An intravaginal inflatable member impermeable to fluids capable when inflated of providing sealable closure of the vaginal canal for the prevention of exit of menstrual blood from the vaginal orifice. The inflatable member can be connected to an absorbent member or can be a stand alone device. Inflation of the inflatable member can be activated manually by the user or via an intravaginal applicator which has the dual function of inserting and delivering the device into the vagina and that of actuating the source of inflation to inflate the inflatable member.

This invention relates to obstetrical-gynecological devices, more specifically to intravaginal devices designed to collect menstrual blood and to prevent leaking or exit of blood or any other organic fluid from the vagina.
The vagina is a musculomembranous tubular organ extending from the uterine cervix to the exterior of the body. The vaginal canal is about 9 or 10 cm long. Its lumen is generally quite small, and the walls that surround it are usually in contact with each other. Various are the organic fluids which pass through the vaginal canal during the female lifetime, such as blood, vaginal secretion fluids, amniotic fluid, etc.
An important organic fluid passing through the vaginal canal and exiting through the vaginal orifice is blood, either as a result of physiological conditions such as the menstrual period or as a result of pathological conditions such as cervical or endometrial carcinoma. The various inconveniences to women resulting from the occurrence of physiological bleeding occurring during the menstrual period have prompted attempts to regulate or control the outflow of menstrual bleeding according to the women personal and social needs. For the purpose of controlling the outflow of menstrual blood, vaginal tampons were introduced a few decades ago. Vaginal tampons are common catamenial devices made of absorbing material and insertable into the vagina by the female user. Due to their absorbing material, tampons, once inserted into the vagina, begin to absorb upon contact the blood they meet, which outflows from the cervical canal into the vagina, and function as reservoirs aiming at delaying exit of the blood from the vaginal orifice conceivably until they become saturated with blood and, in so doing, they exert a regulatory effect on the outflow of menstrual bleeding to meet women""s"" needs or preferences.
However, regardless of their absorbency capabilities, tampons, for various reasons, are known to allow leakage of menstrual blood at rather unpredictable time or shortly after insertion, falling short of providing the regulatory effect which is the very reason for their use. No known tampon is capable of preventing leakage of blood from the vaginal orifice, regardless of shape, size, intravaginal resting site, absorbency capabilities of the material or materials of which they are made of, etc. Blood may leak from the vaginal orifice because the tampon is too early saturated with blood or because the blood flow is disproportionately heavy for the absorbency capabilities of the inserted tampon or because the tampon does not provide an adequate sealing with the vaginal walls or orifice or for all the above reasons variously combined.
Despite the use of tampons, therefore, leakage of blood from the vaginal orifice is almost the rule during the days of the vaginal bleeding and its occurrence may result in a great deal of annoyance and inconvenience to the woman: leakage indeed actually defeats the main purpose for which tampons are used.
Prior art deals with the problem of leakage of menstrual blood through the tampons, some inventions by providing additional blood reservoirs to the tampons, some others by increasing the tampons absorbing capabilities by the means of improved absorbing material, and others by using absorbing pads to apply in correspondence of the vaginal orifice to capture the blood escaped from the tampon. In all such cases, main object of the prior art is rather to minimize and possibly delay the outflow of blood, rather than reliably preventing the leakage of blood until it is the appropriate time for the woman, as determined by the woman rather than by her endometrium, to permit exit of the menstrual blood from the vaginal orifice. No known catamenial device has been disclosed to provide means of preventing leakage of menstrual blood by entailing the use of an intravaginal balloon.
Another group of catamenial devices introduced for the purpose of avoiding leakage of menstrual blood are the menstrual cups. Indeed cup-shaped intravaginal devices for collection of menstrual blood are not new in the art of feminine hygiene. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,845,766 by Zoller, U.S. Pat. No. 3,626,942 by Waldron, U.S. Pat. No. 2,534,900 by Chalmers and U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,984 by Audrey all disclose a cup shaped menstrual collector made of flexible material impervious to fluid inserted into the vaginal canal for the purpose of collecting menstrual blood and preventing leakage of blood from the vaginal orifice. These devices all suffer from poor ergonomic design. They are all bulky, necessarily of large diameter, difficult to insert and remove. They all have a resilient circular rim that regardless of the material is made of is necessarily significantly larger than the diameter of the vaginal orifice they have to pass through during insertion and during removal. Regardless of the individual differences among the menstrual blood collector cups, the general design of all these devices makes their insertion into the vaginal canal an uncomfortable and difficult task. Removal of these devices is even more difficult and uncomfortable for the user than the insertion. Furthermore on their removal spillage of blood is a very frequent occurrence. Indeed none of the menstrual cups is provided with an effective simple sealable closure apparatus of the cup opening apt to prevent spillage of blood. A lot of expertise has to be learned by the user before effective insertion and removal of these devices can be achieved and no matter how expert the user can become, the use of the above mentioned menstrual cups is unavoidably associated with poor tolerance during use, discomfort on insertion and removal and in general difficult application.
Zadini et al disclose in their patent application Ser. No. 08/391,342 an inflatable device for sealable closure of the vaginal canal as a standing alone device and as a device associated with an intravaginal tampon. In FIG. 5 of the above cited Zadini""s patent, an inflatable cup shaped member is described associated with a tampon. While this inflatable device offers advantages with respect to the priorly cited menstrual cups, being undeniably capable of being inserted into the vagina and removed from it in an easy and comfortable fashion being deflatable, still has the drawback of not being able to collect the blood escaped from tampon absorption and of allowing spillage of blood on removal as with all priorly cited menstrual cups.
The present invention comprises an intravaginal inflatable cup shaped member capable of providing reliable vaginal closure to outflow of organic fluids such as menstrual blood from the vaginal orifice until the woman determines to be the appropriate time for allowing exit of the menstrual blood from the vaginal orifice, and also provides reliable vaginal closure to pathological bleeding. Vaginal closure is achieved by an inflatable member, impermeable to fluids, easily self-adaptable to the variability of size and shape of the vaginal lumen and to the variability of smoothness of the vaginal walls, said inflatable member expanding to exert a gentle pressure on the vaginal mucosa, such a pressure being sufficient to prevent passage of blood between the inflatable member itself and the vaginal mucosa. The inflatable cup shaped device is inserted into the vagina and extracted from it through the vaginal orifice in a deflated status allowing an easy and discomfort free insertion and extraction.
The device is provided with an automatic sealable closure of the opening of the cup to prevent spillage of blood on removal.
The device may be used as a stand-alone intravaginal device, or may be used in combination with blood absorbing means such as tampons.
When used in cases of pathological vaginal bleeding, the inflatable intravaginal cup-shaped member, comprising material substantially impermeable to fluids, expands to exert pressure on the vaginal mucosa to prevent passage of blood between the inflatable device and the vaginal mucosa, such prevention of passage of blood resulting in a blockage to intravaginal transit of blood.
It is an object of the present invention to propose a device that conceivably offers a solution to the problem of untimely leakage of menstrual blood. As such, i.e. if employed as a means for prevention of leakage of menstrual blood, one embodiment of the present invention could be used in combination with blood absorbing material, such as tampons.
However, it may also be used alone to provide means for prevention of blood leakage, or, for that same purpose, it may be used in combination with other devices or suitable components employed in association with menstrual bleeding such as menstrual pads.
It is another object of the present invention to offer a device capable of assuring prevention of blood leakage regardless of the anatomical size, shape, changing of direction and of lumen contour of the vagina, as a result of remarkable adaptability to anatomical size, shape, contour of the vagina, and adaptability to contingent changes of size, shape, lumen contour of the vagina, to maintain its outer surface in close contact with the vaginal mucosa and offer a sealing closure to blood in any condition.
It is another object of this invention to propose an inflatable cup shaped device capable of reliably achieving prevention of leakage of menstrual blood while being easy to be worn, conceivably adding no discomfort to the female user, by gently applying upon the vaginal mucosa a pressure just barely sufficient to prevent passage of blood between the device and the vaginal mucosa, such a pressure being generally proportional to the pressure, notoriously negligible, exerted by menstrual blood.
It is another object of this invention to propose an inflatable device capable of reliably achieving prevention of leakage of menstrual blood, while being easy to insert and likewise easy and comfortable to extract.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an intravaginal device capable of preventing, when indicated, leakage or outflow, in any amount, of organic fluids in general, besides blood, from the vaginal orifice.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an inflatable intravaginal device offering means of prevention of significant hemorrhage in cases for instance of pathological bleeding, by reliably preventing excessive blood loss from the vagina, by limiting the amount of blood extravasation to an amount not exceeding the maximum capacity of reservoir of a tract of the vagina proximal to the site of placement of said inflatable device, as a result of a blockage exerted by such inflatable intravaginal device on the vaginal transit of blood. A device of this kind may prevent the serious medical complications associated with massive vaginal-uterine bleeding and at times may well be a life saving device.
It is another object of this invention to provide an inflatable cup shaped device capable of functioning as reservoir for the blood exiting from the cervical os.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an inflatable menstrual cup capable of changing size due to its inflatability. Due to its significantly reduced size when deflated the device is easy to insert and extract from the vaginal orifice without causing any discomfort to the female user experienced by the users of the priorly cited menstrual cups.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an inflatable menstrual cup capable of automatic sealable closure of its opening on extraction so as to not allow escape of blood from the collector cup at the time of extraction and disposal.

inflatable menstrual cup for blood leakage prevention


A novel array of hollow silica glass microneedles is provided. The array is prepared from a silica dispersion. A novel apparatus is provided comprising a negative mold component having tapered openings therein and a positive mold component having positive elements that are received within the tapered openings of the negative mold component. An assembly is prepared of the negative mold component and the positive mold component, with an aqueous silica dispersion received within the space between the outer surface of the positive elements and the inner surface of the openings. The assembly is heated to remove air and water vapors from the silica dispersion, then the assembly is further heated to sinter the remaining silica to silica glass. The sintered silica glass when removed from the mold components is in the form of an array of microneedles.

