A method is disclosed for removing organic and tungsten from sodium sulfate solutions to render the solutions suitable for ion membrane processing, which comprises contacting the solution wherein the pH of the solution is no greater than about 7, with activated carbon to remove essentially all of the organic and the tungsten therefrom and form a purified sodium sulfate solution.

This invention relates to a method for purifying sodium sulfate solutions of organic and tungsten in order that the sodium sulfate solution can be further processed by ion membrane technology to recover reagent materials.
In the processing of tungsten, tungsten is extracted from sodium tungstate solutions in a liquid-liquid extraction system. In this type of system, tungsten is extracted from a sodium tungstate solution by an organic extracting agent dissolved in a solubilizer. Sodium sulfate solutions are generated as raffinates from the operation of this system. These solutions present a waste removal problem. These solutions can be processed by ion membrane technology to recover sodium hydroxide and sulfuric acid which are usable products. This process avoids production of a waste stream. In ion membrane technology, a cell using ion exchange membranes is used. This cell is a critical part of the process and requires the use of purified solutions since any ion above monovalent contaminates the membranes and renders them inoperative. Some impurities in these solutions are tungsten and residual organic from the liquid-liquid extraction system. One typical organic system makes use of amines as the extracting agent and one or more commercial aromatic solvents. In ion membrane processing, tungsten in the sodium sulfate precipitates and plugs the membranes. Organics in the sodium sulfate solutions dissolve the membranes.
It would be advantageous therefore to purify these solutions of tungsten and organics so that they can be processed to recover usable materials.

Method for removing organic and tungsten from sodium sulfate solution


A stomal implant comprising a longitudinal portion configured to envelop at least a section of the bowel or ileal conduit, said longitudinal portion comprising: a proximal end for positioning at a stomal opening; a distal end for positioning within an abdomen; and a reversibly pressure-exerting device providing an ascending pressure gradient from the distal end to the proximal end, such that pressure exerted at the proximal end provides complete closure of the bowel or urethra.

An Ostomy is a surgically created opening in the body for the discharge of body wastes. A stoma is the actual end of the large or small intestine or ureter that can be seen protruding through the abdominal wall. The most common specific types of ostomies are colostomy, ileostomy and urostomy.
A colostomy is a surgically created opening of the colon (large intestine) which results in a stoma. A colostomy is created when a portion of the colon or the rectum is removed and the remaining colon is brought to the abdominal wall.
An ileostomy is a surgically created opening in the small intestine, usually at the end of the ileum. The intestine is brought through the abdominal wall to form a stoma.
A urostomy is a surgical procedure which diverts urine away from a diseased or defective bladder. The ileal or cecal conduit procedures are the most common urostomies. Either a section at the end of the small bowel (ileum) or at the beginning of the large intestine (cecum) is surgically removed and relocated as a conduit for urine to pass from the kidneys to the outside of the body through a stoma. It may include removal of the diseased bladder.
After a colostomy or ileostomy, feces leave the patient's body through an opening in the abdominal wall. External and internal views of stoma and bowel resection are illustrated in FIG. 1A.
After urostomy urine leave the patient's body through an opening in the abdominal wall. An example of a Urostomy is shown in FIG. 1B.
Stoma may be required, for example, following surgical removal of a section of the colon or the small bowel, such that it is no longer possible for the intestinal content to pass out via the anus (e.g. due to colon cancer, diverticulitis, trauma, inflammatory bowel disease, etc.) or following an operation on a section of the bowel which then needs to be rested until it heals. In the latter example, the stoma is often temporary and is reversed at a later date, once healing is complete.
Following a stoma operation, an artificial method of controlled fecal or urine evacuation is required. Such methods may involve non-irrigation systems, involving use of a pouch in which feces or urine is collected (as illustrated in FIG. 2B); or irrigation systems, wherein the bowel is washed out without the use of a pouch.
For irrigation systems, a removable closure, such as a gauze cap, is placed over the stoma, and irrigation is scheduled for specific times. To irrigate, a catheter is placed inside the stoma, and flushed with water, which allows the feces to come out of the body into an irrigation sleeve. Irrigation is generally performed once a day or every other day, though this depends on the person, location of the stoma, their food intake, and their health.
Non-irrigation systems have a number of disadvantages. The pouch is difficult to hide and to keep securely attached, and an odor of feces is frequently detectable. The pouch must generally be emptied or changed several times a day, depending on the frequency of bowel activity. In addition, difficulties in stoma self-care, skin irritation, decreased social relations and sexual problems are commonly reported by patients using the pouch.
WO 96/32904 discloses prosthesis for bowel evacuation control, which is inserted into the intestinal lumen, having a faceplate and a cover to prevent the feces escaping. Such a cover is unlikely to provide a reliable, watertight seal for long term use. Furthermore, it would be expected that build up of gas would occur within the bowel.
There is thus a widely recognized need for, and it would be highly advantageous to have, a stomal implant which is devoid of at least some of the disadvantages of the prior art.


A flavor inhaler includes a tubular holder that extends from a mouthpiece end toward a distal end, a flavor source that is provided in the holder, and a combustion type heat source that is provided at the distal end, and includes a protruding portion protruding from the distal end and a flavorant carried on the protruding portion.

Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 63-164875 discloses the smoking product containing the improved fuel elements. In the preferred embodiment of this document, the carbonaceous fuel elements contain, in essence, no volatile organic material.
Jpn. PCT National Publication No. 2010-535530 discloses a distillation-based smoking article. This document discloses that one or more flavorant agents may be applied to the rear end surface of the combustible heat source.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Flavor inhaler and method of manufacturing combustion type heat source


Ripple-carry and carry look-ahead adders for ternary addition and other operations include circuits that produce carry values or carry status indicators that can be stored on qutrit registers associated with input values to be processed. Inverse carry circuits are situated to reverse operations associated with the production of carry values or carry status indicators, and restored values are summed with corresponding carry values to produce ternary sums.

Quantum circuits for performing arithmetic operations are an essential part of key quantum algorithms such as Shor's factorization, discrete logarithm, hidden subgroup algorithms and others. The importance of quantum ternary logic for applications such as quantum key distribution has been understood since late 1980s. Recently, ternary arithmetic has become important in quantum computing due to potential architectural platforms grounded in ternary representation, for example in the metaplectic any on architecture. Ternary quantum logic may also be relevant for other architectural platforms such as quantum dots, where higher energy levels can be used to store additional logic states. While ternary hardware architectures have been investigated, satisfactory circuits and procedures for ternary arithmetic and ternary quantum logic for algorithm and circuit compilation are generally unavailable.

Method and system for efficient quantum ternary arithmetic


A semiconductor light receiving element of back-illuminated type comprises a light absorbing portion formed in the vicinity of the main surface of the semiconductor substrate transparent to the incident light, and a first convex lens portion larger than the light absorbing portion and having a radius of curvature R1 formed on a back surface of the semiconductor substrate, a second convex lens portion smaller than the light absorbing portion and having a radius of curvature R2 smaller than the radius of curvature R1; the second convex lens portion formed on the first convex lens portion and having a focal point between the second convex lens portion and the light absorbing portion; light incident on the second convex lens portion is diffused from the focal point toward the light absorbing portion.

In the optical communication field, developments are being made to increase the transmission speed in order to respond to a rapid increase in the traffic. In optical communication, an optical signal is transmitted from a transmitting side via an optical fiber cable, and an optical signal received by a semiconductor light receiving element is converted into an electric signal on a receiving side.
The transmission speed on the receiving side can be increased by increasing the response speed of the semiconductor light receiving element. For this purpose, it is necessary to improve the upper limit of the response speed defined by the element capacitance and the element resistance. The element capacitance becomes smaller as the area of the light receiving part of the semiconductor light receiving element, that is, the diameter of the light absorbing portion for converting light into electricity (charge) becomes smaller. For example, when a semiconductor light receiving element having a response frequency band of about 20 GHz is realized, if the diameter of the light absorbing portion is about 20 μm, the element capacity becomes sufficiently small.
On the other hand, the semiconductor light receiving element receives incident light emitted from the end of the optical fiber cable and traveling while spreading at a predetermined divergence angle (divergence angle). Therefore, as the diameter of the light absorbing portion is reduced in order to reduce the element capacity, the amount of received light is reduced and the receiving efficiency (sensitivity) is reduced. For this reason, there is known a back-illuminated type semiconductor light receiving element in which a convex lens capable of condensing incident light on a small diameter of light absorbing portion is formed on a semiconductor substrate in order to suppress a decrease in the amount of received light, as in Patent Documents #1 and #2.


A flow control system includes a control device for intravenous (IV) tubing or other flexible or compressible tubing, wherein selectors are depressed to cause different amounts of compression of the tubing to partially flatten or squeeze the tube, and, hence, to cause different flow-rates of liquid through the tubing. The flow control system may have a housing surrounding a portion of the tube and the selectors may be moveable in the housing away from the tube to an outward position and moveable in the housing to an inward position against and pressing on the tube so that the selector compresses the tube into reduced-cross-section shape to reduce flow through the axial fluid passage of the tube. The selectors may be positioned in series along the tube, with each selector contacting a different portion of the tube.

