An output apparatus includes a cartridge which contains a recording material. A detector is provided in the apparatus for detecting the remaining amount of the recording material in the cartridge. A controller is provided in the apparatus for storing the cumulative consumed amount of the recording material in a non-volatile memory unit. Thus, the remaining amount of the recording material is determined.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an output apparatus such as a printer connected to a host computer through a bidirectional interface, and a method therefor.
2. Related Background Art
A printer always requires certain consumable materials. For example an ink jet printer requires ink sealed in an ink cartridge. Also an output apparatus for forming an image on a sheet by the electrophotographic technology utilizes toner for color development. In the following description, such consumable materials, including ink, will be exemplified by toner. As the toner is consumed in the printing operation, it has to be replenished by the user. For facilitating such toner replenishing operation, the toner packaged in a cartridge is widely employed in recent printing apparatus. When the toner in the cartridge is used up, the user removes the empty toner cartridge from the printing apparatus and replaces it with a new toner cartridge.
As the printing operation can naturally be no longer executed when the toner is used up, a warning mechanism is often employed to provide the user with a prior warning before the toner is completely exhausted. For example a mechanical sensor, provided in the toner cartridge, detects a low remaining amount of the toner and displays a warning on the liquid crystal display of the printing apparatus or sends a status signal to the host computer, thereby giving the user a warning through the monitor of the host computer.
Recognizing such prior warning, the user can take various measures such as preparing or purchasing a toner cartridge, avoiding the output operation for a large job, or increasing the density of the output image.
Also in case the printing apparatus has to discriminate the toner cartridges of different kinds, the shape of such cartridge is made partly different according to the kinds and such difference is detected by a mechanical sensor provided in the printing apparatus.
However, such conventional method of mechanically detecting the remaining toner amount is capable of detecting that the remaining toner amount has reached a certain level, but is associated with a drawback that the remaining amount thereafter or the running-out time of the toner cannot be known at all.
In consideration of the foregoing, an object of the present invention is to exactly recognize or estimate the remaining amount of the recording material until it becomes completely exhausted.
Another object of the present invention is to provide the user with a warning for the low remaining amount of the recording material, in a form convenient and easily understandable to the user.
The above-mentioned objects can be attained, according to the present invention, by an output apparatus for effecting printing operation utilizing a cartridge of the recording material, the apparatus comprising detection means for detecting the remaining amount in the cartridge, a recording material cartridge provided with non-volatile memory means, and control means for recognizing the remaining amount of the recording material by storing the cumulative consumed amount of the recording material in the non-volatile memory means of the recording material cartridge.
The above-mentioned objects can be attained, according to the present invention, by an output apparatus comprising control means which obtains the consumed amount of the recording material from the cumulative number of the used dots.
The above-mentioned objects can be attained, according to the present invention, by an output apparatus comprising calculation means which obtains the cumulative consumed amount of the recording material by estimating the consumed amount of the recording material per dot according to whether the recording material is used in each dot, and, if used, whether the recording material is used in an adjacent dot, among the entire dots on a sheet, thereby estimating the total consumed amount of the recording material per sheet, and by accumulating the consumed amount of the recording material of the different pages.
The above-mentioned objects can be attained, according to the present invention, by an output apparatus comprising control means for obtaining the cumulative consumed amount of the recording material, for characters, by multiplying the average dot number per font provided in the output apparatus with the number of characters in each font, and, for the fonts for which the average dot number per font is not available and for non-character images, by counting the number of used dots.
The above-mentioned objects can be attained, according to the present invention, by an output apparatus comprising control means which compares the anticipated consumed amount of the recording material with the actual consumed amount when the remaining amount of the recording material becomes actually low in the recording material cartridge, then stores the error information in the non-volatile memory means of the cartridge and incorporates such error information in the subsequent estimation of the consumed amount of the recording material, thereby achieving exact estimation of the consumed amount thereof.
The above-mentioned objects can be attained, according to the present invention, by an output apparatus comprising control means which in advance stores information on the average consumed amount of the recording material per page for each kind of sheet and obtains the consumed amount of the recording material by multiplying each kind of sheet with the number of pages.
The above-mentioned objects can be attained, according to the present invention, by an output apparatus comprising control means which estimates the consumed amount of the recording material from the number of the low remaining states of the recording material in the recording material cartridge.
The above-mentioned objects can be attained, according to the present invention, by an output apparatus comprising control means which in advance stores information, for each component of the recording material cartridge, on the number of sheets for which such component is usable, in the non-volatile memory means of the recording material cartridge, and which is adapted to provide a warning that each component has been used for such number of sheets.
The above-mentioned objects can be attained, according to the present invention, by an output apparatus comprising control means which has plural warnings depending on the remaining amount of the recording material and adapted to suitably provide such plural warnings.
The above-mentioned objects can be attained, according to the present invention, by an output apparatus comprising control means capable of providing a warning, such as for the absence of the recording material, in different timings, according to the frequency of use of the printing apparatus.
The above-mentioned objects can be attained, according to the present invention, by an output apparatus comprising control means capable of providing a warning, such as for the absence of the recording material, in different timings, according to the consumed amount in each page.
The above-mentioned objects can be attained, according to the present invention, by an output apparatus comprising control means capable of releasing, at the absence of the recording material, an arbitrary message stored in the non-volatile memory means of the recording material cartridge.
The above-mentioned objects can be attained, according to the present invention, by an output apparatus comprising control means capable storing the actual consumed amount of the recording material in the non-volatile memory means of the recording material cartridge and transmitting the stored content in response to a user operation on the printing apparatus or a request from the host computer.
The above-mentioned objects can be attained, according to the present invention, by an output apparatus comprising control means which stores the expiry date of the recording material in the non-volatile memory means thereof and generates a warning when the expiry date of the cartridge is reached.
The above-mentioned objects can be attained, according to the present invention, by an output apparatus comprising control means which stores the date information, when the recording material cartridge is first used, in the non-volatile memory means thereof and generates a warning when the life of the cartridge expires after such first use.

Method and apparatus for determining consumed amount of recording material


A wire aspiration device includes a first member having a first curved surface with a projected portion that is in close contact with peripheral surfaces of first and second recovery rollers on one side, a second member having a second curved surface with a projected portion that is in close contact with the peripheral surfaces of the first and second recovery rollers on the other side, and a third member having a through hole formed in a central portion thereof to cause the ejected wire electrode to run in the wire-electrode recovering direction and coupling the first and second members to form two grooves between the first and second curved surfaces to be in contact with the through hole, wherein a fluid spout for spouting a fluid into the through hole in the recovering direction is formed in any of the first, second, and third members.

A wire electric discharge machine generally includes a wire electrode holder including a wire electrode bobbin around which a wire electrode is wound, a wire-electrode automatic-connection device including a wire-electrode feed roller that feeds the wire electrode and a guide pipe that guides the wire electrode to an upper wire-electrode guide unit, the upper wire-electrode guide unit including an upper power feed contact that feeds a current while contacting the wire electrode and an upper die that holds the wire electrode during machining, a lower wire-electrode guide unit including a lower power feed contact that feeds a current while contacting the wire electrode and a lower die that holds the wire electrode during machining, a wire-electrode feeding unit including a lower roller that changes the direction of the wire electrode and an aspirator that spouts a fluid facilitating a conveyance of the wire electrode to a wire-electrode recovery unit, the wire-electrode recovery unit including a wire-electrode recovery roller that recovers the wire electrode and a wire-electrode recovery-pipe end that separates the wire electrode and the fluid from each other, and the like. The wire electric discharge machine generates electric discharge by applying a pulse voltage between the wire electrode and a workpiece while recovering the wire electrode, thereby machining the workpiece into an arbitrary shape like a jig saw while relatively moving the workpiece and the upper and lower wire-electrode guide units.
A wire electrode having a diameter of 0.3 millimeter to 0.1 millimeter is generally used and automatically fed by the wire-electrode automatic-connection device through the upper wire-electrode guide unit, a machining start hole of a workpiece, the lower wire-electrode guide unit, and the lower roller unit to the wire-electrode recovery unit, thereby completing the connection. However, when a wire electrode having a diameter smaller than 0.1 millimeter is used, the wire electrode is adversely wound around the recovery roller due to adherence of the fluid facilitating the conveyance to the recovery roller.

Wire aspiration device and wire recovery device


A high-frequency treatment tool for an endoscope is provided with a transparent hood to be detachably coupled to a distal end of an endoscope provided with at least one electrode, at least one high-frequency electrode provided at a tip end of the transparent hood, at least one contact which is to electrically contact the at least one electrode of the endoscope, and at least one conductive member that electrically connects the at least one high-frequency electrode and the at lease one contact. The at least one conductive member is arranged to be located at an inner position with respect to an outer surface of the transparent hood.