Transdermal drug delivery is a diverse emerging field that will require a broad range of microneedle structures and materials. Hollow microneedles are a particularly significant aspect of this technology that present fabrication challenges for designers of microneedle arrays.
Patches containing arrays of microneedles are being investigated by many entities. It is known that the skin to be penetrated by microneedles for the delivery of a drug includes many layers that may vary in thickness. The outermost layer of the skin is the stratum corneum, which is usually between 10 and 20 microns (10-20 μm) thick. This layer presents the greatest barrier to transdermal flux of drugs or other molecules into the body. Below the stratum corneum is the epidermal layer which may be between 50 and 100 μm thick. Immediately below the epidermis is the dermis which is between 1 and 3 mm thick. A more detailed description of the skin layers and the desired range of dimensions of microneedle arrays is found in U.S. Pat. No. 7,211,062 B2 at columns 3 and 4, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Transdermal patches of the prior art typically are manufactured from polymers that exhibit high rheology, even at elevated temperatures. The challenge in manufacturing a patch containing arrays of microneedles lies in accurately forming these high rheology polymers into very small, precise microneedle structures of high-aspect ratio. It is particularly difficult to use such high rheology polymers to form microneedle arrays having fine channels running through their length that allow a drug to pass through the microneedle to be delivered to the skin of a user. There are also concerns regarding potential polymer interactions and biocompatibility through clinical testing requirements.

Hollow silica glass microneedle arrays and method and apparatus for manufacturing same


Embodiments of the present application provide a method, apparatus, and electronic device for eliminating distortion of a distorted image. Side information components of a distorted image are generated. The distorted image is resulted from image processing on an original image. Side information components represent distortion features of the distorted image with respect to original image. Distorted image color components of the distorted image and the side information components are input into a pre-established convolutional neural network model for convolution filtering to obtain distortion-eliminated image color components. The convolutional neural network model is obtained through training based on a preset training set. The training set comprises original sample images, distorted image color components of multiple distorted images corresponding to each of the original sample images, and side information components of each of the distorted images. Thereby, a CNN-based distortion elimination process different from related art is provided.

During the processing in a digital image system, filtering, data rounding, quantization, or other processing may cause pixel values to shift in intensity. Visual impairments or artifacts may result from this. In order to avoid or alleviate the above potential problems, image distortion elimination filter can be designed to post-process an image to offset shift in pixel intensity and reduce visual loss.
In conventional image distortion elimination filtering (e.g., de-blocking filters (DF) used in image/video coding standards), features of a distorted image are manually analyzed, filter structure is artificially designed, and filter coefficients are configured based on experiments and experience. Some image distortion elimination filtering can adaptively configure filter structures and filter coefficients based on statistical information of local image regions, such as Sample Adaptive Offset (SAO) in H.265 standard, and Adaptive Loop Filter (ALF) used in video encoding and decoding. These adaptive filters have high complexity and require, when used in the field of encoding and decoding, writing of filter-related parameters that depend on local statistical information into bitstream to ensure consistency between the encoding side and decoding side. This inevitably increases the number of encoded bits.
In recent years, deep learning theory has developed rapidly. Unlike conventional feature extraction algorithms that rely on prior knowledge, deep neural networks can adaptively construct feature descriptions driven by training data, and has higher flexibility and universality.
Deep learning has been very successful in many high-level computer vision problems, such as image classification, target detection, and target segmentation. For example, in 2015, a Super Resolution Convolutional Neural Network (SRCNN)-based end-to-end image super-resolution reconstruction algorithm was proposed in the industry. This network shows advantages over the most leading technology in the field of super-resolution reconstruction at that time. Deep learning also begins to show great potential on low-level computer vision problems. For another example, in light of the application of Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) in super-resolution reconstruction, industry has proposed using multi-layer Artifact Reduction Convolutional Neural Network (ARCNN) obtained by training to perform post-processing filtering on a JPEG-encoded image to eliminate image distortion. This obtains obvious subjective and objective quality improvement over conventional filtering approaches.
At present, the industry also proposes using multi-layer Variable-filter-size Residue-learning Convolutional Neural Network (VRCNN) obtained by training instead of the conventional de-blocking filtering and adaptive sample offset technologies to perform post-processing filtering on an intra-encoded image. Experimental results show that CNN makes great improvement in the subjective and objective quality of a reconstructed image, in comparison with the above-mentioned conventional in-loop filtering approaches.
A CNN-based end-to-end image distortion elimination algorithm contains no image pre-processing and artificial design of filter coefficient, and is capable of a data-driven automatic learning of distortion features and compensation. This algorithm allows easy use, better generalization, and significantly enhanced performance. The algorithm is especially suitable for compression of image/video that has a mixture of various distortions.

Image distortion correction method and device and electronic device

Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co., Ltd.


An improved lift system door control or safety circuit utilizes locking devices for the lift shaft doors and lock sensors to monitor the status of the locking devices. The lock sensors are coupled to a lift drive unit control through a data bus, which need not be especially designed as a safety data bus. The lock sensors are repeatedly interrogated at short term intervals. The status of the doors is interrogated on a longer time interval, and such data is also passed to the drive unit control by the data bus. The interrogations are used to determine the operating condition of the locking sensors as well as whether communications or transmission errors are present.

Lift systems currently have so-termed double doors, i.e. not only shaft doors, but also cage doors arranged at the lift cage. The opening and closing of the shaft doors is usually induced by the cage or the cage doors. For the safety of the users of the lift systems and the visitors in the buildings incorporating the lift systems it is of great importance for the respective setting of the shaft and cage doors to be coordinated with the position of the lift cage, i.e. the shaft and cage doors may open only when the lift cage stops at one of the provided boarding and disembarking stations, i.e. at the level of a story. For this purpose, the positions not only of the shaft doors, but also of the cage doors are monitored.
The shaft doors can usually be locked in their closed setting with the help of mechanical locking devices. Conventional monitoring systems monitor the setting of the shaft doors with the assistance of safety contacts; these safety contacts detect whether the mechanical locking devices adopt their locking setting or their unlocking setting. The safety contacts are closed when the locking devices are disposed in their locking setting and the shaft doors are closed. The safety contacts are integrated in a safety circuit, which in turn is closed only when safety contacts are closed. The safety circuit is so connected with the drive of the lift system that the lift cage in normal operation can be moved upwards or downwards only when the safety circuit is closed. If a shaft door is open and its locking device is in the unlocking setting, then the corresponding safety contact and thus the safety circuit are open, which has the consequence that the lift cage cannot perform any upward or downward movement except with the help of a special control or if service personnel bridge over the interrupted safety circuit.
Every lift system with such a conventional monitoring means has various disadvantages which are described in more detail in the following.                A safety circuit is in every case subject to inherent problems; including the length of the connections, the voltage drop in the safety circuit and the comparatively high assembly cost.        Despite the presence of a monitoring system with a safety circuit, unsafe or risky situations cannot be avoided. On the one hand, the safety contacts can be readily easily bridged over individually or in common, which is virtually equivalent to absence of the safety precautions. On the other hand, an open shaft door may indeed prevent movement of the cage, but if the cage is not disposed at the open shaft door the risk accordingly exists of falling through the open shaft door.        Intelligent or situation-appropriate reactions, for example when the safety circuit is open, are not possible, since the cage in every case is stationary; in particular, it cannot be avoided that persons are unintentionally trapped in the lift cage.        The monitoring system does not allow a specific diagnosis, i.e. when the safety circuit is open it can only be established that at least one safety contact and thus at least one locking device or at least one shaft door is open. However, it cannot be established which safety contact or contacts is or are open.        Precautionary maintenance is not possible, since there are no indications about the state of the safety contacts; it is thus not possible to service the lift system in advance and replace worn safety contacts in good time, but still at a point in time in which the lift system can be shut down without problems, except within the scope of a periodic inspection, wherein, however, in many cases taking the lift system out of operation—which is not necessary per se—is carried out. The availability of the lift is restricted, since an open safety contact always has the consequence of taking the lift system out of operation, even when another solution, for example not travelling in the affected shaft section, would be possible.
A functionally improved solution can be achieved if a data bus is used for detection or transfer of the data which concerns safety, in conjunction with the setting of the shaft doors. Since, however, the corresponding data are safety-relevant, a safety bus has to be used. Such a safety bus and, in particular, the safety bus nodes required for that purpose are, however, comparatively expensive and therefore hardly come into consideration for standardized lift systems.
The object of the invention is thus to create an improved lift system of the kind stated in the introduction that with respect to safety precautions in conjunction with the setting of the shaft doors on the one hand avoids the disadvantages of the state of the art and on the other hand is comparatively economical.