In hospitals, clinics or field medical operations, intravenous (IV) tubes are regularly used in situations that necessitate selection of various specific IV flow-rates. Prior IV control systems tend to be either difficult to monitor and adjust accurately, or too complex, heavy, and expensive for many situations and locations.
Existing in-line pump-driven flow control systems are typically costly, complex, and/or heavy, and reply on a power source other than gravity. In-line pump systems exist that have complex control systems, for example, which compare the actual flow-rate to the desired flow-rate to produce error signals that are then utilized to adjust the actual flow-rate. Such complex devices are impractical for use in remote field situations where low cost and simplicity are important.
Another approach to flow control in an intravenous system is to provide a manifold having multiple connection points for tubing, with each connection point corresponding to a different flow rate. Such a connector may address the need for reduced cost but is complex to use. Further, such a connector may create a contamination risk, by exposing the fluid to the environment when the tube is moved from one manifold connection point to the next.
Flow adjustment in IV tubes has also been attempted by means of providing a folded IV tube and controlling flow by limiting the degree of unfolding of a folded IV tube. Such a system has the benefit of the flow control apparatus not being in-line, but such a system tends to be inaccurate and difficult to control.
A flow control system comprises a fluid conduit tube having a flexible or compressible wall defining an interior axial fluid passage, and a control device having a plurality of selector units moveable to press on the tube so that the selector units compress the tube to have a reduced-cross-section, thus, reducing flow through the axial fluid passage of the tube. The selector units preferably move inward toward the tube to an inward position that compresses the tube and outward to an outward position that releases the compressive force on the tube. The selector units are adapted so that, in their inward positions, they cause different amounts of flow restriction, thus, corresponding to different flow rate selections.
The flow control device may be adapted for flexible conduits that deliver fluids to various processes, both medical and otherwise. The preferred embodiment of the flow control device is particularly well-adapted for IV tubes, wherein there are typically a small number of standard flow-rates, and wherein it is important to minimize the contact of the fluid with valves or other equipment that might contaminate the fluid with microbes or chemicals. The preferred embodiment of the flow control device comprises a plurality of discrete adjustments, corresponding to the preferred or standard flow-rates for IV treatments.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


Two inductors formed in multiple layers of conductive layers of integrated circuits are disclosed. Symmetric portions of a first inductor and a second inductor are formed in two or more conductive layers. Portions of the first inductor in adjacent conductive layers are connected by vias, and portions of the second inductor in adjacent conductive layers are connected by vias. The first and second inductor portions form a substantially loop-shaped structure in each conductive layer. The first and second inductor vias may be positioned at the same position within the substantially loop-shaped inductor structure by alternating inner and outer radiuses, or the vias for the second inductor may be positioned opposite the vias for the first inductor within the substantially loop-shaped inductor structure, using notches in the first and second inductor portions.

An inductor in electronics applications typically comprises a coil of wire that exhibits electromagnetic properties when current is run through the coil of wire. In general, an inductor can store energy in its magnetic field, and an inductor tends to resist a change in the amount of current flowing through it, for example. The inductance of an inductor is dependent upon several factors. One factor is the number of windings: the larger the number of windings, the higher the inductance. Another factor is the cross-sectional area of the coil: more area results in higher inductance. Another factor is the width of windings: a larger width results in a higher ratio of outer to inner diameter of the coil and reduced inductance. These factors also affect the parasitic capacitance and resistance of the inductor.
Inductors may be used singularly, or inductors may be used in pairs as differential inductors or transformers, as examples. In some semiconductor applications, such as RF IC's, inductors are manufactured on integrated circuits. It is desirable for circuits using on-chip (e.g., inductors manufactured on a semiconductor wafer or die) differential inductors to consume as little power as possible in order to extend battery life, for example, and for the differential inductors to produce as little noise as possible. Another important requirement for on-chip differential inductors is that they have low parasitic capacitance and that the inductance, capacitance, and resistance values of the pair of inductors are symmetric. On-chip inductors are significant components of RF IC's and are used in voltage controlled oscillators (VCO's), impedance matching networks, emitter degeneration circuits, and filters, as examples.
VCO's typically utilize differential inductors, which comprise two inductors coupled at one end to a common node or central tap. A VCO is an oscillator, wherein the control voltage controls the oscillator output frequency. Telecommunications systems such Bluetooth and GSM utilize VCO's in transceivers for controlling and switching channels, for example, for cell phone or wireless applications. Differential inductors with high inductivity, quality factor and low parasitic capacitance are needed for RF IC's such as VCO's in order to achieve low current and power consumption, low phase noise, and large tuning range for the frequency of the VCO.
FIG. 1 shows a prior art on-chip differential inductor in which all of the windings of two inductors are coplanar in one metallization layer. A single level differential inductor of this type is utilized in a VCO design described in a paper by Tiebout entitled, "A Fully Integrated 1.3 GHz VCO for GSM in 0.25 μm Standard CMOS with a Phasenoise of −142 dBc/Hz at 3 MHz Offset," published in Proceedings 30th European Microwave Conference, Paris, October, 2000, which paper is incorporated herein by reference. In particular, see FIG. 5 of the Tiebout paper, which shows a similar design of a differential inductor as is shown in FIG. 1 of the present patent application.
In the single layer differential inductor shown in FIG. 1, a second metallization level is used for the under-crossings, which are necessary to increase the symmetry of the differential inductor. The inductor is designed for a low parasitic capacitance of the two differential inputs at terminals A and B. The inductor includes two partial inductors: inductor LA, which comprises a partial inductor disposed between terminal A and middle tap D, and inductor LB, which comprises a partial inductor disposed between B and the middle tap D. The partial inductors LA and LA are close to being symmetric and have a high coupling ratio. The middle tap D is typically coupled with a supply voltage (VDD). A prior art VCO circuit that the differential inductor shown in FIG. 1 may be used in is shown in FIG. 2, for example.
In the differential inductor design shown in FIG. 1, the difference of the diameter of the inner and outer windings of inductors LA and LB leads to a reduced coupling factor of the windings and to a reduced achievable inductivity. The ratio of resistivity to inductivity, which is responsible for the quality factor (Q factor), is therefore degraded. The Q factor is a measure of an inductor's performance characteristics and has strong influence on the performance of the RF circuit, such as power consumption and noise, for example. It is desirable to build on-chip differential inductors with high inductance, high Q factor, low capacitance and high symmetry using only a small footprint.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,759,937 B2 issued to Kyriazidou, entitled "On-chip Differential Multi-Layer Inductor," which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a differential inductor that is formed in two metal layers. The use of additional metal layers for shunting additional windings in parallel to the inductor windings is also disclosed. However, this differential inductor design does not achieve perfect symmetry, because the connection structure that is used to connect the partial inductors introduces an asymmetry.
In particular, in the prior art differential inductor formed in a single metallization layer shown in FIG. 1, and also with the prior art differential inductor formed in two metal layers as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,759,937, there is a lack of symmetry due to the cross-overs of the inductors. For example, the underpasses where the windings cross each other add resistance and capacitance to one winding but not to the other. This offset is typically reduced in prior art designs by alternating the underpasses. However, the location within the inductor is unsymmetrical, e.g., one half inductor has its underpasses nearer to the middle pin or center tap, and the other one nearer to the A or B voltage input. It is desirable for the two inductors of a differential inductor to have the same value of inductance and for the windings to be symmetric regarding the resistance and capacitance (e.g., to the substrate or to other inductor windings).
Thus, what are needed in the art are improved differential inductor designs in integrated circuits.

Integrated circuits with inductors in multiple conductive layers


Technologies are described herein for synchronizing slide show events with audio. Data defining one or more animation events, slide transitions, or visual effects and an audio file to be played during the defined events is received. The audio file is processed to identify the audio events contained therein. Once the audio events in the audio file have been identified, the defined animation events are synchronized to the identified audio events using an audio synchronization scheme that includes data defining how the audio events are to be synchronized to the animation events. A user interface may be provided that allows a user to select an audio synchronization scheme to be applied to a presentation. A user interface may also be provided that allows a user to visually associate an animation event with any audio event identified within an audio file.

Presentation application programs provide functionality for creating and delivering audiovisual presentations. Typically, presentations take the form of one or more presentation slides. Each presentation slide can include numerous objects, such as text, photographs, lists, tables, charts, shapes, clip art, movies, and others. Presentation slides can be displayed on-screen and navigated through at the command of a user in order to deliver the presentation.
Many presentation application programs provide functionality for animating and applying visual effects to the objects on each presentation slide and for animating and applying visual effects to the transitions between presentation slides. For instance, using the functionality provided by typical presentation application programs, a user could define a motion path for an object on a presentation slide. When the presentation slide is displayed, the presentation application program will cause the object to be animated along the defined motion path. A user may manually define other types of animation and visual effects properties to be applied to a presentation object in a similar manner.
Many presentation application programs also provide functionality for playing an audio file during a presentation. However, it has traditionally been difficult for a user to synchronize animation events within a presentation to interesting time points within an audio file. For instance, a user may want the animation of text and graphics within a presentation to occur as each main beat of an audio file is played. Users previously achieved this result by listening to the audio file repeatedly to identify the interesting audio events within the audio file, and then manually aligning the start times of the slide show events with the manually identified audio events. This is a tedious and time-consuming process that is frustrating to users and which, in many cases, provides results that are less than ideal.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the disclosure made herein is presented.