The present invention relates to a high-frequency tool for an endoscope.
The high-frequency tool for the endoscope is typically attached to a tip of an inserting section of the endoscope for a treatment such as incision or coagulation of the mucous of human tissues.
Since a high-frequency electrical current flows through the high-frequency tool, it is generally configured such that a high-frequency electrode is attached at the tip of a flexible electrically-insulating tube, which is inserted through a treatment tool channel of the endoscope.
In some cases, however, treatment cannot be done well with the high-frequency tool configured as above. As an alternative, a high-frequency tool configured such that a high-frequency electrode is provided to a hood that is detachably attached onto the tip of the inserting section of the endoscope has been suggested. An example of such a tool is disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. HEI 09-0187415.
In the above publication, besides channel(s) formed in the endoscope body, another channel is provided outside the endoscope and the hood, and the high-frequency snare is inserted therethrough. According to this structure, depending on the high-frequency tool, lead lines for supplying electrical current to the electrodes of the high-frequency tool mounted on the hood may be run outside the inserting section of the endoscope.
According to the publication above, since the high-frequency electrode is provided to the detachable hood coupled to the tip of the endoscope, a lead line supplying the electrical current to the electrode is hung around the inserting section and swings around the inserting section of the endoscope,
Thus, the lead lines are troublesome for an operator since they may twine his/her hand and obstruct the operation of the endoscope. However, if the lead lines are inserted into the channel for a treatment tool, other tools such as a suction tool and the like cannot be used simultaneously.


A client requests a web page from a server including aggregated content comprising a plurality of content items from a plurality of content providers. The server provides content items to the client from a cache accessible to the server if any of the content items are stored in the cache, and requests any remaining content items from their respective content providers. The server receives responses from the content providers and stores any cacheable responses (i.e., content items) in the cache. Aspects of the invention apply to any content request from a client, for example, updating a client's widget with a content item.

Web sites providing customized Internet based services, such as social networking websites (e.g., Windows Live Spaces, Facebook, and MySpace) and user specific home pages (e.g., the MSN.com homepage, AOL home, and Media NET), often aggregate content items from many sources, or content providers, and provide the aggregated content to a user on a network as a single web page. Each time the user (i.e., a client on the network) initially connects to, refreshes, or otherwise requests a web page, a server performs a multitude of resource intensive operations to retrieve the content for the page. For example, the server may have to make several requests to other servers (or server clusters) to gather content items to be included in the web page.
Many web site servers and the like employ the ASP.NET-based Web Application Architecture for providing customized pages to clients or users. A typical server that provides a customized service based on ASP.NET includes a parser, a web request object, and an aggregator. The parser breaks a web page request from a client into a plurality of requests for content items for the web page. The parser passes each content item request to the web request object originating in the server, (or multiple instances of the web request object) and the web request object forwards the request to a remotely-located content provider of the content item. In response, this content provider sends a web response containing the requested content item back to the server. The server receives the web response object and provides the content item to the aggregator. The aggregator receives the plurality of content items represented by the plurality of requests for content items produced by the parser, and assembles the received content items into the web page requested by the client. The server provides the assembled web page to the client as the requested web page.
Disadvantageously, these recurring multiple content item requests are resource intensive within the server such that if a significant number of users simultaneously request a web page, the server may slow down due to the number of active threads used to process the requests for content items sent to content providers. Additionally, the server waits for a response from each of the content providers with respect to each of the content item requests for each web page before rendering the web page and providing it to the client requesting the web page. The multitude of requests to content providers generated by the server, and the responses from the content providers also cause high network traffic, consuming large amounts of bandwidth, and potentially interfering with other network applications by causing delays for time sensitive traffic.

Caching HTTP request and response streams


A wear rate measurement method includes thermally coupling a focus ring having a top surface and a bottom surface with a reference piece having a bottom surface facing a susceptor and a top surface facing the focus ring; measuring a first optical path length of a low-coherence light beam that travels forward and backward within the focus ring by irradiating the low-coherence light beam to the focus ring orthogonally to the top surface and the bottom surface thereof; measuring a second optical path length of a low-coherence light beam that travels forward and backward within the reference piece by irradiating the low-coherence light beam to the reference piece orthogonally to the top surface and the bottom surface thereof; and calculating a wear rate of the focus ring based on a ratio between the first optical path length and the second optical path length.

In a substrate processing apparatus configured to perform a preset plasma process on a wafer as a substrate by using plasma generated within a processing chamber, components (parts) provided within the processing chamber may be worn out by the plasma. Especially, since a focus ring provided to surround the wafer and made of the same material as the wafer is exposed to the plasma having a relatively high density, a wear rate of the focus ring may be high. If the focus ring is worn out, plasma distribution on the wafer would be varied. Thus, the wear rate of the focus ring needs to be monitored, and the focus ring should be replaced if its wear rate exceeds a preset level.
Conventionally, the wear rate of the focus ring has been measured at the outside of the processing chamber after the focus ring is taken out of the processing chamber. In order to take the focus ring out of the processing chamber, however, the processing chamber needs to be opened to the atmosphere. After the focus ring of which a wear rate has been measured is returned back into the processing chamber, it takes time to evacuate the processing chamber again. As a result, an operating rate of the substrate processing apparatus is greatly deteriorated.
To solve the problem, the present inventor has proposed a method for measuring the wear rate of the focus ring by measuring a thickness of the focus ring through a process of irradiating a low-coherence light beam toward a bottom surface of the focus ring within the processing chamber and calculating a variation of the thickness (i.e., the wear rate of the focus ring) from the measured thickness (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this method, an optical path length of the low-coherence light beam that travels forward and backward within the focus ring in a thickness direction thereof is calculated based on an interference between a reference light beam and a low-coherence light beam reflected from the bottom surface of the focus ring and an interference between the reference light beam and a low-coherence light beam reflected from a top surface of the focus ring. Then, the thickness of the focus ring and the wear rate of the focus ring are measured based on the calculated optical path length.
In accordance with the aforementioned method, since it is possible to measure the wear rate of the focus ring without taking the focus ring out of the processing chamber, a great reduction in the operating rate of the substrate processing apparatus can be prevented.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2008-227063
However, the focus ring is made of silicon and, in general, the silicon thermally expands and its refractive index varies depending on a temperature. Thus, if a temperature of the focus ring increases during a plasma process, the optical path length of the low-coherence light beam would be also increased. Accordingly, if the temperature of the focus ring varies, the wear rate of the focus ring cannot be measured accurately by the method of using the interference of the low-coherence light beam. Thus, only when the temperature of the focus ring is maintained at a preset temperature, the wear rate of the focus ring can be measured by this method. By way of example, only when the substrate processing apparatus is in an idle state, the wear rate of the focus ring can be measured by this method. Thus, a chance to measure the wear rate of the focus ring may be limited if this method is used.


Methods, systems, and computer programs for generating a playlist of media content items without explicit content. A vector space is created that represents explicit and non-explicit tracks in the same playlists created by other users and then tracks are filtered based on cosine distance between the “seed tracks” and all the tracks in the aforementioned playlist. The explicit tracks are filtered out, and tracks are sorted based on the affinity of the user to the artist.

People's motivation to listen to explicit music is likely driven more by an artist or genre affinity than a desire to hear explicit lyrics. Yet, songs with explicit lyrics are prevalent in user-created playlists. Existing techniques for managing media content are generally based on media items that are marked or tagged with content ratings. For example U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2012/0311625A1, titled "Systems and Methods for Managing Media Content based on Segment-Based Assignment of Content Rating" describes a technique to assign a content rating to segments of media content. U.S. Pat. No. 9,767,827, titled "Management, Replacement and Removal of Explicit Lyrics During Audio Playback" explains how songs that contain explicit lyrics may be marked as including explicit lyrics in their metadata (e.g., within MP3 or AAC files).
Modern audio players are able to prevent the playing of songs with explicit lyrics based on such criteria. If a user desires to listen to a non-explicit segment of the song or a non-explicit version of a song, the user needs to interact with a user interface and use significant computing resources to either determine such segments or obtain the new version of the song.
Existing interfaces such as those described above allow a user to switch out or remove unwanted audio while playing an audio stream by configuring the audio player to playback an alternate audio stream without explicit content. Typical audio players provide a user interface that allows a user to select whether or not to remove unwanted audio when playing audio streams. The audio player may allow the user to specify that unwanted audio should be removed from all audio streams being played, or alternatively may allow a user to specify individual audio streams that should have unwanted audio removed during playback, or both. Such audio players also provide an interface that allows a user to select a corresponding version of the song that does not contain the explicit language.
Many music-streaming applications provide recommendations based on the listening history and/or activity of the user. These features typically analyze such user activity to suggest content among a vast catalog of media that is predicted to match the listening or viewing preferences of the user.
Neither existing players nor media distribution platforms use media content that includes explicit content to create a playlist of media content items based on the listening history of the user, which may or may not include explicit content, to create a list of media content items without any explicit content.
The problem with such audio players and applications is that they do not take into consideration the metadata of the audio content that is unrelated to whether the content contains explicit language together with the activity of the corresponding media content streaming account. Audio players further lack an interface that can communicate a command to a media distribution platform to instruct it to predict and generate a playlist based on such metadata and activity data. A related technical problem involves the amount of processing time and resources required by existing audio players and media distribution platforms to obtain alternative media content items. Existing techniques typically wait for a user to provide a request and then process the request. Similarly, existing techniques unnecessarily filter out media content items that are not desired rather than affirmatively selecting media content items that are predicted to be appropriate for a playlist. The more an operator must flag as inappropriate or remove from a playlist an undesirable song the more resources are required. Yet another technical problem is that while the media items may be tagged with metadata, nothing in such metadata relates to user activity related to such media items. Thus further decreasing the media player and/or media distribution platform's ability to efficiently and correctly select relevant media items to be played back.
Another technical problem solved is calculating an affinity score to determine which media content items the user may like best.

