Static eliminator device includes a nonmetallic pultruded composite member having a plurality of conductive carbon fibers provided within a polymer matrix of thermosetting resin, wherein the plurality of carbon fibers are oriented within the polymer matrix in a longitudinal direction of the pultruded composite member and extend continuously therethrough. The pultruded composite member has at least one laser fibrillated end including a brush-like structure of densely distributed filament contacts formed from an exposed length of the carbon fibers for contact with the surface. The brush-like structure has either a straight edge configuration or a shaped configuration. The static eliminator device may include a base member for holding the pultruded composite member, wherein the base member electrically communicates with the plurality of conductive fibers to permit the electrical charge to pass therefrom. The static eliminator device utilizes a plurality of the pultruded composite members attached to the base member, each having a rod shape, or a single pultruded composite member having a planar shape. Alternatively, the static eliminator device may essentially be of single piece construction, wherein the pultruded composite member is planar in shape.

The present invention relates generally to electronic components such as connectors, switches and sensors for conducting electrical current. The present invention also relates generally to devices for neutralizing or eliminating static electrical charge buildup from a surface.
In particular, the present invention relates to such electronic components and static eliminator devices which are useful in various types of machines and other applications which require such components and devices for their proper operation. More specifically, the electronic components and static eliminator devices of the present invention each generally comprise a pultruded composite member having a plurality of small generally circular cross section conductive fibers in a polymer matrix where the fibers are oriented in a direction parallel to the axial direction of the member and are continuous from one end of the member to the other, with one end of the member having a fibrillated brush-like structure. The electronic components described herein are particularly well suited for low energy electronic/micro electronic signal level circuitry typified by contemporary digital and analog signal processing practices, while the static eliminator devices discussed below are ideally designed for removing or neutralizing static electrical charge buildup from dielectric substrates, such as copy paper. Typical of the type of machines which may use such electronic components and devices are electrostatographic printing machines.
In electrostatographic printing apparatus commonly used today a photoconductive insulating member is typically charged to a uniform potential and thereafter exposed to a light image of an original document to be reproduced. The exposure discharges the photoconductive insulating surface in exposed or background areas and creates an electrostatic latent image on the member which corresponds to the image contained within the original document. Alternatively, a light beam may be modulated and used to selectively discharge portions of the charged photoconductive surface to record the desired information thereon. Typically, such a system employs a laser beam. Subsequently, the electrostatic latent image on the photoconductive insulating surface is made visible by developing the image with developer powder referred to in the art as toner. Most development systems employ developer which comprises both charged carrier particles and charged toner particles which triboelectrically adhere to the carrier particles. During development, the toner particles are attracted from the carrier particles by the charged pattern of the image areas of the photoconductive insulating area to form a powder image on the photoconductive area. This toner image may be subsequently transferred to a support surface, such as copy paper, which is transported through the electrostatographic printing apparatus. The toner image may be permanently affixed to the copy paper by heating or by the application of pressure.
In commercial applications of such electrostatographic printing apparatus, the photoconductive member has typically been configured in the form of a belt or drum moving at high speed in order to permit high speed multiple copying from an original document. Under these circumstances, the moving photoconductive member must be electrically grounded to provide a path to ground for all the spurious currents generated in the xerographic process. This has typically taken the form of a ground strip on one side of the photoconductive belt or drum which is in contact with a grounding brush made of conductive fibers. Some brushes suffer from a deficiency in that the fibers are thin in diameter and brittle and therefore the brushes tend to shed which can cause a problem in particular with regard to high voltage charging devices in automatic reproducing machines in that if a shed conductive fiber comes in contact with the charging wire it has a tendency to arc causing a hot spot on the wire resulting in melting of the wire and breaking of the corotron. This is destructive irreversible damage requiring unscheduled service on the machine by a trained operator. Also, the fiber can contaminate the device and disrupt uniformity of the corona charging.
Furthermore, in commercial applications of such electrostatographic printing apparatus it is necessary to distribute power and/or logic signals to various sites within the machine. Traditionally, this has taken the form of utilizing conventional wires and wiring harnesses in each machine to distribute power and logic signals to the various functional elements in an automated machine. In such distribution systems, it is necessary to provide electrical connectors between the wires and components. In addition, it is necessary to provide sensors and switches, for example, to sense the location of copy sheets, documents, etc. Similarly, other electrical devices such as interlocks, etc. are provided to enable or disable a function.
The most common devices performing these functions have traditionally relied on metal-to-metal contacts to complete the associated electronic circuit. While this long time conventional approach has been very effective in many applications, it nevertheless suffers from several difficulties. For example, one or both of the metal contacts may be degraded over time by the formation of an insulating film due to oxidation of the metal. This film may not be capable of being pierced by the mechanical contact forces or by the low energy (5 volts and 10 milliamps) power present in the circuit. This is complicated by the fact that according to Holm, Electric Contacts, page 1, 4th Edition, 1967, published by Springer-Verlag, no amount of force if the contacts are infinitely hard can force contact to occur in more than a few localized spots. Further, corroded contacts can be the cause of radio frequency interference (noise) which may disturb sensitive circuitry. In addition, the conventional metal to metal contacts are susceptible to contamination by dust and other debris in the machine environment. In an electrostatographic printing machine, for example, toner particles are generally airborne within the machine and may collect and deposit on one or more such contacts. Another common contaminant in a printing machine is a silicone oil which is commonly used as a fuser release agent. This contamination may also be sufficient to inhibit the necessary metal-to-metal contact. Accordingly, the direct metal-to-metal contact suffers from low reliability particularly in low energy circuits. To improve the reliability of such contacts, particularly for low energy applications, contacts have been previously made from such noble metals as gold, palladium, silver and rhodium or specially developed alloys such a palladium nickel while for some applications contacts have been placed in a vacuum or hermetically sealed. In addition, metal contacts can be self-destructive and will burn out since most metals have a positive coefficient of thermal conductivity and as the contact spot gets hot due to increasing current densities it becomes more resistive thereby becoming hotter with the passage of additional current and may eventually burn or weld. Final failure may follow when the phenomena of current crowding predominates the conduction of current. In addition to being unreliable as a result of susceptibility to contamination, traditional metal contacts and particularly sliding contacts owing to high normal forces are also susceptible to wear over long periods of time.
As previously mentioned, the copy paper or similar support surface must be transported to an appropriate location within the electrostatographic printing apparatus prior to transferring the toner image from the photoconductive insulating member. After the toner image is transferred, the copy paper is then transported through the electrostatographic printing apparatus for subsequent electrostatographic operations or discharge of the copy paper. The guide members and transport mechanisms utilized for the copy paper transporting process produce frictional contact across the copy paper, which typically results in the generation of triboelectric charges. Additionally, electrical charges intentionally produced by the electrostatographic printing apparatus are also induced upon the copy paper. These electrical charges may be either positive or negative in polarity. Due to its dielectric characteristics, the copy paper or similar support surface typically will accept and hold these charges.
The buildup of these electrical charges greatly hinders handling and transportation of the copy paper. Since copy paper is thin and flexible, the static electric charge will cause the copy paper to be repelled from some areas or components of the electrostatographic printing apparatus and attracted to others. Further, the static electric charge will likely cause multiple sheets of copy paper to stick together, and potentially jam the electrostatographic printing apparatus during operation. An additional nuisance of static electric charge buildup on multiple sheets of copy paper is the resultant electric shock which may be discharged to an operator of the electrostatographic printing apparatus. Finally, static electric charge buildup on the copy paper is known to be detrimental to image quality. That is, toner particles and other contaminants which are present in the electrostatographic printing apparatus will adhere to the charged copy paper, thus dulling and degrading background quality.
Several methods and devices have been proposed for the elimination or neutralization of static electrical charge buildup on copy paper. An earlier concept was an independently powered device which ionized the air surrounding the copy paper, thus providing a grounding path. However, this device was expensive to manufacture and operate, and was a producer of ozone. A later concept utilized grounded metallic tinsel positioned to drag across the surface of the copy paper as the copy paper was discharged from the copier apparatus. This "tinsel" device was not totally effective in discharging the sheet, and therefore, did not assist in fully reducing the difficulty in handling the electrically charged copy paper within the electrostatographic printing apparatus. Further, the tinsel would tend to scratch the newly-formed image on the copy paper surface.
Recently, various embodiments of brushes have been developed for use within electrostatographic printing apparatus to assist in eliminating static electrical charge buildup on copy paper. Generally, these static eliminator brushes are strategically positioned within the electrostatographic printing apparatus, such that the copy paper passes in contact with grounded fibers of the static eliminator brush prior to being handled by a transporting mechanism. While brush-type static eliminators have proven to be effective in eliminating electrical charge, several disadvantages have been identified due to the materials and construction used.
For example, static eliminator devices using metallic brush fibers are known to have a limited effective life after continued operation. Alternatively, static eliminator brushes have been developed with conductive carbon fibers of relatively long length, i.e., 15-25 mm, to ensure flexibility of the brush fibers. However, these relatively long conductive carbon fibers tend to shed from the brush due to the inherent brittleness of the thin carbon fibers. As with the photoconductive member grounding brushes discussed above, when these relatively long conductive carbon fibers contact and bridge the charging wire of one of the several high voltage charging devices common to electrostatographic printing apparatus, there is a tendency to arc and damage the charging wire. This damage to the wire is destructive and irreversible, thus disrupting the uniformity of the charging device and requiring unscheduled service to the apparatus. Carbon fibers of higher electrical resistivity have been developed and utilized to minimize arcing within the electrostatographic printing apparatus; however, for a variety of reasons, static eliminator brushes of higher resistivity and lower conductivity are not always desirable.