A computer-implementable method for identifying the preferred route to be used, or ordering a set of routes to be used in order of preferability, for a given route requirement, in a computationally efficient manner is disclosed. The computer-implementable method selects a subset of stored routes having origins within a configurable radius of the required origin and destinations within a configurable radius of the required destination, calculates the distances between the two origins, between the two destinations, and between each origin and its corresponding destination, to compute various indicators of the similarity between the required route and each stored route in the subset. The computer-implementable method presents the selected stored routes ordered by a selected route-similarity indicator. The first such ordered selected stored route is the preferred route.

The present invention relates to computerized mapping software programs, and more specifically, to computerized mapping software programs that match stored routes to a given route by calculating indicators of similarity between the given route and each stored route and identifying the best stored route or routes by ordering the stored routes by a selected indicator of similarity.
The widespread use of single-occupancy vehicles (SOVs) in modern industrialized societies is known to be a significant cause of several major economic, social and environmental problems including the inefficient use of energy resources, higher than necessary traffic congestion and higher than necessary levels of air pollution.
The alternatives of mass transportation, telecommuting or non-congesting/non-polluting modes of transportation are only available to limited segments of the population. A universal alternative to the use of SOVs is the use of high-occupancy vehicles (HOVs), where multiple individuals share a single vehicle. The efficient sharing of vehicles can only occur when the savings of the shared trip are greater than the costs of the individuals coming together to share the single vehicle. A system to determine which individuals should share a vehicle must analyze the locations of the origins (homes) and destinations (places of work) of all the individuals within its scope and group people together based on how close together they live and how close together they work. Alternatively, people can also be grouped to share a vehicle based on the extent to which all of their origins and destinations lie on a straight line.
Several existing products, primarily Internet websites, provide ride-matching services. None of the existing products, however, other than those identified herein as implementations of the present invention, include all four key elements of a complete and maximally efficient ride-matching process, those four elements being full computerization to provide instant automatic results without requiring Human intervention, the capability to match routes with a degree of precision necessary to quantify preferability between matches within short walking distances (less than 100 yards), the capability to function anywhere on the planet using existing global locating references, and the ability to perform efficiently independent of the quantity of stored routes.
Accordingly, the present invention is the first method and system that is fully automatic, precise within short walking distances (less than 100 yards), applicable anywhere on Earth using existing global locating references, and efficient at all levels of quantity of stored routes.
The invention is currently implemented both as the operating Internet website www.carpoolworld.com and as a downloadable software application available at that website.
The present invention achieves all of the objectives described above by providing a computer-implementable method of storing routes and matching stored routes to a given route that is computationally-efficient.
To make the system precise and globally-applicable, it is based on the direct use of standard latitude and longitude coordinates. Several free publicly available resources, including the Internet websites of the United States Geological Survey and the United States Census Bureau, provide latitude and longitude information. Some websites provide geographic information for specific street addresses in the United States, Canada and several European countries, providing latitude and longitude coordinates to a precision of approximately 6 inches. Some websites provide a graphical point-and-click capability to obtain the latitude and longitude coordinates for any point on the planet""s surface. Additionally, Global Positioning System (GPS) devices can be obtained by the public that provide latitude and longitude information readings wherever they are used on the planet to a precision of about 30 feet. Additional resources are available in various printed reference resources.
To make the system computationally-efficient, routes are stored in a standard relational database management system (RDBMS) using multiple indexes that automatically order the routes simultaneously by origin latitude, origin longitude, destination latitude and destination longitude. When a required route is specified, the system uses configurable radii to establish target ranges for each of the four locating numbers, allowing the extraction process to efficiently identify the subset of best matches before making the computational effort to access the full set of data for each route and before computing all the distances.
Once the subset of best matches is identified, the system uses an efficient mathematical equation to calculate the distances. The selection, computation and ordering of the routes is done using a standard SQL (Structured Query Language) statement.
Although it will be apparent to all those skilled in the art that the straight-line calculations do not take into consideration actual road network layouts, in point of fact, for the purposes of the intended application, the layout of actual road networks is not relevant. For example, in the cases of two neighbors residing on back-to-back properties or at opposite ends of a neighborhood park, the direct-line distance between their homes is more important than the street-wise path from one driveway to the other. Similarly, the precise length of the navigational distance between each origin and its destination is not relevant to the objective of matching the origins to eachother and matching the destinations to eachother.
Also, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the mathematical formulae employed in the present invention provide mathematical approximations and are subject to various problems resulting from the exact geometry of the planet. In fact, many variables, such as topographical variations, unpredictable road-work situations and the general complexities of the planetary shape adversely affect the ability to calculate precise distances. However, since the necessary objective of the formulae used in the present invention is to distinguish between closely-placed (less than a 100 yards) locations, the formula used is accurate and consistent and efficient.

Matching stored routes to a required route


A battery pack includes a battery case for accommodating battery cells for mounting to and detaching from an electric vehicle. Male-side terminals are accommodated in a terminal base provided on the vehicle body side with battery side terminals being provided that are connected to the male-side terminals from above. An upper surface of the terminal base is formed with vehicle body side engagement parts with battery case side engagement parts being provided that are engaged with the vehicle body side engagement parts from above. The vehicle body side engagement parts are disposed at positions deviated to one side from the vehicle-width-directional center. The battery case side engagement parts are disposed at positions deviated to vehicle-width-directionally one side of the battery case, and are formed at vehicle-longitudinal-directionally both end portions of the battery case, in order that the battery case side engagement parts can fit the vehicle body side engagement parts.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power supply device for an electric vehicle. More particularly, the invention relates to a power supply device for an electric vehicle that is suitable for providing a simple structure for detachably supporting a battery pack, with battery cells accommodated therein, to a vehicle body.
2. Description of Background Art
Conventionally, in an electric vehicle, a battery pack having a plurality of battery cells assembled in a battery case has commonly been mounted as a power supply device at a center portion of a frame of the electric vehicle. For instance, in a battery lock structure for the electric bicycle described in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2000-142551, a support shaft and an engagement projection are provided on the battery side. On the other hand, a tentative positioning part and a locking surface part are provided for engaging the support shaft and the engagement projection on the battery side. Brackets, each formed with a guide surface part for guiding the support shaft and a relief part, are provided on the electric bicycle side. At the time of mounting the battery to the vehicle body from a lateral side of the vehicle body, the battery is moved to the tentatively positioning part, while setting the support shaft along the guide surface parts of the brackets. Furthermore, the battery is turned toward the vehicle-width-directionally inner side, with the support shaft supported on the tentative positioning part as a center of turning. The engagement projection is locked to the locking surface part as a wedge. According to this electric bicycle, the tentative positioning and the locking of the battery are carried out using different component parts, namely, the support shaft and the engagement projection. Consequently, the battery after mounted can be prevented from chattering.
In the electric bicycle, electrical connection parts are necessary for supply of electric power from the battery mounted onto the vehicle body to a motor, etc. provided as electrical equipments on the vehicle body side (the electrical connection parts are not clearly shown in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2000-142551). On the vehicle body side, therefore, the above-mentioned brackets are provided as additional members for holding the electrical connection parts onto the vehicle body. Thus, the number of component parts is increased. In addition, the support shaft and the engagement projection, etc. are provided at an outer circumferential surface of the battery. This results in that at the time of carrying or storing the battery, extra care should be taken in handling the battery so as not to damage the support shaft or the engagement projection or the like by mistake.

Power supply device for electric vehicle


A liquid crystal display (LCD) device or a surface-illuminant devices employed therein comprising: a rectangular light-guide plate having a first main face as a light-emitting face, a second main face opposed to the first face and side faces disposed between the first and second faces; a light source disposed along at least one of said side faces; and a metal plate which covers said second face and a fringe of which extends along the light source, and contour of the metal plate being designed so as not to be overlapped with a driver circuit board which is to be placed along a back face of the light-guide plate.