System and method for selecting media content


A dual mode comparator circuit is disclosed. The dual mode comparator includes a plurality of differential transistor pairs. Each differential transistor pair includes a plurality of inputs and outputs. The outputs of the differential transistor pairs are coupled to inputs of a multiplexor. The multiplexor includes at least one control input for selecting between the multiplexor inputs and provides the selected input to the multiplexor output. The dual mode comparator further includes a comparator back end that is coupled to the output of the multiplexor. The comparator back end may include a folded cascode and additional gain stages. The comparator back end provides the comparator output to the next stage. The dual mode comparator may be used in automatic testing equipment embodiments.

The present invention relates to comparators and more specifically to dual mode comparators.
It is known in the prior art to have dual mode comparators. Dual mode comparators are often used in automatic testing equipment (ATE) for testing one or more devices under tests (DUTs). Dual mode comparators can operates in any one of a plurality of modes including a differential mode, a common mode, and single-ended mode wherein the mode is selectable based upon an external selection signal provided to the dual mode comparator. The prior art designs provide separate circuitry for each of the modes. Additionally, for each comparison, there is a separate normal windowing comparator (NWC) as shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 shows two inputs provided into the prior art dual mode comparator circuit, which are labeled DUT1 101 and DUT2 102. These inputs are each coupled to a device under test. These inputs may be attached to two separate inputs from a single device or the inputs may be coupled to two separate devices. The circuit includes a pair of output multiplexors (MUX) 103, 104. Each multiplexor receives a control signal that determines the selected comparator mode to output. Thus, by way of example, for the first multiplexor 103, each NWC 110, 111, 112, 113 is active and produces an output signal. Therefore, the multiplexor 103 receives in four input signal and selects two of the four input signals to output (either a single ended comparison of DUT1 with VOH1 and a single ended comparison of DUT1 with VOL1, or a differential comparison with VOH1 and a differential comparison with VOL1). As a result, each NWC 110, 111, 112, 113 circuit is always active. Each NWC 110, 111, 112, 113 circuit includes at least two stages, a comparison stage and an amplification stage. Therefore, the prior art configuration always requires power for the NWC.


A method for producing a short circuit rotor, by providing a laminated rotor core with through openings for shorting bars of a squirrel cage as well as providing the shorting bars; inserting of the shorting bars into the through openings such that an axial overhang remains on both sides; placing a main disk with through openings on both sides for the shorting bars, whose axial length corresponds to the overhang, as well as an edge disk immediately adjacent to the main disk and the ends of the shorting bars. The main disk and the edge disk form a shorting ring of the squirrel cage, and the main disk and the edge disk are welded by radially encircling electron beam welding.

Various designs have already been proposed in the prior art for squirrel cages in short circuit rotors of asynchronous machines composed of copper and/or aluminum semifabricated pieces.
DE 10 2013 005 050 A1 discloses a short circuit rotor as well as a method for production of a short circuit rotor, wherein at least a portion of a shorting ring is composed of a disk stack, which is constructed of layers of disks with cavities through which the ends of the cage bars pass from the rotor lamination stack. The end faces of the disks of a shorting ring have at least one bevel along the outer periphery, which extends radially at least as far as the ends of the cage bars protruding from the rotor lamination stack. In other words, a freely accessible opening extends between neighboring disks as far as the level of the cage bars, so that the individual pieces can be joined together both electrically and mechanically.
DE 10 2014 013 684 A1 relates to a short circuit rotor for an asynchronous machine in which likewise several shorting rings arranged at the end faces of the rotor lamination stack are provided, having cavities into which the end regions of the rotor crosspieces protrude. It is proposed that the shorting rings each time are composed of at least two metal composite disks, which are made up of at least a first metal disk and a second metal disk joined to the latter by its surface and made from a different material.
One benefit of such a design is therefore the possibility of using different materials in the shorting rings, such as combining copper disks with copper alloy disks (CuCrZr or similar alloys) in order to boost the rotational speed capability and temperature stability of the asynchronous machine. The drawback, however, is that the welding process proposed therein alters the properties of alloyed copper and/or aluminum disks. In particular, due to the heating of these types of alloys to the welding temperature, they lose their properties in terms of strength and temperature stability. Assuming a rotor with relatively thin, easily fabricated individual disks, only a relatively small portion with the originally desired properties remains after the welding of the individual alloyed disks.
US 2014/0339950 A1 relates to a rotor arrangement with end caps, which should be welded by electron beam welding. This should produce improved electrical and mechanical properties in an arrangement of a lower weight. Specifically, a single end disk is described with axially noncontinuous grooves.
The drawback here is that the welding process occurs directly on the laminated rotor core and in the half-open grooves of the shorting disk. In this way, a very large input of heat into the laminated stack occurs, which may result in damage to the insulation. The molten welding pool can only be guided to a very limited degree and it readily flows.
DE 10 2013 202 557 A1 relates to a squirrel cage for a short circuit rotor and a manufacturing process for same. In this case, it is proposed to assemble the shorting rings from a connecting disk and a shorting disk, wherein the connecting disk has a plurality of cavities, in each of which is arranged a cage bar, so that the plurality of cage bars are mechanically fixed in relation to the connecting disk. The shorting disk lies immediately against the connecting disk in the axial direction. A materially-bonded connection between the cage bars and the connecting disk should be produced by means of a welded connection, a materially-bonded connection between the connecting disk and the shorting disk by means of a soldered connection.
Here as well, therefore, a welding occurs near the laminated rotor core, which may result in difficulties in regard to the insulation and the guidance of the molten welding pool. Especially in this embodiment, only the relatively thin connecting disk is welded to the shorting bars, preferably from an axial direction. This increases the risk of further flowing of the molten welding pool, since even with slight tolerance deviations or slight deviations in the welding parameters, the molten pool will flow into the joints between shorting bar and laminated stack or connecting disk and laminated stack. Hence, a large heat input into the laminated rotor core will occur. Another drawback is that the soldered connections of the shorting disk to the connecting disk result in lower strength and electrical conductivity as compared to welded connections. But since the shorting disk makes up the greater portion of the electrically conductive cross section of the ring, a relatively large centrifugal force acts on this ring.

