The programmable controller composed of a main body unit and a plurality of input/output extension blocks is provided with type identifying means for identifying the number of input output points and present organization storing means. Upon receiving an organization update instruction signal, it can allocate input and output numbers in various ways by rewrite setting means in a system memory and can select a second allocation method with which existing input and output numbers are not changed or a first allocation method with which input and output numbers are completely changed anew. When input and output numbers are completely changed anew, it can automatically change input and output numbers accompanying an instruction in a program memory by instruction changing means in the system memory.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a programmable controller and, more particularly, to a programmable controller with a function of extending inputs and outputs, in which a method of handling input and output numbers when an input/output organization is changed is improved.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a programmable controller is composed of a group of a CPU unit (block) which includes a microprocessor and various memories, and various standardized input units (blocks) or output units (blocks). As an input unit and an output unit, there are, for example, an eight-point type unit and a sixteen-point type unit as well as an input/output mixed unit with eight input points and eight output points, in which a necessary number of input units, output units and the like are selected and used according to the number of input and output points of a machine to be a target of control. These input/output units are put to practical use in various forms, for example, as an integral structure thereof connected by a CPU unit and a mother board (hereinafter referred to as form 1) or as a separate structure in which an input/output extension unit is externally connected to a main body unit that contains a CPU unit and a part of input/output units (hereinafter referred to as form 2).
In relation to a programmable controller belonging to the above-mentioned form 1, in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 6-138916 (xe2x80x9cData Transfer Method of I/O modulexe2x80x9d), a programmable controller is configured to classify I/O modules (input/output units) into those for input and those for output to determine an address order in accordance with the connection order of slots connected thereto. Similarly to this method, in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 5-46214 (xe2x80x9cBoard Connection Apparatus of Programmable Controllerxe2x80x9d), a programmable controller sends an allocation control signal by pin connection of cross-connected connectors in order to automatically execute allocation of input/output numbers of I/O extension boards, and each of the I/O extension boards receives a specific combination signal according to their connection order (see the above reference that describes a determining method of an order of connection).
In relation to a programmable controller belonging to the above-mentioned form 2, in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 9-6418 (xe2x80x9cSetting Display Apparatusxe2x80x9d), an input/output unit externally attached to a programmable controller incorporated in a setting display apparatus is configured to set input and output numbers separately for input and output and in the order of connection, and a determination method of an order of connection is described. Similarly, in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 5-274012 (xe2x80x9cProgrammable Controller for variably allocating input and outputxe2x80x9d), the programmable controller can change and set input/output allocation of I/O memories from time to time even if the number of a plurality of I/O devices connected via buses to the programmable controller or the number of words is changed, and each I/O device is provided with a station number setting unit.
According to the conventional art described above, when a connection organization of input/output units is changed, since a method of changing input and output numbers is uniform, input and output numbers cannot be freely allocated as desired by a user. For example, if two eight-point type input units are used and one of the input units is removed, it is reasonable to determine according to a user""s intention whether input numbers to be handled on a sequence program should be made missing numbers or these are automatically supplemented so as not to leave missing numbers. Similarly, if two eight-point type input units are used initially but one of them is changed to a sixteen-point type input unit to thereby have an extended input of total twenty-four points, more complicated options are required for a method of allocating input and output numbers.
In order to cope with this problem, some programmable controllers are provided with a parameter memory for defining types and arrangements of input/output units (the number of input points and the number of output points) and the top input and output numbers, so that a user can perform writing into a parameter memory at the stage of programming. With the parameter memory method, if an input and output arrangement is changed, the user can allocate input and output numbers as desired by rewriting the parameter memory according to the changed contents. However, since the writing operation is complicated, the parameter memory method is not suitable for a novice computer user who is unfamiliar with operations of a computer.
The present invention has been devised in view of the above and other drawbacks, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a programmable controller with which a user can easily allocate input and output numbers in a manner as intended by the user.
With the above object in view, the programmable controller of the present invention comprises a main body unit containing a microprocessor and various memories, the microprocessor operating in accordance with contents of a program memory in which a sequence program is stored and contents of a system memory in which a system program is stored to thereby generate a signal to an output device corresponding to a signal from an input device. The programmable controller comprises a plurality of input/output extension blocks connected to said main body unit. The programmable controller comprises block type identifying means that is provided in each of said input/output extension blocks and identifies a type and an arrangement of an input/output extension block which indicate the number of input and output points in said input/output extension block. Also provided are communication identifying means that is provided in each of said input/output extension blocks and identifies an input/output extension block communicating with said microprocessor and present organization storing means provided in said main body unit, which sequentially reads addresses of the input/output extension blocks with which communication is currently being conducted based on a result of identification by said communication identifying means, and stores input and output numbers corresponding to types and arrangements of input/output extension blocks obtained by said block type identifying means of the input/output extension blocks. Rewrite setting means that determines existence of an organization update instructing signal that is inputted from the outside following change, addition or removal of said input/output extension block and updates, in response to a result of the determination, contents of said present organization storing means by an allocation method selected from a plurality of predetermined allocation methods designated by said organization update instructing signal, is provided. Allocation of input/output numbers on said sequence program is carried out by a method selected from said plurality of allocation methods according to contents of said rewrite setting means. Therefore, since allocation of input/output numbers can be readily carried out by a learning operation without relying on rewriting of parameters as conventionally done, even a novice user who is unfamiliar with operations of a computer can easily allocate input/output numbers.


An adaptive algorithm based battery-powered long distance wireless temperature and humidity sensor module. The sensor module uses an adaptive algorithm to transmit data on an event basis and/or a reduced basis to extend battery life to more than 10 years. It also uses a low power wireless transmitter which has frequency of sub-1 GHz and an effective transfer distance of up to 250 meters, a low power temperature and humidity sensor, and a long lasting lithium battery which has shelf life of 20 years.

Air temperature and humidity measurement is essential for environmental monitoring and energy management system in mission critical facilities. These systems usually need large amount of sensors in real time measurement. There are two types of sensors for these systems, wired or wireless. Conventional sensors are wired, which rely on physical wires to provide continuous power supply and transmit data to the data acquisition system. However, wired sensors and systems take a long time for installation and their reliability is dependent on a power supply. There are a small number of battery powered wireless temperature and humidity sensors in the market. They utilize wireless technologies like WIFI, ZigBee or sub-1G MHz systems to transmit data. These wireless sensors have relatively short transmission distances, from 20 meters to 100 meters at open space. Their battery life is also typically short from 1 to 5 years. Although there are a couple of products that claim that their battery life is more than 10 years, these sensors are bulky and their transmission distance is short.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Battery-powered wireless long life temperature and humidity sensor module


The invention relates to a method and an arrangement for detecting a leak in a sealed package containing a product in the form of a foodstuff or a pharmaceutical. The leak detecting arrangement comprises a testing station, in which a package is placed by the transporting means and a pressure applying means arranged to apply a predetermined amount of pressure on the package located in the testing station. The arrangement further comprises a continuously operated suction means arranged to draw ambient air past a seal on the packet to be tested and a gas sensor located in the flow of ambient air drawn off by the suction means and arranged to transmit a signal dependent on the test gas concentration detected in the ambient air.