Fibrillated pultruded electronic components and static eliminator devices


An in-flight entertainment system includes a plurality of static transceivers and an ISM band communication interference manager. The static transceivers are configured to transmit and receive radio frequency signals in the ISM band. The static transceivers are further configured to measure signals received within the ISM band from mobile transceivers within the aircraft and to measure signals received from proximately located ones of the static transceivers, and to generate measurement reports containing the measurements and containing identifiers of the proximately located ones of the static transceivers and the mobile transceivers. The ISM band communication interference manager is communicatively connected to the static transceivers, and performs operations that include receiving the measurement reports from the static transceivers, and controlling transmission power levels used by the static transceivers and the mobile transceivers responsive to the content of the measurement reports.

In-flight entertainment (IFE) systems have been deployed onboard aircraft to provide entertainment, such as movies, television, audio entertainment programming, electronic games, and other electronic content to passengers. IFE systems are increasingly using wireless access points to provide the electronic content from a content server to passenger equipment carried on-board (e.g., cellular phones, tablet computers, laptop computers), seat video display units (SVDUs), and other communication terminals within the aircraft. Some IFE systems provide passenger control units (PCUs) at passenger seats that are wirelessly linked to the seats' SVDUs, and which can be held by passengers and operated to control content selection and playback through the SVDUs. These wireless communications are typically performed within the industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) radio band.
The proliferation of such wireless equipment operating simultaneously and with unsynchronized use of the ISM radio resources within an aircraft cabin, can result in levels of communication interference that degrade or intermittently prevent operation of the IFE system. For example, hundreds of SVDU wireless transceivers and corresponding PCU wireless transceivers can be simultaneously interfering with each other's communications. Moreover, communications by these wireless transceivers would likely interfere with and be interfered with by the operation of wireless transceivers within hundreds of passengers' equipment.
The wireless transceivers are typically programmed to respond to degradation of their communication link quality by increasing their transmission power level. However, these operations can result in a rapid escalation of the signal noise floor within the cabin and further degrade or intermittently prevent operation of the IFE system.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Cooperative realtime management of noise interference in ISM band


The present invention provides automated systems and methods for monitoring column performance in process chromatography, and applications thereof. In an embodiment, column performance is monitored by generating a plurality of process values such as, for example, conductivity values or pH values with a detector during a chromatography step transition between a first mobile phase liquid and a second mobile phase liquid. The process values are transformed to form transformed process values in which noise present in the process values is suppressed. Column performance parameters are calculated based on the transformed process values and displayed during movement of the second mobile phase liquid through the chromatography column. The displayed performance parameters enable an operator to make a determination, for example, regarding the quality of the chromatography column packing and whether to continue the chromatography process or stop the chromatography process until the chromatography column can be repacked or replaced.

In the biopharmaceutical industry, process chromatography using packed-bed columns is a key component in the manufacture of complex biological products. In order to ensure product quality and performance (e.g., biological activity), a high packing quality is required. Accordingly, packing quality must be monitored and packed-bed columns having an unacceptable packing quality must be repacked or replaced.
Conventionally, three numeric parameters, namely, the number of plates per column (N), height equivalent to a theoretical plate (HETP), and asymmetry (As), are used to describe the quality of a packed-bed column. These parameters are obtained by performing pulse injections experiments or so-called HETP runs to assess the degree of dispersion of an injected pulse of a non-adsorbed solute.
In accordance with the pulse injection method for assessing packing quality, a well-packed column should have a low HETP value (e.g., less than 0.1 cm). A concept derived from N, HETP provides a measure of broadening in relation to the distance a sample zone has traveled in a chromatography column. A sample zone is the band of a sample in the column, which appears as a peak when it exits the column and is monitored by a detector (analyzer) that corresponds to a certain property of the sample at the column outlet. The mathematical definitions of N and HETP are:N=VR2/σ2  (1), andHETP=L/N  (2),where VR is a retention volume, which is defined as the volume delivered from the time when half the sample mass is applied to the column to the time when half the sample mass has exited from the column, σ2 is the variance of the exit volume distribution, and N is a dimensionless number. L is the column length (or height).
The injected tracer solution in the injected pulse method is assumed to be a Dirac pulse, which has a height of C0 (the initial tracer concentration) and, relative to the column volume, an infinitesimal width. The initial condition corresponds to a column containing only the mobile and stationary phase in equilibrium but without any sample. The injected pulse method also assumes that the distribution of the exit volume of the tracer in the pulse follows, or closely follows, a normal (e.g., Gaussian) distribution curve. Thus, the calculation of N is determined by just three data points from the concentration-volume curve derived during a pulse injection experiment (e.g., the volumes at the peak and at the two points on the curve where the concentration of the tracer is half of the peak concentration). For a normal density function, the width of the curve at half peak height, W1/2, is equal to 2σ(21n2)1/2. Therefore,σ=W1/2/(2(21n2)1/2  (3).Consequently, the calculation of N is given by:N=VR2/(W1/2/(2(21n2)1/2)2  (4),N=VR2/(W1/22/(4(21n2)))  (5),N=5.545(VR/W1/2)2  (6).
The value of HETP is obtained by using equation (2) above.
The third parameter, As, used to describe the quality of a packed-bed column, reflects the nature of the peak broadening (e.g. fronting or tailing). As above, in the case of the pulse injection method, just three data points from the entire dataset obtained during a pulse injection experiment are used to determine the value As. This value is calculated by taking the ratio (at 10 percent of the peak height) of the distance between the peak apex and the back side of the chromatographic curve to the distance between the peak apex and the front side of the chromatographic curve. Accordingly, an As value greater than 1 is a tailing peak, while an As value less than 1 is a fronting peak. A well-packed column is assumed to have an As value close to unity.
Because there are frequently situations where the peaks from pulse injection experiments or HETP runs are not Gaussian, the N, HETP, and As values calculated in accordance with the pulse injection method often do not accurately describe the efficiency or packing quality of a column. This is especially true for large process chromatography columns, which routinely give peaks that do not fit a Gaussian distribution. In fact, a calculation that is based on a Gaussian distribution may be insensitive to changes in bed condition or defects in column packing. The reason for this is that if deviations occur somewhere in a transition other than at the few data points used in the calculation, the deviations will not be detected. For the same reason, the pulse injection method is not robust because noise occurring at these critical points will be weighted heavily and lead to incorrect calculations.
In addition to the above noted shortcomings, there are also practical and economical reasons that make the pulse injection method for determining packing quality poorly suited for use in large-scale process chromatography. For example, when running a pulse injection experiment, the volume of the pulse directly affects the results. Since it is difficult to accurately introduce a small pulse into a large column, the reproducibility of HETP runs at the production scale is typically low, especially where subtle changes in the column are concerned. This weakness can render the parameters measured with the pulse injection method unsuitable for use with statistical process control. Furthermore, HETP runs are external to the manufacturing process, and the parameters derived from them are not direct measures of the efficiency or packing quality of the columns when the columns are actually used during the manufacturing process. Column conditions can change between a HETP run and an actual manufacturing process run. When the change is sufficiently large, it can have potentially catastrophic effects on the ensuing process chromatography. Finally, the pulse injection method requires HETP runs to be performed on a regular basis to check the efficiency of the column. These HETP runs consume process resources and can cause delays in production.
What are needed are new monitoring systems and methods that overcome the deficiencies noted above.