Method for producing a short circuit rotor and short circuit rotor


The present invention relates to functional footwear of a new concept, which adapts itself to the shape of a foot and gives a soft feeling when walking The footwear includes: an upper foot fixing section (1) for covering and fixing an upper portion of a foot; and a foot supporting section (8) attached to the upper foot fixing section for supporting a lower portion of the foot. The foot supporting section comprises a soft resilient mat (2) which can be deformed according to the shape of the foot. The footwear has a simple structure and can give a feeling of walking barefoot on a sponge mat or on a lawn like a extreme-soft-elastic carpet to provide complete comfort to the wearer during walking.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to functional footwear of a new concept, which adapts itself to the shape of a foot and gives a soft feeling when walking.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Examples of general footwear are shoes and socks.
The structure of a general shoe has been variously developed according to the usage thereof. The general shoe includes an upper part, covering the top portion of a foot and maintaining the appearance and shape of the shoe, and a sole. In the sole, an outsole making contact with the ground, a midsole positioned between the outsole and a lasting board, a lasting board formed of a hard material for maintaining the appearance of the shoe and functioning as a connection portion between the upper part and the sole, and an insole for hiding waste threads, tacks, and nails are sequentially stacked.
Here and afterwards the word lasting board shall be understood to be the part of a standard shoe defining its shape and stability of the shoe. The lasting board normally is situated between the insole and the midsole. The lasting board further serves as a connection part between the upper part of the shoe and its sole.
Further, a general sock, especially an ankle sock, includes an upper portion covering a top portion of a foot and a bottom portion surrounding the bottom of the foot.
In relation to the feeling when walking, a shoe for absorbing an impact due to the weight of a wearer during walking or exercise, by inserting an elastic body into the portion between the lasting board and the outsole or forming a midsole out of an elastic material, has been suggested. However, in the structure of the conventional shoe, since the lasting board cannot be made of a soft and elastic material but can be made only of a hard material in order to function as a connecting portion of the upper and the sole, to maintain the shape of the shoe, and to fix the midsole or the elastic body inserted into the midsole, there has been a limit in obtaining a sufficiently soft touch in the aspect of the feeling when walking with which the shoe adapts itself to the shape of the foot.
In the conventional shoe, the problem of the hard lasting board has been supplemented by generally using an insole. However, even in this case, since the shoe has a hard lasting board at a lower portion of the insole, there also has been a limit in obtaining a sufficiently soft touch in the aspect of the feeling when walking.
In the case of an ankle sock, there has been an effort to lessen the partial impact and to improve the wearing feeling by using double woven fabrics at the bottom portion thereof. However, since the ankle sock assumes the wearing function of a shoe, there still has been a limit in obtaining a sufficiently soft touch in the aspect of the feeling when walking with which the sock adapts itself to the shape of the foot.
In the case of a functional shoe used for orthopaedic objects such as form correction, improvement or prevention of muscular skeleton problems, and assistance of rehabilitation, and for exercises of predetermined portions such as reinforcement of predetermined muscles, the objects are generally accomplished by an insole of a shoe.
Further, European Patent Nos. 0999764 and 1124462 disclose functional shoes for the orthopaedic objects and for exercises of predetermined portions of the human body.
In the patents, a shape including a hard-soft-transition portion is defined between the foot and the ground surface. As a result, a rolling process is compulsorily performed, reliant upon the desired type during walking or additional load is applied to a predetermined muscle(s) when walking such that the shoe corresponds to a predetermined object(s) necessary for a wearer of a shoe.
Further, the above-mentioned shoe has the object of simulating the feeling of walking, for example, on non-flat surfaces such as a sandy plain, forest soil, or a pasture, while being used on a flat surface such as an asphalt road, a concrete, or a plate bottom.
However, since the above-mentioned functional shoe includes a hard lasting board or a separate hard structure for maintaining the appearance of the shoe, there has been a limit in obtaining a sufficiently soft touch in the aspect of the feeling when walking with which the shoe adapts itself to the shape of the foot.
Further, since the functional shoe works as a compulsory therapy demanding a predetermined walking method and a predetermined posture to a wearer, the wearer should maintain the balance using the required locomotive organs such as muscles and skeletons. The walking method or the regulation of the walking posture is determined by the use of a hard or soft insertion material having a bottom structure of a predetermined shape. An orthopaedist deliberately determines how the wearer should act and which attitude the wearer should take and accordingly the predetermined shape of the bottom structure is determined.
However, the predetermined shape of the bottom structure can be unsuitable for individual symptoms and have a danger of demanding wrong posture over a long period of time due to an unsuitable diagnosis of an orthopaedist.
In the conventional shoes used for functions, it is often necessary for the shoes to adapt themselves to the individual walking methods and the individual structures of locomotive organs in order to have an excellent effect for the orthopaedic objects or the exercises for predetermined portions. However, in general, as well as if a wearer selects a wrong structure or an orthopaedist makes an inaccurate diagnosis, the functional shoes are not comfortable when the shoes are initially worn, are difficult to wear, and can cause a complete inconvenience at the worst. Such a situation arises when wearers need to adapt themselves to the shoes.
Not only do the wearers adjust themselves to the shoe but also the shoe adapt itself to the shape of the wearer's foot and the walking methods of the wearers in the shoes and the lasting boards, which are manufactured of leather or cloth by a simple method.
However, fiber, plastic, and rubber, currently used as synthetic materials, have a basic limit in adapting the soft materials to the foot of the wearer due to their characteristics and the structures of the above-mentioned shoes.
Further, it has been studied and proved experimentally that giving comfortableness to the feet of a wearer and allowing the maximum degree of freedom has an orthopaedic healing effect by the motion sequence of the wearer. This has a thread of connection with a report stating that people from the countryside that walk barefoot on soft natural ground maintain locomotive organs far fitter than city dwellers wearing standardized shoes.
Therefore, it is necessary to develop a footwear of a new concept which adapts itself to the wearer to provide complete comfortableness during walking and allows the maximum degree of freedom to a foot even if some or all of the structures for maintaining the appearance of the footwear are abandoned.


A stopper remover and piercing pin for champagne bottles, and the like, which has grasping jaws and a piercing pin on an operative shaft, wherein the operative shaft is moved by lever-driven gears inward toward the bottle to pierce the stopper and outward away from the bottle to remove the stopper.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to a bottle opener that is particularly adapted to open champagne-type bottles, specifically those having hollow plastic stoppers or corks, as well as conventional solid corks. It includes a piercing pin to pierce the hollow stopper to release gas from the bottle before the stopper is pulled.


A steering shaft bearing assembly (100) for a vehicle having a steering shaft (102). The steering shaft bearing assembly includes a bearing (108) having a bore (112) adapted to receive the steering shaft and a support body (120) having an outer surface (124) and a passageway (126) passing through the support body. The bearing is at least partially disposed in the passageway so as to be suspended by the support body in the passageway in a predetermined position. The support body comprises a flexible material for permitting the bearing to move from the predetermined position. About 50% or more of the outer surface of the support body is free of a rigid support structure for restricting movement of the support body when coupled to the vehicle during operation.

Automotive vehicles typically employ a steering shaft between the steering column and steering gear for the purpose of transmitting rotational motion of the steering wheel to the steering gear. The steering shaft is often interfaced with a steering shaft bearing assembly for providing support for the steering shaft as it rotates.
One previously developed steering shaft bearing assembly is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,895,391, issued to Groat (hereinafter "Groat"). Although somewhat effective at its intended purpose, the steering shaft bearing assembly is not without its problems. For instance, referring to FIGS. 4 and 5 of Groat, the steering shaft bearing assembly 6 includes a large number of separable parts which make installation and removal a laborious process. Moreover, the steering shaft bearing assembly 6 includes a first mounting bracket 56, a second mounting bracket 60, a flexible member 40, a drive shaft seal 22, rollers 30, a cage 36, and an outer race 32. All of these parts must be correctly aligned relative to one another and secured in place. Further, the outer surface of the flexible member is restrained or positionally stabilized from movement relative to the vehicle. This is done by the mounting brackets 56 and 60 which engage substantially all of the outer surface of the flexible member 40, keeping the outer surface of the flexible member from moving. Supporting the outer surface of the flexible member 40, although necessary for the invention of Groat, adds cost and complexity to the steering shaft bearing assembly 6 and hinders the ability of the flexible member 40 to accommodate movement of the steering shaft 10. Thus, there exists a need for a steering shaft bearing assembly that has fewer parts, is easy to install and remove, that is better able to accommodate movement of the shaft, and/or is inexpensive to manufacture.


A brass ammunition marking device is disclosed that allows users to mark their ammunition casings, so that users may easily identify and collect their casings at a shooting range for reuse. The brass ammunition marking device comprises a chuck for retaining a cartridge, a motor, a cylindrical component, and two marking device. The marking device is inserted into at least one of the opposed open ends of the cylindrical component with the marking tip side inserted first, such that the marking tip contacts the exterior surface of the ammunition cartridge and creates a mark. Further, the chuck retains the cartridge, and the motor is in electrical communication with the chuck for rotating the cartridge about an axis. The motor further comprises a drive shaft that contacts the chuck and rotates the cartridge, while the cylindrical component is held stationary. Additionally, the motor is typically powered by a battery.

When at a shooting range, any person who reloads can find it highly difficult to identify spent brass casings which comes from their own firearm when among others who are shooting the same caliber. Without some sort of marking on the brass casings, users have to pick up each piece of brass to check for a specific marking. This can be time consuming and will lead to not finding all of their ammunition casings. Some users mark the brass casings themselves with a mark across the bottom, but this can be tedious and time-consuming. Other users may simply purchase new ammunition each time they go to the shooting range, but this can be very expensive. An effective solution is necessary.
The present invention provides users with a convenient and quick way to identify and collect their ammunition brass casings after discharging a firearm, for example, at a shooting range. This brass marking device allows users to make a mark around the circumference of their brass casings, allowing users to easily identify their brass casings from other user's brass lying on the ground. By using this device, users may will quickly and easily collect their spent casings, thereby eliminating the need to purchase new brass casing which can be expensive. Anyone who reloads and regularly goes to a shooting range to practice their shooting skills may appreciate the benefits afforded by this device.