Synchronizing slide show events with audio


An electric steam iron includes a steam generator with an output port, a switching device formed of a body and a movable member. The body has an inlet in air communication with the output port, a first outlet, a second outlet, a first passage in air communication with the inlet and the first outlet, and a second passage in air communication with the inlet and the second outlet. The movable member is disposed in the intersection between the first passage and the second passage and movable between a first position where steam goes out of the first outlet and a second position where steam goes out of the second passage. A cleaning device has a connector for connection to the body of the switching device to move the movable member from the first position to the second position and a nozzle connected to the connector for steam output.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an iron for making clothes smooth and flat and more particularly, to an electric steam iron that provides ironing and steam cleaning functions.
2. Description of the Related Art
An ordinary steam iron essentially comprises a steam generator and an ironing unit connected with the steam generator. The ironing unit has multiple through holes for steam output. When in use, the user presses the ironing unit on the clothes and uses the steam to remove wrinkles from the clothes, thereby making the clothes smooth and flat.
However, an ordinary steam iron is designed for horizontal ironing. When ironing, the clothes must be spread out horizontally on a flat surface. This design has its limitation in application, i.e., an ordinary steam iron is not suitable for vertical ironing to remove wrinkles from hung clothes.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an electric steam iron that eliminates the application limitation drawback of the conventional design.


To realize a wireless imaging apparatus having excellent sensitivity to an environmental change, a wireless imaging device has an imaging unit with a function of imaging a subject and a communication unit with a wireless communication function. The imaging unit has, at least, an optical lens, an aperture 2 to limit incident light from the optical lens, an optical sensor 4 to convert the incident light passed through the aperture 2 into an electric signal, and an antenna for wireless communication, integrally formed with the aperture.

In recent years, wireless communication using radio frequency (RF) and light is widely performed. For example, a cellular phone using a magnetic wave in a 900 to 1900 MHz band is indispensable as an anytime-and-anywhere communicable wireless mobile communication tool. Further, as communication means between personal computers or between a personal computer and a printer, wireless communication using a radio wave in a 2.45 GHz band in conformity with wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11b or IEEE 802.11a) or Bluetooth standard, is realized and widely used in offices and houses. Further, a Suica (registered trademark) card, adopted by East Japan Railway Company in 2001, realizes non-contact reading and writing of ticket at a station ticket gate.
The above tools are about palm-sized products, however, coin-sized or smaller wireless communication tools, so-called radio tags are used for personal identification (ID) purpose and the like. For example, an anti-theft automobile key is realized by using a small radio tag of about 1 cm embedded in the key thereby enabling an authentication operation upon turning-on of the key. In addition, in a case where cable communication cannot be performed without difficulty between e.g. a mountain top place and a point at the ground, optical communication is employed for high-speed communication of images obtained by a camera.
Further, a value-added network incorporating a large number of sensors has been actively developed. For example, proposed is a system as a precaution against earthquake, constructed with an acceleration sensor and a strain sensor embedded into a steel frame of a building structure for measuring the degree of fatigue of the steel frame or concrete.
Further, recently, a wireless sensing network is positively proposed.
Nikkei Electronics issued Jul. 15, 2002 introduces in pp 99 to 129, several sensing network systems. For example, a large number of sensors are distributed in a forest, and the amount of generated oxygen, the amount of absorbed CO2, the temperature, humidity of the forest and the like are grasped in detail, for the purpose of early detection of bush fire or CO2 emission trading.
Further, an imaging network by optical sensing may be constructed. Among various types of lenses for an imaging system U.S. Pat. No. 5,004,328 discloses a spherical lens 1 including an aperture 2 in its central portion as shown in FIG. 11. It is known that the aperture improves image formation characteristic of the imaging system.
In a case where a wireless sensing network is constructed by arranging a large number of sensing devices (hereinbelow, each referred to as an "Mote"), to sense a slight environmental change in a wide range, the size of the Mote must be small. Further, in wireless communication, to perform communication with a place as far as possible, the size of antenna must be as large as possible.
Accordingly, in a case where a wireless sensing network by wireless communication is constructed for sensing a slight environmental change in a wider range, it is necessary to reduce the size of the Mote and increase the size of the antenna for wireless communication.
However, if the antenna for wireless communication is provided in the Mote, the size of the Mote increases, which disturbs construction of wireless sensing network for excellent sensitivity to environmental change. Further, as the structure of the Mote is complicated, a manufacturing process of the Mote becomes complicated.
Further, upon construction of a sensing network system with distributed devices having sensing and communication functions (hereinbelow, each referred to as a "sensing Mote"), if each sensing Mote has a high performance capability, the cost is increased by arranging a large number of sensing Motes.
Further, in a case where the sensing Mote is reduced in size for sensing a slight environmental change, the sensing function installed in the small sensing Mote is limited.

Wireless imaging apparatus and its control method


An embolisation device (10) for promoting clot formation in a bodily lumen (L) and having a collapsed delivery configuration for delivery of the embolisation device (10) into, and retrieval of the embolisation device (10) from, the bodily lumen (L) and an expanded deployed configuration for anchoring the embolisation device (10) in the bodily lumen (L). The embolisation device (10) comprises a tubular cage (20) having a collapsed delivery configuration and an expanded deployed configuration. The embolisation device further comprises an embolisation member (30) disposed in the tubular cage (20), the embolisation member (30) comprising a stem (31) and a plurality of flexible bristles (32) extending outwardly from the stem, the plurality of flexible bristles having a collapsed delivery configuration and an expanded deployed configuration. The embolisation device (10) is configured such that as the tubular cage (20) is transitioned from its expanded deployed configuration to its collapsed delivery configuration the plurality of flexible bristles (32) is urged by the tubular cage (20) from the expanded deployed configuration of the flexible bristles (32) to the collapsed delivery configuration of the flexible bristles (32).

Embolisation devices may be deployed in the vasculature at a particular location by a medical practitioner so as to promote blood clot formation and ultimately occlude the blood vessel. However, typical embolisation devices may be prone to migration within the vasculature which may cause serious adverse effects.
To reduce migration, some embolisation devices may include a number of bristles or fibres extending radially outwardly from a central stem. The bristles are configured to contact the bodily lumen and anchor the embolisation device in the lumen due to friction between the bristles and the wall of the lumen.
However, in these embolisation devices, the bristles are unconfined. This means that these embolisation devices, once deployed, can only be partially recaptured as once the proximal bristles are deployed, any attempt to recapture and retrieve the device would lead to them becoming reoriented in the wrong direction. This reorientation of the bristles may cause damage to the device itself or the bodily lumen within which it is deployed.
In view of the above, there is a need for an improved embolisation device which is capable of being fully recaptured in a safe and convenient manner. There is also a need for an improved method of fully recapturing an improved embolisation device from the bodily lumen of a patient in a safe and convenient manner.

Embolisation device for promoting blood clot formation and a method of retrieving the same from a bodily lumen


An assembly includes a housing that has a tubular shape provided with opposed open ends, a planar top surface with spaced apertures adjacent to the ends thereof, and is formed from durable and non-corrosive material. Couplings are insertable into the open ends and are adaptable along a longitudinal axis of the housing. Each coupling has a core provided with a linear bore formed at an angle offset from a vertical axis and a hole formed therein which is positional with an associated one of the apertures. Quick-release pins are insertable into corresponding ones of the apertures and holes, maintaining the couplings at a static relationship with the housing. Coextensive support shafts are interfittable into the bores after the couplings are displaced from the housing. A flexible cord has opposed ends tethered to the support shafts so that the cord maintains a sufficient tension for supporting wet clothes therefrom.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to clothes line assemblies and, more particularly, to a portable clothesline assembly for vehicles.
2. Prior Art
On extended camping trips of more than a few days, people often find it necessary to launder their clothes. However, many recreational vehicles, or campers, are not provided with any means for laundering or drying clothes. Although the clothes can be washed in the sink or a small plastic basin, drying them is still a problem. Thus, people are often required to suspend wet clothes from tree limbs or other insufficient structures.
Various proposed clothesline devices are potentially adaptable for use in camper vehicles. One example shows a rod compressed between opposite walls of a shower stall. Clotheslines are stretched between brackets at opposite ends of the rod. If this device is sized for use in the very small shower in a camper vehicle, it will be so short that it can hang just a few small items of clothing. Another example shows a chain hung between two mounting strips attached on opposite walls. Although it can be adapted for mounting in a camper, such as in the shower, the chain will have to be so short that it will be of little practical use. The metal construction also has a tendency to rust when exposed to wet clothes, which renders the device useless.
Finally, yet another prior art example shows a portable clothesline device with a pair of clamps for clamping onto a window sill. It includes a complicated mechanism for deploying and retracting clotheslines between a pair of arms. If it is sized for mounting on the narrow windows of a camper, the arms will be very close together, so that the clotheslines will be too short to be of much use. Apart from their insufficient size, these examples share another crucial disadvantage among themselves. They are all designed to be employed on the interior of a camper or recreational vehicle, where clothes would take longer to dry than if hung on the exterior and in the sun.
Accordingly, a need remains for a portable clothesline assembly for vehicles in order to overcome the above-noted shortcomings. The present invention satisfies such a need by providing a portable clothesline assembly that is easy and convenient to use, and provides the user with considerable time savings. Such a portable clothesline assembly eliminates the need to place wet clothes on awning supports or suspending them from tree limbs. The assembly provides a considerable amount of space in order to hang towels, bathing suits, and other clothes simultaneously in direct sunlight. This advantageously saves the user's time and ensures that the items are properly dried or aired out.