It is known to prolong and safeguard the shelf life of perishable products by modifying the atmosphere in the free space remaining in the package after filling the product. The most common gases used in a modified atmosphere package (MAP) are nitrogen, CO2 and oxygen or mixtures thereof. Oxygen is mainly used for keeping fresh meat red or for controlling the ripening rate of fruit and vegetables, whereas nitrogen and CO2 is used for reducing the ageing effects of oxygen and reducing aerobic growth of micro-organisms in a multitude of products.
The packaging material in MAPs can be any essentially gas tight material including plastic film or coating, film coated paper and thin metal foils.
A leak in the package due to production errors or from later damage will result in at least a partial loss of the modified atmosphere and the predicted shelf life may be shortened.
A common cause of leakage is product residue or splashes deposited on the sealing surfaces prior to closure with welding or other techniques. Studies of the effect of different leak diameters therefore assume a length of the leak path in the order of several millimeters.
Maximum tolerable leak diameters in the food industry range from 5 to 150 μm depending on the content and the purpose of the package.
For MAPs intended to prevent microbial growth and oxidation of sterile and antiseptic content maximum the leak diameter is typically observed to be in the range of 5-25 μm whereas tolerable leaks for ready-to-eat meals with shorter shelf life is in the range of 30-50 μm.
Baked and dried goods mainly susceptible to mould growth and humidity changes can normally tolerate leak diameter of 50 to 130 μm.
Various leak testing arrangements have been presented and, in some cases, also used to prevent leaking packages from reaching the shop shelves.
A common limitation in many known methods is that they cannot perform 100% testing for the quoted leak diameters on individual packages at full production line speeds exceeding 30 packages per minute. This problem can be circumvented by either restricting testing to off-line spot testing or by making batch testing of a suitable number of packages in the same test cycle.
One possible way to increase testing capacity is to provide a number of parallel testing arrangements, each working at a lower speed but collectively matching the cycle time of the filling line.
EP 0 894 252 B1 discloses a leak testing method allegedly capable of performing individual package testing "very quickly, typically in about one second" indicating testing capacity of up to 60 packages per minute.
The method disclosed in EP 0 894 252 B1 employs diluted hydrogen as tracer gas. Hydrogen and helium are commonly used as tracer gases for leak testing. One problem with these gases is their relatively high diffusion rate through the thin polymer films and other packaging materials used as gas barriers in packaging materials. If the tracer gas diffuses through the non-leaking walls of the package there is a risk that the leak testing arrangement will detect a diffusion leakage that is not a package integrity problem. This problem can be overcome if the time between filling the gas and testing for leakage is sufficiently short so that the leak detection is performed before the gas has permeated through the barrier material. This break-through time is in the order of a few seconds to several minutes depending on the material used and on the thickness of the film.
The method disclosed in EP 0 894 252 B1 has in practice not been demonstrated to fulfil the production speeds promised. The mains reasons for this are:                The response time of the proposed type of sensor (palladium film) is too long for high speed leak testing. This is in fact true for almost all commercially available hydrogen sensors.        The recovery time of the proposed sensor is too long. The recovery time is in the order of 1-10 seconds which holds true for most commercially available sensors.        After detecting a larger leak there is a period during which the sensor exhibits a reduced sensitivity, which means that there is a period of typically 15-90 seconds after the detection of a large leak during which the sensor cannot detect smaller leaks.
The response time of a sensor is defined as the time needed for the sensor to reach 90% of the final signal value when exposed to a certain concentration of gas. Typical response times for most commercial hydrogen sensors are in the order of 5-30 s. Even with response time reducing algorithms, the response time achieved by commercial sensors are never below one second for the concentration values typically used in EP08942528.
Reaction time, which is the time to reach 10% of full signal, is often quoted and is often erroneously called "response time". The reaction time can be down to 0.1 seconds for the best commercially available sensors.
Both reaction and response times are typically longer for lower concentrations. This is due to diffusion processes inside the sensor housing and inside the active material of the sensor. The rate of concentration increase of gas inside the sensor housing and inside the sensing material is slower the lower the concentration gradient is in front of the sensor which results in slower reaction and response for low concentrations.
One way of reducing the reaction and response times is to operate the sensor at a higher temperature. This enhances diffusion in the housing as the gas in heated and the diffusion inside the sensing material is likewise enhanced, whereby response and recovery time is reduced. Such sensors are, however, always mounted in bigger housings to reduce loss of thermal energy and to ensure that materials used are not destroyed. Most of the improvements in response time are therefore lost on a system level and it remains problematic to reach the production rates wanted within the industry.
Another way of reducing the reaction and response time is to minimise the distance the gas needs to diffuse from the flow path outside the sensor housing in to the surface of the actual sensing material. The diffusion inside the sensing material also plays a major role for the response time.
EP 0 894 252 B1 employs a chamber in which the package is placed. The chamber is subsequently closed and a limited negative pressure is drawn.
The document argues that this limited vacuum level, as compared to levels used in previous arrangements for gas testing, can be achieved quickly and with low cost means. The packages should be kept in the chamber for a dwell time claimed to be in the range of 0.5 to 60 seconds.
EP 0 894 252 B1 does not clearly explain the different steps contributing to the total cycle time. The total cycle comprises at least the following steps:    1) Loading of a package. Moving the package into position and closing the chamber.    2) Chamber pressure reduction.    3) Sampling time. The time needed to bring the tracer gas from the exit of the leak to a position directly in front of the sensor.    4) Reaction time of the sensor.    5) Sensor response time. Time needed by sensor algorithm or circuitry to decide level of leakage. This is the time during which the signal is recorded or tracked to give sufficient information for a fair estimate of the magnitude of leakage.    6) Chamber flushing and sensor recovery in case of a leak signal.    7) Unloading the package.
The dwell time mentioned in EP 0 894 252 B1 would then seem to include the steps 3 to 5.
It is possible to partially reduce the time needed for some of these steps by letting these steps be carried out in parallel. It is for example evident that loading of the next package can be carried out in the same sequence as unloading the just tested package. Another example of such optimization is to allow for some of the sensor recovery time take place during the unloading/loading step.
However, even with the best practice, additional time is needed for decreasing the pressure in the chamber and, most of all, for true sensor recovery. The sensor recovery time is long and often not entirely predictable.
This poses large restraints on the automation system in that the process cannot run at a constant speed.
The invention disclosed in EP 0 894 252 B1 can therefore not fulfil production speeds faster than 60 packages per minute that is requested in industry today. It is even doubtful if a speed of 30 packages per second can be reached.
This means that there is still a need for a robust, fast and reliable leak testing method and arrangement for packages containing perishable products in the form of cosmetic, chemical or pharmaceutical products, toothpaste, a foodstuff or similar. Similar needs for high speed testing also exists in other areas such as for example within the refrigeration and automotive industries.