Liquid crystal display (LCD) devices and other flat-panel display devices have recently been used as image display devices for television sets, personal computers in various kinds, car navigation devices and so on; in view of advantageous features of the flat-panel display devices, such as small depth dimension and small weight as well as small electric power consumption.
A light transmissive one of the LCD devices is for instance formed of; a liquid-crystal display panel in which liquid crystal layer is sandwiched by a pair of transparent substrates, and a surface-illuminant device disposed on backside, or non-displaying main face, of the liquid-crystal display panel as a light source for the display panel.
The surface-illuminant devices may be roughly classified into two categories; one is "direct backlight" in which a plurality of tube-shaped light sources such as fluorescent lamps arranged side by side at backside of the display panel; and the other is "edge-lit backlight" in which one or more tube-shaped light source is disposed to be in proximity along one or more edge of the light-guide plate as to emit light from a front-side main face of the light-guide plate.
In order to achieve smaller depth dimension and smaller weight of the LCD devices, depth dimension of the surface-illuminant devices have to be smaller. Thus, the "edge-lit backlights" have been prevalently used. The edge-lit backlight is for instance formed as follows. The light-guide plate is formed of a thin plate of acrylic resin or the like whose back face is printed with a light scattering pattern of milk-white appearance; and thereby, light-source light enters through an edge face of the light-guide plate and propagated through the plate, as to be emitted from front main face of the light-guide plate while being scattered by the light-scattering pattern on the back face of the plate.
The tube-shaped light source itself emits the light-source light through all around of the light-emitting surface, thus, a reflective element or a lamp reflector is arranged as to lead the light toward the edge face of the plate. The reflective element is usually formed of a film having a metal layer on a surface or a metal plate or formed of other electroconductive materials. The tube-shaped light source is generally formed of a fluorescent lamp such as a cold cathode fluorescent lamp. Thus, light-emitting efficiency declines when temperature of the lamp rises excessively; in an occasion of achieving high-brightness displaying as to increase heat generation. Moreover, local temperature rise in the liquid-crystal display plate may cause display unevenness. In view of the above, JP-A-2002-091330 (Japan Patent Application Publication No. 2002-091330) proposes disposing of a metal heatsink plate along back face of the light-guide plate as to dissipate the heat of the lamp reflector.
Nevertheless, such disposing of the metal heat-sink plate along back face may lead enhancement of level of electromagnetic noise because; the electromagnetic noise is transmitted from driver circuit board disposed along a back face of the metal heatsink plate to the heatsink plate and is propagated through the heat-sink plate. In view of the above, it is aimed to avert trouble of electromagnetic noise while achieving easy and reliable dissipation of heat from the light source.

Liquid-crystal display device and surface-illuminant device

Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology Co., Ltd.


A direct fuel injector is positioned to provide better fuel atomization within the combustion chamber. The direct fuel injector is disposed between an intake manifold and a cylinder head assembly thereby eliminating the need for additional fuel delivery conduits, thus decreasing the size of the engine and lowering the production costs of the outboard motor. The direct fuel injector position permits immediate air/fuel mixture adjustments allowing improved acceleration enrichment and lean stratified charge operation. The direct fuel injector position and routing of induction system components allows for compact placement of auxiliary components. The integrated direct fuel injector position enables the operator to enjoy compact engine design, improved engine performance and increased fuel efficiency.

This application is based on and claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-327636, filed Oct. 25, 2001, the entire contents of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an engine fuel delivery system for an engine, and more particularly to an improved fuel injector and cylinder head assembly allowing for a more compact engine design and stratified-charge operation.
2. Brief Description of Related Art
One important characteristic of an engine is its output power. A great deal of engineering is involved with improving the output power of an engine. In addition, an equal amount of care is often involved with maintaining the output power when developing and installing additional engine systems and components.
One particularly sensitive system is the air induction system. Typically, induction systems for engines designed for outboard motor use include a plenum chamber, a throttle body, and an intake passage. In addition, typical engines include a fuel delivery system which cooperates with the air induction system to deliver an air/fuel charge to a combustion chamber of the engine. The fuel delivery system typically comprises a fuel tank, one or more fuel conduits, and a fuel injector for those engines using a direct injection method of delivering fuel to a combustion chamber. The fuel delivery system commonly includes fuel injectors mounted in close proximity to an engine body to inject fuel directly into a cylinder head or into an intake passage that communicates with the combustion chamber.
These two cooperating systems must be configured to deliver air and fuel to the combustion chamber. However, these systems must be carefully engineered so as to reduce the flow resistance in each of these systems, which can have an adverse effect on the engine efficiency, and hence, the output power.
Perhaps the greater importance is the configuration of the air induction system and, particularly, the routing of the air intake pipes, intake manifold, and intake runners. It is preferable that the air intake pipes have a low flow resistance, and hence it becomes undesirable for the intake pipes to be bent or tapered to avoid interference with other engine accessories, which can increase the intake resistance, and therefore, result in the reduction of engine output power.
Many of the engine accessories can be beneficially located to provide for a smoother operating and more efficient engine. Unfortunately, the desired location of these accessories can interfere with the preferred routing of the induction system components. While the engine accessories can be mounted in various locations around the engine, their location must be balanced against the desire to maintain a compact engine.
Due to compact engine design demands, fuel injectors are often placed close to the outside of the engine body. However, heat transfer issues can arise when the fuel injectors are placed in proximity to the engine body, and heat generated within the engine body from the combustion process flows to the fuel injectors and heats the fuel before it is injected into the combustion chamber, which can reduce the engine efficiency.
One aspect of the present invention includes the realization that the induction system components can be beneficially configured and routed to provide a low flow resistance while allowing for a sufficient space to mount auxiliary components in close proximity to the engine body thus providing a compact engine arrangement. An additional aspect includes the realization that the fuel injectors can be located in close proximity to the engine body and the heat transfer reduced by indirect cooling from the adjacent air induction system components.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a four-cycle engine for use in an outboard motor comprises a cylinder body defining at least one cylinder bore therethrough, a cylinder head assembly connected to the cylinder body, and a piston disposed within the cylinder bore. The cylinder body, the cylinder head assembly, and the piston cooperate to define a combustion chamber.
At least one intake passage is formed in the cylinder head assembly. A crankshaft is rotatably coupled to the piston. Additionally, a fuel injector has a longitudinal axis and is arranged to directly inject fuel into the combustion chamber. The fuel injector is additionally disposed between the intake passage and an imaginary line extending laterally from a junction between the cylinder body and the cylinder head assembly when viewed from a direction along an axis of the crankshaft. In this orientation, the fuel injector axis is arranged to be substantially parallel to the intake passage defined by the cylinder head assembly.
An induction system is connected to the intake passage and extends generally laterally from the cylinder head assembly and then along a side of the cylinder body at a distance from the cylinder body. An auxiliary component is disposed in a space formed between the induction system and the cylinder body.
The cylinder head assembly can include at least two intake passages that are disposed next to each other in a direction that extends generally parallel to the axis of the crankshaft, and the fuel injector can be disposed in a vicinity between the two intake passages.
The auxiliary component disposed in the space formed between the cylinder body and the induction system can be a fuel vapor separator, a throttle link mechanism, a battery, a starter motor, an oil filter, or a fuel cooler or any combination thereof, including additional auxiliary components not specifically listed.
According to one embodiment in which the cylinder body defines a plurality of cylinder bores arranged in a V-shape, the induction system is disposed on the exterior of the V-shape.
According to another aspect, a four-cycle engine comprises an engine block defining a cylinder bore and has a cylinder head assembly attached to the cylinder block to close one end of the cylinder bore. The cylinder head assembly includes at least one intake passage. A piston is positioned within the cylinder bore and is arranged to reciprocate along a cylinder axis so as to define a variable volume combustion chamber together with the cylinder bore and the cylinder head. The intake passage of the cylinder head communicates with the combustion chamber through at least one intake port. A fuel injector is configured to inject fuel directly into the combustion chamber and is disposed between the engine body and the intake passage. The fuel injector preferably has a longitudinal axis that is oblique to the cylinder axis.
The fuel injector can be positioned between the intake passage and a plane extending laterally from a junction of the engine body and the cylinder head assembly. The fuel injector longitudinal axis can be arranged generally parallel to a flow axis of the intake passage.
According to yet another aspect, an engine having an engine body comprises at least one variable volume combustion chamber defined in part by a head of a moveable piston. At least one intake port opens into the combustion chamber. An induction system communicates with the intake port through at least intake passage formed in a cylinder head of the engine body. An intake valve is moveable to regulate communication between the induction system and the combustion chamber through the intake port and the intake passage. The fuel delivery system has at least one fuel injector arranged to lie generally parallel to the intake passage for injecting fuel into the combustion chamber. The fuel injector is preferably positioned between the engine body and the intake passage. The fuel injector can be oriented such that the fuel injector injects fuel into the combustion chamber toward the head of the piston.
The engine body can comprise a crankcase, a cylinder block, and a cylinder head assembly. In this embodiment, the induction system can extend away from the cylinder head assembly, along a side of the cylinder block, and toward the crankcase.
According to another aspect, an outboard motor comprises an engine including an engine body, the engine body cooperating with at least one reciprocating piston to define at least one combustion chamber. An induction system is configured to guide air to the combustion chamber through at least a pair of intake ports. At least one fuel injector is configured to inject fuel for combustion in the combustion chamber. The fuel injector is preferably mounted between the engine body and at least a portion of the induction system and is generally in between the pair of intake ports. The fuel injector is configured to spray fuel toward the piston.
The engine body can comprise a cylinder body connected to a cylinder head, and wherein the fuel injector is located between the induction system and a plane extending laterally from the connection between the cylinder body and the cylinder head.