Automated system and method for monitoring chromatography column performance, and applications thereof


Techniques using one or more drugs, electrical stimulation or both to treat depression or manic depression by means of an implantable signal generator and electrode and/or an implantable pump and catheter. A catheter is surgically implanted in selected sites in the brain to infuse the drugs, and one or more electrodes are surgically implanted in the brain at selected sites to provide electrical stimulation.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to nerve tissue stimulation and infusion techniques, and more particularly relates to such techniques for treating depression and manic depression.
2. Description of the Related Art
A persons immediate emotional state is referred to as their affective state. Two normal emotions or affective states are eurphoria and depression. These affective states are experienced transiently by all persons in response life situations. For some individuals however, these normal emotional responses may become sustained for long periods of time. The general affective state may not reflect the momentary expeiences of the individual. Two affective disorders involving the emotions of eurphoria and depression are unipolar or major depression and bipolar depression or manic depression.
Unipolar depression manifests as episodes of dysphoria (unpleasant mood) and anhedonia (inability to experience pleasure) which may last for months. Symptoms may include a loss of energy, changes in weight (most often weight loss but possibly weight gain) insomnia or sometimes oversleeping, restlessness, and inability to concentrate, loss of sex drive, negative thoughts, feelings of worthlessness and suicidal ideation. Unipolar depression is characterized by subtypes. The estimates are that there may be as many as 4 million people in the United States suffering from depression.
Persons with bipolar depression will experience depressive episodes just as those suffering from major depression. These episodes are clinically indistiguishable form those described above. However, they will also experience episodes of mania. Manic episodes are characterized by a prolonged state of euphoria. The person is full of energy with a decreased need for sleep, will have rapid speech and feels grandiose. He or she may have an increased libido and engage in reckless involvements. In severe cases the patient may be delusional and experience hallucinations. Some persons will switch between the two affective states quickly, within a matter of minutes.
Depression can be treated with oral medications. Examples are the monoamine oxidase inhibitors, such as phenelzine, serotonin uptake blockers like trazodone and fluoxetine and trycyclinc compounds like imipramine. Lithium salts are used to terminate manic episodes and prophylactically to prevent reaccurance. Antipsychotic drugs can be used in combination with tricyclics for cases of depression when psychosis is present.
Siuciak (5,599,560) discloses the use of neurotrophins to treat depression. Cosby (4,596,807; 4,698,342) teaches the use of the serotonin precursor l-tryptophan. Owen (4,912,126) discloses the use of 3(H)-indolones. Sgan (4,980,174) describes implanting monoamine producing living cells into the central nervous system to treat depressive patients.
The use of biofeedback to the user of the asymmetry between the brain waves measured at two locations as a means of treating depression is disclosed by Rosenfeld (5,280,793).
Electrical stimulation of the nervous system has been proposed as a therapeutic treatment of depression. Sandyk (5,470,846) disclosed the use of transcranial pulsed magnetic fields to treat depression. Werneke et. al. (5,299,569) discloses electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve and Zabara (5,540,734) teaches stimulation of the trigeminal or glossopharyngeal nerves for psychiatric illness such as depression.

Method of treating manic depression by brain infusion


A process for the production of a surimi which comprises distinguishing fish highly contaminated with sporozoans from less contaminated ones on the basis of the presence of cysts in fish meat; removing said highly contaminated fish; collecting fish meat from the residual fish; and leaching and dehydrating said fish meat. Thus a surimi of a high commercial value can be obtained by using fish which might be contaminated with sporozoans and thus frequently suffer from excessive softening as the starting material.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process for the production of a surimi. More particularly, it relates to a process for the production of a surimi whereby a fish meat which frequently suffers from excessive softening caused by sporozoans can be effectively utilized.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Today, it is an important task to effectively utilize various shorefishes and demersal fishes which have been never utilized hitherto, because of various factors including the restriction of Japanese fishing areas. It has been known that fish contaminated with sporozoans would frequently suffer from excessive softening. These fish are lowly evaluated as a starting material in the production of processed marine products, since they show extremely poor elasticity and water retention, which are essential in the production of processed marine products, when formulated into a surimi. Under these circumstances, the present inventors have already provided some techniques which enable the production of a surimi of excellent qualities, for example, a process for improving fish meat qualities (cf. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 56269/1988).
Although the process cited above is an excellent one, the fish meat having qualities thus improved does not always have sufficient properties, including elasticity and water retention, for giving processed fish meat products of excellent qualities. Thus it has been demanded to develop a process for further improving fish meat qualities.