Portable clothesline assembly for vehicles


There is provided a system and method for rendering in accordance with location of virtual objects in real-time. There is provided a method for persistent association of a graphic overlay with a virtual object in a displayable environment, comprising receiving a first three-dimensional coordinate of the virtual object in the displayable environment, determining a three-dimensional coordinate of the graphic overlay in accordance with the first three-dimensional coordinate of the virtual object, tracking a movement of the virtual object in the displayable environment by receiving one or more second three-dimensional coordinates of the virtual object, and modifying the three-dimensional coordinate of the graphic overlay in accordance with the one or more second three-dimensional coordinates of the virtual object.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to digital video. More particularly, the present invention relates to rendering digital video rendering.
2. Background Art
Sports are widely watched and enjoyed by many people, from dedicated sports fans to casual spectators. While just watching the game or match by itself is already exciting, the addition of supplemental commentary, statistics, analysis, and visuals may deepen viewer appreciation of the techniques and strategies used by the sports players. Viewers can keep tabs on the running statistics of their favorite players, view simulations of various potential game plans, and learn about the planning and strategy involved in past replays. In this manner, new spectators can quickly get up to speed on game rules and common scenarios, whereas seasoned fans can deepen their knowledge of specific strategies and detailed statistics.
Some examples of such supplemental content may include statistics marquees, player profile screens, and other information. However, much of this supplemental content is traditionally presented either on a reserved static portion of the screen or on a separate screen. Separate screens may distract viewers from primary footage of the game, whereas static locations might be difficult for viewers to read and focus. Both situations are less than ideal. On the other hand, placing such supplemental content on a more flexible, dynamically locatable overlay traditionally requires manual path adjustment to avoid interfering and obscuring other onscreen objects, a potentially time consuming and error prone process.
Accordingly, there is a need to overcome the drawbacks and deficiencies in the art by providing a way to present dynamically moving overlays without requiring manual positioning adjustments.

System and method for rendering in accordance with location of virtual objects in real-time


Disclosed is a Bragg mirror, a resonator and a filter device comprised thereof. The Bragg mirror comprises a stack of plurality of layers arranged in an axial direction, wherein the plurality of layers comprises at least one first layer comprising, in a radial direction, a first material and a second material, wherein the first material is a first metal and the second material is a different material with respect to the first material, and wherein the first material is radially embedded by the second material in the first layer, or vice versa. The resonator comprises a top electrode, a bottom electrode, a piezo electric layer arranged between the top electrode and the bottom electrode, a substrate, and a Bragg mirror arranged between the bottom electrode and the substrate.

Resonators are used in the front ends of wireless communication devices and nodes for radio frequency filtering. In the GHz frequency area, Solidly Mounted Resonator-Bulk Acoustic Wave (SMR-BAW) resonators may be applied. The active part of the SMR-BAW resonator consists of a top electrode, a piezo layer, and a bottom electrode. The active part is placed on a substrate. To acoustically isolate the active part of the SMR-BAW resonator from the substrate, the active layers are placed on a Bragg mirror. Layers of materials with high and low acoustic impedance alternate in the Bragg mirror creating a layer stack which reflects acoustic waves back to the active part. This may be referred to as an acoustic Bragg mirror. Typically, the Bragg mirror consists of alternating Silicon dioxide (SiO2) having a low acoustic impedance and tungsten (W) having a high acoustic impedance layers.
The properties of the materials used in the Bragg mirror are sensitive to ambient and intrinsic temperature variations. The temperature is therefore one of the fundamental factors affecting the performance of the Bragg mirror and thereby the performance of the SMR-BAW resonator. More specifically, temperature variations affect the resonance frequencies in the SMR-BAW resonator and consequently also the centre frequency, bandwidth and performance of a SMR-BAW filter which uses the SMR-BAW resonator. Conventional solutions to compensate this effect are based on adding two or more SiO2 layers into the layer stack of the SMR-BAW resonator. SiO2 has a positive temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF) near room temperature, which means that SiO2 stiffens with increased temperature. The adequate amount of added SiO2 layer stiffens the layer stack so that the TCF of the resonator can get close to zero. This solution provides sufficient temperature compensation in SMR-BAW resonators employed in applications where the applied signal levels are well below 1 Watt. However, in new applications for SMR-BAW resonators, e.g. in the front-ends of base stations, increased signal levels are applied. The increased signal levels induce increased temperature in the SMR-BAW resonators, which leads to higher demands on the temperature compensation.
Another factor affecting the performance of the SMR-BAW resonator is spurious resonances. Spurious resonances close to resonance frequencies of the SMR-BAW resonator suppress the bandwidth and increase the insertion loss of the SMR-BAW resonator. Typically, these spurious resonances emerge as standing shear waves. Conventional solutions to suppress spurious resonances are based on adding a ring covering the top electrode edges or designing the top electrode shape so that there are no 90° angles.

Bragg mirror, resonator and filter device


An interactive device using removable templates to provide adjustable interactive output is disclosed. The interactive device includes a console unit, a plurality of electronic elements included in the console unit, and a plurality of movable elements included in the console unit. A controller is included in the console unit and is coupled to the electronic elements and is coupled to the movable elements. The controller is adapted to recognize a removable template on the console unit and control the electronic elements to provide an output related to the removable template and an actuation of the movable elements.

Electronic devices, appliances, toys, and the like, that have the ability to produce noises and sounds have become extremely popular in recent years with students, children, etc. In this regard, a number of devices have been developed that produce sounds (e.g., speak or talk) when a child pushes a button on the device, and/or flash or otherwise turn on one or more lights of the device. For example, after pushing the button, a given device produces a prerecorded sound in conjunction with blinking/flashing one or more colored lights.
A number of electronic devices exist to facilitate a learning and/or entertainment experience for a user (e.g., child). For example, a device, appliance, toy, or the like, might have a button with the letter "E" printed on it. After a child presses the letter "E", the toy says the sound of the letter E (e.g., "eeee"). In one conventional electronic learning device, the device can respond to the user in a certain manner in order to reinforce a behavior (e.g., pressing letters in a certain manner, such as to spell a particular word).
Such toys could be improved. For example, over time, as a child grows up (e.g., from birth to 12 months, 18 months, 24 months, etc.) the child can become familiar with the responses from the toy. The child learns that by pushing on a certain part of the toy, the toy produces the same sound over and over again. The same set of buttons with the same corresponding set of sounds is always presented to the user. Consequently, learning and play can become predictable and repetitious. The child can lose interest in the toy and the educational and entertainment value of the toy to the child diminishes.
Another problem is the fact that the visual presentation of conventional toys become familiar to the child over time. A child becomes familiar with the look and feel of a toy. For example, a toy's look and feel encompasses its colors, the manner of its lights (e.g., flashing lights, blinking lights, etc.), its shapes and images, and the like. The child can become familiar with the look and feel of the toy, the manner of its behavior, and the way the child interacts with the toy. The child learns which interactive shapes or images produce which blinking/flashing lights and sounds. The same visual look is presented to the child, and consequently, over time the child looses interest in the toy.
Another problem with this type of toy is that the device typically includes subject matter having only a single level of intellectual difficulty. While a device having a single level of intellectual difficulty may be effective in maintaining the attention span of a child possessing a corresponding level of intelligence, it has been found that this type of device is not as effective in maintaining the attention span of children having higher or lower levels of cognitive development. For example, a child with a lower level of cognitive development than the intellectual level provided by a learning device of this type would become easily frustrated by the difficulty of the questions provided by the device. Likewise, a child having a higher level of cognitive development than the level provided by the device would become bored with the device because the questions are too easy. It would be desirable if an electronic toy had more functionality and more ways to stimulate and engage a child, both visually and audibly.