An infra-red reflective material is a perovskite-like multiple oxide which includes at least an alkaline-earth metal and at least one type of element selected from a group of titanium, zirconium and niobium, and further, if necessary, manganese and/or iron, an element belonging to the IIIa group of the periodic table such as aluminum and gallium, etc., or zinc, etc., has sufficient infra-red reflective power, is excellent in thermal stability and heat resistance, and does not raise concerns on safety and environmental issues. The infra-red reflective material can be produced by, for example, mixing an alkaline-earth metal compound and a titanium compound and further, if necessary, a manganese compound and/or an iron compound, a compound belonging to the IIIa group of the periodic table, or a zinc compound in predetermined amounts, and firing the mixture. The produced multiple oxide is powdery and can be mixed with paint or a resin composition so as to be used for various purposes such as painting a roof or an outside wall of a building, a road, or a foot path in order to reduce the heat island phenomenon.

Infrared reflective materials are materials that reflect infrared rays included in sunlight or the like. The infrared reflective materials are used for relaxation of a heat island phenomenon, increase in air conditioning efficiency of buildings in summer, and the like because the infrared reflective materials can reduce the amount of infrared rays absorbed by a ground surface covered with asphalt, concrete, or the like, buildings, and the like.
As such an infrared reflective material, compounds containing chromium such as Cr2O3, Cu—Cr complex oxides, Fe—Cr complex oxides, Co—Fe—Cr complex oxides, and Cu—Cr—Mn complex oxides as black materials, for example, are known (see Patent Document 1). Compounds not containing chromium including complex oxides of an alkaline earth metal element and manganese such as Ca—Mn complex oxides, Ba—Mn complex oxides, and Ba—Mn complex oxides doped with 4% by weight of titanium dioxide (see Patent Document 2) and a complex oxide of a rare earth element and manganese such as Y—Mn complex oxide (see Patent Document 3) are also known. Compounds such as rod-like titanium oxide (see Patent Document 4) as white materials are also under development.

Infra-red reflective material and production method thereof, and paint and resin composition containing the same


In the magnetic disc apparatus of the present invention, an air filter for filtration has a filter element bent in a zigzag form with a pitch equal to an interval at which plural magnetic discs are separately housed in a closed casing. The bend lines of the filter element are set on planes where the centers in the thickness direction of the magnetic discs are positioned. The air flow is caused by rotation of the magnetic discs so as to enter the air filter, and is not liable to have stagnation thereof in front of the filter element. Static pressure of the air flow in front of the filter element is substantially uniform.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic disc apparatus which performs recording/regenerating of information by making use of a magnetic means while a magnetic disc is being rotated in a closed casing, and more particularly, to filtering of air in the closed casing.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the principal part of a conventional magnetic disc apparatus such as similar to the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-198485 (1986). In FIG. 1, reference number 1 designates a magnetic disc for storing information recorded by a magnetic means, and a plurality of which are separated by predetermined spaces in an array fixed to a rotatory shaft 2 of a spindle motor (not shown). A reference number 3 designates an air filter which receives air flow emanating along a recording face of the magnetic disc 1 by rotation thereof so as to filter air. The air filter 3 is provided with both a filter element 3a and a filter case 3b in which the filter element 3a is housed.
The conventional magnetic disc apparatus has been of such constitution that both the plural magnetic discs 1 fixed to the rotatory shaft 2 and the air filter 3 are housed in a closed casing (not shown). In the apparatus the magnetic disc 1 fixed to the rotatory shaft 2 is rotated by energizing the spindle motor, and recording/regenerating of information is carried out by means of a magnetic head (not shown) positioned close to the recording face of the magnetic disc 1. Since the magnetic disc 1 is rotated at high speed, air flow along the recording face thereof makes a magnetic head float slightly above the recording face, whereby a narrow gap between the magnetic head and the recording face is brought about. If any dust rising from bearings of the spindle motor, for example, comes into the narrow gap, the recording face of the magnetic disc 1 or the magnetic head gets damaged. Therefore, dust is adapted to be collected in such a way that the air flow caused by rotation of the magnetic disc 1 is utilized in order to filter air inside the closed casing.
When the magnetic disc 1 is rotated in the direction of the full-line arrow, because of the viscosity of air, there is brought about air flow along the recording face of the magnetic disc 1 in the direction of the broken-line arrow, and one portion of which flows into the air filter 3. Since the filter element 3a of the air filter 3 is an obstacle to the air flow, the air flow has stagnation therein, and, as a result, dynamic pressure thereof is changed to static pressure, whose change brings about a pressure differential in the front and rear of the filter element 3a. By this pressure differential, air is filtered in the filter element 3a, and all dust can be collected. In order to improve the filtering function of the filter element 3a, there is a need to widen the ventilation area of the filter element 3a. In order to meet the need, the filter element 3a, which is bent in a zigzag form, is housed in the filter case 3b. As shown in FIG. 1, the air filter 3 is provided in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the magnetic disc 1 so that the recording face of the magnetic disc 1 is at right angles to the bend lines of the filter element 3a.
In the conventional magnetic disc apparatus as described above, the air flow along the recording face of the magnetic disc 1 by rotation of the magnetic disc 1 flows into the air filter 3. The air flow gets confused because the air flow collides with convex portions of the filter element 3a as seen from the air in flow side of the filter element 3a. As a result, there is a disadvantage in that the static pressure in front of the filter element 3a becomes too uneven to carry out enough filtering.


An electrical, magnetic or electromagnetic delay line self oscillator is described with a delay line arrangement, an oscillator control circuitry, and a frequency selection impedance connecting the delay line arrangement and the oscillator control circuitry and presenting an impedance to the delay line arrangement. The oscillator control circuitry includes an amplifier, a non linear amplitude control element (N-LACE) such as an active device with a negative differential conductance that provides an output amplitude has a negative second derivative with respect to an input signal, and a driver. The modal characteristics of electromagnetic delay lines can thus be exploited across a wide range of instrumentation applications, and a means is provided to enhance the achievable functionality and/or performance of the instrumentation without the need for expensive additional electrical hardware or electronics.

Systems of electrical, electromagnetic or magnetic transmission-lines or 'delay-lines' (electrical, electromagnetic or magnetic transmission elements with a length that is at least a substantial fraction of the wavelength of the highest frequency component of an electrical, electromagnetic or magnetic signal that propagates along them) are found in various forms in engineering, scientific, and industrial instrumentation. Electrical delay-lines are in very widespread use; most commonly in the context of simple 'interconnects' i.e. channels to support communication between functional lumped electrical (or part-electrical) components. Apart from matching applications, the electrical properties particular to delay-lines are rarely exploited; indeed there is a widespread misconception that the incorporation of a section or sections of delay-line into an electrical system must be fundamentally deleterious to its overall performance. Moreover, the potential of certain electromagnetic and/or magnetic delay-line systems—in particular spin-wave delay-line systems—to form the basis of devices and systems with novel functionalities provided by their particular effective impedance properties remains largely unexplored.


Systems and techniques to acquire image data. In general, in one implementation, the technique includes: acquiring image data for a plurality of areas of a scan region. The technique may further include processing the image data to determine whether an area includes one or more desired features. The technique may further include designating an area as “interesting” if it includes a desired feature, and designating an area as non-interesting if it does not include the desired feature. The areas may be sub-divided one or more times, and subdivisions may be analyzed to determine if they include a desired feature.

Obtaining and analyzing images of materials plays an important role in many areas of technology. For example, the ability to obtain and analyze accurate images efficiently is important in the field of anatomic pathology. Anatomic pathology enables the diagnosis of physiological conditions such as cancer, infectious disease and prenatal disorders through analysis of tissue samples.
Typically, a biological specimen from a patient is obtained, imaged, and analyzed. The specimen may be "stained" using a material chosen to reveal the presence of one or more molecules. The specimen may then be placed on a slide for viewing with a microscope.
An image of the sample may be obtained using a digital camera. In some systems, the sample may be scanned, and a series of images may be obtained. The image data may then be analyzed. For example, an image may be analyzed to identify the presence of particular characteristic features of a particular disease, where the particular characteristic features indicate the presence of or predisposition towards the disease.


A method mitigates or prevents voltage flicker in an electrical power system that includes at least one power generating, energy storing, or power dissipating facility connected to a power grid and a controller connected to the facility. The method includes receiving in the controller a power value at a present time t and a power value at time t+T or at time t−T to determine a power change of the facility, calculating a voltage flicker impact on the power grid of the power change, determining if the flicker impact of the power change is above a limit, and sending a control signal from the controller to the facility when the flicker impact of the power change is above the limit to adjust the facility.

