing multiple-axis rotations with shutoff contactors in the power supply section of the machine and an external monitoring circuit for safety hoods, contact, and manual permission for limited rotation, it is proposed that a power supply unit and a control unit, each in separate subhousings, be arranged in a basic device, with a plug contact connection being provided between the two that is separable and serves for interposed series connection of further supplementary monitoring units, with each monitoring unit monitoring certain shaft circuits of the target system and delivering its output signals in parallel on continuous tie lines guided via the respective plug contact means to the power supply unit, which activates shutoff contactors located in the power section of the target system via output relays.

A known creep and rotation monitoring system in protective arrangements with normal or enhanced safety of this type (DE-OS 38 37 218), defines three different functional modes in the safety monitoring system, so as thereby to correspond to the various safety aspects of a target system. These three functional modes are defined so that:
A stationary monitoring system is implemented as a special mode with no motion, with the operating state of the target system corresponding to an open hazard zone (safety hood or safety screen open); PA1 Further, a stationary monitoring system can be realized as a special mode with motion, again with an open hazard zone and with manual request for permission for limited creep of the target system; and lastly PA1 A rotation monitoring system is implemented as the normal mode with the hazard zone closed, with limited rotation of the target system permitted within predefined limits.
In this context, monitoring of the operating states and rotary motions is subject to an absolute functional safety system corresponding in each case to double monitoring in a device, with the result that if faults occur, drive energy is always cut off.
It is possible in this context to sense the rotation of a shaft by means of two different encoder systems, with both of the signals obtained by means of corresponding rotation sensors being delivered to corresponding inputs of the monitoring circuit in the form of square-wave pulses, so that the rotation signals can be processed by two measurement systems operating independently of each other, and can be redundantly analyzed in terms of their limited values.
It is also possible, by suitably timing the measurement systems by means of the prepared rotation signal, to realize reliable monitoring of the operability of the measurement systems and the encoders themselves. If one of the encoders fails and if a measurement system is faulty, the device responds to the malfunction status that it has detected by immediately shutting off drive energy.
Further safety aspects of the known arrangements consist in the fact that in the event of a malfunction, drive energy is shut off by means of two safety output relays that operate independently, with the additional possibility of determining the operability of the safety output relays without shutting off drive energy, in connection with various test modes that are implemented by the measurement or monitoring systems. For example, it is possible to initiate deactivation of the driver stage for the safety output relays, whose consequently dead status is reported to a downstream control electronic system. If the same signals are present in both circuits, such a test mode will then be mutually automatically acknowledged; deactivation of the safety output relay systems can then occur without shutting off drive energy, since special capacitor storage circuits are provided, which are activated within the release time.
It is a generally known practice to associate protective circuits with operating machinery of various types, especially automatic machinery, and in any event to design the machinery's control system so that the operating motion of the machine is halted as immediately as possible if a situation hazardous to the operator is present. This also includes machinery that cannot even be started, i.e. put into operation, unless a safety hood is closed or the operator actuates certain controls with both hands. Unlike these known protective arrangements, complex process-controlled production machines, for example CNC (=computerized numerical control) systems and industrial robots, present particularly stringent industrial safety requirements, for example when operators are in the hazard area of the machine in a special operating mode.
For example a hardware-based safety shutoff system for machinery is known, which operates in connection with the system controller and guarantees a safe condition in certain operating modes. Disadvantages can occur here as well, however, such as unnecessary charging time for power components, positioning losses due to data errors, and the like, so that further attempts at a solution are required here.
The invention is therefore based, proceeding from the creep and rotation monitoring arrangement of the aforesaid type, on the object of configuring a safety monitoring arrangement capable of meeting all safety requirements in such a way that even complex machines, especially known semi-automatic or automatic machines, in which more than one drive group requiring monitoring is always present, can be incorporated into a simply designed total monitoring system that can be expanded depending on requirements and drive systems.

Apparatus for safety monitoring in protective arrangements with normal and enhanced safety of machinery performing multiple-axis rotations


An integrated circuit comprising a plurality of modules (M) for processing applications is provided, wherein each of said modules comprise a local memory (LM). The integrated circuit further comprises a global memory (GM), which can be shared between the plurality of modules (M), and an interconnect means (IM) for interconnecting said modules (M) and said global memory (GM). A memory managing unit (MMU) is associated to each of said modules (M) and determines whether the local memory (LM) provides sufficient memory space for the currently processed application. If this is not the case, the memory managing unit (MMU) requests a global buffer (FB) in said global memory (GM) to be exclusively reserved for the processing data of its associated module (M). Accordingly, by using the local memory (LM), whenever possible, before data is outsourced to the global memory (GM), power as well as bandwidth of the interconnect means can be saved. Furthermore, sufficient flexibility is introduced to the system on-chip to enable running applications that demand more local resources e.g. local memory, than are available in the subsystems or modules (M), without having the need to design the subsystems or modules for worst case scenarios. Especially, when the worst-case demands are much higher than the average case, the cost advantage can be significant.