There is provided a recording apparatus including: a recording head having recording elements arranged in a first direction; a first transporting mechanism having a first supply roller and a first discharge roller to transport the first recording medium; a second transporting mechanism arranged between the first supply and discharge rollers in the first direction to transport the second recording medium, the second transporting mechanism holding an overlap portion, of the second recording medium, overlapping in the first direction with a portion of a recording range in which the recording elements of the recording head are arranged; and a controller controlling the recording head to perform recording on the second recording medium by using only a part of the recording elements which are located to overlap with the overlap area of the second recording medium.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus which records text (letter), image, etc. on a recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is known an ink-jet printer which records image, etc. on a recording paper as a recording medium. Such an ink-jet printer is provided with an ink-jet head which discharges an ink toward the recording paper, and a transporting mechanism which transports the recording paper to the ink-jet head.
The inkjet head discharges the ink toward the recording paper while moving along a predetermined scanning direction with respect to the recording paper. The transporting mechanism has two rollers which are arranged to sandwich the ink-jet head therebetween in a transporting direction orthogonal to the scanning direction, and transports the recording paper supplied by a paper supplying mechanism in the transporting direction with the two rollers.


A kit and method of motorcycle to trike conversion using a mono-coupe style overlay plate on both sides of the rear swing arm and a non-straddle differential design incorporating hollow metal tube axles and high thrust load maximum surface area bearings, the having a differential assembly comprising a non-straddle differential, a frame, and an axle assembly comprising an axle, wherein the non-straddle differential is supported by the axle.

1. Technical Field
The present invention generally is in the field of conversion kits for converting two wheeled motorized vehicles to three-wheeled motorized vehicles, and more specifically is in the field of conversion kits having a non-straddle, axle-supported differential and/or a braking assembly at least partially attached to a differential housing.
2. Prior Art
Like bicycles, motorcycles rely on the ability of the rider to maintain balance of the vehicle when moving or at a rest.
A three wheel trike "delta configuration" (i.e. one front wheel and two rear wheels) gives an ordinary motorcycle the inherent ability to remain upright when moving and at rest. This is possible due to the stance created from changing the dimensional stability of the motorcycle from vertical to horizontal with the replacement of the one rear wheel with two rear wheels that are spread far enough apart to create a stable platform.
Many efforts have been made to achieve this dimensional stability by the use of add on, outboard wheels. This creates a four wheel vehicle (one in front and three rear wheels) that retains the original rear wheel to provide the drive power. This is similar to the training wheels used on a child's first bicycle. This configuration gives riding and at rest stability but carries an often dangerous risk when cornering. With the outboard wheel configuration the outer tire will lift during most turns. When this happens the outboard tires and center drive wheel are usually rotating at different speeds because of their different diameters or distance from the center line of the vehicle. As the turn is completed the outer wheel comes back into contact with the road surface. That outer tire must now "spin up" its rotations to match the other tires. This spinning up causes a drag on that side of the vehicle with a corresponding braking action thus lurching the vehicle towards that side.
To eliminate this, most trike designs have gone to the delta configuration where the two rear wheels are on a solid axle or more commonly two axles joined by a differential unit.
Most of these designs require extensive modification to the swing arm and even the motorcycle frame itself because of the weight of the rear assembly with its tires, fenders and sometimes a fiberglass or metal full body. Many of these conversions use shortened versions of regular automobile rear ends. Their extensive use of all steel automotive components results in excessive weight behind the normal center of gravity of the vehicle. Additionally, these conversions tend to require special skills, special equipment and often take weeks of shop time to accomplish.
Based upon these design compromises, it becomes apparent that what is needed is a rigid, light weight design that would give greater maneuverability, better mileage and be readily adaptable to a variety of motorcycle makes and models. It is to these needs and others that the present invention is directed.

Conversion of two wheeled motorcycle to a three wheeled trike configuration


A design system provides data structures to store parameters of physical structures that can be viewed and modified in a front-end process through a logical design interface. In this way, system behavior defined by component structure can be evaluated and modified through a schematic representation of the data, regardless of a state of data representing the physical layout of interconnected physical structures. In electric circuit applications, for example, high frequency circuits can be incrementally designed and evaluated through structural parameters defined in a schematic diagram data abstraction without modifying and evaluating a layout data abstraction of the circuit directly.

The general inventive concept described herein pertains to engineering design of physical systems by way of machine operations and by interaction with the machine by a user, typically a system designer. As used herein, a physical system is a set of components interconnected in a particular configuration so as to interoperate in a common purpose. It is to be understood that a system may include sub-systems that themselves meet the criteria of a physical system.
Engineering design, broadly, across the many engineering disciplines, involves the selective interconnection of various system components to transfer energy, or equivalently, to transport matter, therebetween so as to compel a system behavior satisfying a specified design goal. To that end, designers create, modify and analyze a system design in a design environment, such as a computer-aided design (CAD) system, a computer-aided engineering (CAE) system or an electronic design automation (EDA) system through a number of different data abstractions. As used herein, a data abstraction is a mechanism by which a data set is reduced or filtered so that the designer works with an appropriate subset of the data at any one time. For example, certain design tasks require only a subset of a complete data set that corresponds to a context in which the tasks are performed. Accordingly, each design task may have a context in which to perform the task and a data abstraction corresponding to the context in which the task is performed. It is to be understood that design element data underlying different data abstractions thereof refer to the same design element in the system design, but the different data abstractions reveal aspects of the design element that more readily assists the designer to perform different design tasks. For example, designers of electrical circuits may define logical connections and component parameters in a schematic entry context through a logical data abstraction, such as data abstraction presented as a schematic diagram, and may define component placement and physical connections in a layout context through a physical data abstraction, such as a data abstraction presented as a collection of footprints, i.e., the spatial occupancy of the components of the design, laid out as when the components are physically fabricated or assembled. Specific design contexts for physical systems other than electric circuits have corresponding data abstractions that present data in a manner consistent with the physical system or particular engineering design discipline. Generally, logical data abstractions, by which symbolic data of a physical system can be manipulated and physical data abstractions, by which spatial data of the physical system can be manipulated, are implemented in a suitable manner across many physical system design platforms.
As used herein, an operational domain is a set of operating conditions in which and/or by which the physical system is designed to operate. An operational domain may be, for example, atmospheric conditions established by a specific temperature and pressure, or may be a specific operational mode in which the physical system is driven, such as a specific range of electrical signal frequencies driving an electrical circuit. Selection of the operational domain is essential in physical system design since elements from which the physical system is constructed exhibit vastly different behavior across operational domains. Wire segments in an electric circuit, for example, behave according to distributed circuit parameters at frequencies over 500 MHz (referred to collectively herein as radio frequencies, or RF, although the RF operational domain, per se, includes frequencies that are lower than 500 MHz, and frequencies in modern RF circuitry greatly exceed 500 MHz) and behave according to lumped parameters at lower frequencies. As another example, the conduits of a thermodynamic system may have specific dynamic behavior in a particular operational domain, such as high temperature or pressure, which does not manifest itself in other operational domains, such as under standard temperature and pressure (STP) conditions. In varied operational domains, certain parameters of such components, such as the physical dimensions, shape and material from which the components are constructed, have an effect on the energy transfer from one component to another. As such, where these components could be represented in a design system by low-dimensional data (e.g., a single connection between components) in one operational domain, the component data should represent multidimensional properties in an operational domain wherein the components require definition of added parameters in order to function properly in the operational domain. Thus, an automated system design apparatus should afford the system designer with design tools by which the designer may modify the response behavior of components of the physical system, such as by changing the physical structure thereof and/or its surrounding structures. Of course, in doing so, the members connected to the modified components may also require modification so that the system function, as a whole, stays within designed operating tolerances once the change has been made. The design parameters assigned to various elements of a physical system affect system behavior and such assignment is thus an integral part of the design process.
As physical systems become more complex, which is certainly the case for electrical circuits, other design tools are required in a design platform so that the design data is not overwhelming to the designer. Indeed, whereas task automation, for example, has ameliorated certain onerous manual design operations, the designer remains, even today, the key component in a design process. Thus, the degree to which the designer can seamlessly interact with the design apparatus dictates the design time and the expense inherent thereto.
FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified depiction of an exemplary process 100 by which a physical system, in this case an electrical circuit 155, may be physically realized from a design concept 110. The skilled artisan will recognize that the process described with reference to FIG. 1 has similarity to processes that produce physical systems other than electric circuits.
A physical system design typically starts as a concept 110 in the mind of the designer, or designers, represented by designer 115. The designer 115 may interact with a design system 120 to perform various design tasks, as illustrated at interactions 117. By way of the interactions 117 with design system 120, the designer may construct, modify, and verify design data 125 of the physical system 150 that may be ultimately used to fabricate or construct the physical system 150. The design system 120 may be a data processing apparatus executing processing instructions to perform computational, transformational and data presentation processes as directed by the designer 115. Accordingly, a primary function of the design system 120 is to accept input data and design instructions, and present a current state of the design by way of the interactions 117 in a manner that assists the designer in performing the design tasks without losing sight of the design concept 110.
As is illustrated in FIG. 1, the design data 125 may be provided to design data realization system 130, whereby the design data 125 may be processed into a tangible form by which the physical system 150 may be physically fabricated or constructed. The design data realization system 130 produces realization data 135 and provides the realization data to fabrication system 140 by which the physical system 150 is fabricated. The realization data 135 may include data formatted to physically fabricate, for example, circuit component structures 155 on one or more circuit-bearing media 153. Such realization data 135 may include data to construct component and interconnect mask patterns, component placement location data, packaging data, and any other data necessary in a fabrication process to produce the physical system 150, illustrated in FIG. 1 as finished circuit product 150. Other realization data 135 may include milling machine instructions, wiring diagrams, and even blueprints, where the specific form of the realization data is dependent on the physical system 150 being constructed and the fabrication system 140 achieving the construction.
As is known, a machine, in this case the design and fabrication system 118, is not capable of conceptualizing a design 110. Conversely, the designer 115 is not capable of fabricating a complex physical system design, especially when the physical structures forming the physical system are, for example, microscopic, as is the case with modern electrical circuits, without automated processes provided by the machine 100. Thus, a high level of cooperation between a designer 115 and the machine 100 is required to produce complex physical systems. Ultimately, it is in the design of the machine 100 and the mechanisms by which data are transferred between the designer 115 and the machine 100 that dictates the level to which the cooperation is achieved.
Various modern physical systems are extremely complex—comprising numerous complex subsystems spanning multiple technologies. Thus, it is preferable, and often necessary, to partition the overall design into manageable portions. Doing so, however, presents certain challenges, such as synchronizing portions of the design when another portion has been modified and performing simulations and verifications on subsystem designs that rely on other portions of the design still in an earlier design stage. Hence, an incremental design approach, where the portions of the design can be partitioned into small subsystems that are efficiently synchronized with, but verified independently of other portions of the design, can not only decrease the design time, but may also generate reusable portions of the design.
As stated above, certain systems, such as RF circuitry, are performance sensitive to the operational domain in which they operate. In RF circuitry specifically, the physical dimensions and shapes of component structures establish the frequency response of the structure. Thus, prudently designed conductor patterns are used to form functional components in RF circuits, such as capacitors and inductors. In certain design systems, these structures are defined by quantities established during layout. However, functional components are more easily entered into a design during the logical design phase. Moreover, interconnect structures between functional components, at RF frequencies, behave in accordance with parameters established at design time and, as such, incorporating such design elements into a design is more efficiently achieved by way of parameterized components in a schematic data abstraction. Given these mechanisms, the data defining RF circuit designs, and physical systems with analogous requirements, are efficiently managed when partitioned into small sub-circuits, and when the data specifying the sub-circuits can be manipulated through a logical data abstraction thereof.