Device using removable templates to provide adjustable interactive output


A multiple stage method of electrolessly depositing a metal layer is presented. This method may have the two main stages of first forming a thin metal layer on a metal surface using an electroless plating solution containing activating agents that are highly reactive reducing agents, and second, forming a bulk metal layer over the thin metal layer by using an electroless plating solution containing mildly reactive reducing agents. Through this two stage method, the use of highly reactive reducing agents that may cause the formation of contaminant particles may be minimized. By minimizing the formation of contaminant particles in the electroless plating solution, the lifetime of the solution may be extended and the current leakage between metal interconnect lines may be reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of electroless plating, and more particularly to the application of electroless plating to the fabrication of interconnect structures in semiconductor devices.
2. Discussion of Related Art
The interconnect lines of integrated circuits may be formed with any highly conductive material such as the conductive metals aluminum, copper, and gold. Copper, in particular, has become widely used to form interconnect lines. But, a drawback to using copper and other similar materials is that diffusion of the metal may occur. The metal atoms may diffuse out of the confines of the interconnect line and into the surrounding materials such as the dielectric. This diffusion may cause shorts and ultimately the failure of devices.
The electromigration of the metal used to form the interconnect lines may be countered by forming a diffusion barrier layer containing cobalt substantially surrounding the interconnect lines or capping the interconnect lines. The cobalt diffusion barrier layer may typically be formed by electroless deposition. Electroless plating is a process for depositing a layer of material onto a surface by the chemical reduction of an electrolytic solution in the absence of an external electric current. The electroless plating is typically performed by immersing the subject to be plated into an electroless bath solution. The electroless bath solution for the plating of a cobalt layer may contain cobalt ions that may be provided by cobalt chloride (CoCl2) or cobalt sulfate (CoSO4), a complexing agent such as citric acid, a buffer agent such as ammonium chloride (NH4Cl) or ammonium sulfate (NH4)2SO4, a reducing agent such as hypophosphite, and a pH adjuster such as tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH). In using such a solution it may be necessary to activate the metal to be plated before applying the electroless solution. The metal may be activated by depositing a noble metal catalytic layer such as platinum or palladium on the metal lines. But, this noble metal catalytic layer may increase the resistance of the interconnect lines and cause current leakage. For example, a palladium noble metal layer may result in a 20%-50% increase in copper interconnect line resistance.
Active agents such as the reducing agents dimethylamine borane (DMAB) and borohydrate may be placed in the electroless plating bath to avoid the use of a noble metal catalytic layer. These active agents are highly reactive and serve to catalyze the deposition of the diffusion barrier onto the metal. But, these activation agents such as DMAB and borohydrate may be so reactive that they can dramatically shorten the effective lifetime of the electroless plating bath and may also cause the formation of large particles in the electroless plating bath that may deposit on the metal. Active agents such as DMAB and borohydrate tend to react with the metal particles in the electroless plating solution, and then those particles react with other particles, and so on, until very large metal particles are formed. These large metallic particles may deposit onto the metal being plated and cause current leakage between the interconnect lines leading to shorts and the ultimate breakdown of a device.

Multiple stage electroless deposition of a metal layer


A submarine branching unit is disclosed that includes a termination for each of at least three line cables and a termination to sea ground. A relay is positioned between each pair of cable terminations. When current flows between two of the cables, the intermediary relay will become energized and cause a contact to connect the third cable to the sea-ground termination. To avoid dangerous surges in current to sea ground when a relay trips, a current limiter is placed in series with the sea ground termination.

The present invention relates generally to a branching unit for underwater cables. More particularly, the invention relates to a branching unit for underwater telecommunication cables having a circuit in series with sea ground that limits peak current flowing through a relay in the branching unit, which extends the life of the relay and prevents any arc inside the relay envelope due to high current when the relay contact closes that could cause a main trunk cable to be shorted to sea earth.
Underwater or submarine cable systems were originally designed to provide a telecommunications link between two landing points separated by a body of water, such as France and England. Optical fiber within the submarine cable could carry high bandwidth telecommunications across tens of kilometers without the need for amplification or regeneration.
As applications evolved that required transmission across larger distances, optical repeaters in the form of regenerators or amplifiers were required within the cable span, which mandated the availability of electrical power. Power feed lines and optical transmission lines were provided together in the submarine cables. These cable systems were soon improved to provide a telecommunications connection to three or more separate landing points by employing a branching unit at the junction of multiple cables under the body of water. A standard branching unit connected a main cable from one landing point and two spur cables from second and third landing points, respectively, in a Y-shaped arrangement.
FIG. 1 illustrates a typical three landing point connection scheme. Branching unit 100 physically interconnects the cables, coordinates the routing of the cables, and provides for power switching between the cables, among other things. Conventionally, stations at the landing points power repeaters 120 within the three cables in a two-sided and one-sided arrangement. In particular, the transmission of electrical direct current along a power feed line of the intervening cables is established between any two of the landing points, and the third landing point passes electrical current through its respective cable to a ground at sea earth. Relays within the branching unit establish the two-sided (bilateral) and one-sided (unilateral) feeding configuration and help to change it if a fault arises in one of the branches. More elaborate schemes also exist for connecting multiple landing points and multiple branching units in a submarine network.
The act of configuring a branching unit refers to coordinating the application of power from the respective landing points by providing a first power connection (two-sided) between any two landing points and a second power connection (one-sided) between the third landing point and sea earth. The two-sided power connection between the above two landing points can be either a two-end feeding as shown in FIGS. 2A, 2B, i.e., a generator is present at each of the two landing points or, alternatively, a one-end feeding, i.e., a generator is present at one of the landing points and the cable is grounded at the other of the two landing points.
FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate the two configuration steps. As shown in FIG. 2A, a low current is caused to flow from landing point A to landing point C via branching unit 100. In this arrangement, the line from A to C is nominated as the main trunk, and the spur branch to landing point B is left in an open-circuit condition. FIG. 2B shows that after the main trunk has been established, the one-sided powering of the spur takes place by shunting the spur to sea earth at the branching unit and feeding the spur from landing point B.
Various publications describe this configuration process. U.S. Pat. No. 5,196,984 discloses a branching unit which employs electrical power feeding for repeaters and multiple branching units. The branching unit terminates three line cables and a sea earth and includes three high voltage element relays, only one of which is energized at a time. When electrical power is supplied between any two line cables, the third is isolated and connected to the sea earth. Short circuit or open circuit faults in one line cable may be isolated and connected to the sea earth, while allowing powering of the remaining two line cables that are free of faults.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,312 discloses a power feed line switching circuit for a submarine branching unit having first, second and third electrical paths connected in a Y-shaped connection, and first, second and third terminals connected respectively thereto. The power feed line switching circuit also has first, second and third relays each including a drive unit inserted in the first, second and third terminals and a switching unit for disconnecting the corresponding terminal and connecting the terminal to the ground. The relays control the connections between the terminals and electrical paths for establishing a one-end power feed line or a two-end power feed line to maintain power feed for repeaters and the submarine branching unit by the plurality of relays.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,644,466 discloses a submarine cable branching system including a plurality of directional relays in respective power feed paths branched at a common node. Each of the directional relays is energized by a current flowing through the power feed path in a predetermined direction for energizing a corresponding switch provided in a different power feed path to establish a bilateral feed path and further a unilateral feed path. A bypassing switch is provided across one of the switches that forms the bilateral feed path such that the bypassing switch is urged to close in response to energization of a self-sustaining relay provided in the unilateral feed path.
Since the branching unit, repeaters and cables are laid underwater and are thus difficult to maintain, it is important that they have a high reliability to ensure uninterrupted telecommunications between the landing points. During power-up of the main trunk, however, the spur cable will acquire a charge related to the voltage drop at the branching unit and the length of the spur. Switching the spur cable to sea earth (typically the sea water) can cause a rapid discharge, which may damage contacts and relays within the branching unit. In particular, a relay that causes the spur cable to contact sea earth is typically a high-voltage changeover relay. When actuation of the relay causes a make of the switch, an arc discharge will liberate a quantity of contact material. Acting as charge carriers, the liberated material may pass between the just opened contacts in the three-terminal relay. An avalanche effect could take place that causes the main cable to discharge across the contact gap with large amperage, leading to imminent failure or degradation of the relay and connection of the main cable to sea earth. In this scenario, either it could be impossible to power the system up and configure the system or an oscillation could be initiated between the main trunk and spur (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,517,383 at columns 1 and 6).
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,517,383 and 5,841,205 propose circuits to avoid this damage. In the xe2x80x2383 patent, an additional relay D and switch D1 are used to avoid dangerous arcing in the vacuum changeover relay such as C. Relay D is not a changeover relay and can withstand a greater amount of arcing without failing.
The xe2x80x2205 patent discloses the use of a two-stage relay to avoid damage from arcing. In this arrangement, the spur is disconnected from the main trunk when a defined current level is reached and then discharged by shorting its terminal station end (i.e., not underwater). After current in the main trunk ramps to a second level, the spur is connected to sea earth at the branching unit without arcing.
Applicants have found that these prior arrangements introduce unnecessary complexity and expense to a branching unit and its operation. A branching unit needs to be designed that avoids any arc transfer and its subsequent relay damage in any worst-case scenario, including relay degradation due to system cable faults and due to the branching unit configuration sequence.
Applicants have discovered that the above problem can be overcome with a branching unit that limits the peak current to a level that the high-voltage relay used in the branching unit can withstand without arcing for a number of cycles substantially greater than the expected number of configurations.
Applicants have discovered that surge currents in a spur of a submarine branching unit that is grounded to sea earth during configuration of the branching unit may be minimized by adding a current limiter in series with the sea ground.
Applicants have further discovered that the current limiter in series with the sea ground can advantageously be constructed from at least one inductor, possibly in parallel with at least one resistor. Applicants have further discovered that a system with such a current limiter in place reduces surge currents, both during initial configuration and during switching from faults occurring on a main trunk, thus prolonging the life of the switching contacts.
In one aspect, a branching unit for joining power feed lines of at least three submarine cables consistent with the present invention includes first, second, and third cable terminations each coupled to a power feed line of a respective submarine cable, a ground termination, a current limiter positioned in series between the ground termination and sea earth, and first, second, and third high-voltage relays. Each relay has a coil and a contact, where the coil of each high-voltage relay is positioned between two of the cable terminations respectively. Each coil has an energized state when a first threshold amount of current passes through the coil and a de-energized state when a second threshold amount of current does not pass through the coil. The contact of each high-voltage relay is positioned to connect the respective third cable termination with the ground termination when the respective coil is in an energized state and to connect the respective third cable termination with at least another of the cable terminations when the respective coil is in a de-energized state. More particularly, the current limiter is an inductor. The current limiter may include at least one resistor in parallel to the inductor.
In another aspect, an underwater optical telecommunication link according to the present invention comprises at least three submarine cables extended at least partly in a body of water and having first, second and third power feed terminations at respective landing points, each cable comprising at least an optical fiber and a power feed line electrically connected to the respective power feed termination; at least two power stations at the landing points to feed said power feed lines of the submarine cables; and a branching unit according to one of the other aspects of the invention, in said body of water, for joining said power feed lines of said submarine cable.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. The following description, as well as the practice of the invention, set forth and suggest additional advantages and purposes of the invention.