Disclosed herein is an apparatus for operating the cover of a mobile device. The apparatus includes a cylindrical housing formed on one end of the device cover. The cylindrical housing accommodates an operating means. The cylindrical housing has a projection at its first side and is open at its second side. Two holding projections are integrated with a device body, have opposite holding recesses and rotatably support the cylindrical housing. A hinge shaft is connected to the output end of the operating means, the cam portion of which is inserted into one of the holding recesses. Elasticity means is situated in the holding recess into which the cam portion is inserted for exerting a predetermined amount of elastic force on the cam portion. A switch is formed on one side of the device body for applying an operating signal to the operating means. Position sensing means is comprised of a brush housing and a rectification housing attached to the operating means and the hinge shaft at opposite positions for detecting the same phase state when the first and second patterns are electrically connected and applied with electricity at certain positions by the brush.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a folding type mobile device that allows its cover to be selectively opened and closed automatically and manually, and more particularly to an apparatus for operating the cover of a folding type mobile device, which is capable of selectively and stably opening and closing the cover of the folding type mobile device by compensating for a change in the output characteristics of the apparatus and a difference in phase due to load, using the control of the position of the cover.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, mobile communications may be classified into the following categories; direct communications among moving stations (such as, radio transmitter-receiver), communications between a base station and multiple moving stations (such as, MCA radio communications), and communications selecting a neighboring base station among multiple base stations (such as, automobile devices). Recently, there have been commercialized Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), smart devices and Hand-held Personal Computers (HPCs), which allow data transmission and reception to be performed through compute work and network access using portable peripheral devices, regardless of locations.
The mobile devices can be easily carried and conveniently used, so a demand for mobile devices has tremendously increased. In order to meet the various desires of consumers, the mobile devices are miniaturized and have become multifunctional.
In general, the mobile devices may be classified into three types according to their shapes; a bar type in which push buttons are exposed to the outside, a flip type in which push buttons are covered with a flip, and a folding type in which a device body is folded in half. With the trend toward miniaturization, folding type mobile devices have been widely utilized.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a general folding type mobile phone used as a mobile communication terminal.
The conventional folding type mobile device 100 is basically comprised of a body 110 and a cover 120.
The device body 110 includes a variety of push buttons, a microdevice, various parts for the transmission and reception of voice, and a battery pack for power supply. The cover 120 includes a display window for indicating call and function information, a speaker and a variety of parts.
In such a folding type mobile device, the cover 120 is hingedly attached to the device body 110 at its one edge. The mobile device 100 is opened or closed by the rotation of the cover 120 in a forward or reverse direction.
In general, the opening and closing of the cover 120 of the mobile device 100 is carried out in the basis of a structure illustrated in FIG. 2.
In the conventional folding type mobile device 100, a hollow cylindrical housing 111 is formed on the lower end of the cover 120. A coil spring 112 is arranged in the center portion of the housing 111 with its one end supported on the housing 111 and its other end kept free. A male coupling member 113, the outer side of which is wedge-shaped, is secured to the free end of the coil spring 112.
A female coupling member 114 having a wedge-shaped groove and a connecting projection 115 is situated to engage with the male coupling member 113 having a wedge-shaped projection, with the wedge-shaped groove of the female coupling member 114 engaging with the wedge-shaped projection of the male coupling member 113.
The male coupling member 113 and the female coupling member 114 serve as a hinge shaft. When the cover 120 is rotated together with the male coupling member 113, the rotational direction of the female coupling member 114 is restricted by the fixing groove of the fixing portion formed on the device body 110. If the male coupling member 113 is rotated at an angle of a predetermined value or more, the male coupling member 113 causes the coil spring 112 to be pushed while being compressed, as shown in FIG. 3.
As a result, when the cover 120 is opened and the rotational angle of the male coupling member 113 is less than the wedge angle of the male and female coupling members 113 and 114, the male coupling member 113 is forcibly engaged with the female coupling member 114 by the elastic force of the coil spring 112 so that the cover 120 is returned to its closed position and kept at that position. When the rotational angle of the male coupling member 113 is greater than the wedge angle, the male coupling member 113 is rotated at about 180xc2x0 so that the male coupling member 113 is engaged with the female coupling member 114, thereby allowing the cover 120 to be kept open.
On the contrary, when the cover 120 is closed, the rotational angle of the male coupling member 113 is less than the wedge angle of the male and female coupling members 113 and 114, the restoring force of the coil spring 112 is exerted on the male and female coupling members 113 and 114 so the cover 120 is forcibly kept open. When the rotational angle of the male coupling member 113 is greater than the wedge angle, the male coupling member 113 is rotated so that the male coupling member 113 is engaged with the female coupling member 114, thereby causing the cover 120 to be closed.
However, the conventional folding type mobile device is inconvenient in that its cover 120 has to be opened with one hand while its body 110 is held by the other hand because the cover 120 is relatively heavy.
In order to overcome the above-described shortcoming, there have been proposed various folding type mobile devices that are capable of being easily opened and closed with one hand. One example of the mobile devices is the type in which its cover is opened and closed by an operating apparatus.
In this type mobile device, its cover 120 is automatically opened and closed using the operating apparatus manipulated with one hand. In this case, the cover 120 should be opened and closed manually as well as automatically.
FIG. 4 is a partially sectional view showing a principal portion of another conventional folding type mobile device with an operating apparatus. As illustrated in the drawing, the operating apparatus is comprised of a motor 116 elastically supported by a coil spring 112 and a gear box 117 connected to the output end of the motor 116.
The motor 116 is operated, together with a switch manipulated by a user, and generates operating force for a time period set by a timer.
The gear box 117 is connected to the output end of the motor 116, and serves to reduce the rotating ratio and prevent reversion. A male coupling member 113 is attached to the output end of the gear box 117, and engaged with the female coupling member 114.
In the conventional mobile device, when the switch is manipulated to automatically open the cover 120, the male coupling member 113 is engaged with the female coupling member 114, so the body of the motor 116 is rotated around its central axis. The cover 120, provided with the housing 111 on which the motor 116 is mounted, is rotated for a predetermined time period, thereby opening the cover 120 away from the device body 110.
On the contrary, when the switch is manipulated so as to close the cover 120, the body of the motor 116 is rotated around the central axis in the opposite direction, the cover 120 is rotated in the opposite direction, thereby causing the cover 120 to be closed.
In the meantime, when the cover 120 is manually rotated in a direction or the opposite direction to be opened or closed, slippage occurs between the male coupling member 113 and the female coupling 114 and the coil spring 112 is compressed by the male coupling member 113 and the motor 116. Accordingly, while the coil spring 112 is compressed, the male coupling member 113 and the motor 116 are rotated together with the cover 120.
When the cover 120 reaches a predetermined position, the male coupling member 113 is returned to its original position by the elastic force of the coil spring 112 and engaged with the female coupling member 114, thereby allowing the cover 120 to be rapidly opened or closed.
However, the conventional folding type mobile device is problematic in that its cover 120 cannot reach a set open or closed position due to the change of the output characteristics (that is, RPM) of its motor 116 because the motor 116 is operated by its timer for a predetermined time period.
In addition, if external force is exerted on the cover 120 by the wrong operation of the switch while the cover 120 is opened or closed and is held by a hand or contained in a pocket, the male coupling member 113 is stopped at an undesired position.
Accordingly, in a manual mode, the cover 120 is not fully closed or opened at 150xc2x0 or more, so the opening and closing of the cover 120 is not desirably performed.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for operating the cover of a mobile device, which is capable of selectively and desirably opening and closing the cover by compensating for a change in the output characteristics of its operating means and a difference in phase due to both automatic and manual use.
In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides an apparatus for operating the cover of a mobile device, comprising: a cylindrical housing formed on one end of the device cover, the cylindrical housing accommodating an operating means, the cylindrical housing having a projection at its first side and being open at its second side; two holding projections integrated with a device body, the holding projections having opposite holding recesses and rotatably supporting the cylindrical housing; a hinge shaft connected to the output end of the operating means, the cam portion of which is inserted into one of the holding recesses; elasticity means situated in the holding recess into which the cam portion is inserted for exerting a predetermined amount of elastic force on the cam portion; a switch formed on one side of the device body for applying an operating signal to the operating means; and position sensing means comprised of a brush housing and a rectification housing attached to the operating means and the hinge shaft at opposite positions for detecting the same phase state when the first and second patterns of the rectification housing are electrically connected and applied with electricity at certain positions by the brush of the brush housing.
The position sensing means may comprise: a brush housing fixedly attached to the output end of the operating means, from which a brush is projected; and a rectification housing on which the first and second patterns are formed to be applied with electricity by electric contact with the brush; wherein the same phase state is detected when the first and second patterns are electrically connected and applied with electricity at certain positions by the brush during the relative rotation of the brush housing and the rectification housing due to the rotation of the operating means.
The brush housing may be provided with one or more brushes.
The first and second patterns of the rectification housing may be formed symmetrically and applied with electricity by the brush of the brush housing at angles of 90xc2x0 and 270xc2x0.
The position sensing means may comprise: a rectification housing fixedly attached to the output end of the operating means, on one surface of which the first and second patterns are formed to be applied with electricity; a brush housing fixedly attached to the hinge shaft at the position opposite to the rectification housing and provided with a brush for connecting and applying electricity to the first and second patterns; wherein the same phase state is detected when the first and second patterns are electrically connected and applied with electricity at certain positions by the brush during the relative rotation of the rectification housing and the brush housing due to the rotation of the operating means.
The first and second patterns of the rectification housing may be formed symmetrically and applied with electricity by the brush of the brush housing at angles of 90xc2x0 and 270xc2x0.
The operating means may be a motor connected to a switch to produce the rotating force of a forward or reverse direction.
The operation of the operating means may be controlled by the application of electricity that occurs when a brush housing and a rectification housing have the same phase.
The elasticity means may be a pair of springs that are arranged and spaced in a holding recess to which the hinge shaft is inserted and support the cam portion of the hinge shaft.
The first and second patterns of the rectification housing may be comprised of inner and outer concentric patterns that are spaced apart by a predetermined interval and applied with electricity by the brush of the brush housing at angles of 90xc2x0 and 270xc2x0.
The first and second patterns of the rectification housing may be comprised of inner and outer concentric patterns that are spaced apart by a predetermined interval and applied with electricity by the brush of the brush housing at angles of 90xc2x0 and 270xc2x0.
The apparatus may further comprise a dummy pattern between the patterns, the dummy pattern being connected to one of the patterns.
The brush may have two contact branches.

Apparatus for operating the cover of a folding type mobile device


Systems and methods may utilize cutaneous feedback for enhanced control of various types of manipulandum. Embodiments of the present invention may include a haptic feedback system comprising: an actuator that exerts force to a user when engaging the actuator that provides cutaneous feedback to the user when using the system. The systems and methods may allow for adjustable and customizable operation of the system to improve the relationship between human and mechanical or virtual devices.

Interaction between humans and machines is improved when the user has an increased intuitive understanding of how the machine is operating. In general, tactile (haptic) feedback is responsible for the detection of, but not limited to, roughness, temperature, and/or vibrations. Haptic, or tactile, technology recreates the sense of touch by applying forces, vibrations, or motions to the user. This mechanical stimulation can be used to assist in the creation of virtual objects in a computer simulation, to control virtual objects, and to enhance the remote control of machines and devices.
The field of surgery provides a common scenario where a human is controlling a mechanical device requiring care and dexterity. In a robotic surgery scenario, a surgeon often holds an object of interest through robotic grippers, for example. Without any type of haptic feedback, a surgeon has a reduced understanding of the force being imparted onto object to hold, to avoid damaging the object. Current MIS and medical systems have limited ability to provide force feedback to a surgeon while performing teleoperated surgical tasks. Surgeons are at a disadvantage due to the lack of haptic (tactile) feedback and may be unable to reduce tissue damage during surgeries and diagnostics. Tissue damage often occurs due to the application of excessive force during tissue holding or inappropriate suturing.
Auditory, visual, shear, and vibration feedback have been used to translate force information in teleoperated robotic MIS in research literature. Research studies on robotic surgeries have shown that alternative sensory information can enhance surgeon's performance in teleoperated tasks as compared to the performance with no haptic feedback.
Frequently, a user of robotic or other types of mechanical devices is controlling the device through the use of a stylus, controller, or remote. In particular applications, the user may utilize fingertips to engage the controls of the stylus, controller, or remote. Fingertips can be a good appendage with which to utilize cutaneous feedback since the fingertip skin is replete with mechanoreceptors. The mechanism of providing the information by these receptors to the brain is known as "cutaneous feedback." Cutaneous-type haptic feedback has been utilized in earlier research for the evaluation of peg-insertion task performance using robotic grippers. But previous uses of cutaneous feedback have failed to provide adequate results.
Vibrating actuators have been used to create cutaneous feedback. These systems induce vibrations on the fingertip skin. Vibrating actuators or vibrotactile sensors do not provide the lack of feedback regarding directional information. Vibrating actuators can only display frequency of a given signal, and thus, are limited in the ability to convey relative and dynamic changes in the operation of the device to the user.
Pin-type haptic feedback has also been used. For example, binary structures have been used as types of pin devices but these binary structures have only two modes of effects, namely protruding and recessed. Shear stress has also been utilized for tactile feedback.