Logical design flow with structural compatability verification


An interactive device includes a base unit and at least one interchangeable cartridge. The base unit comprises a transparent pressure-sensitive touchscreen overlying the cartridge and a microphone. The cartridge comprises a scroll having a plurality of image frames which are sequentially viewable through the transparent touchscreen and a digital memory. The cartridge is configured to key into a cartridge receptacle in the base unit and couple the memory with a processor in the base unit. The cartridge includes release levers which prevent rotation of the scroll when the cartridge is removed from the base unit.

The present invention relates to the field of interactive electronic devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to interactive toys that receive a plurality of interchangeable cartridges, each cartridge having a scroll displaying in succession a plurality of pictorial scenes.
It is known in the art to provide an electronic device adapted to receive a plurality of interchangeable cartridges, each cartridge having a substrate mounted on rods in the manner of a scroll, the substrate having a plurality of pictorial scenes disposed thereon. Such devices are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,457 (Bromley); U.S. Pat. No. 5,695,345 (Weiner et al., hereinafter "Weiner"); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,944,574 (Small et al., hereinafter "Small"). More particularly, Bromley discloses an interactive device having a story belt disposed within a cartridge. When the cartridge is inserted into the device of Bromley, the story belt overlies a membrane key pad having a plurality of electrical switches. A user of the device of Bromley may press on the story belt to activate one of the plurality of electrical switches to initiate a response from the device. Weiner discloses a base unit along with a plurality of cartridges having a window, a pair of rods rotatably mounted in the housing, and a printed substrate mounted on the rods in the manner of a scroll. The cartridges of Weiner are disclosed to preferably include a memory unit which is operatively connected to a microcontroller housed in the base unit. Small discloses an interchangeable cassette which is received in a base unit. The cassette includes a pair of rollers on which a picture scroll is wound. Small further discloses a plurality of interactive control buttons disposed in the base unit adjacent the cavity into which the cassette is received.
An interactive toy which provides an input device, not previously incorporated into such toys, through which a user may interact with the toy should provide more engaging play activity than previous interactive toys. Further, an interactive toy having an interchangeable cartridge incorporating features to improve the durability of the cartridge would also be desirable.


Example embodiments relate to downloading a disk image from a server while reducing the corruption window. In example embodiments, a computing device writes a recovery image to a portion of a primary storage device. The computing device may then write the disk image to the primary storage device until a portion of the disk image corresponding to the recovery image remains. Next, the computing device may write the remaining portion of the disk image to a secondary storage location. Finally, the computing device may overwrite the recovery image using the remaining portion of the disk image from the secondary storage location.

A disk image is typically a the that contains the complete contents and structure of a storage medium, such as a hard disk drive, solid state drive, or other storage device. Thus, a disk image generally captures the master boot record (MBR), partitions, and the system of a storage device without requiring additional software to understand and parse specific partition and the system types.
Software developers take advantage of the simplicity offered by disk images in a number of solutions. For example, some backup solutions generate a complete disk image of a storage device, such that the device can later be restored by simply copying the disk image to the device. As another example, an enterprise with a thin client architecture can easily distribute a shared disk image to multiple client devices, thereby reducing the need for client-specific configuration.

Downloading a disk image from a server with a reduced corruption window

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A solid state imaging device includes: a light receiving section performing photoelectric conversion; a transfer register formed in a semiconductor base; a transfer electrode formed of a semiconductor layer on the transfer register; a charge transfer section which formed of the transfer register and the transfer electrode and transferring a signal charge accumulated in the light receiving section; a bus line electrically connected to a portion of the transfer electrode to supply a driving pulse to the transfer electrode and formed of a metal layer; and a barrier metal layer formed near an interface between the transfer electrode and the bus line in a contact section that connects the transfer electrode and the bus line with each other and having a work function of the size between a work function of the semiconductor layer of the transfer electrode and a work function of the metal layer of the bus line.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solid state imaging device with a charge transfer section, such as a CCD, and an imaging apparatus including a solid state imaging device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a known CCD solid state imaging device, each horizontal transfer electrode extends to the outside of the channel region of a horizontal CCD register and is connected to a bus line by a contact in the outside of the channel region.
Generally, the bus line is formed of metal, such as aluminum.
In addition, in the recent CCD solid state imaging device, a configuration is proposed in which a horizontal transfer electrode is formed of a polycrystalline silicon layer of a single layer.
FIG. 10 shows an enlarged plan view near a horizontal transfer register of the CCD solid state imaging device in which the horizontal transfer electrode is formed of the polycrystalline silicon layer of a single layer. In addition, FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line X-X′ of FIG. 10.
As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, a horizontal transfer register 63 is formed near a surface of a portion of a semiconductor substrate 61 other than an element separation layer 62. A horizontal transfer electrode 65 made of polycrystalline silicon is formed on the semiconductor substrate 61 with a gate insulating layer 64 interposed therebetween. To the horizontal transfer electrode 65, a horizontal transfer pulse φH1 of a first phase and a horizontal transfer pulse φH2 of a second phase are applied alternately.
In FIG. 10, a bus line 68 for supplying the horizontal transfer pulse φH2 of a second phase is disposed in a lower portion than the horizontal transfer register 63, and a bus line 67 for supplying the horizontal transfer pulse φH1 of a first phase is disposed in a lower portion than the bus line 68. The bus lines 67 and 68 are electrically connected to the horizontal transfer electrode 65 by a contact section 66.
On the horizontal transfer register 63, a light shielding layer 69 is formed so as to cover the horizontal transfer electrode 65.
In the configuration of the CCD solid state imaging device shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, it is necessary to provide a region only for connection between the horizontal transfer electrode 65 and the bus lines 67 and 68 outside the horizontal transfer register 63. This is disadvantageous in that the chip area increases.
In addition, due to extending the horizontal transfer electrode 65 to the region only for connection, the load capacitance between the horizontal transfer electrodes 65 or between the horizontal transfer electrode 65 and the light shielding layer 69 increases. As a result, the resistance from the horizontal transfer electrode 65 of a portion on the horizontal transfer register 63 to the bus lines 67 and 68 increases.
In this case, since the speed of a horizontal transfer driving pulse is decreased, an improvement of speed of horizontal charge transfer or a reduction in power consumption becomes difficult and this may lead to deterioration of horizontal transfer.
As a technique for solving these problems, there is a technique of performing connection between a horizontal transfer electrode and a bus line on a horizontal CCD register (see Japanese Patent No. 2606001 or JP-B-7-87244).
This is a technique of connecting the bus line formed of metal with the horizontal transfer electrode formed of polycrystalline silicon on a channel of the horizontal CCD register, that is, on an active region.
In such a technique, however, potential shift occurs because there is a large difference between the work functions of metal and polycrystalline silicon (see 'Kazuya Yonemoto, Hideshi Abe "Two-million pixel FIT-CCD image sensor for HDVT", The Institute of Electronic and Information Engineers of Japan, VLD90-22, ICD90-58, June 1990').