Method and arrangement for leak detection


An antibiotic delivery system including an intramedullary stem that is adapted to be removably mounted into a medullary canal of a bone. The stem includes a body having an inlet adapted to be in fluid communication with a source of liquid-borne antibiotic and a plurality of outlets disposed along the stem. A channel extends between the inlet and the plurality of outlets for delivering a fluid-borne antibiotic from the inlet to the plurality of outlets so as to distribute the antibiotic along the medullary canal in a controlled fashion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, generally, to an antibiotic delivery system and, more specifically, to such a system for treating an infected synovial joint and adjacent medullary canals as a means of eliminating infection during a two-stage re-implantation of an orthopedic prosthesis.
2. Description of the Related Art
A total joint replacement (TJR) is a medical procedure that involves the repair and replacement of joints, such as hips and knees. In these cases, the bones at the hip or knee joints are prepared to receive orthopedic implants that mimic the structure of the joint that is replaced. For example, a total knee replacement is representatively shown at 10 in FIG. 1. The total knee replacement 10 includes tibial 12 and femoral 14 components that imitate the structure and function of the natural knee joint. The tibial component 12 is operatively mounted to the tibia bone 16 and the femoral component 14 is operatively mounted to the femoral bone (not shown). Similarly, a total hip replacement includes a femoral component that terminates in a neck having a hemispherical ball that mimics the upper terminal portion of the natural femoral bone.
Currently, there are approximately one million total joint replacement (TJR) surgeries involving either hips or knees performed annually in the United States. Obviously, more TJR surgeries are performed throughout the world. However, the demand for TJR surgery is expected to soar in the future. Doctor-diagnosed arthritis is expected to increase 40% from 2005 to 2030. According to the 2003 National Institute of Health Census Panel Report on total knee replacement, only 9% to 13% of TJR candidates have been willing to undergo the procedure. As patients become more aware of their options, as well as the success of TJR, demand may reach even higher levels.
Baby boomers will start reaching the age of 65 years in 2011. Also, over the past decade, the prevalence of TJR has increased not only in older patients (those who are 65 years or older) but also in younger patients (those less than 65 years old). Premium implant technology such as hard-on-hard bearings and hip resurfacing have been introduced to address the increased activity and longevity of younger patients. The demand for primary total hip and total knee replacements on patients younger than 65 years old was projected to exceed 50% of joint replacement recipients by 2011 and 2013, respectively. Demand for primary total hip replacement is expected to grow 174% and for total knee replacement by 673% by the year 2030. Data collected from the U.S. Nationwide Implant Sample (NIS) between 1993 and 2005 has also been evaluated. This data indicates that by 2030 future demand of primary and revision TJR procedures (where an older implant is replaced with a new one) will be significant. For example, primary total knee replacements are projected to be 4,580,000. The need to revise and re-implant total knee replacements is projected to be 269,000. Primary total hip replacements are projected to be 975,000. And the need to revise and re-implant total hip replacements is projected to be 103,000 per year. These estimated projections total 6,000,000 TJR surgeries annually.
In relatively rare cases, however, infection is a devastating complication of TJR surgeries. The rate of infection in these types of surgeries ranges between 0.5% and 1.5%. Unless an infection is properly diagnosed within the first two to four weeks following the original surgery (which is uncommon), the infected implant must be removed in combination with an extensive debridement of the surrounding joint tissue and bone. According to the Center for Disease Control, there are currently approximately 12,000 infected TJR cases annually in the United States. Obviously, this number increases when the entire worldwide scope of TJR surgeries is considered. At 1% infection rate, and assuming the projections noted above are generally accurate, there will be 60,000 instances of infected total joints annually in the future.
Over the past two decades, the standard of care for treatment of an infected TJR in the United States has included a two-stage re-implantation process. In the first stage of this process, the infected components are surgically exposed by incision. Scar tissue is then de-bulked as well as other soft tissue releases, and sometimes an osteotomy. This stage also includes the removal of all prosthetic components and foreign material including, for example, acrylic bone cement. After extensive joint debridement of infected soft tissue and bone, a spacer block consisting of heavily dosed antibiotic bone cement is placed temporarily into the joint space. The purpose of the antibiotic bone cement is to sterilize the joint environment and to serve as an antibiotic delivery system. Additionally, the bone cement acts as a spacer to preserve joint space and maintains ligament length. However, the antibiotic released by the bone cement is uncontrolled and is quite costly to use. For example, a typical knee spacer may require three bags of acrylic bone cement, twelve vials of an antibiotic such as Tobramycin (1.2 g) at a cost of $800 per vial, and six vials of an antibiotic such as Vancomycin (1 g) at $17 per vial. This quickly adds up to about $11,000 in material alone. In addition, more operating room time is necessary to prepare this spacer material. This increases the cost of the operation.
Under the current standard of care, following the removal of the infected implant and the insertion of the antibiotic bone cement spacer, the patient must generally wait between six and, more typically, twelve weeks before the second stage of the procedure can be performed. This period of time is necessary so that the medical professionals can be confident that the infection has been successfully eradicated. Only after the infectious condition has been eliminated, may the second stage proceed. During the second stage, the new prosthesis is re-implanted. The success rate with this two-stage re-implantation process is typically around 90%.
In other countries, such as throughout Europe, a one-stage re-implantation process has been popular. This involves the removal of the infected implant, as noted above, followed by aggressive debridement and then immediate re-implantation of a new implant. The success rate for this technique has typically been in the 70%-85% range. However, this technique has not gained popularity to any degree in the United States. The one-state implantation process is generally reserved for patients who are considered to be too feeble or sick to undergo the traditional two-stage re-implantation process.
Both the one-stage and two-stage surgical re-implantation protocols have their disadvantages. For example, and as noted above, the two-stage re-implantation process requires six to twelve weeks between operations. This is a very difficult time for the patient as they do not have a functional joint in place and it is typically very painful to mobilize or ambulate with an antibiotic spacer. Articulating spacers are somewhat better than static spacers, but are also more expensive as well as more difficult and time-consuming to place during the original stage one procedure. From a health care standpoint, the two-stage procedure also requires two separate hospitalizations. Finally, from a surgeon's standpoint, a significant amount of scar tissue develops during the time span between the two procedures. This makes for a very difficult and time-consuming second stage operation. In addition, the two-stage re-implantation process involves not one, but two, very difficult surgical procedures. The estimated cost of removing the infected original implant, eliminating the infection, extended hospitalization, nursing home care or home health care during the period between the first and second operations, a well as re-implanting a new prosthesis is currently roughly $100,000 per case. This is a tremendous overall burden on the universal health care system and, in the United States alone, reaches approximately $1.2 billion per year. This statistic does not begin to measure losses in patient economic productivity, quality of life, as well as pain and suffering. Moreover, this statistic does not reflect the costs associated with the projected increase in TJR operations in the future as noted above.
On the other hand, a one-stage re-implantation surgical protocol requires absolute identification of the infecting organism in order to proceed. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to achieve this absolute identification in the current health care systems. In addition, a one-stage re-implantation protocol requires the use of fully-cemented components. Fully-cemented components are typically not favored by U.S. surgeons for revision surgery. Fully-cemented components typically require very high amount of antibiotic. This often is as high as 10% by weight. For example, 4 g of antibiotic are required for a 40 g bag of cement. The increase of antibiotic by weight raises concerns regarding structural weakening of the cement.
Moreover, and in both one-stage and two-stage re-implantation surgical protocols, the release of the antibiotic from the bone cement is completely uncontrolled. This is a significant disadvantage of both protocols and essentially acts to lengthen the time between the first and the second surgical procedures in the two-stage re-implantation process.
Thus, there remains a need in the art for a device that may be employed during re-implantation surgical procedures that may be used to deliver antibiotic in a controlled and titratable manner directly into the synovial joint cavity and adjoining medullary canals as a means of eliminating the infection following the removal of a previous orthopedic implant. In addition, there remains a need in the art for such a device that can provide stability and maintain the physical dimensions of joint space and normal soft tissue envelope in any joint undergoing the re-implantation of an orthopedic implant. In addition, there remains a need in the art for such a device that may be easily employed, facilitates the reduction in the time needed to conduct the stage one re-implantation surgery and that reduces the overall time between the first and second stages of a two-stage re-implantation surgical protocol.