Submarine cable branching unit with current limiter


A circuit assembly has a conical inductor disposed in a slot formed in a substrate.

Inductors are used in radio frequency ("RF") and microwave circuits in a wide variety of applications. A coil of fine wire is often used to generate inductance; however, physical inductors do not provide pure inductance. The coils of an inductor capacitively couple to each other, generating what is commonly known as parasitic capacitance, also known as stray capacitance. Stray capacitances also arise from other sources, such as the inductor coils coupling to and/or through other structures of the circuit in which the inductor is used. The combination of the inductance and parasitic capacitance forms an inductance-capacitance ("LC") circuit having a resonant frequency, commonly called the self-resonant frequency.
Stray capacitance is undesirable for inductors that will be used in broad-band high-frequency applications, such as RF chokes used in bias tees, because it reduces the self-resonant frequency of the inductor. The series self-resonant frequency is the frequency at which the inductor appears as a short circuit. Conical coils, also referred to as conical inductors, are used to extend the operating range of RF chokes by increasing the series self-resonant frequency compared to a cylindrical coil having a diameter equal to the wide end of the conical inductor, while providing good low-frequency performance. Basically, the conical inductor acts like a series of progressively (physically) larger inductors, moving from the narrow end to the wide end. Conical inductors are further described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,344,781 and 6,236,289.
Conventional microwave circuits use special holders to align and support a conical inductor on a substrate (see FIGS. 1A-1D, below). The holder is typically made of plastic and manually attached to the substrate using an adhesive, such as an epoxy adhesive. The substrate has fiducial marks that indicate where the operator should place the holder; however the manufacturing repeatability is relatively low. Then, the conical inductor is placed in the holder and secured with adhesive. The holder holds the conical inductor on its axis, but the conical inductor can slide back and forth in the holder, introducing another source of alignment/placement error. A way to assemble conical inductors on substrates that avoids the disadvantages described above is desired.


Embodiments of methods to designate alternates of assets, methods to display representations of alternates, user interfaces, computer products, and digital assets are generally described herein. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.

A user involved in a project of moderate to high complexity may need to deal with a large number of assets. For example, a project to produce a product catalog may include numerous page layouts. A compound document may include one or more page layouts, each of which may include versions of photographic, textual, and graphical assets. Each asset may have one or more prior, historical versions, which represent snapshots of the asset at a given time. Historical versions are sometimes used to revert to an asset's previous state following destructive changes to a version of an asset.
At times, an editor, layout designer, or client may want to have the option to select among several historical versions of a particular asset for inclusion in a final document (e.g., a page layout). To provide the ability to select between historical versions of an asset, each of the historical versions being considered may need to be converted into a new, separate asset.
In some situations, a user may be working with a compound document whose own historical versions include earlier versions of photographic, textual, or graphical assets. When a user wants to access an earlier version of a compound document, any earlier version of an included asset also should be represented with accuracy. For an earlier version of an asset to be available as a separate entity, the user may need to convert it into a new, separate asset.
In other situations, a user may need to create parallel renditions of an asset. For example, a user may need to create a high resolution rendition for a print application, and a low resolution rendition for a web application. Again, the parallel renditions may need to be represented using separate assets.
In each of the cases described above, using manual processes, a user may need to create new, separate assets from multiple historical versions. Once created, the status of each new asset is maintained manually.


A method for forming graphene nanoribbons includes: (a) dispersing carbon nanotubes in a solvent to obtain a nanotube-dispersing solution; (b) adding an oxidant into the nanotube-dispersing solution to obtain a reaction solution; and (c) microwave heating the reaction solution and longitudinally unzipping the carbon nanotubes to form graphene nanoribbons.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for forming graphene nanoribbons.
2. Description of the Related Art
As technology progresses, different novel materials and structures, for example, fullerene, carbon nanotube, graphene, and graphene nanoribbon have been developed to meet the requirements of miniaturization of the elements or devices due to their special crystallinity and conductivity.
The graphene nanoribbon is currently the thinnest but hardest nano-material in the world. The graphene nanoribbon is a two-dimensional material that comprises a plurality of sp2-hybridized carbon atoms interconnected to form a one-atom thick sheet having a honeycomb crystal lattice. The graphene nanoribbon is almost completely transparent, and has a thermal conductivity coefficient of 5300 W/m·K that is higher than those of the carbon nanotube and diamond. Further, the graphene nanoribbon has a relatively high electron mobility at room temperature, i.e., about 15000 cm2/V·s, that is higher than those of copper and silver, and has a relatively low resistivity, i.e., about 10−6 Ω·cm, that is lower than that of copper or silver. Therefore, it is expected that the graphene nanoribbon can be used to develop new electronic components or transistors that are thinner and have high electrical transmission speed, or can be used to manufacture transparent touchscreens, liquid crystal displays, or even solar cells.
Nowadays, graphenenanoribbons have been fabricated by scanning tunneling microscope lithography and chemical vapor deposition. In addition to the above-mentioned methods, carbon nanotubes have been more recently utilized as the starting material to obtain graphene nanoribbons. In the prior literatures, many processes to prepare graphene nanoribbons from carbon nanotubes are disclosed, and include wet chemical methods, physicochemical methods, intercalation-exfoliation, catalytic approaches, electrical methods, sonochemical methods, and electrochemical methods. Kosykin et al (Nature, Vol. 458, p. 872-876, Apr. 16, 2009) disclosed a carbon nanotube-unzipping process that involves treating a carbon nanotube with concentrated sulphuric acid, followed by treating with potassium permanganate as a strong oxidant, and heating at 55-70° C. in a heat convection manner. This process chemically unzips the carbon nanotube to form nanoribbons. However, in this method, the step of heating the carbon nanotube at 55-70° C. has to last for at least two hours in order to achieve a proper condition to unzip the carbon nanotube. Therefore, this method is time-consuming and energy-consuming. In addition, because the heating step lasts for at least two hours, the structure of the carbon nanotube is likely to be destroyed, thereby resulting in low yield and inferior quality of the graphene nanoribbons.


A fluid pressure operated servomotor having a housing shell containing a flexible diaphragm forming a fluid pressure chamber with a port through the housing connectable for receiving a fluid pressure signal. The diaphragm has a rigid insert extending therethrough and sealed thereabout with a cup shape on the interior of the chamber and having a rod pivot surface formed on the exterior side of the diaphragm. A spring inside the chamber has one end registered in the cupped shape to bias the diaphragm insert in one direction. In one embodiment, the insert is shaped to have a rod pivot surface nested in the coils spring such that the rod pivot load resists lateral buckling of the spring; and, in another embodiment, a shroud is formed on the insert about the rod pivot surface for limiting rotation of the insert with respect to the rod end.