Electric power is supplied to homes and industries through the electrical power system. The electrical power system is an interconnected network that includes power generating plants that produce electrical power, high-voltage transmission lines that carry power from distant sources to demand centers, and distribution lines that supply individual users with electricity. The transmission and distribution lines of the power system, or portions thereof, are often referred to as the grid, or power grid.
For electrical devices receiving electricity from the power system to function properly, the voltage of the electricity supplied by the power system must be of high quality. Voltage fluctuations, which are rapid and noticeable changes in the root mean square (rms) voltage level of the electricity supplied by the power system, can degrade the power quality and affect the performance of electrical devices. For instance, the effect of such voltage fluctuations can be perceived in visible changes of the brightness of a lamp, causing the light level of the lamp to fluctuate, or flicker. Thus, the term "flicker" or "voltage flicker" is often used to refer to such voltage fluctuations. Voltage flicker can be caused by a fluctuating electric load when various equipment or facilities change the load current on, for instance, the distribution level of the grid of the power system.
Regulators establish guidelines, or limits, for the maximum acceptable levels of voltage flicker that can be tolerated by customer electronic devices receiving electricity through the power system. One such guideline is shown in FIG. 1, which is a voltage flicker tolerance curve from the IEEE Standard 141-1993/IEEE Standard 519-1992, known as the "GE Flicker Curve." The GE Flicker Curve shows the point at which, for a given size and frequency of a voltage fluctuation (referred to as a dip), a typical person begins to perceive visible flicker in the brightness of a lamp, and the point at which a typical person would become irritated by such visible flicker.
When new facilities are installed on the electrical power system, or other changes that may affect the voltage levels are made to the electrical power system, such changes are evaluated for their impact on voltage flicker. The voltage flicker caused by such new facility installations or other changes typically must be within the acceptable levels set by regulators, for instance under the levels determined by the GE Flicker Curve. If the voltage flicker exceeds the flicker limits, costly equipment is often required to be added to the facility to bring the voltage flicker within acceptable levels.

Method and apparatus for preventing voltage flicker in a power system


Imaging devices, such as laser printers, often use a toner cartridge to print images on a recording medium. For both environmental and economical reasons, it is often desirable to reuse an exhausted toner cartridge. Some imaging devices use toner cartridges comprised of two sections that are fixed together with some limited movement. This limited movement is necessary to compensate for any misalignment in the toner cartridge and to reduce printer defects. Disclosed is a method and device for remanufacturing this type of toner cartridge.

Electrostatic imaging devices, such as laser printers, photocopiers, facsimile machines, and all-in-one machines, use a toner cartridge to hold toner that creates an image. It is often desirable to reuse these toner cartridges for environmental or financial reasons.
Many laser printer toner cartridges are composed of two sections. The two sections are a hopper assembly and a waste bin assembly. The hopper assembly typically includes a mag section. In some toner cartridges, such as the HP CC364A & CC364X cartridges used in the HP P4515 series of printers, the mag section must be able to provide limited movement to compensate for misalignments and to reduce print defects from a rigid assembly.
It is often problematic when refilling or remanufacturing a toner cartridge with a moveable hopper because an area where the mag section is allowed to move or float is sometimes damaged, contaminated with toner, or inadvertently separated. Therefore, in order to utilize this used toner cartridge, it becomes necessary to reattach a floating area of the mag section to a rigid area that is mounted onto the hopper assembly half of the toner cartridge in a manner that still allows a moveable area to remain moveable.

Method and device of joining multiple parts of a toner cartridge


A bubble blowing figure toy having a hollow torso configured with a head portion defining a mouth opening and a squeezable body portion. An operative device is arranged substantially within the torso of the figure toy for generating bubbles from a bubble forming liquid applied to the mouth opening. In response to squeezing of the figure toy, a stream of air is directed toward the mouth opening to facilitate bubble formation into either a large bubble or a series of generally uniform smaller bubbles. The operative device includes a mouthpiece, an air bladder, and an air duct. The mouthpiece is arranged at the mouth opening of the toy and to one end of which the bubble forming liquid is applied. The air bladder generates an air stream, and the air duct connects the air bladder with the mouthpiece. The air duct is configured to inhibit ingestion of bubble forming liquid into the air bladder. A valve in the air duct further facilitates bubble formation.

Blowing bubbles from a bubble forming liquid or solution is a well known amusement particularly suited as a pastime of children. Accordingly, it has been suggested to provide toys which are capable of blowing one or more bubbles. These toys take many different forms and often represent a figure such as a person or a stuffed animal blowing the bubbles.
Many of such toys contain a reservoir from which liquid is drawn in response to blowing on a pipe or by manipulation of a pump handle or other suitable mechanism. Unless the toy is drained or properly oriented after use, however, the solution or liquid remaining in the reservoir may spill or leak from the toy. Children often sleep with their stuffed toys and thus proper orientation of the toy cannot always be readily accomplished. As will be appreciated, having a bubble solution leak or spill from a toy onto a bed, sofa, chair or the like can result in parental frustration as well as possible damage to furniture and to the toy.
On the other hand, if the bubble solution or liquid evaporates and dries within the toy, it may clog or interfere with a bubble forming passage detracting from the play potential of the toy. Subsequent cleaning may return the toy to an operative condition but usually requires parental intervention.


The invention provides methods of using sequence based analysis and rational strategies to modify and improve the structural and biophysical properties of single chain antibodies (scFvs), including stability, solubility, and antigen binding affinity. These methods and strategies can be used individually or in combination. The methods of the present invention also include the use of a database comprising scFv sequences from an experimentally screened scFv library of antibodies that have been selected to have superior solubility and stability. The invention also provides methods of using the properties found for these selected antibodies in a general approach for reshaping scFv antibodies to improve stability and solubility properties of a single chain antibody fragment.

Antibodies have proven to be very effective and successful therapeutic agents in the treatment of cancer, autoimmune diseases and other disorders. While full-length antibodies typically have been used clinically, there are a number of advantages that use of an antibody fragment can provide, such as increased tissue penetration, absence of Fc-effector function combined with the ability to add other effector functions and the likelihood of less systemic side effects resulting from a shorter in vivo half life systemically. The pharmacokinetic properties of antibody fragments indicate that they may be particularly well suited for local therapeutic approaches. Furthermore, antibody fragments can be easier to produce than full-length antibodies in certain expression systems.
One type of antibody fragment is a single chain antibody (scFv), which is composed of a heavy chain variable domain (VH) conjugated to a light chain variable domain (VL) via a linker sequence. Thus, scFvs lack all antibody constant region domains and the amino acid residues of the former variable/constant domain interface (interfacial residues) become solvent exposed. A scFv can be prepared from a full-length antibody (e.g., IgG molecule) through established recombinant engineering techniques. The transformation of a full length antibody into a scFv, however, often results in poor stability and solubility of the protein, low production yields and a high tendency to aggregate, which raises the risk of immunogenicity.
Accordingly, attempts have been made to improve properties such as solubility and stability of scFvs. For example, Nieba, L. et al. (Prot. Eng. (1997) 10:435-444) selected three amino acid residues known to be interfacial residues and mutated them. They observed increased periplasmic expression of the mutated scFv in bacteria, as well as a decreased rate of thermally induced aggregation, although thermodynamic stability and solubility were not significantly altered. Other studies in which site directed mutagenesis was carried out on particular amino acid residues within the scFv also have been reported (see e.g., Tan, P. H. et al. (1988) Biophys. J. 75:1473-1482; Worn, A. and Pluckthun, A. (1998) Biochem. 37:13120-13127; Worn, A. and Pluckthun, A. (1999) Biochem. 38:8739-8750). In these various studies, the amino acid residues selected for mutagenesis were chosen based on their known positions within the scFv structure (e.g., from molecular modeling studies).
In another approach, the complementarity determining regions (CDRs) from a very poorly expressed scFv were grafted into the framework regions of a scFv that had been demonstrated to have favorable properties (Jung, S. and Pluckthun, A. (1997) Prot. Eng. 10:959-966). The resultant scFv showed improved soluble expression and thermodynamic stability.
Progress in the engineering of scFvs to improve functional properties is reviewed in, for example, Worn, A. and Pluckthun, A. (2001) J. Mol. Biol. 305:989-1010. New approaches, however, are still needed that allow for rational design of scFvs with superior functional properties, in particular approaches that assist the skilled artisan in selection of potentially problematic amino acid residues for engineering.

Sequence based engineering and optimization of single chain antibodies

Esbatech, an Alcon Biomedical Research Unit LLC


An adjustable stop apparatus for limiting movement of an element of a metering valve for setting a flow limit condition of the valve, the apparatus comprising a stop, a housing, a rotary adjuster device connected to the stop for adjustably positioning the stop relative to the housing, and a guide device operable to guide and secure the adjuster device relative to the housing into any one of a plurality of pre-set positions determined by the guide device.