Cutaneous haptic feedback system and methods of use


A method for product portfolio analysis includes selecting a set of solution points along a curve of order benefit as a function of the number of products in a product portfolio and performing a heuristic between an adjacent pair of solution points that approximates the curve between the adjacent pair of solution points. An apparatus that can perform the product portfolio analysis is also described.

Product proliferation is a concern with many business enterprises because making or selling numerous products adds to inventory and management costs. Further, a business enterprise can lose sales as a result of consumer confusion stemming from numerous product choices. In today's fast paced business climate, businesses attempt to monitor the financial success of the products that are offered for sale. Businesses strive to select a particular product portfolio for sale to customers that increase the business' profit.

Method and apparatus for product management

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


The present invention discloses a unique and novel universal vehicle accessory mounting device which attaches to either a left hand or right hand control body of a vehicle handlebar, and permits various orientations for attachment of multiple accessories.

For the past several years, there has been a continuously growing market for accessories for handlebar steered vehicles. In particular, the explosion in electronic technology based on the advancements in integrated circuit technology has made possible the availability of a wide variety of accessories for these vehicles. For example, the aftermarket for handlebar steered vehicle accessories now includes devices such as CD players, cell phones, portable televisions, GPS locators, radar detectors, and other such devices.
The largest market for these types of devices is for touring style motorcycles. In addition to the vast increase in availability of such devices, the tradition of customization inherent to the motorcycle industry has created a complementary demand for a means of securing these devices to the motorcycle in a safe, secure, and usable manner. Beyond the utilitarian requirements of the mounting devices, there is a need to provide attachments that are consistent with the high standards of aesthetic appeal upon which the customized motorcycle industry was founded.
The prior art method of attachment of aftermarket accessories to handlebar steered vehicles involves attaching a U-bracket to an exposed portion of the handlebars. The U-bracket will have an arm portion for direct attachment to the accessory, or to a special sleeve designed to hold the accessory.
In another prior art method, the U-bracket would have a threaded receptacle for attachment of a ball stud. The ball stud is a ball having a threaded stud protruding from it. The threaded stud is threaded into a female receptacle on the U-bracket. The ball stud provides a structure for attachment of a ball stud clamping device, which is pivotally adjustable, allowing the accessory to be mounted adjustably. U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,885 issued to Carnevali discloses one such clamping device for movable attachment to a ball stud.
The principle disadvantage of the prior art devices is that they require free handlebar space for attachment. On many modern vehicle handlebars, there is insufficient space available for such devices. Another disadvantage of these devices is that they require a cylindrical handlebar for attachment. On many vehicles, the handlebars are constructed of non-cylindrical designs, making attachment of these devices impossible. Another disadvantage of these devices is that the diameter of the cylindrical styled handlebars varies between manufacturers, and thus a specifically sized U-bracket is required for each motorcycle.
Another disadvantage of the prior art devices is that they permit attachment of a single accessory, limiting the number of accessories that can be added. Another disadvantage of these devices is that they provide a singular location for attachment of the ball stud. This limitation often requires relying on the addition of a separate positioning device to effectively locate the accessory in relation to the ball stud.
Another disadvantage of these devices is that they are cumbersome. Adding equipment in the limited free space of the handlebars can cause interference with other equipment surfaces and with the rider. Another disadvantage of these devices is that they are aesthetically displeasing. Owners of high-end touring bikes who want to customize their vehicles place a high value on the aesthetic appeal of any customization.
It can thus be seen that there is a need to develop a device capable of supporting accessories on an all-terrain vehicle, motorcycle, snowmobile, personal watercraft, or similar vehicle, that does not require additional space of the handlebars; that can be mounted on vehicles with non-cylindrical handlebars; that can be mounted on the vehicle without interfering with other equipment or with the rider; that has multiple positioning and/or multiple attachment interfaces; and that is aesthetically complimentary to the vehicle.
It is also appreciated that there is a need for a universal accessory mounting device that provides one or more of the above listed advantages, and which is adaptable to fit a range of vehicle control body sizes.

Universal accessory mount for vehicle control bodies


A security management system is provided. The security management system includes a storage unit and at least one processor. The storage unit stores a restricting table which records relationships between positional information of a mobile device and functions of the mobile device. The at least one processor includes an information module, a restricting module and a disabling module. The information module provides positional information of the mobile device. The restricting module generates a restricting instruction according to the provided positional information of the mobile device and the restricting table. The disabling module disables the corresponding functions of the mobile device according to the generated restricting instruction.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to management systems and, particularly, to a security management system and a security management method.
2. Description of Related Art
When a user with a mobile device enters a special area, such as a laboratory, the user may, without authorization, acquire some classified data in the laboratory using the mobile device. The acquired data may then be uploaded to a network by the user, which can result in the secure data being leaked.
Therefore, what is needed is a security management system and a method to overcome the described limitations.


A sensing surface device comprises a sensing module coupled to a sensing mat. The sensing module is configured to detect a first object at a first position on the sensing mat, detect an event associated with the first object and detect a movement at a second position on the sensing mat. The sensing module is further configured to generate an input to trigger an action in software based on both the detected event and the detected movement.

There are many different technologies which can be used to produce a touch-sensitive surface including capacitive or resistive sensing and optical techniques. Capacitive multi-touch surfaces can detect the positions of one or more fingers on the surface, but cannot uniquely identify objects placed on the surface. Optical multi-touch tables, which use a camera/projector system or sensor-in-pixel technology, have the ability to identify objects equipped with a visual marker as well as sense multi-touch user input. Some technologies can only detect objects when they are actually in physical contact with the surface, whilst other technologies can detect objects which are in close proximity to the surface but are not in physical contact.

User input comprising an event and detected motion


Access to a digital asset by a user may be controlled by encrypting the digital asset, embedding the encrypted digital asset in a file, providing a file viewer to the user, responding to a request by the user to access the digital asset by sending a request from the file viewer to a server, the request including identification information related to the user and the file, processing the request from the file viewer, with information in a database related to authorization of the user to access the digital asset, to produce and send to the viewer an encrypted authorization key and responding to receipt of the encrypted authorization key by the viewer by decrypting the authorization key to permit the requested access to the digital asset via the file viewer.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to digital asset management and in particular to techniques for the control and tracking of copies of digital assets such as computer files.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various approaches for the management of digital assets have been attempted, but have limitations regarding the protection afforded the files and the ease of authorized distribution and use. What is needed is an improved technique without such limitations.


The push-up adhesive bra includes a pair of bra cups each comprising a generally concave inside surface opposite a generally convex outside surface. Each cup defines an eye-shaped perimeter including a generally curved top and bottom edge meeting at an inner and outer peak. An adhesive is disposed along a portion of the inside surface for removably adhering the bra to a pair of woman's breasts when worn. A two-piece connector is individually fixed to each cup and engagedly connects the pair of cups and is configured such that the connector is disposed substantially at or below a bottom breast line when worn. A shelf-like padding is disposed within each cup adjacent to the bottom edge generally disposed below the woman's breasts. The top edge of each cup comprises a plurality of strap engagement receiving slots where a strap can be selectively attached at any one of the slots.