Antibiotic delivery system for treating an infected synovial joint during re-implantation of an orthopedic prosthesis


The present invention discloses an optical pickup actuator including a lens holder having an object lens, and a driving means for changing a position of the lens holder by using an electromagnetic force. The driving means includes multipolar magnets and tracking coils for changing the position of the lens holder to the tracking direction, each of the tracking coils has a top coil, a bottom coil and side coils, and the whole or part of the side coils has an angle smaller than 90° to a horizontal line.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical pickup actuator, and more particularly to an optical pickup actuator which can efficiently remove phase dispersion by a tolling mode of a lens holder caused by inconsistency between a weight center and a tracking force center of the lens holder.
2. Background of the Related Art
In general, an optical pickup actuator constantly maintains relative positions between an object lens and an optical recording medium (for example, disc), by moving constitutional elements (bobbin, lens holder, etc.) including the object lens. In addition, the optical pickup actuator records information and reproduces the recorded information, by following tracks of the optical recording medium.
FIGS. 1A, 1B and 2 are structure views illustrating a related optical pickup actuator.
Referring to FIGS. 1A, 1B and 2, the optical pickup actuator 100 includes a lens holder 102 having an object lens 101 at its center portion and being movable, and a magnetic circuit coupled to the sides of the lens holder 102, for moving the lens holder 102. The magnetic circuit includes tracking coils 106, focusing coils 105, yokes 103 and multipolar magnets 104.
The focusing coils 105 are adhered to the left and right sides of both sides of the lens holder 102 for focusing movement, facing vertical boundary surfaces 112 of polarities of the magnets 104, respectively. The tracking coils 106 are adhered to the centers of both sides of the lens holder 102 for tracking movement, facing horizontal boundary surfaces 113 of polarities of the magnets 104, respectively.
Still referring to FIG. 2, in the magnet 104, ""-shaped magnets 104a and 104b are disposed to be symmetrical to each other, and magnets 104c and 104d having the opposite polarities to polarities of the ""-shaped magnets 104a and 104b are disposed at the bottom left and right ends. Here, one multipolar magnet or four unipolar magnets can be used as the magnet 104.
The centers of the tracking coils 106 face the horizontal boundary surfaces 113 of the magnets 104a and 104b having different polarities, and the centers of the focusing coils 105 face the vertical boundary surfaces 112 of the magnets 104a, 104b, 104c and 104d having different polarities.
The magnets 104 are fixed to the inside surfaces of the yokes 103 which are ferromagnetic structures adjacent to the lens holder 102. The yokes 103 are coupled to a pickup base (not shown) by an integrating means.
Fixing units 108 are formed at both sides of the lens holder 102. One-side ends of two parallel wire suspensions 107 are fixed to each of the fixing units 108, and the other-side ends of the wire suspensions 107 are fixed to a circuit board 111 through a frame 109 formed on one side of the lens holder 102. The wire suspensions 107 serve as junction lines for lifting the lens holder 102 and supplying a current.
Here, a damper (not shown) is coupled to the inside of the frame 109 to give a damping characteristic to the wire suspensions 107 having rigidity. The other-side ends of the wire suspensions 107 are fixed to the circuit board 111 disposed outside the frame 109 by soldering.
The operation of the related optical pickup actuator 100 will now be explained. The focusing coils 105 adhered to the lens holder 102 are coiled in the horizontal direction When a current is supplied to the focusing coils 105, a magnetic flux is generated in the vertical direction. Here, a magnetic flux of the multipolar magnets 104 facing the focusing coils 105 is electromagnetically operated, to generate a force in the focusing coils 105 in the vertical direction. Accordingly, the lens holder 102 moves in the focusing direction (vertical up/down), to operate a focusing servo for compensating for a focusing error.
The tracking coils 106 adhered to the lens holder 102 are coiled in the vertical direction. When a current is supplied to the tracking coils 106, a magnetic flux is generated in the horizontal direction, and thus a repulsive force is generated by the fixed multipolar magnets 104 and the electromagnetic force. The lens holder 102 moves in the tracking direction (left, right) by the repulsive force, to operate a tracking servo for compensating for a tracking error.
As described above, the lens holder 102 moves in the tracking and focusing directions with the coils 105 and 106 adhered to its both sides, which is called a moving coil method. Conversely, multipolar magnets can be adhered to the outer circumference of the lens holder 102, and move with the lens holder 102, which is called a moving magnet method. The moving methods by the magnets and coils use the Lorentz's force of the Fleming's left hand law.
FIGS. 3 and 4 are structure views illustrating a related optical pickup actuator for radial tilting.
As illustrated in FIG. 3, radial tilting coils 217 are adhered to the circumferential surface of a lens holder 202, for moving the lens holder 202 in the radial tilting direction by an electromagnetic force with multipolar magnets 204.
That is, as shown in FIG. 4, when a current is supplied to the radial tilting coils 217 coiled on the circumferential surface of the lens holder 202, the left and right sides of the lens holder 202 are rotated in the opposite directions by different polarities of the multipolar magnets 204a and 204b facing the radial tilting coils 217.
In FIG. 3, reference numeral 201 denotes an object lens, 203 denotes a yoke, 205 denotes a focusing coil, 206 denotes a tracking coil, 207 denotes a wire suspension, and 209 denotes a frame.
The optical pickup actuator performs motion in a movable coil method by a magnetic field of the permanent magnet, and moves the object lens to a target position of an optical recording medium. Here, the lens holder which is a moving part of the optical pickup actuator is fixed by the wire suspensions having rigidity and damping characteristic, thereby obtaining a target frequency characteristic. In addition, the lens holder performs translation in the focusing direction and the tracking direction which are vertical to each other. In order to reduce an error of an optical signal, the lens holder must perform motion without unnecessary vibrations such as rotation or twisting.
However, as depicted in FIG. 5, when the lens holder is driven in the tracking direction, a weight center WC and a tracking force center TC are inconsistent. Therefore, the lens holder is operated in a rolling mode in a high band frequency, and phase dispersion is caused in the rolling frequency. Generally, the rolling frequency is generated between 100 and 120 Hz, may be identical to a rotary frequency of a disc, and has detrimental effects on a control system due to a tilted angle.
FIG. 6 is a graph showing the rolling mode effects of the related optical pickup actuator through relations between a gain (DB) and a phase (degree) by frequency. The rolling mode is generated in about 100 Hz. That is, rolling is caused by inconsistency between the force centers TC and WC in the high band.
Still referring to FIG. 5, rolling is caused by inconsistency between the force center WC in the height direction and the force center TC in the tracking direction. That is, the force center in the height direction is disposed at the center of the lens holder, but the force center in the tracking direction is disposed at the center of the tracking coil. When the lens holder is driven in the tracking direction, the force center in the tracking direction is changed due to unbalance of the magnetic force generated between the magnets and the tracking coils.
In addition, the force center is upwardly inclined from the very center due to magnetic flux distribution by the multipolar magnets. To solve the above problems, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 3, dummy masses 120 and 220 are adhered to the top ends of the lens holder, for lifting the weight center WC. However, the dummy masses 120 and 220 increase a weight of the lens holder, to reduce sensitivity in the high band.