The invention relates to an adjustable stop apparatus for limiting movement of an element of a metering valve for setting a flow limit condition of the valve.
An adjustable stop apparatus for a metering valve is known comprising a stop S, a housing H, and a rotary adjuster device D connected to the stop S. Such a device is shown in FIG. 1 fitted to a metering valve. The position of the stop S is normally adjusted by means of the rotary adjuster device D in a factory environment during assembly of the valve, and die rotary adjuster device D is then locked in position with a lock nut N. The valve user would not be expected to carry out further adjustments to the position of the stop S of the known device. Therefore, a tamper resistant cover C is generally fitted to the stop apparatus covering the lock nut N.
In accordance with the invention, an adjustable stop apparatus is provided for limiting movement of an element of a metering valve for setting a flow limit condition of the valve, the apparatus comprising a stop, a housing, a rotary adjuster device connected to the stop for adjustably positioning the stop relative to the housing, and a guide device operable to guide the adjuster device relative to the housing into a plurality of alternative preset positions determined by the guide device.
This provides the facility for a user to switch between pre-set positions without necessitating any variable adjustments or precision setting techniques. In his manner, a single stop apparatus can be kept by a user and adjusted by the user to provide a variety of different flow limit conditions according to requirement. This obviates the need to store several stop apparatuses for different requirements.
Preferably, the guide device releasably secures the adjuster device relative to the housing in said pre-set positions.
The guide device conveniently comprises a sleeve having a plurality of slots, each slot corresponding to a respective one of set pre-set positions and being selectively alignable with a projection fixed relative to the housing.
Rotary movement of the adjuster may be permitted by the guide device only within a selected arc between said pre-set positions. This helps prevent confusion when re-positioning the stop, and prevents the adjuster device being turned beyond said pre-set positions resulting in an undesirable stop position.
Conveniently, a peripheral portion of the sleeve is extended axially beyond the rest of the sleeve to provide a lug which limits the extent of rotary movement of the guide device in its released condition.
Preferably, the apparatus further comprises resilient biasing means biasing the guide device in a direction tending to secure the adjuster device relative to the housing.
The biasing means may comprise a spring disposed within the guide device and acting between an abutment fixed relative to the adjuster device and a laterally inwardly extending portion of the guide device.
Conveniently, the guide device has an external groove or projection for engagement by a tool, for placing the guide device in a released condition in which the adjuster device is movable relative to the housing, and the housing has a correspondingly positioned access aperture for accessing the groove or projection with the tool.
Markings may be provided on the guide device for indicating a present position of the guide device, the markings being viewable through the access aperture
The markings may include a triangle arranged to indicate, in use, in which direction the guide device should be moved to obtain a greater or lesser flow limit condition of the metering valve.
The guide device may have a flat sided portion for engagement by a rotary tool, the arrangement being such that the flat sided portion projects from the housing for access by the rotary tool only when the guide device is in the released condition.


A method of operating a security system includes providing a plurality of sensors, and detecting at least one event with the sensors. A decision whether to initiate an alarm signal is dependent upon the detecting by each of the sensors, which of the sensors has detected the at least one event, and what nonzero number of times a first of the sensors has detected the at least one event.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to surveillance systems that issue alarm signals, and, more particularly, to reducing the issuance of false alarm signals by such surveillance systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Surveillance systems, also known as security systems, include security devices such as motion detectors for monitoring interior portions of a secured area of space, and door sensors and window sensors for monitoring perimeter portions of the secured area of space. When one of these sensors detects motion and/or the opening of a monitored door or window, the security system may issue an alarm signal that causes a siren to produce an audible alarm, and that is electronically communicated to a security company. The security company typically notifies the police, who may then visit the secured area of space in order to investigate.
A problem is that many of the alarm signals issued by a security system are what are known as "false alarms". False alarms are not the result of a genuinely dangerous condition, such as the presence of an intruder, but rather are a result of a resident of the building moving within the secured area of space and inadvertently causing an alarm signal to be issued. For example, a resident may, without knowing or remembering that the alarm system has been activated, open a door in order to let a dog outside, or walk into a ground floor area that is monitored while the residents sleep on an upper floor. The resulting audible alarm produced by a siren as a result of a false alarm typically wakes many sleeping people needlessly. Moreover, investigations of the false alarms by the police are a waste of community resources and may result in the owners of the security system being monetarily fined.
Another problem is that even if the alarm signal is caused by a would-be intruder, it may not be desirable to notify the police immediately. For instance, the would-be intruder may first need to gain access to the premises in order to rightly be considered a definite threat that is worthy of notifying the police about. The would-be intruder may open a window or door from the outside in order to gain access to the premises, just as a resident may open a door from the inside in order to let a dog out, as mentioned above. However, the would-be intruder opening the door or window alone may not qualify as a definite threat if the residents of the building are not in the building at the time. That is, after opening the door or window, the would-be intruder may discover that the premises is protected by the security system and then leave. The homeowner may indeed want the police to investigate, but it may not be necessary for the police to be called on to respond immediately, as may be necessary in a definite threat situation. Rather, it may be desirable for the police to be notified, and for the investigation to be conducted, after the residents have returned home, and at a time that is more convenient for both the police and the homeowner.
If, however, after opening the door or window, the would-be intruder climbs through the window and proceeds through a room or hallway that is monitored by a motion detector, it may be considered a definite threat worthy of notifying the police about. It may then be desirable for the security system to issue an alarm signal.
An approach to reducing the false alarm problem described above is known as "cross zoning." In cross zoning, two zones are said to be "crossed" when their individual areas of protection overlap one another. The system is installed and configured such that these two overlapping points are paired, i.e., "crossed". If only one of the detection devices is faulted and the other one is not faulted, the system considers this to be a false alarm condition and will not issue an alarm signal. When both of the "crossed zones" provide a fault condition, the system issues an alarm signal.
Another approach is known as "sequential verification," which is similar to cross zoning except that the two fault conditions that result in an alarm signal can originate from any two sensors in the security system. A single fault condition alone cannot cause an alarm signal to be issued. However, any subsequent fault condition after the first fault condition causes the alarm signal to be issued. This alarm response is sometimes referred to as a "confirmed" alarm, or, more precisely, a "sequentially confirmed alarm."
A problem with both the cross zoning approach and the sequential verification approach is that they do not differentiate between fault conditions in different types of sensors, and they do not differentiate between a Stay mode and an Away mode of security system operation when deciding whether to issue an alarm signal. More particularly, it may not be desirable to issue an alarm signal in response to only two fault conditions from an interior sensor. Rather, it may be more desirable to issue an alarm signal only after three or more fault conditions from an interior sensor. As another example, it may not be desirable to issue an alarm signal based upon fault conditions from a single door sensor alone. This is because the door may be repetitively opening and closing due to breezes, which would cause the door sensor to produce many fault conditions. Such multiple fault conditions from the door sensor should not by themselves cause an alarm signal to issue. Moreover, it may not be desirable to wait for a second fault condition from another type of sensor before issuing an alarm signal. For example, when there are people in the building whose safety may be at risk, it may be desirable to issue an alarm signal immediately after a single initial fault condition from a sensor that monitors a window that is not normally opened.
Another problem associated with the cross zoning approach is that setting up and configuring a traditional cross zone control requires significant time and effort, which makes the cross zone control less likely to be used. For example, an installer may be required to explicitly indicate which sensors are paired together to form a "cross zone". If the cross zone control is not used, then the goal of reducing false alarms is not realized.
What is needed in the art is a security system, and method of operation therefor, that provides a more sophisticated approach to deciding whether an alarm signal should be issued in response to various types and numbers of fault conditions. Yet, the security system and method of operation need to be simple to implement.

Method and apparatus for deciding whether to issue an alarm signal in a security system


An apparatus and method for regulating flow of product gas from a sorptive separation apparatus, especially during periods of discontinuous product supply and variable demand is set forth.

Industrial gases such as oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons as well as other industrial gases are the subJect of intense competition to arrive at the most efficiently produced and low cost product as is possible to provide. Many industrial gases have traditionally been produced in large scale plants using cryogenic techniques. The cryogenic supply of industrial gases can be expensive when transportation of such gases from a cryogenic process facility to an end use customer is considered. With the change in users of industrial gases from large basic industries, such as the steel industry with their large consumption needs, to industries which require smaller quantities of industrial gases, cryogenic facilities see greater competition for reduced volumes of industrial gases from alternate industrial gas processing facilities, such as membrane and sorptive separation systems. Sorptive separation systems typically constitute the use of pressure swing to regenerate a plurality of parallel sorptive beds. Unless a large plurality of parallel beds are utilized, pressure swing sorptive systems typically render discontinuous product production. Additionally, customer demand or utilization of industrial gases from pressure swing sorptive systems is typically variable. Problems can arise in maintaining a constant product gas flow from the sorptive system when its discontinuous production is compounded by the variable demand of the ultimate industrial gas user.
Changes in product flow from a pressure swing sorptive system alter the purity produced from the system because of the change in the rate of gas permeation through the sorptive beds. Therefore, the industry has sought ways to achieve constant product purity or at least constant product flow during conditions of discontinuous production and/or variable product withdrawal.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,370 discloses an adsorptive process wherein the length of time of operation of the adsorption phase and the rate of flow of a gaseous feed mixture through the adsorber is adjusted in response to fluctuating demand for the product gas.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,614 discloses a pressure swing adsorptive separation system utilizing two parallel beds and a product reservoir. Product pressure or flow is standardized by discontinuing the initiation of a new adsorptive step until prescribed values of product gas in the reservoir are reached.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,725,293 discloses a pressure swing adsorption system having two parallel beds and a product reservoir wherein conditions are sensed in the product reservoir and product line and through computer controls the extent of feed gas to the adsorptive system is modified and controlled to result in maintenance of a preselected range of impurity in the product and control of product flow at a relatively high predetermined rate.
Additional patents of interest in this area include U.S. Pat. No. 3,230,688; U.S. Pat. No. 3,257,772; U.S. Pat. No. 3,282,027; U.S. Pat. No. 3,703,068; U.S. Pat. No. 3,778,967; U.S. Pat. No. 4,140,495; U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,095; U.S. Pat. No. 4,299,595; U.S. Pat. No. 4,349,357; U.S. Pat. No. 4,376,640; U.S. Pat. No. 4,494,966; U.S. Pat. No. 4,504,286; U.S. Pat. No. 4,539,019; U.S. Pat. No. 4,552,571; U.S. Pat. No. 4,561,287; U.S. Pat. No. 4,561,865; U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,614; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,643,743.
The prior art has attempted various techniques for maintaining product purity and product flow in an adsorptive separation system. However, these systems are either inadequate, complex or capital intensive and do not meet the needs of a low cost, simple pressure swing adsorptive system particularly wherein a minimum of parallel beds are utilized. The present invention overcomes the drawbacks in a simple, low cost sorptive separation system using a minimum of beds, wherein discontinuous production and variable product demand are experienced, to result in constant product flow at a prescribed minimal range of impurity fluctuation. These desirable attributes are achieved in the present invention which is set forth in greater detail below.