A brassiere/bra is an article of clothing that covers, supports, and elevates the breasts. Since the late 19th century, it has replaced the corset as the most widely accepted method for supporting a woman's breasts. Women wear bras for a variety of purposes. For example as support or to improve the shape of breasts, to reduce or to enlarge the perceived breast size, to restrain breast movement during an activity such as exercise, or to enhance their cleavage or to facilitate nursing. Most bras are designed to be form-fitting and to lift the breasts off the chest wall if they sag and to restrain their movement. Bra designers strive to produce a garment that is both functional and aesthetically pleasing.
The term "brassiere" seems to have come into use in the English language as early as 1893. Manufacturers were using the term by about 1904 and Vogue magazine first used it in 1907. By 1911 the word had made its way into the Oxford English Dictionary. In the 1930s, "brassiere" gradually came to be shortened to "bra." On Nov. 13, 1914, the newly formed U.S. patent category for "brassieres" was inaugurated with a patent issued to Mary Phelps Jacob. Even today, the designs of bras are still evolving and changing as is evidenced with this application and many others.
Bra designs may change due to the use of new technologies or from an increased pressure from changing women's fashion. Today, fashionable clothing for women often includes low-cut/plunging necklines, backless, and or strapless designs. Accordingly, a traditional style bra would not function appropriately and other bra designs must be utilized. To this end many bra designs are strapless/backless bras which use an adhesive to adhere directly to the skin of the breast themselves. This design eliminates the need for a strap spanning around either the back of the woman or around her neck.
Unfortunately, a strapless adhesive bra doesn't provide much of the support and comfort of a traditional bra. Additionally, some women may want to selectively position an auxiliary strap to match the silhouette of a particular dress or outfit they are wearing, or simply for increased support. Additionally, many women want a padded bra which also enhances the look of their breast such that it appears fuller and with more cleavage.
Currently, the typical push-up adhesive bra doesn't provide an adequate amount of support while enhancing the look of the cleavage and bust. More specifically, many adhesive bras simply pull each breast toward the other. This sideways pull poorly simulates the affect of an increased cleavage and bust. Pulling the breasts sideways and towards each other is not as effective as pushing them upwardly in addition to inwardly. Also problematic, adhesive bras are thin and are not constructed to give proper support. It is common for the breast to overflow the bottom or outside edge of the adhesive bra. These situations are less than ideal and not only lead to discomfort but are aesthetically unpleasing.
Additionally, an adhesive style bra uses a connector placed directly within the area of cleavage. This means that a deep plunging neckline free of connectors/obstacles cannot be obtained, as the connector is directly in the way. Also, bras which have attachable straps only provide one such location for attachment. This means that the woman cannot selectively choose how or where she prefers her attachment. If the use of an auxiliary strap is desired, it is hard to match it to the structure and variations of each particular dress/outfit such that the strap is hidden.
Accordingly, there is a need for a push-up adhesive bra that fits better, creates a bigger and fuller cleavage, has internal rigidity and support, and allows one to position it in a multitude of ways with the use of an auxiliary and a selectively positionable strap. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides other related advantages.


A hollow metallic needle for guiding a balloon catheter into a fetal vessel or cavity. The needle initially contains a removable obturator which is removed after the needle is generally positioned within the fetus and is replaced by a balloon catheter. A plastic sleeve is mounted upon the distal end of the needle and sufficient air is entrapped within pockets formed in the sleeve to provide an enhanced ultrasonic image return so that a more accurate placement of the balloon is obtainable. The plastic sleeve extends beyond the distal end of the needle and serves to guide the balloon when deflated back into the needle and thus protects the balloon from snagging upon the edge of the needle.

Ultrasonic imaging is widely used in the medical field because its non-ionizing radiation present a low risk to the patient being treated. The ultrasonic devices that have been developed employ sound frequencies in the 1 to 20 MHz range. Pulses within this range are propagated through the body of a patient and a small portion of the energy is reflected back to provide an image of the tissue upon which the sound waves have impinged with the brightness of reflected signal being a measure of tissue density. Doppler shifting of the returning sound can also be used to determine the flow velocity of moving structures such as blood moving through a vessel or an organ.
Ultrasonic instruments are widely-used to study the functioning of an unborn fetus as well as diagnosing disorders that might be present within the fetus. One such disorder is a malfunction of the aortic valve. If not timely treated while the fetus is into womb, the baby will invariable not be alive at birth. The accepted practice for treating this type of malfunction is to insert a balloon catheter into the troubled area and inflating and deflating the balloon to assist the heart and the aortic valve in establishing a rhythmic beat.
The balloon is positioned within the aorta using a needle that includes a thin walled tubular body and an obturator that is removably contained within the body section. The needle is passed into the fetus through the abdominal wall of the mother and then into the aorta. Once the needle is generally positioned, the obturator is removed and a balloon, which is attached to the distal end of a catheter is passed through the needle and is more accurately located within the aorta. Here again, ultrasonic imaging is employed to position the needle and thus locate the balloon within the aorta in order to protect both the mother and the baby from harm during the procedure.
Although ultrasonics at the 1-10 MHz range provides a relatively good image of human tissue, the return from metal objects is considerably less than satisfactory. Accordingly, accurate positioning of a metal needle within a fetus is difficult to arrive at and sometimes involves a good deal of guess work on the part of the attending physician. It is also sometimes rather difficult to withdraw the catheter through the needle at the end of the procedure because the deflated balloon can become snagged by the tip of the thin walled needle as the deflated balloon re-enters the body section. In some cases the balloon can be stripped from the catheter worsening the re-entry problem.


This disclosure generally relates to systems, methods, and devices for performing high-resolution computer tomography (CT) scans providing highly detailed images of particular regions using whole body clinical CT scanners while maintaining high imaging speeds and low dose levels. In particular, the disclosed systems use flat panel detectors in conjunction with common CT detectors to quickly produce high-resolution CT images.

CT imaging is used in the diagnosis and study of many diseases and conditions. CT tissue texture information is important for monitoring cystic fibrosis or lung cancer in defining exacerbations and stages of disease. For example, improved visualization of lung parenchyma and the margins of lung cysts may provide sufficient detail to distinguish the types of cystic lesions (such as a non-invasive "virtual biopsy") such that the typical lung tissue pathologic biopsy is not needed to make a diagnosis. Current diagnosis of lung disease increasingly uses CT as the imaging method: annual low-dose CT exams are the recommended screening for lung cancer in asymptomatic smokers between ages 55 and 80. In another example, CT texture information of the margins of lung nodules is also an important marker in lung cancer detection and staging.

Hybrid CT system with additional detectors in close proximity to the body

The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services


An automated scrolling control unit comprises a table section 23 that causes a keyword and a scrolling speed to correspond, an acquisition section 19 that retrieves the keyword from contents, and a display section 22 that displays the contents by scrolling at a scrolling speed that corresponded to the keyword retrieved based on the table section 23. The table section 23 causes the keyword, which is included in the contents that are frequently displayed, and the scrolling speed, at which a user can read easily, to correspond.