Optical pickup actuator that removes phase dispersion by a rolling mode


By rotating at a high speed a cutter wheel having air intake ports and air injection ports which communicate through an inner cavity, surrounding air is introduced into the cavity from the air intake ports and discharged out through the air injection ports by the centrifugal force brought about by the rotation of the cutter wheel, to spontaneously induce a strong current of air. In this manner, cutting bits which are attached to the peripheral portion of the cutter wheel and produce superheat in cutting a rigid material such as concrete are effectively cooled by the air current thus induced.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a cutter wheel for use in cutting a work piece material such as concrete, and more particularly to a rotary cutting wheel having cutting bits, which is capable of spontaneously producing a strong current of air when being rotated for cutting a rigid material so as to cool effectively the cutting bits.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For the purpose of cutting rigid materials such as concrete, asphalt, brick, tiles and stone, there has been generally used a rotary cutter wheel, comprising a cutter base having a substantially disc shape and at least one cutting bit which is formed by shaping and sintering ultrahard abrasive grains including diamond grains or the like and attached to the peripheral portion of the cutter base by silver soldering. When cutting such a rigid material with the cutter wheel of this type, superheat is generated due to friction between the cutting bit and the rigid material. The frictional heat generated in cutting the rigid material increases remarkably the wear rate of the cutting bit, to thereby decrease the lifetime of the cutting blade.
To prevent the cutting bit of the cutter wheel from reaching a high temperature in cutting, there have conventionally been employed various method for cooling the cutting bit by forcing water or air to spout from the circumferential part of the cutter wheel towards the cutting bit. A conventional water-cooling method using water as coolant has an effect of sufficiently cooling the cutting bit, whereas it entails a disadvantage in that the material to be cut and the circumferences thereof are considerably stained with the water spouted from the cutter wheel. If a hood cover encircling the cutter wheel is used for recovering the water spouted from the cutter wheel, it adds to the size and complexity of the cutter device and renders the handling of the device difficult.
As one example of an air-cooling method using air as a coolant for the cutting bit, Japanese Utility Model Appln. Public Disclosure SHO 64-42110(A) describes a device in which air is compulsorily introduced into interior air passages formed radially in the cutter base and sent out from the outer peripheral part of the cutter wheel. This forced air-cooling method requires an air supplying system including an air compressor and an air supplying pipe, and therefore, it limits the handling of the cutting device.
Thus, it may be envisaged that a separate air introducing fan is attached to the outside of a rotary cutter wheel having a plurality of interior air passages formed radially so as to permit air introduced into the air passages by the fan attached to the wheel when rotating the wheel to spout out from the peripheral part of the cutter wheel towards one or more cutting bits mounted on the circumferential part of the wheel. To carry out the idea mentioned above, there may be used a cutter wheel having radial air slots as proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,049,843 and Japanese Utility Model Appln. Public Disclosure SHO 64-42110(A).
However, such a cutter wheel having the aforesaid structure is not practical from the viewpoint of productivity and handling. That is to say, the cutter device using such a fan built-on type cutter wheel which comprises a plurality of air passages formed radially in the wheel base thereof and the aforenoted separate fan attached to the outside surface of the wheel base is disadvantageous in that it is bulky and requires labor for its assembly. Besides, this cutter wheel entails problems such as decrease in rotating performance due to the imbalance thereof and difficulty in forming the air passages of small diameter within the wheel base.
Furthermore, in the cutter wheel of this type having one or more cutting bits attached to the cutter base and formed of ultrahard abrasive grains including diamond grains or the like, the cutting bits must be fixedly placed at the prescribed positions on the peripheral portion of the cutter base with a high accuracy. If the longitudinal center of the cutting bit does not exactly coincide with the circumferential center of the cutter base, the cutter wheel rotates and causes wobbling and vibration to decrease the rotating performance of the cutter wheel and may cause the cutting bit to break.

Miyamae Royal Height - Room 305, 16-23, Miyamae 1-chome


A locator system for tracking the location of individuals in a defined environment is disclosed. The system comprises at least one user identifier, at least one reader, at least one locator station and an identification server. The user identifier includes a long-range transmitter adapted to transmit an identification signal and a short-range passive component having identification information. The reader is adapted to receive the identification signal from the long-range transmitter. The locator station is adapted to read the identification information from the short-range passive component. The identification server is adapted to communicate with the reader and the locator, and has a database associating the identification signal of the long-range transmitter and the identification information of the short-range passive component with a particular user. The identification signal from the long-range transmitter may be an intermittent chirp. The long-range transmitter and the short-range passive component may be mounted on an identification tag, which may be attached to a wrist strap for securing the identification tag to a user""s wrist.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to tracking systems, and more specifically to identification tags for tracking and locating individuals of a group within a defined environment such as a theme park or other such fixed activity environment.
2. Related Art
Systems and equipment necessary for tracking a group of individuals in real-time within a defined environment such as a theme park provide several challenges. The system should be able to distinguish every individual in the park and separately track their movement continuously or as needed within the environment and ideally should be able to locate members of the group within seconds of separation if either becomes lost or separated. For this purpose, the system should provide convenient access anywhere within the environment no matter how large and should operate effectively regardless of the extent of crowding. The system also should be accurate and provide updates on location every 7-15 seconds as desired. This is particularly important in tracking fast moving children who become separated from their parents.
Systems and equipment for tracking the location of moving objects such as people in real time have been described (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,764,283 and 5,973,732), however, the inventor is not aware of any description that satisfies the requirements discussed above. Many prior systems are based on tracking by comparing video frames taken at different times. A video directed approach, however, is suited only for tracking individuals in a very limited space such as the threshold of a store. Systems that use a tagging device attached to the individual for communication via radio frequency transmission and receipt also have been described, however, such devices are used primarily for controlling portal entry to a secured area.
Thus, it would be useful to have a system and equipment for tracking individuals of a group in real time within a confined environment and to provide information to any of the group members as to the whereabouts of the other members of the group. Such system would be advantageous particularly in large areas such as theme parks, casinos, and the like.