Control of product withdrawal from a sorptive separation system


Creating spherical video and corresponding audio utilizing a plurality of cameras by acquiring images via the cameras, processing the images, and mathematically converting and/or transforming the images into a combined spherical image file. A camera device creates the spherical image file and transfers it to devices running a viewer application, whereby the transfer occurs by saving the file to a storage file, streaming it to the devices via wired/wireless communication, or both.

Creating high-resolution spherical video, i.e., video that captures a complete 360 degree by 360 degree field of view, is currently a complex and arduous process requiring specialized hardware and software systems that are often expensive, inadequate, unreliable, hard to learn, and difficult to use. Presently, creating this video requires an omni-directional, spherical camera that includes a customized hardware device and/or system utilizing multiple cameras to simultaneously capture video from multiple directions to create spherical video files. Spherical video files derived from such systems are used in conjunction with specialized software applications, called spherical viewers. Spherical viewers allow the user to interactively look around inside a spherical environment, giving them the impression that they are actually within the pre-recorded or live scene itself. Spherical viewers can be developed for the web, desktop, and mobile devices. How the spherical viewer is developed will depend entirely on the kind, and number, of video files the spherical camera system produces.
Currently, there are two primary types of omni-directional recording systems: adaptors, i.e., lens mounts; and spherical camera heads. The primary limitation of both systems is that they are incapable of functioning without the utilization of additional hardware components that must be purchased, configured, and used together to form a piecemeal operational solution. Because these existing systems require multiple components to function, the inherent risk for malfunction or recording problems increases. For example, if one component in either piecemeal system fails, the entire system fails to operate adequately or at all. In addition to the added risk of malfunction, there are also the added costs to purchasing these extra components and ensuring that each extra component is capable of appropriately interacting with all of the other components.
Furthermore, lens adaptors are not, by their very nature, designed to record content. These adaptors are instead designed to rely on separate recording devices, such as a camcorders to which the adaptors are attached, to acquire content and create a video file. In most cases, unless the adaptor was designed for a specific camera, results from these systems are often unpredictable, inadequate, and inconsistent. Because these adaptors are often not designed for specific cameras but are instead generic, both the adaptor and the camera system must be calibrated and adjusted once the adaptor has been attached. This most often requires that additional components be attached between the adaptor and the camera, such as mounting rings, with each additional component affecting the quality, consistency, and reliability of the resulting video file.
In the case of generic adaptors, it is left to the consumer to properly configure the camera to yield the best results, often with little or no documentation, suggestions, or support on how to properly configure the camera to operate with the generic lens adaptor. As a result, it usually takes a considerable amount of the consumer's time and patience to get the system working adequately. In some cases, despite one's best efforts, a particular camera is not able to yield good results from an adaptor regardless of what is done. In the end, the adaptor approach does not provide an adequate means for recording spherical video.
Spherical camera heads, like the lens adaptors described above, also require separate specialized hardware components to operate. The camera head unit typically requires a separate, independent computer attached to the camera head, such as a high-performance laptop computer. The Immersive Media Dodeca 2360 and the Ladybug 3 camera by Point Grey Research are two examples of such systems. The Ladybug 3 is a five pound spherical camera comprised of six lenses integrated into a single housing unit. The cost of the system is extremely high ($18,000) and requires the purchase of additional equipment to appropriately power and operate the camera. Generally, a portable configuration requires a specialized, custom configured laptop to operate the camera for capturing video. These custom laptops, however, often require both custom hardware and software to operate sufficiently. These include specific Operating Systems ("OS" or "OSes") that will work with the camera's specific Software Development Kit ("SDK"), large amounts of RAM, fast processors, specific hardware ports (e.g., FireWire 800) and high-speed hard drives capable of acquiring the data from the camera, such as the Intel X25-M Solid State Drive. Also, because the camera consumes a significant amount of power during operation, additional power sources are often required to provide enough power for all the various components, such as multiple laptop batteries and/or other external (portable) power sources. These camera heads provide no audio support, requiring the addition of even more components, i.e., audio acquisition components, to these piecemeal systems.
Moreover, these existing systems do not provide sufficient software for delivering this content to the public, either on the desktop, Internet, or a mobile device. The consumer must once again purchase additional, 3rd party software designed to handle the spherical media file formats. All of these combined components and elements make the resulting systems expensive to operate, with costs easily exceeding $25,000 or more, and needlessly complex with multiple points of potential failure. Worse still is that, due to the incredible number of elements involved, the stability and reliability of these systems is poor, often resulting in unacceptable video quality, such as dropped video frames, or complete system shutdowns during production. Creating spherical video with the present existing systems requires that the consumer be both financially and technically affluent, as well as requiring a tremendous amount of patience.
Another significant limitation of the existing systems is their inability to natively interface with mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets. As noted above, the video must be first captured by either a camcorder with an appropriate lens adaptor or a camera head and then processed by a highly customized computer capable of creating spherical video files. In other words, the inherent limitations of the existing systems prevent a consumer from using their existing mobile devices, such as iPhones, iPads, and Android devices, to work natively with these camera systems.
Furthermore, none of the existing systems permit a consumer to immediately create and share spherical video content with others online.
Overall, these complex and expensive systems are primarily suited for those with a background in computer hardware and software technology with a significant budget to spend, rather than the common consumer. However, even those consumers with a background considered suitable for these systems will still be confronted by a significant lack of clear operational guidelines and support due to the piecemeal nature of these systems. Due to these significant limiting factors, omni-directional video is not currently being recognized, understood, or embraced by consumers and the general public. Instead, it been has restricted to only those with both the financial means to afford the technology and the technical background to understand and use it fully.

Omni-directional camera and related viewing software


A system model creating and simulation device for a process control system obtains description files of process modules including inputs, outputs and process control devices therebetween, where each description file specifies, for the corresponding module, connection terminals in the form of inputs and outputs, the process control devices and the interconnection of process control devices between the connection terminals, analyses of the description files, having determining a connection terminal of a first process module matching a connection terminal of a second process module, determines connections between the process modules based on the analysis, having determining a connection between the matching connection terminals, selecting simulation objects corresponding to the process control devices of the process modules, interconnecting the simulation objects according to data in the description files as well as through the connections determined between the process modules for forming a simulation model, and performing simulations in the simulation model.

It is often of interest to perform simulations in a process control system and thereafter implement the process control system.
This in turn requires the creation of a simulation model of the process control system that can be used for simulation purposes.
The use of such a model is described in for instance US 2014/172402, which discloses a simulation system for a control system where interconnect execution containers with embedded software components having internal standardized interfaces are interconnected. There are also modules representing hardware components and an execution environment simulating the hardware of peripherals. A process simulator may also be connected to the simulation system. There is no information about how the elements of the execution container have been connected to each other.
US 2016/171130 is likewise concerned with a simulation system for a process control system. A simulation model that may be made up of simpler modules is used for the simulation, where each module has inputs, outputs, parameters, variables and associated mathematical equations simulating the behavior. The modules are interconnected through a user making selections in different drop-down menus. The document also describes that validity of connections may be checked.
D3: Schenk, Tim et al. "Architecture for modeling and simulation of technical systems along their lifecycle", Computing and Visualization in Science, Springer, Berlin vol. 17, no. 4, 27 Jan. 2016, pages 167-183, likewise describes a simulating system for a process control system. Here a model is formed using components selected by an engineer from a component library. There is also a simulator that builds an internal system simulation model by processing a system topology configuration and subsequent instantiating and parameterizing every component and connection of the topology from available model libraries.
The creation of a simulation model is thus typically a manual enterprise, where an operator may drag and drop simulation objects corresponding to process control devices into a system creation area and then interconnect the simulation objects for obtaining the simulation model.
However, it would be of interest to improve the way that the simulation model is created. It would above all be of interest to obtain the model and perform the simulations with less user interactions.

Simulations in a model of a process control system