The present invention relates to fluid pressure operated devices of the type wherein a flexible membrane or diaphragm is responsive to changes in fluid pressure for providing force output to an actuator member which is adapted for connection to perform a mechanical function. Fluid pressure servomotors are often used in applications wherein a vacuum pressure signal is employed to provide control of a mechanical member for a desired function. Vacuum pressure signal operated servomotors have found widespread use in automotive applications where a vacuum or negative pressure signal is readily available, as from an engine manifold depression which generally varies inversely as the load on the engine. Thus, a manifold depression signal may be employed to operate a servomotor to control various devices such as exhaust gas recirculation controllers or engine boost-air inlet valves, or other devices to be controlled in relationship to variations in load on the engine.
In designing and fabricating vacuum operated servomotors for automotive applications where a substantial mechanical force output is required, it is necessary to provide a flexible diaphragm having a substantial area exposed to the vacuum signal in order to provide the desired mechanical force output on the actuating member as, for example, a push rod. In such applications the servomotor output member is often connected to a mechanism, such as a crank arm of a butterfly valve, which produces transverse or arcuate motion of the output member in response to movement in the direction of the output force. This transverse or arcuate motion of the output member results in the reaction applying side loading on the diaphragm, which can cause the return spring on the diaphragm to buckle and permit the diaphragm to rotate within the servomotor and thus can cause damage and premature failure of the diaphragm.
Thus, it has been desired to find a way or means of constructing a fluid pressure actuated servomotor having a flexible diaphragm connected to one end of an actuating output member such that the movement of the actuator when applying sideloads to the diaphragm does not buckle the diaphragm return spring and result in consequent adverse rotation of the diaphragm.


A paper feeding device and an image forming apparatus having the same. The paper feeding device includes a paper feeding cassette with a knock-up plate on which paper is stacked and an elastic member for elastically biasing the knock-up plate in an upward direction and a pickup roller for pressing and feeding paper stacked on the knock-up plate. The paper feeding device further includes a double feeding prevention member including a friction pad disposed below the pickup roller to prevent doubling feeding of paper fed by the pickup roller and a friction prevention portion disposed at a side on which a front end of the sheet of paper enters and reducing friction with entering paper.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a paper feeding device which helps prevent double feeding of a sheet of paper and improves the paper feeding capability, and an image forming apparatus having the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a paper feeding device which picks up a sheet of paper stacked in a paper feeding cassette and feeds a picked-up sheet of paper to a printing unit installed inside of an image forming apparatus, is provided in an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a copying machine. An example of a conventional paper feeding device is shown in FIG. 1.
Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional paper feeding device includes a paper feeding cassette 71 on which a sheet of paper is stacked, a pickup roller 72 which picks up the sheet of paper from the paper feeding cassette 71, and a double feeding prevention member 73 which prevents double feeding of a sheet of paper.
The paper feeding cassette 71 includes a knock-up plate 71a on which a sheet of paper is stacked, and an elastic member (not shown), which elastically biases the knock-up plate 71a in an upward direction. The sheets of paper stacked on the knock-up plate 71a are fed by the pickup roller 72 one by one. A friction member 10 is disposed on an upper surface of the knock-up plate 71a which faces the pickup roller 72, so as to prevent double feeding of a sheet of paper. The friction member 10 provides a surface that creates greater frictional force than the frictional force between a sheet of paper and the rear surface of a last sheet of paper, thereby preventing double feeding of a sheet of paper.
The double feeding prevention member 73 includes a friction pad 4, which is disposed below the pickup roller 72, and prevents double feeding of a sheet of paper fed by the pickup roller 72. The friction pad 4 is attached to one side of the double feeding prevention member 73. The friction pad 4 provides a friction resistance to the rear surface of the sheet of paper fed by the pickup roller 72. In other words, even though a plurality of sheets of paper are fed by the pickup roller 72, progression of other sheets of paper is suppressed, and only the sheet of paper stacked on the knock-up plate 71a is fed.
An entrance portion 70 which is positioned between the pickup roller 72 and the friction pad 4 to prevent double feeding of sheets of paper, is formed with an opening size of 1-1.5 mm. A curl is produced on a front end of the sheet of paper fed by the pickup roller 72 from the entrance portion 70. When the size of the entrance portion 70 is large, the front end of the sheet of paper on which the curl is produced easily enters into the entrance portion 70, and the frequency of double feeding of a sheet of paper increases. Conversely, when the size of the entrance portion 70 is small, the frequency of double feeding of a sheet of paper decreases but the frequency of paper jams caused when the front end of the sheet of paper becomes jammed on the double feeding prevention member 73 increases due to the increased friction between the fed sheet of paper and the double feeding prevention member 73. As a result, paper feeding performance is degraded.
As described above, in the prior art, when the dimensions of the entrance portion 70 are minimized, the frequency of double feeding of a sheet of paper decreases, but the frequency in which the sheet of paper is jammed on the double feeding prevention member 73 increases according to the shape of the curve of the front end of the sheet of paper. In addition, when the dimensions of the entrance portion 70 are minimized, the friction between the lower side of the fed sheet of paper and the double feeding prevention member 73 increases, which reduces the paper feeding force. But when the paper feeding force of the sheet of paper generated by the pickup roller 72 increases, the surface of the pickup roller 72 wears more quickly than normal.

Paper feeding device and image forming apparatus having the same


A composite device includes a substrate and a mounted component mounted on a surface of, or inside, the substrate. The substrate includes a first thermoplastic resin layer. A surface of the mounted component includes a second thermoplastic resin layer that includes a same or a similar material as that of the first thermoplastic resin layer. A bonding layer that bonds the second thermoplastic resin layer and the first thermoplastic resin layer together is provided between the second thermoplastic resin layer and the first thermoplastic resin layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a composite device including a mounted component such as a chip component and a semiconductor module component, and a substrate in which the mounted component is mounted.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a mounted component such as a chip component and a semiconductor module component is mounted in a substrate such as a printed-circuit board, a conductive bonding material is usually used. In general, a terminal electrode of the mounted component is electrically and mechanically bonded to a land of the substrate with solder.
As the conductive bonding material, International Publication No. 2013/132942 discloses a Sn-Cu-Ni alloy-based material. When this conductive bonding material is used, heating at a level of 300° C. accelerates a change into an intermetallic compound having a high melting point of 400° C. or more, and consequently a low-melting point component does not remain. Therefore, for example, in a semiconductor device manufacturing process, after a semiconductor device is manufactured through a soldering step, even when the semiconductor device is mounted in a substrate by a reflow soldering method, a soldering part based on the conductive bonding material is superior in heat-resistant strength, and thus the soldering part is not re-melted in a reflow soldering step, enabling highly reliable mounting.
In recent years, mounted components are more and more miniaturized, and as a result, the size of the land on the substrate is also miniaturized to allow mounted components to be mounted thereon. Therefore, in a structure of mounting with solder, it is getting more difficult to sufficiently maintain the mechanical strength of mounted portions.

Composite device with substrate and mounted component


The present invention addresses the problem of providing a charging device capable of precisely outputting charging power to a battery or the like within a broad voltage range of tens-to-hundreds of volts. This charging device comprises: a converter unit that outputs a charging voltage to a battery and a control unit that outputs a control signal of a pulse width determined on the basis of the voltage value of the charging voltage to a switching element of the converter unit, thereby setting the switching element to a conducting state for only a time corresponding to the pulse width. The control unit changes the output interval for the control signal in accordance with the output interval for the control signal as the voltage value of the charging voltage decreases.

With recent diffusion of electric vehicles, there is an increasing need for a charging device capable of quickly charging a high-capacity in-vehicle battery in a short period of time such as about ten minutes.
Normally, such a charging device converts an alternating-current voltage, which is supplied externally, into a direct-current voltage by rectification and smoothing, and thereafter the device generates charging power at a desired voltage value by a converter portion stepping up or down the direct-current voltage, and outputs the power to the in-vehicle battery, thereby charging the in-vehicle battery.
Conventionally, various charging devices for in-vehicle batteries are under study, and in general, the charging voltage is set at a desired value through PWM control by which the duty cycle of a switching element included in the converter portion is changed on the basis of the value of the charging voltage, as in Patent Documents 1 and 2.


A multi-purpose clamping device that stabilizes and holds a wide variety of irregularly shaped objects through the use of a stationary and a movable jaw, a linear ratchet and a rotary power cam; both used to engage the work piece, a pair of conformable jaw faces consisting of an array of spring-loaded pins to grasp the work piece, and a base with retractable stabilizing outriggers that ground and stabilize the work. The device is configured in such a way that it will lay flush on one side so that it can be used as a vise in an alternate orientation to allow access from both the top and the side. The base is also configured to allow the clamp portion to detach from the base in order to be used separately as a clamp.