Solid state imaging device and imaging apparatus


The present disclosure is directed to compositions and methods to treat the inflammatory response present in certain diseases and illnesses by modifying a dysregulation of one or more genes associated with the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Embodiments of the disclosure can provide methods for treating an inflammatory response in a patient by identifying the inflammatory response and modifying the inflammatory response.

The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway helps regulate cellular proliferation, differentiation, polarization and cell fate. While the Wnt-signaling pathway has been implicated in certain inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, chronic ulcerative colitis, periodontitis, lung diseases including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the mechanism of action remains to be characterized.
Other conditions associated with an increased inflammatory response, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), have not been linked to alterations in the Wnt-signaling pathway. PTSD has a high prevalence among victims of traumatic events such as assault, battery, domestic abuse, and war. Approximately 3.6% of American adults between 18 to 54 years, and about 30% of Vietnam War Veterans are affected by PTSD. Also, as many as 8% of Gulf War Veterans have been diagnosed with PTSD. Prevalence of PTSD has been reported to be 14.4% in the Detroit Neighborhood Health Study (DNHS). PTSD affects social and professional functioning, emotional, along with physical health and health-related quality of life. Patients with PTSD may display not only interpersonal withdrawal but also experience increased risk of cardiovascular disease, progressive decrease in muscle bulk, osteoporosis and fractures, cancer, arthritis, and digestive disorders, the precise mechanisms of which are unclear.
There have been some reports of immune dysfunction in PTSD. Increased numbers of inflammatory immune cells have been reported in abused women with PTSD symptoms, as well as in male veterans with PTSD. In PTSD patients, there is significant increase in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), the number of CD4+, CD8+, NK and B cells in PBMC, and in the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IFNγ, IL-17, RANTES and IL-12. Understanding the origin of chronic inflammation may help address the comorbidity associated with PTSD. Despite the observation of chronic inflammation in patients having PTSD and other diseases, the mechanisms underlying dysregulation of the immune system are not clear and treating these patients without suppressing the immune system as a whole remains a challenge.

Methods and compositions for modulating the WNT-signaling pathway as treatments for inflammatory diseases


A memory managing method, a memory control circuit unit and a memory storage apparatus are provided. The method includes: setting a read-disturb threshold for each of a plurality of physical erasing units; adjusting the read-disturb threshold of a first physical erasing unit according to state information of a rewritable non-volatile memory module; and performing a read-disturb prevention operation according to the read-disturb threshold of the first physical erasing unit.

Technical Field
A memory managing method, a memory control circuit unit and a memory storage apparatus are provided.
Description of Related Art
The growth of digital cameras, mobile phones, and MP3 players has been rapid in recent years. Consequently, the consumers' demand for storage media has increased tremendously. A rewritable non-volatile memory is one of the most adaptable memories for portable electronic products such as laptop computer due to its data non-volatility, low power consumption, small volume, non-mechanical structure and high read/write speed. A solid state drive (SSD) is a memory storage apparatus which utilizes a flash memory module as a storage medium. For these reasons, the flash memory has become an import part of the electronic industries.
In general, the rewritable non-volatile memory module usually includes a plurality of physical erasing units, and each of the physical erasing units includes a plurality of physical programming units. Particularly, the physical erasing unit in the rewritable non-volatile memory module has a limited number of times in terms of an erase count. For example, the physical erasing unit may be worn out after experiencing an erase operation for over ten thousand times. When one specific physical erasing unit is worn out, error bits may be generated while programming (or writing) the data into that specific physical erasing unit. In severe case, it also leads to adverse effects such as data loss or data storage failure.
In addition, after the data stored in one specific physical programming unit in one physical erasing unit is repeatedly read for multiple times (e.g., with a read count from hundred thousand times to million times), it is highly possibly that the data stored by the specific physical erasing unit may generate error bits or may be lost due to applied read voltage. Worth yet, the data stored in other physical programming units of the same physical erasing unit may also generate error bits or may be lost. This kind of phenomenon is commonly referred to as "read-disturb" by person with ordinary skill in the art.
Because the read-disturb and waring phenomenons will occur in the rewritable non-volatile memory module with uses of the physical erasing unit over time, manufacturers must develop various memory managing methods to overcome those phenomenons, so as to effectively reduce a wearing probability and control an occurrence probability of the read-disturb for the physical erasing unit.
Nothing herein should be construed as an admission of knowledge in the prior art of any portion of the present invention. Furthermore, citation or identification of any document in this application is not an admission that such document is available as prior art to the present invention, or that any reference forms a part of the common general knowledge in the art.

Memory managing method, memory control circuit unit and memory storage apparatus


Herein described is a method and system of implementing integrated circuit logic modules that provide maximum efficiency and minimum energy dissipation. In a representative embodiment, a method of implementing one or more digital signal processing functions comprises determining one or more parameters associated with generating an optimal logic module. The one or more parameters may comprise the circuit area of the logic module and the processing time through a critical path of the logic module. In a representative embodiment, the system comprises a logic module that utilizes four full adders arranged in a tree configuration. In a representative embodiment, the logic module comprises a carry-save accumulator that provides maximum efficiency and minimal energy dissipation.

Digital signal processing functions may be implemented in silicon using a number of different processes or methodologies. The implementation of digital signal processing circuits such as digital filters, multipliers, and accumulators may be performed using one or more design building blocks or logic modules. These design building blocks or logic modules may comprise multi-operand adders and registers.
In many instances, the logic modules may not be optimally designed. For example, the overall chip area used to implement the logic module may be too large. In other instances, the overall processing delay associated with the components of the logic module may be suboptimal. Yet, in other instances, the power consumed by the logic module may be excessive for the digital signal processing functions implemented.
The limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.

Implementation of digital signal processing functions using maximal efficiency and minimal energy dissipation


Provided are a mobile terminal apparatus, a radio base station apparatus and a radio communication method, capable of saving PHICH resources enough and realizing effective retransmission control of uplink SU-MIMO. The radio communication method of the present invention is characterized in that a radio base station apparatus receives signals of plural codewords, when there is an error in each of the codewords, generates a one-bit negative response physical HARQ indicator channel signal and transmits the physical HARQ indicator channel signal, and a mobile terminal apparatus receives the physical HARQ indicator channel signal and transmits retransmission signals of all the codewords to the radio base station apparatus based on the negative response physical HARQ indicator channel signal.

In the LTE (Long Term Evolution) system provided in the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), it has been proposed to apply Synchronous Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (NPL 1). As illustrated in FIG. 1, when an uplink PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel) signal is first transmission, transmission acknowledgement information (ACK/NAC) is transmitted by the PHICH (Physical Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request Indicator Channel). When a mobile terminal apparatus receives NAC in the PHICH, the uplink PUSCH signal is retransmitted at predetermined intervals (RTD: Round Trip Delay, 8 msec) (Non-adaptive retransmission). In this case, the mobile terminal apparatus retransmits the PUSCH signal in the same resource (RB: Resource Block).
In the meantime, in the LTE system, when the PUSCH signal is retransmitted in the same RB by Non-adaptive retransmission, it may interfere with another UE signal (for example, PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel) signal). Accordingly, as illustrated in FIG. 1, it is also proposed to retransmit the PUSCH signal in a different RB in retransmission (adaptive retransmission). In this case, the mobile terminal apparatus receives RB allocation information used for retransmission in the downlink control channel (UL grant of PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel)).
Further in the LTE system, in order to achieve much faster transmission, the MIMO transmission using plural transmission/reception antennas is adopted in the radio base station apparatus. Further, in the LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) system, which aims to achieve a more broader band and a more faster transmission rate, the MIMO multiplexing transmission is performed of a maximum of 8 streams in the downlink and a maximum of 4 streams in the uplink. In the MIMO multiplexing transmission, multi codeword transmission is performed which is capable of different MCS (Modulation and Coding Scheme) controls and HARQ controls among streams. Here, the maximum number of codewords is 2 irrespective of the number of antennas.