Identification tag for real-time location of people


Embodiments of the present invention provide a method that includes moving a handheld device over a print medium, depositing a tagging substance with the handheld device in a tagging pattern on the print medium, further moving the handheld device over the print medium such that at least one sensor of the handheld device senses at least part of the tagging pattern, and determining at least one of a position and/or a velocity of the handheld device based upon the sensing at least part of the tagging pattern. The tagging pattern is configured to provide absolute position information.

Traditional printing devices rely on a mechanically operated carriage to transport a print head in a linear direction as other mechanics advance a medium in an orthogonal direction. As the print head moves over the medium an image may be laid down. Portable printers have been developed through technologies that reduce the size of the operating mechanics. However, the principles of providing relative movement between the print head and medium remain the same as traditional printing devices. Accordingly, these mechanics limit the reduction of size of the printer as well as the material that may be used as the medium.
Handheld printing devices have been developed that ostensibly allow an operator to manipulate a handheld device over a medium in order to print an image onto the medium. However, these devices are challenged by the unpredictable and nonlinear movement of the device by the operator. The variations of operator movement, including rotation of the device itself, make it difficult to determine the precise location of the print head. This type of positioning error may have deleterious effects of the quality on the printed image.
One navigation solution for a handheld mobile printer uses 1 or 2 navigation sensors (such as optical mouse sensors) that have position accuracy errors related to the accuracy of the sensor and the inherent sensor error associated with the distance traveled during the printing process. Secondarily, the printing device can not be lifted from the print medium without losing position information, and can not reacquire absolute position information when returned to the print medium. This navigation solution uses optical or laser navigation sensors with plain or unmarked paper. These navigation sensors determine X, Y position data relative to the actual motion that is taking place on the print medium. They often have a high degree of accuracy for small amount of motion (travel), but position errors generally accumulate over larger motion (such as is required to produce a printed image). These position errors can not be filtered out or reset. Position errors become cumulative over time. As part of the position determination process, this solution also requires a configuration of two sensors that each provide absolute X, Y position data that is then used to calculate the required angular accuracy for the print head position that is required to support printing.
A second handheld mobile printer navigation solution uses pre-tagged paper, which has many advantages that can contribute desirable qualities of Print Quality (PQ) such as absolute position information that can be encoded on the paper, therefore eliminating cumulative position errors and allowing the handheld printer to be lifted from the paper, which provides improved user friendly flexibility. This second solution for the handheld mobile printer uses pre-marked (pre-tagged) paper using a marking technology that is not visible to the human eye such as yellow or infrared on the paper medium. This pre-tagged media/paper has encoded on its surface accurate absolute X, Y position information relative to the actual position that the data was encoded on the media. To decode or determine the position data, this solution uses different sensors that can read the encoded information to extract the absolute X, Y position data. The solution uses "CMOS imaging sensors" (IR Cameras) tuned to the light wave of the encoded marking that then can read the absolute encoded X, Y position information on the media while the handheld printer is in motion. The solution allows the handheld printer to extract absolute position for each position measurement. Position errors are not cumulative. As with the optical navigation (mouse sensors) technology, this solution again requires a configuration using two sensors that each provides absolute X, Y position data that is then used to calculate the required angular accuracy for the print head position that is required to support printing.

Handheld mobile printing device capable of real-time in-line tagging of print surfaces


A MEMS inertial sensor and a method for manufacturing the same are provided. The method includes: depositing a first carbon layer on a semiconductor substrate; patterning the first carbon layer to form a fixed anchor bolt, an inertial anchor bolt and a bottom sealing ring; forming a contact plug in the fixed anchor bolt and a contact plug in the inertial anchor bolt; forming a first fixed electrode, an inertial electrode and a connection electrode on the first carbon layer, where the first fixed electrode and the inertial electrode constitute a capacitor; forming a second carbon layer on the first fixed electrode and the inertial electrode; and forming a sealing cap layer on the second carbon layer and the top sealing ring. Under an inertial force, only the inertial electrode may move, the fixed electrode will almost not move or vibrate, which improves the accuracy of the MEMS inertial sensor.

MEMS devices generally include a single or composite micro-mechanical structure, which not only have electrical function, but also have mechanical, chemical, optical and biological function. An integrated system including a MEMS device and a semiconductor circuit can achieve a particular function. MEMS devices are widely applied in sensors or controlling systems, or for driving mechanical, optical or chemical movement in micro movement field. MEMS devices can also be used as an independent unit or system. A kind of widely used MEMS devices or systems measure inertia forces by translation, rotation or inertial sensing, such as MEMS acceleration sensors, gyroscopes.
A conventional capacitive MEMS inertial sensor includes a pair of inertial electrodes and a pair of fixed electrodes. A major portion of an inertial electrode hangs over a carrier of the device, and a small portion of an inertial electrode is fixed on the carrier. The fixed electrodes which are opposite to the inertial electrodes are fixed on the carrier and are required to have a great rigidity. There are narrow air gaps formed between the inertial electrodes, especially the portions hanging over the carrier, and the fixed electrodes, which form a pair of capacitors.
When an inertial force is provided in a certain direction, the potions of the inertial electrodes hanging over the carrier moves along the direction of the inertial force, that is, moves relative to the fixed electrodes, which changes the capacitance of the capacitors formed by the inertial electrodes and the fixed electrodes. By measuring the capacitance change, the movement between the inertial electrodes and the fixed electrodes may be obtained, and so does the inertial force. Therefore, capacitive MEMS inertial sensors are widely used in automobile industry, manufacture, consumer products industry and handheld electronic devices, nowadays. The conventional MEMS inertial sensors are mostly formed with bulk silicon MEMS, thick or thin silicon-on-insulator (SOI) manufacturing process, in which one or more suspended inertial electrodes are connected to a carrier, and inertial electrodes and fixed electrodes opposite to the inertial electrodes are isolated with air gaps.
Compared with the inertial electrodes, the fixed electrodes should have a great rigidity, so that under an inertial force, the fixed electrodes remain static or move a very little distance, thereby ensuring the accuracy of calculation the inertial force by measuring the capacitance change caused by the movement of the inertial electrodes. However, due to the limitations of the manufacturing process, it is difficult to fix a whole fixed electrode to the carrier in a conventional MEMS inertial sensor, and only a portion of the fixed electrode can be fixed on the carrier, thus the fixed electrode is still elastic and deformable and may move wholly or partly under the inertial force. Therefore, although having different rigidity and dynamic characteristics, both of the inertial electrode and the fixed electrode will move or vibrate. Then, the change in capacitance between the inertial electrode and the fixed electrode depends on the changes in position of the inertial electrode and the fixed electrode, rather than the distance the inertial electrode moves to the carrier, which may adversely influence the accuracy of the MEMS inertial sensor.
The process for manufacturing the conventional inertial sensor includes: forming a sacrificial layer before forming an inertial electrode and a fixed electrode, selectively removing a portion of the sacrificial layer after forming the inertial layer, so that the inertial electrode is suspended, and removing a portion of the sacrificial layer beneath the inertial electrode and the fixed electrode, so that a portion of the fixed electrode opposite to the inertial electrode is also suspended. Due to limitations of the manufacturing process, the fixed electrode can not be entirely fixed on the carrier, and only a fixing portion of the fixed electrode may be fixed on the carrier, which may cause a deformation relative to the carrier under an inertial force. The deformation may adversely affect the measurement of the capacitance and thus the measurement of the inertial force. Without regard to it, the deformation of the fixed electrode will become a dynamic noise and may cause measuring errors. Therefore, the deformation of the fixed electrode limits the accuracy of the conventional MEMS inertial sensor.
Nowadays, the MEMS inertial sensor are manufactured with an optimized process, such as, integrated with a CMOS readout integrated circuit (ROIC) on a same semiconductor substrate, so that the MEMS inertial sensor is embedded in the CMOS circuits. Compared with the traditional process in which MEMS devices are separately manufactured with ROIC, the optimized process may reduce the size, weight and power consumption of the MEMS devices, and improve the efficiency of the application system.
However, it is difficult to form a capacitive MEMS inertial sensor on a substrate including CMOS RIOC, especially on a thin silicon substrate compatible with the CMOS process.