With the recent development of computation and communication resources two main trends in the architecture of mobile terminals have risen. The first trend is the application convergence and increasing diversity, e.g. more and more diverse functions or subsystems are integrated into a single terminal enabling the terminal to perform new services and applications. The second trend is directed to the aggravation of architecture complexity, e.g. the overall complexity of both hardware and software architectures exceeds the limits of conventional architectures style based on cores connected by buses.
One possible solution to meet for the above mentioned trends appears to be modularity. When the boundaries of modules are chosen to coincide with functional subsystems like GSM modems, displays or audio, two levels of hardware and software architecting can be derived. The first one is the intra-subsystem architecture where the conventional architecture style based on cores connected by buses can be applied whereby existing subsystems can be re-used. The second level of architecting is the inter-subsystem architecture, where a network architecture can be applied, with the inter-subsystem communication being performed on an OSI-like layered network architecture. With these two levels of architecting the development of functional subsystems can be performed as already known in the art, and therefore intellectual property (IP)-Blocks can be re-used.
Typically, most mobile terminals provide their function on the bases of a few peripheral components, like a portable audio player (an audio subsystem and a CD or solid-state storage), a mobile phone (GSM modem and speech codec), a palm-top organizer (touch screen+microprocessor) or a solid-state camera (camera+display+solid-state storage). The variety of these different subsystems, e.g. peripheral components, increases steadily. These different subsystems evolve independently of each other and rapidly become more advanced and more complex, so that their performance parameters, like bit rates, capacity, resolution and quality steadily improve. The actual terminals contain more and more subsystems and the internals of the subsystems become less important since the emphasis is moved towards software, applications and services.
While the traditional architecting based on cores and buses have been focussing on computations over a limited set of computation resources, scheduling tasks over a small set of tightly coupled blocks having low latencies, and tight bus protocols, the architecting between subsystems focuses no longer on computation but on communication. The resources shared by the different subsystems is the communication infrastructure and possibly a shared memory. These subsystems are usually loosely coupled with relatively high latencies and relatively low synchronisation rates as well as network protocols.
A terminal usually consists of a plurality of subsystems which are connected to each other via a network. Subsystems like UMTS modems or video codec can be designed independently. They may contain one or more programmable cores, some coprocessors, local memories and I/O. The network is used to connect the subsystems. All inter-subsystem communication, like data, instructions, memory traffic and control information will be performed via the network.
A so called Systems-on-Chip SoC typical comprise a plurality of subsystems e.g. functional elements or modules with local memory, which are connected by an interconnect scheme. This System-on-Chip SoC are adapted to perform different applications which can be mapped onto the set of subsystems. All functions performed by the subsystems require a certain amount of memory for performing their processing. The exact amount of memory will depend on a plurality of parameters like the screen size for video decoding, the data rate for modems or the like. Accordingly, different applications will have different demands for memory. Nowadays most application domains in the area of consumer electronics require that the system cost as well as the power consumption is minimized. To be competitive in the above mentioned constraint environment it is essential that the required amount of memory (both on-chip or external) is optimised for the specific application. On the other hand, with the above described trend of convergence of many consumer electronics markets like mobile phones, PDAs, MP3 player or the like, it is not feasible any more to look at a single specific application or merely a limited set of applications. Any realization of the terminal must be low-cost and low-power, where the costs are substantially defined by the bill of material, namely the chip area, the chip count, pin counts and PCB wiring layers. One important aspect for these terminals is the allocation of sufficient memory so that the applications can be performed as required.

Integrated circuit with dynamic memory allocation


A mobile terminal and a NFC antenna are provided. The mobile terminal includes: a terminal body, including a rear surface defined with a rear longitudinal centerline and a rear transverse centerline; near field communication antenna, disposed on the rear surface of the terminal body; wherein at least one of the rear longitudinal centerline and the rear transverse centerline pass through the near field communication antenna, and the near field communication antenna is disposed asymmetrically to the at least one of the rear longitudinal centerline and the rear transverse centerline. The mobile terminal according to the present disclosure shows a lower deviation of the resonance frequency when operating the P2P networking, and also shows high communication sensitivity, a high communication success rate, a strong communication capability, etc.

A near field communication (NFC) antenna consists of a circuit board and a planar coil. When two mobile terminals each including an NFC antenna operate a peer-to-peer (P2P) networking, the two NFC antennas may interfere with each other, which may cause a large deviation of a resonance frequency, affect a communication sensitivity and success rate, and thus there is a need for improvements.

Mobile terminal and near field communication antenna