Mobile terminal apparatus, radio base station apparatus and radio communication method


A well block for use within a circulation chamber of a molten metal furnace, comprising A first portion and a second portion, wherein said first portion is positioned atop said second portion, said first and second portions defining a cavity which includes an upper cylindrical surface defining a gradually decreasing diameter, a lower cylindrical surface having a diameter less than said upper cylindrical surface and a medial surface interposed between said upper and said lower cylindrical surfaces, and an outlet positioned proximate to said lower cylindrical surface, said cavity communicating with the circulation chamber via said outlet.

Well blocks are commonly used in molten metal furnaces to melt metal chips, and, thereafter, mix the melted metal chips with the molten metal within the furnace. Although well blocks have a useful lifetime, well blocks are exposed to extreme temperature differentials that may lead to cracking or fracturing thereof.
While these cracks have not caused failure of the blocks or the pumps with which they used, there is a desire to replace these cracked well blocks, which ultimately results in an inability to take advantage of the entire useful life of the block. Attempts have also been made to patch these cracks with ceramic caulks and the like, but these attempts have not proved useful.
A need therefore remains to prevent, alleviate, or effectively repair cracks that occur in well blocks.


A scroll compressor includes an adjustable actuator mount that changes the relative position of a non-orbiting scroll and an orbiting scroll to change the compressor capacity. In one embodiment, the scroll wrap and base of each scroll are manufactured as two separate components with a wrap modulator between the scroll wrap and the base of each scroll. As the mount moves the scrolls apart and together, the wrap modulators extend and retract the scroll wraps relative to their respective bases to maintain fluid-tight compression chambers.

The invention relates to scroll compressors, and more particularly to controlling compressor capacity in a scroll compressor.
Scroll compressors are widely used in refrigerant compression applications. A scroll compressor typically includes two interfitting scroll members. Each scroll member has a base with a generally spiral scroll wrap extending from the base. The wraps interfit to define a plurality of compression chambers. One scroll member is a non-orbiting scroll member, which remains at a stationary position, while the other scroll member is an orbiting scroll member, which orbits relative to the non-orbiting scroll member. The relative orbiting movement causes the wrap in the orbiting scroll member to move relative to the wrap in the non-orbiting scroll member, changing the volume of the compression chambers. This changing volume compresses refrigerant trapped in the compression chambers.
Different applications often call for scroll compressors having different chamber capacities. The chamber capacities can be changed by modifying the dimensions (e.g., the height) of the scroll wraps during compressor manufacture. Each scroll compressor will still have a fixed capacity, however, because the scroll wrap dimensions cannot change once the scroll wrap is actually in the compressor. Changing the capacity of a given compressor would require exchanging a component having one scroll wrap dimension for a corresponding component having a different scroll wrap dimension. While several methods of capacity control using various complex valving schemes have been developed, it would be desirable to develop additional methods.
There is a desire for a scroll compressor structure having an adjustable capacity.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a scroll compressor having an adjustable compressor capacity. One or both scroll wraps in the compressor are coupled to an actuator mount that changes the distance between the bases of the scroll members. The wraps also, preferably, adjust to compensate for this movement. This adjustment can occur via springs, gas devices, hydraulic devices, or other similar adjustment structures. As a result, the compressor capacity can be adjusted at any time and does not require replacement or exchange of compressor components.

Scroll compressor with adjustable capacity


Injectable implant compositions comprise a biocompatible ceramic matrix present in a fluid carrier, where the ceramic matrix comprises particles having a size distribution in the range from 50 .mu.m to 250 .mu.m. Optionally, the compositions may further comprise collagen, where the relative amounts of collagen and ceramic matrix at least partly determine the physical properties of implants formed by injecting the compositions. The fluid carrier is an aqueous buffered medium, typically including an organic polymer base material when there is no collagen present in the composition. The compositions are particularly suitable for repair and augmentation of soft and hard tissues by injection.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the preparation and use of biocompatible implant compositions. More particularly, the present invention relates to injectable ceramic implant compositions for soft and hard tissue repair and augmentation.
The use of collagen compositions for tissue repair and augmentation is known. The collagen may be utilized in a variety of forms, including cross-linked and non-cross-linked fibrillar collagens, gelatins, and the like, and may be combined with various other components, such as lubricants, osteogenic factors, ceramic particles, and the like, depending on the intended use. For soft tissue repair, suspensions of fibrillar collagen have often been used by injecting the composition to a treatment site through a fine gauge needle. For bone and hard tissue repair, fibrillar collagens have been combined with the ceramic powders, such as hydroxyapatite and other calcium phosphates. These compositions, however, have not been injectable.
The use of fibrillar collagen as the primary matrix material in injectable soft and hard tissue implant compositions has several limitations. The preparation of fibrillar collagen suitable for human use is relatively time consuming and expensive. In particular, the complete removal of contaminating and potentially immunogenic substances to produce "atelocollagen" is a relatively complex and expensive procedure. Moreover, the persistence, shape retention, cohesiveness, stability, elasticity, toughness, and intrudability of the fibrillar collagen compositions could be improved.
Heretofore, fibrillar and other collagens have been used primarily for superficial soft tissue augmentation, i.e., near the surface of the skin. For deep tissue injection, particularly to locations near bone and cartilage, the use of cross-linked collagens is problematic, and the use of non-cross-linked collagens is ineffective.
One approach for improving the compositions utilized for soft and hard tissue repair and augmentation would be to at least partly replace the fibrillar collagen in such formulations with a ceramic mineral material, particularly with hydroxyapatite or other calcium phosphate minerals. Hydroxyapatite has very low immunogenicity.
The incorporation of such mineral particles in compositions intended for soft and hard tissue treatment, however, has been found to be ineffective due to the difficulty in introducing such compositions to the treatment site. In particular, the incorporation of generally available ceramic mineral particles inhibits or prevents the introduction of the compositions through a fine gauge needle to the tissue site of interest. Thus, injectable ceramic implant materials have generally not been available and any benefits which may derive from their use remain speculative.
It would therefore be desirable to provide improved injectable implant materials for soft and hard tissue repair and augmentation where at least a portion of the primary tissue matrix substance is a biocompatible ceramic material. Such compositions should be readily injectable so that they can be introduced to a desired soft tissue site using a fine gauge needle. In addition, such compositions should be persistent at the site of injection, preferably adhering to the soft tissue into which they have been injected; they should be stable, i.e. undergo no significant changes in situ; be tough and elastic, i.e. be capable of bearing loads without undergoing excessive or permanent deformation; be non-toxic and well-tolerated by the body, i.e., produce no or tolerable levels of immune and inflammatory responses; and be intrudable, i.e., form a relatively dispersed, irregularly shaped mass within the tissue where the composition has been introduced. In particular, the improved implant materials should be suitable for deep tissue injection, particularly to locations near bone and cartilage, for purposes such as sphincter repair, nasal repair, and the like. It will be appreciated, of course, that the compositions and methods of the present invention while meeting at least some of these objectives, will not necessarily meet each of these objectives in every embodiment.
2. Description of the Background Art
Compositions comprising collagen and a mineral material, such as hydroxyapatite or tricalcium phosphate, are known for use in repairing bone defects. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,001,169; 4,992,226 (which is a division of U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,467); 4,865,602; 4,776,890; and 4,563,350. Lemons et al. Second World Congress of Biomaterials, Apr. 27-May 1, 1984, reported the use of collagen and hydroxyapatite/calcium phosphate compositions to repair bone lesions in rabbits. A soon to be commercially available composition with the trade name COLLAGRAFT (Zimmer, Inc., Warsaw, Ind.) comprises highly purified bovine dermal collagen which is combined with hydroxyapatite and tricalcium phosphate at a ratio of about 1:15 collagen: ceramic by dry weight. Such collagen and mineral formulations are generally not injectable through a small diameter needle and have not been employed for soft tissue repair.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,803,075, describes collagen compositions including a lubricant material to enhance injectability through narrow diameter needles for soft tissue repair. U.S. Pat. No. 4,863,732, describes an injectable composition comprising collagen and an osteogenic factor suitable for bone repair. POLYTEF.RTM. Paste (Mentor Corporation, Santa Barbara, Calif.) is an injectable paste composition comprising pyrolyzed poly(tetrafluroethylene) particles present in glycerin with a small amount of polysorbate 20 suitable for tissue repair of the larynx.
Hydroxyapatite layers on various surgical implants have been found to enhance bonding to soft tissue in a host. Hence, "Bioglass Implants for Otology," in: Biomaterials in Otology, Grote, ed., pp. 62-69, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, The Hague (1983).
The full disclosures of each of these references are incorporated herein by reference.

Injectable ceramic compositions and methods for their preparation and use