The present invention relates to an automated scrolling control unit and an automated scrolling control system, and more particularly, to an automated scrolling control unit and an automated scrolling control system that display contents by scrolling in such a way that a user can read easily.
When an information display terminal displays contents (information) on a screen, it displays as one page portion the volume that can be displayed on one screen of an indicator, and when the remainder of the contents, which is not displayed, is present, it scrolls its contents to display. After the contents, which was being currently displayed on one screen, was read, in order to scroll the next screen, an operation such as pushing a button by a user and so forth are required. For this reason, when a large volume of information is received, it takes time to read it.
The scrolling display for automatically scrolling the contents is known. The scrolling control unit is also known that controls a scrolling speed of displaying the contents by scrolling according to the speed at which a user reads the contents. The scrolling control unit disclosed in JP-A-No.323941/1993, as shown in FIG. 23, comprises a central processing unit 101, a program work memory 102, a working memory 103, an input unit 104, a timer unit 105, a text work memory 106, an image work memory 107, a character generator 108, a display control unit 109 and an indicator 110.
When information displayed on the screen is character information, by making the scrolling speed variable according to the number of the characters, and when it is graphic information, by pre-storing a scrolling stop time associated with the graphic information and taking a variable control of the scrolling speed responding hereto, its problem has been solved. Namely, the scrolling speed has been determined based on the relation that the speed at which the user reads the characters is inversely proportional to the number of the characters being displayed, the speed, at which the user reads charts and images, has been pre-stored in connection with this information together, and the scrolling speed has been determined based thereon when displayed.
Accordingly, the objective of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned tasks.
Moreover, the objective of the present invention is to provide an automated scrolling control unit and an automated scrolling control system that automatically adjust the scrolling speed to the speed at which the user can read easily.
Sections for solving the tasks are expressed as follows. To technical matters, which come out in its expression, were attached numbers, symbols and so forth with parentheses ( ). Their numbers and symbols and so forth accord with reference numbers, reference symbols and so forth that were appended to the technical matters constituting at least one embodiment or plural examples out of plural embodiments and plural examples of the present invention, particularly to the technical matters that were described in drawings which correspond to the embodiment or the example thereof. Such reference numbers and reference symbols clarify correspondence/mediation between the technical matters of claims and that of the embodiments or the examples. Such correspondence/mediation does not mean that the technical matters of claims are limited to the embodiments or the examples to construe.
The automated scrolling control unit in accordance with the present invention includes a table section (23) that causes a keyword and a scrolling speed to correspond, an acquisition section (19) that retrieves the keyword from contents, and a display section (22) that displays the contents by scrolling at the scrolling speed that corresponded to the keyword retrieved based on the table sections. The scrolling speed at which the contents are scrolled automatically is preferably controlled by whether or not the user is interested in its the contents. The table section (23) causes the keyword, which is included in the contents being frequently displayed, to correspond to the scrolling speed at which the user can read easily.
Further is included a display control section (21) that updates the table section (23) when the scrolling speed was altered by the user while the display section (22) displayed the contents by scrolling. The scrolling speed at which the user can read easily is preferably updated at the moment when the contents are being automatically displayed by scrolling. The scrolling speed altered by the user is updated into the table section (23) as it is, or a function of the altered scrolling speed is updated into the table section (23).
When the keyword is not included in the contents, the display section (22) displays the contents by scrolling at the speed that is set up based on the number of characters being displayed on the display section. It is known that the scrolling speed is set up based on the number of characters being displayed. Such a scrolling display is better than that the scrolling display is not carried out automatically for the reason that the keyword is not included.
The automated scrolling control system in accordance with the present invention includes an information terminal (1) and a server (2) that provides the contents to the information terminal (1), the server (2), which includes a first table (42) that causes the contents and the keyword to correspond, provides to the information terminal (1) the keyword that corresponded to the contents based on the first table (42), and the information terminal (1) includes a second table section (23) that causes the keyword provided from the server (2) and the scrolling speed to correspond, an acquisition section (19) that retrieves the keyword from the contents, and a display section (22) that displays the contents by scrolling at the scrolling speed that corresponded to the retrieved keyword. Such a first table (42) is known, and is used for retrieving the contents and so forth. The keyword, which the second table (23) possesses, is provided from the server (2), and the user does not need to set up the keyword.
The server (2), which further includes a third table section that indicates the number of times which the information terminal (1) requested the contents at a predetermined period, does not provide the keyword to the information terminal (1) when the number of times is below the predetermined number of times. The keyword, which is provided to the information terminal (1), is regarded as the keyword in which the user is interested.
The server (2), which further includes a fabrication section that adds the keyword to the contents, provides to the information terminal (1) the contents to which the keyword was added. Such an addition can decrease the number of communication between the server (2) and the information terminal (1). At this moment, an acquisition section (19) of the information terminal (1) does not need to retrieve the added keyword and to retrieve the keyword from the contents.
The server (2), which further includes a forth table (44) that causes the information terminal (1) and the keyword, which the second table (23) belonging to the information terminal (1) possesses, to correspond, preferably dos not provide the keyword to the information terminal (1) when the keyword that corresponds to the contents is not present in the fourth table (44). The acquisition section (19) of the information terminal (1) can retrieve further easily.

Automated scrolling control unit and automated scrolling control system


The invention provides a machining apparatus, and its machining method, having machining tables whose weight do not increase so much even if a number of machining sections such as spindles is increased. One of the machining tables is a rectangular stationary table having a groove in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction on its surface and the other is a rectangular movable table engaged with the groove. The machining apparatus machines a printed circuit board, whose area is larger than that of the movable table, on a mounting surface of the stationary table by changing position of the printed circuit board by moving the movable table and by determining machining position by moving a spindle at position facing the mounting surface of the stationary table.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a machining apparatus for machining work pieces and a machining method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 19 is a perspective view of a prior art printed circuit board drilling apparatus that is one of machining apparatuses, FIG. 20 is a front view showing a section near a spindle of the prior art printed circuit board drilling apparatus in FIG. 19 and FIG. 21 is a plan view of a table of the printed circuit board drilling apparatus in FIG. 19.
In FIG. 19, a table 1 of the printed circuit board drilling apparatus is supported by a guide not shown and is movable in an X-axis direction on a bed 20. A cross rail 21 is fixed to the bed 20 so as to straddle over the table 1. The cross rail 21 is provided with guides 23 on a front face thereof. The guides 23 support a cross slide 22 that is movable in a Y-axis direction along the guides 23 by a motor 24. The cross slide 22 is provided with guides 31 for supporting bases 30 on a front face thereof. The guide 31 is movable in a Z-axis direction by a motor 32. Each base 30 is provided with a saddle 33 fixed at a front face thereof and the saddle 33 is provided with a spindle 40 fixed therein.
As shown in FIG. 20, a drill 41 is held rotatably at the lower edge of the spindle 40. The spindle 40 also supports a pressure foot 42 fitted closely to the lower portion thereof in the Z-axis direction and pressed downward in the figure by an air cylinder not shown.
Printed circuit boards 2a to be worked, i.e., work pieces, are mounted in stacks on a surface 1a of the table 1 while each stack is laid upon a backing plate 2b and fixed together by two reference pins 3. The printed circuit boards 2a to be worked and the backing plate 2b will be referred to as a whole as a printed circuit board 2 hereinafter. It is noted that a phenol resin of 1 to 2 mm thick is often used for the backing plate 2b.
As shown in FIG. 21, holes (shown as cutouts in the FIGS. 4 and 5 are formed in the table 1. A rectangular first clamp plate 7 is disposed in the hole 4 in which a V-shaped groove 6 is formed on the opposite side of the hole. While the length of the clamp plate 7 in the X-axis direction is substantially equal to the length of the side of the hole 4 in the X-axis direction, the length of the clamp plate 7 in the Y-axis direction is shorter than the surface-to-surface distance between the cylindrical surface of the first reference pin 3a contacting with the groove 6 on the side, in which the clamp plate 7 is disposed, and the surface 4b facing the groove 6 (the right-side surface of the hole 4 in the figure).
A rectangular second clamp plate 8 is disposed in the rectangular hole 5. While the length of the clamp plate 8 in the X-axis direction is substantially equal to the length of the side of the hole 5 in the X-axis direction, the length of the clamp plate 8 in the Y-axis direction is shorter than the distance obtained by subtracting the diameter of the second reference pin 3b from the length of the side of the hole 5 in the Y-axis direction. It is noted that the diameter of the first reference pin 3a is equal with that of the second reference pin 3b. Each of the clamp plates 7 and 8 is supported by a linear guiding unit 9 disposed at each bottom of the holes 4 and 5, which is composed of a bearing 9a and a track 9b so that respective upper surfaces of the clamp plates are leveled with the surface 1a of the table 1 as shown in FIG. 20 and are movable in the Y-axis direction by a driving means not shown.
Next, a machining procedure of the prior art printed circuit board drilling apparatus 100 will be explained.
Firstly, distances between the left-side surface 7a of the clamp plate 7 and the groove 6 and between the left-side surface 8a of the clamp plate 8 and the right inner-side surface 5a of the hole 5 are maximized by abutting right-side surfaces 7b and 8b of the clamp plates 7 and 8 against inner-side surfaces 4b and 5b of the holes 4 and 5 as shown by solid lines in FIG. 21. Next, after mounting the printed circuit board 2 on the table 1, the clamp plates 7 and 8 are moved left in the figure to abut the first reference pin 3a against the groove 6 by the left-side surface 7a of the clamp plate 7 and the second reference pin 3b against the left inner-side surface 5a by the left-side surface 8a. Then, the printed circuit board 2 is positioned in the Y-axis direction as a line O connecting centers of the two reference pins 3a and 3b becomes parallel with the X-axis and also in the X-axis direction by the groove 6.
The table 1 is moved in the X-axis direction while holding the printed circuit board 2 and the cross slide 22 is moved in the Y-axis direction in the above described manner to position the drill 41 above a machining section of the printed circuit board 2 (to determine machining position of the work piece). Then, the base 30 is moved in the Z-axis direction and the drill 41 is cut into the printed circuit board 2 while pressing the printed circuit board 2 by the pressure foot 42 to drill the printed circuit board 2.
The drilling apparatus 100 in the figure has four spindles 40, so that it can machine by four times of speed as compared to a printed circuit board drilling apparatus having one spindle 40 for example.
Although it is possible to improve machining efficiency by increasing a number of spindles, it requires a table having a large surface area. Furthermore, it is necessary to increase thickness of the table along the increase of the surface area of the table in order to keep rigidity of the table, thus increasing weight of the table. Then, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-050848 has proposed a printed circuit board drilling apparatus whose table weight is lightened by making the table, that is normally made of steel, of glass-fiber reinforced resin laminate.
Lately, it has become more and more important to downsize a driving source by lightening the machining table that is moved while mounting work pieces and to be able to position the work pieces quickly and accurately in order to increase efficiency, to save energy and to conduct fine-machining of the machining apparatus or the printed circuit board drilling apparatus described above in particular.
Though it is possible to lighten the weight of the machining table, as compared to a table made of steel, by using the material whose specific gravity is light, such as the glass-fiber reinforced resin laminate described above, it is unable to reduce the size of the table that moves during machining by a conventional arrangement that moves the whole machining table even if the table is lightened by using such material whose specific gravity is light. That is, this arrangement has been a drawback in lightening the table further.
There has been also a problem that the more the number of machining sections such as the spindles is increased, the more the area and thickness of the machining table increase, thus the weight increase rate of the table, that is moved during machining, is increased drastically.