MEMS inertial sensor and method for manufacturing the same

Lexvu Opto Microelectronics Technology (Shanghai) Ltd.


The claimed invention is directed to a contactless card, an inlay for a contactless card or a circuit embedded within a contactless card containing a radio frequency identification (“RFID”) circuit that is only actuated when the card is flexed. The RFID circuit comprises an antenna comprising a first conductive lead, a second conductive lead; and an RFID chip connected to the antenna. A dielectric layer having an aperture is embedded in between the antenna and a bridge, the aperture in the dielectric layer being situated between the first conductive lead and the second conductive lead of the antenna. Normally, the bridge is biased away from the first conductive lead and the second conductive lead. When the card is flexed, the bridge is biased into contact with the first conductive lead and the second conductive lead thereby completing the circuit.

1. Field of Invention
The claimed invention relates to contactless cards used in the financial, personal identification and security industries. More specifically, it relates to a card or token with embedded circuit lock technology which is activated by flexing the card for contactless transfers of information.
2. Description of the Related Art.
Cards used in the financial and personal identification and security business have had a dramatic impact on commerce. Traditional cards have a magnetic strip embedded thereon which can be read by inserting the card into a reader, or by swiping the card past a reader. Modern developments to cards have added electronic features such as contactless data transfer, electronic data displays and dual interface cards. Contactless cards employ passive radio frequency identification ("RFID") technology to transmit secure account information to a radio frequency ("RF") receiver for payment.
A "passive" RFID circuit is one that does not contain a battery, that is, the power to read the RFID tag is supplied by the reader. When radio waves from the reader are encountered by a passive RFID tag, the coiled antenna within the tag forms a magnetic field. The tag draws power from it, energizing the circuits in the tag. The tag then sends the information encoded in the tag's memory. Additionally, display circuits have been added to financial cards which provide one time passwords ("OTP"), display the current financial balance on the card or display bonus points or the like.
A major disadvantage of passive RFID is that a reader that is powerful enough can read the tags from a long distance, thereby leading to the potential for identity theft and fraud. Therefore, it would be highly advantageous to provide a circuit lock which can be easily and reproducibly activated to provide the desired electronic activity.
One solution is to secure contactless cards in a shielding sleeve when the card is not in use. While effective, this may not be practical, as the sleeves can be lost and/or damaged, and may interfere with the easy storage and retrieval of the cards from a wallet or the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,762,471 to Tanner describes an embedded switch in a pre-determined location in the card which requires the user to press the switch to activate the card. The location of the switch is indicated to the user through graphics or other surface indications to provide a means to communicate the switch location. However, significant limitations exist with this approach as the switch activation force varies from card to card as a result of the card manufacturing process. The result of this variation is a range of activations which range from very difficult to use to switches which are too easy to activate and inadvertently activate when it is undesirable (i.e. in the users wallet). The inherent variability of existing switches is very difficult to control in mass production and results in manufacturing complexity and increased cost.
Another limitation of embedding switches in a fixed location is the need to indicate the location of the switch to the user. This requirement consumes valuable graphics space which could be used for other purposes such as marketing or additional security features. Graphics space on financial cards is very limited and valuable and embedding a circuit lock mechanism which does not require identification of a specific location is highly advantageous.
Switches embedded in electronic cards also tend to change slightly over time. This results from aging of the card body through both standard aging processes and use. The expected lifetime of an electronic financial card is typically three years. During this period, the plastics used in the card harden slightly and use of the card introduces stresses and compression forces which alter the activation force of the switches. Therefore, the switch activation force can become either too easy or too difficult to activate after the passage of time or repeated use. A circuit lock which has the flexibility to account for both manufacturing variability and the aging process is highly desirable.
The fundamental difference between the use of traditional switches of the prior art and the circuit lock contemplated in the claimed invention is the mode of activation. The mode of activation of the prior art is the downward tactile force exerted by the user in a specific point location on the card. Typically, this force is generated by compressing the switch in the specified location with the finger of the user when the card is being held in the hand. Sufficient force must be applied to close the contacts of the switch, for a sufficient time, to perform the desired action. As the activation force increases, the effort required to close the switch and perform the desired function increases as well. As a wide range of users are expected, this increased activation force makes it very difficult for certain users to easily use the electronic card of the prior art. As previously mentioned, the activation force of the switch cannot be made too easy as inadvertent activation is often highly undesirable, especially in the case of contactless financial cards where the entire purpose of the switch is to prevent fraudulent reading of the antenna.
It would also be beneficial to provide a circuit lock mechanism that is easily concealed within the card and that would not require graphic space on the card body that indicates the manner of actuating the circuit.
It would be very beneficial to provide a circuit that can be used with any of the variety of card manufacturing processes that are employed today. The most common process provides a card structure that is formed by assembling various sheets of suitable plastics and fusing the sheets together through the use of heat and pressure to form a continuous structure. This process is known as "hot lamination." Alternatively, a process known in the art as "cold lamination" uses an adhesive, or combination of adhesives, to glue the various sheets together to form a continuous structure. Other manufacturing processes include reaction injection molding ("RIM"), warm lamination and casting to produce acceptable cards. The circuit lock of the claimed invention can be introduced into to card body constructions using all existing card manufacturing techniques without significant modification of the existing processes.
In addition, several standards exist for financial cards which have been adopted by the industry to specify dimensions, reliability, environmental performance and lifetime of financial cards. Most notably, the International Standardization Organization (ISO), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), American National Standards Institute (ANSI), and Information Technology Industry Council have published standards referred to as ISO/IEC 7810, 7816-1 and 10373-1. The circuit lock of the claimed invention is designed to meet these existing standards.
Embedding electronics into financial cards which meet the above mentioned standards has proven to create several challenges to the industry and has resulted in several modifications to the standard manufacturing processes summarized above. Most notably, the use of a so-called inlay has found commercial acceptance. In this process, a substructure, or inlay, is produced separately which houses the electrical components in a separate structure which forms the center of the financial card. This process produces a sheet whereby the electronics are placed into the structure according the desired positions and the structure is produced which is flat, free of surface defects, constructed of materials which will adhere to subsequent card layers and is of suitable thickness. This allows the card manufacturer to print the front and back graphics, add a magnetic stripe (if desired) as well as any other features and laminate the graphic layers to the inlay structure.
For example, a financial card which meets ISO standards has a nominal thickness of 0.030 inches which is composed of the various layers of films. In manufacturing processes which use the inlay approach, the inlay is typically manufactured to have a nominal thickness of 0.018 inches thereby leaving 0.012 inches available for the front and back graphic layers. Ideally, the circuit lock technology of the present invention would be composed of components which have thicknesses which allow for the manufacturing of an inlay to enable the use of this manufacturing process.
In view of the foregoing, what is needed is a circuit lock that meets all existing requirements, can be manufactured using known manufacturing techniques and that provides the security of a circuit lock to prevent identify theft and fraud.