1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates generally to vises and, in particular, to a multi-purpose clamping device that stabilizes and holds a wide variety of irregular shaped objects by means of conformable spring action jaws while allowing the clamp portion to detach from the base to be used separately, and configured in such a way that it can be used as a vise in an alternate orientation to allow access from both the top and the side.
2. Background
Woodworking vises and machinist vises are very common and useful tools. Conventional vises rely on a slow and cumbersome method of closure, a non-ergonomic cranking action in a plane parallel to the body of the user. Additionally, they are limited to applications entailing work objects with two parallel sides. Certain specialized jaws are available, such as, notched jaws for holding pipes, or rubber jaws, but for the most part, specialized holding jigs must be built in order to hold irregular objects, which can take considerable time and expense. The device described in the prior application addresses both of those shortfalls, by providing a generalized and flexible holding capability, suitable for a wide range of irregular objects, while providing, a quick and ergonomic method of closure with equivalent or better mechanical advantage.
A further limitation in conventional vises is due to the fact that due to the forces required to open and close them, with the exception of certain types of machinist vises, they must be bolted to a work surface in order to function properly. Therefore, two different vises are required if the functionality of a bench vise is needed, for general purpose work-holdings as well as, a movable vise for securing work to be operated on by a fixed machine such as a drill press. The device described in the present application can be used as a replacement for both a standard bench vise with the added functionality of being able to hold non-standard shapes, and it can be configured as a movable vise that can address a fixed machine such as a drill press. The device also allows for a secondary orientation which, when turned on its side, allows through access from the top which is convenient for drilling.
Clamping devices that exist today consist of vises and clamps as separate devices, a vise being essentially a larger clamp that is securable to a base. The device of the present disclosure can be used both as a vise and a clamp, since the clamp portion of the vise can be removed from the base, with the further benefit that both the clamp and the vise are capable, due to their unique, spring-loaded pin jaws, of holding irregularly shaped work objects.
A wide variety of specialized holding and clamping devices have been developed in an attempt to accommodate irregularly shaped objects. Examples of such devices are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,460,064, 5,806,385, 6,098,507, 6,092,443, and 6,138,534. While these and other devices represent and improvement in the art of holding irregularly shaped objects, they suffer from several drawbacks that have prevented widespread application in the machining arts.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,264,27 to E. H. Jones, issued Jun. 6, 1899 is directed to a vise in which an article is placed between two jaws provided with adjustable projections (or between a single jaw and a plane jaw) and the jaws are moved together, so that the article displaces the projections opposite to it and their ends bear on the different portions of its form and hold it up approximately as a mold would do. The projections are then clamped securely in the projections to which they have adjusted themselves and the jaw is tightened upon the article by a vise screw.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,499,989 to F. Lehmann, issued Jul. 1, 1924 discloses a vise for use with machine tools that includes a base plate adapted to be secured to the sliding carriage of a planing machine, or the like, and having two housings mounted oppositely on the base plate. The two housings are adapted such that at least one will slide toward the other and a series of spring controlled clamping jaws are so arranged in each of the housings that projecting parts of the workpiece causes part of the jaws to be pressed back into the housings until all of the spring controlled jaws are in contact with and firmly grip the workpiece on all sides.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,754,708 to C. R. Peterson, issued Jul. 17, 1956 shows a vise for handling irregular shaped object that includes a base having a stationary jaw projecting upwardly from one end and a movable jaw slidable on the base. Included in each of the jaws is a hollow block having facing openings with a plurality of movable work engaging members slidably carried in the block. A movable pressure plate in each block adjacent one side wall thereof is clampable against the work engaging members to lock each of them into work engaging position. Springs are used to urge each work-engaging member into working position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,063 to Bela Nagy, issued Jun. 21, 1988 is directed to a vise attachment for use on a vise assembly for holding objects having irregularly shaped surfaces and includes a small compact housing having a plurality of blade elements disposed adjacent to each other and slidably mounted within a rectangular opening on one side of the housing and movable between and extended position and a retracted position. Each element preferably comprises a plate member having smooth planar surfaces and a concave curved back edge and stop means disposed on upper and lower edges for setting a limit for extension of the blade from the housing. A self-distributing non-resilient medium is positioned within the housing and has a predetermined volume for filing the housing when the blades are in a retracted position. A distribution and reset means causes the blades to reposition themselves to extend fully through the rectangular opening when not holding an object.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,940 to Ingo E. Wolfe, issued Mar. 7, 2000 discloses a universal vise that has a movable and a fixed jaw that can be indexed at 90° increments to provide for four separate work clamping surfaces on each jaw. The vise includes a vise screw driving a nut that drives the movable jaw in each of four indexed positions of the movable jaw. The indexable jaws permit the vise to be adapted to hold four different types of work pieces.
U.S. Des. Pat. No. D/439,879 to Reinhard Renner, issued Mar. 27, 2001 discloses a gripping clamp that utilizes a linear slider bar, a moveable jaw and a fixed jaw that can be tilted by means of a ratchet cam.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,363,475 to Robert McCarty, issued Dec. 14, 1982 describes a vise-like C-clamp which consists of a C-clamp mounted to a base in such a way as to allow the clamp to be held in horizontal, vertical and angled orientations. These orientations are rotated around an axis that is horizontally perpendicular to the device itself. The clamp comes with a number of different gripping heads to allow engagement with a variety of work object shapes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,586,701 to Harold Oncken, issued May 6, 1986 describes a drill press vise equipped with a means of locating and securing a work piece with respect to the drill axis, based on a rectangular frame and a fixed and movable jaw that can be translated or rotated with respect to the vertical axis of the drill press. Various means including hydraulics and screw threads are provided to move the movable jaw with respect to the fixed jaw and thus provide clamping.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,157 to James D Polk, issued Sep. 8, 1992 describes a drill press vise with a number of parallel fingers elements configured in a single row that can accommodate around a moderately irregular shape. The fingers are slidable and can be clamped into a fixed position by means of a screw located at the side of the jaw.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,901 to William Woods, issued Dec. 6, 1982 describes a drill press vise configured such that the jaws can be twisted out of the plane of the table to allow for drilled holes at compound angles. While the above-described vise devices are effective for their intended purpose, there is nevertheless a continuing need, and a consumer desire, for an improved vise that opens and closes quickly and easily with a high degree of mechanical advantage is usable for clamping and holding a wide variety of work object shapes, that also has a detachable clamp and the ability to be turned on its side so as to provide through-access for applications such as holding objects on a drill press where the vise base might otherwise be in the way.

Multi-purpose flexible jaw universal vise with removable clamp feature


An apparatus for and method of selectively occluding a lumen of a multilumen catheter during a medical procedure. The catheter may have any variety of functions of either diagnostic and/or therapeutic nature. A first open lumen to be occluded may have one or more orifices at the distal tip and/or in the side wall of the catheter for infusion of a liquid, injection of a dye, or operation of a guide wire or other control device. A small balloon adjacent the lumen to be occluded is inflated with fluid from a second, closed lumen. Whenever the small balloon is completely inflated, the first, open lumen is occluded. Whenever the small balloon is deflated, the lumen is open to the orifices distal to the small balloon.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to medical devices for diagnostic and therapeutic applications, and more particularly, relates to construction and use of catheters for diagnostic and therapeutic applications.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Catheters have been in general use for some time in the medical field for a wide range of applications. These include uses within the cardiovascular system, urinary tract, etc. A number of these applications are diagnostic in nature, such as the injection of dyes in angiography. Other applications are therapeutic in nature such as angioplasty. Still others simply involve the transfer of a liquid such as blood, nutrients, or pharmaceuticals.
In many catheter applications, a multilumen catheter is used wherein a first lumen is open for a portion of the procedure. A lumen is open when it has one or more orifices located near the distal end. In addition to an orifice at the tip, many infusion catheters locate the orifices along the catheter body. These orifices may provide for the transfer of a liquid, such as in a blood transfusion or urinary bladder catheterization, or may be a mechanical convenience as in a procedure wherein the catheter is slid over a previously positioned guide wire.
Most commonly, a separate lumen is employed for each function. However, it is often desirable that an open lumen also be closed for a portion of the medical procedure to permit a single lumen to perform more than one function. It is also often desirable to close an open lumen to prevent the ingress or egress of certain gases or liquids.
A prior technique for closing a lumen during a portion of a medical procedure involves using a guide wire having a seal at its distal tip to be moved in a proximal direction relative to the catheter until sealing engagement at the distal tip of the catheter is accomplished. This technique, however, requires the use of a guide wire and can usually only close a lumen which is open at the distal tip of the catheter. The seal is often less than satisfactory as well.


Techniques and systems are described for contextually filtering font styles. Techniques include identifying font features as filtering parameters to be applied to filter available font styles. The font features are identified automatically in a selected text and/or via user input. Additionally or alternatively, techniques include identifying font attributes as filtering parameters to be applied to filter available font styles. The font attributes are identified automatically in a selected text and/or via user input. After filtering, candidate font styles are presented to a user for selection.

Font styles include various combinations of features and attributes to support a several different contexts in the creation of digital content by a computing device that includes text. In order to locate a particular font style of interest, however, conventional computing devices often require a user to manually navigate through hundreds and even thousands of font styles that are available via the computing device to locate a font style that fits a context of the digital content being created. Thus, although a large list of font styles may provide several different creative options, the number of available options made available by conventional computing devices may make it difficult to use these options in practice thereby resulting in user frustration and avoidance of these options by the user.

Contextual font filtering in a digital medium environment