Machining apparatus and machining method


A domestic appliance that includes at least one mains connection for the supply of power to the domestic appliance from a building supply mains. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the mains connection may include data transfer contacts.

The invention relates to a domestic appliance comprising at least one mains connection for enabling electrical energy to be supplied from a domestic mains power supply.
Domestic appliances are employed for dealing with household chores such as cooking, baking, washing and cleaning, for example, and require electrical energy for their operation. In order to be supplied with electrical energy, domestic appliances of the aforesaid type have an electrical mains connection which permits an electrical connection to be established to a domestic mains power supply for the purpose of supplying electrical loads with electrical energy.
In this case the domestic appliances can be large appliances or household appliances such as refrigerators, electric cooking ranges, laundry dryers, for example, or water-conducting domestic appliances such as washing machines or dishwashers. Furthermore, the domestic appliances may be small appliances such as, for example, small thermal appliances like toasters, hairdryers, microwave ovens or coffee machines, as well as small motor-driven appliances such as, for example, hand mixers, blenders or handheld vacuum cleaners, etc.
In particular in the case of freestanding domestic appliances or large appliances, but also in the case of small appliances, operation is controlled by means of a controller which ensures a sequential execution of a predefined program sequence, in the case of a water-conducting domestic appliance such as a dishwasher or a washing machine, for example, a program sequence chosen from a multiplicity of possible programs and having a multiplicity of individual program steps. Programs of this type which comprise a plurality of program steps, but also other control software, are loaded onto the domestic appliance during manufacture and stored there.

Mains connection of a domestic appliance


Systems and methods may provide for capturing one or more inbound wireless transmissions and identifying a remote user movement based on at least one of the one or more inbound wireless transmissions. Additionally, a local haptic output may be generated, by an actuator, based on the remote user movement. In one example, the actuator is a piezoelectric actuator.

Participation in group musical performances such as orchestra and/or band concerts may be challenging, particularly for beginner-to-intermediate level musicians. For example, staying in sync (e.g., on beat) with other jazz and/or rock musicians may be difficult due to the improvisational nature of the performance. Moreover, staying in sync with other musicians in a classical music ensemble may involve the challenging task of simultaneously watching the impromptu movements of a conductor while reading sheet music and playing the instrument.

Bi-directional music synchronization using haptic devices


A method for making a doped magnesium diboride powder is provided. The method includes coating a polymeric precursor on at least one of a plurality of particles of a first phase, where the first phase includes a magnesium diboride powder, where the polymeric precursor includes chemical elements yielding a second phase. The second phase includes one or more of a boride, a nitride, a carbide, an oxide, an oxy-boride, an oxy-nitride, an oxy-carbide, or combinations thereof. The method further includes forming a second phase coating onto at least one of the plurality of particles of the magnesium diboride powder.

The invention relates generally to methods of manufacturing magnesium diboride powders. In particular, the invention relates to methods of manufacturing doped magnesium diboride powders.
Typically, magnesium diboride is employed as a superconductor in applications such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), generators, motors and fault current limiters. Advantageously, magnesium diboride powders display very strongly linked current flows having large critical current densities (Jc) on the order of 107 A/cm2 in thin films. Additionally, magnesium diboride powders in the shape of wires, tapes or ribbons display Jc values on the order of 105 A/cm2. Further, the upper critical fields (Hc) and irreversibility fields (Hirr) of these powders are greater than about 30 Tesla in thin films.
Typically, magnesium diboride powders are formed by the reaction of elemental magnesium and boron. The result of this process is the production of a fine powder that exhibits high current carrying capabilities at high magnetic fields, properties that are desirable in applications, such as MRI, where large powerful magnets are required. However, the existing methods of making these powders prevent magnesium diboride from achieving the very high operating fields and critical current values, particularly, when processed into wires. This has prevented employing this technology for applications such as MRI. In consequence, these powders should be customized to enable such applications. For example, for MRI applications, it is desirable to have magnesium diboride powders, which may be drawn into thin wires without breaking while employing conventional drawing methods. In some cases, these properties may be achieved by a combination of doping and the addition of other additive materials in the composition of the magnesium diboride powders during processing of the powder. However, this doping and addition process should be carried out in such a way that prevents coating of the particles of the magnesium diboride by non-superconducting impurities. Also, it is desirable to have a uniform dispersion of the additive materials throughout the magnesium diboride powder.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method of manufacturing magnesium diboride powders and wires which have high JC and Hc values, and are configured for applications, such as MRI.

Methods for making doped magnesium diboride powders


An optical disk device for recording/reproducing information on/from a multi-layer optical disk moves a light focusing point for several layers by one focus jump. The optical disk device includes a controller to detect a level of a focus error signal to change an output level of a focus drive signal, and the controller changes timing to change the output level of the focus drive signal based on the number of layers for the focus jump.

The present invention relates to an optical disk device, and in particular, to a method of focus jump in a seek process to move to a desired address in recording and reproducing operations for an optical disk including a plurality of information recording layers.
For Digital Versatile Disks (DVD) and Blu-ray Disks, there are prescribed two-layer disks including two information recording layers. However, a need exists for disks of larger capacity. For such higher-capacity disks, research and development are underway to increase the number of recording layers per disk.
JP-A-2003-16660 describes a focus jump process in which before conducting the focus jump, a spherical aberration correcting element is moved under a condition such that focus servo control is within a predetermined control range and is suitably performed for a target layer.

Focus jump method for optical disk device and multi-layer disk


A container holder in a fluid delivery system is provided. In one example, a portable fluid sprayer includes a sprayer housing, a sprayer handle for carrying the portable fluid sprayer above a support surface, and a base for supporting the portable fluid sprayer on the support surface. The base is free of wheels. The fluid sprayer includes a fluid container having a handle and an attachment feature receiving the fluid container handle. The attachment feature and the base support the fluid container with the handle of the fluid container at an angle with respect to vertical when the portable fluid sprayer is carried in an upright position by a user using the sprayer handle.

One example of a fluid delivery system comprises a spray-coating system including a device configured to spray a coating (e.g., paint, ink, varnish, texture, etc.) through the air onto a surface. Such spray-coating systems often include a fluid source and, depending on the particular configuration or type of system, a motor for providing pressurized fluid to an output nozzle or tip that directs the fluid in a desired spray pattern. For example, some common types of paint spraying systems employ compressed gas, usually air compressed by an air compressor, to atomize and direct paint particles onto a surface. Other common types of paint spraying systems include airless systems that employ a pumping unit for pumping paint from a paint source, such as a paint can. Pressurized paint is pumped from the source through a hose, for example, to a spray gun having a tip with a particular nozzle shape for directing the paint in a desired pattern.
Many painting applications require user mobility. Some examples include, but are not limited to, painting an exterior of a building, painting interior walls and ceilings of a building, staining a deck or fence, to name a few. Further, such painting applications require that a paint source (e.g., a paint can) is carried with the spraying system by a user as the user moves during the paint application process.
The discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Container holder in a fluid delivery system