Financial card with embedded circuit lock technology


An output circuit including a first circuit configured to provide a first output signal, a second circuit configured to provide a second output signal, and a third circuit. The third circuit is configured to receive a third output signal that is based on the first output signal and the second output signal. The third circuit is configured to provide enable signals that turn on one of the first circuit and the second circuit and turn off the other of the first circuit and the second circuit based on the third output signal that is updated via the turned on one of the first circuit and the second circuit.

Typically, a computer system includes a number of integrated circuit chips that communicate with one another to perform system applications. Chip speeds continue to increase and the amount of data communicated between chips continues to increase to meet the demands of system applications. As the volume of digital data communicated between chips increases, higher bandwidth communication links are needed to prevent data communication bottlenecks between chips. Higher bandwidth communication links can be made by communicating more signals in parallel and/or increasing input/output (I/O) bit speeds.
Often, the computer system includes a controller, such as a micro-processor, and one or more memory chips, such as random access memory (RAM) chips. The RAM chips can be any suitable type of RAM, such as dynamic RAM (DRAM), double data rate synchronous DRAM (DDR-SDRAM), graphics DDR-SDRAM (GDDR-SDRAM), reduced latency DRAM (RLDRAM), and pseudo static RAM (PSRAM). Some computer systems include mobile system applications, which have limited space and limited power resources. In mobile applications, such as cellular telephones and personal digital assistants (PDAs), memory cell density and power consumption are issues for future generations. To address these issues, the industry is developing DRAM for mobile applications.
A DRAM, typically, includes one transistor and one capacitor memory cells arranged in one or more arrays of memory cells, which are arranged in memory banks. To read and write memory cells, each DRAM includes one or more row decoders, one or more column decoders, primary sense amplifiers, and secondary sense amplifiers. The primary sense amplifiers can be differential sense amplifiers, wherein each sense amplifier receives one bit line at each of two differential inputs.
To read or write memory cells, the DRAM receives a row address, a column address, and control signals, such as row address select (RAS) and column address select (CAS) signals. A row decoder receives the row address to select a row of memory cells and the row address is latched into the row decoder via the RAS signal. A column decoder receives the column address to select one or more columns of memory cells and the column address is latched into the column decoder via the CAS signal. Each memory cell at the intersection of a selected row and a selected column provides a data bit to a primary sense amplifier.
At each primary sense amplifier that receives data, one of the bit lines receives the data bit from a selected memory cell and the other bit line is used as a reference. To write a data bit into a selected memory cell, input drivers overdrive the primary sense amplifier. One input driver overdrives a data bit value onto the bit line that is connected to the selected memory cell and another input driver overdrives the inverse of the data bit value onto the reference bit line. To read the data bit, the primary sense amplifier amplifies the difference between the data bit value and the reference value and provides the data bit value to a secondary sense amplifier. The secondary sense amplifier receives the data bit value and provides a data bit output signal.
The secondary sense amplifiers are activated or turned on during each read command. Often, multiple data bits are read via a single read command and multiple secondary sense amplifiers, such as 64 or 128 secondary sense amplifiers, are turned on in parallel. The activated secondary sense amplifiers draw a large current through the power supply lines that may cause a drop in the power supply voltage at points distant from the power supply source. Drops in power supply voltage may cause the DRAM to become unreliable. Also, increasing bandwidth by communicating more signals in parallel and/or by increasing current consumption to make the secondary sense amplifiers faster exacerbates these reliability and power consumption problems.
For these and other reasons there is a need for the present invention.

Output circuit that turns off one of a first circuit and a second circuit


An electronic rack and mounting frame for protecting sensitive electronic equipment against damage caused by impacts and excessive vibration during shipping and handling. The frame has a plurality of vertical and horizontal frame members interconnected by internal splice members engaged within hollow interiors of the frame members at their distal ends to form front and rear frame panels. External splice members connect a plurality of side frame members between the front and rear frame panels to form a rectangular parallelpiped frame structure.

Loading and transporting sensitive electronic equipment has presented numerous problems. Typically, such equipment is packed in a suitable shipping container. Even slight impacts or vibrations to the container, however, produce shock forces that may damage precision instruments if they are not properly supported within the container.
To adequately protect electronic equipment, it is well known to use heavy-duty containers molded from polyethylene for high impact strength. An example of this type of shipping container is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,284,202, issued Aug. 8, 1981, to Barstow, Jr. It is also necessary to build into these rugged containers a shock-mitigation system that is capable of protecting the equipment from possible damage during shipping and other rough handling. One known system employs a mounting rack constructed from a plurality of welded vertical and horizontal frame members and shock mounts designed to hold the electronic equipment stationary and to absorb shocks.
The problem with that prior art electronic rack mounting frames is that the vertical and horizontal members are Gas Shielded Tungsten Arc (TIG) welded together to form an integral frame structure. Although the welded rack frame is sufficiently strong to withstand most impacts and transmit the shock forces produced thereby from the shock mounts to the electronic equipment without damage, there are difficulties associated with its construction.
First and foremost is the time required to weld the various frame members together and to correct any distortions caused during the welding process, which adds considerably to the cost of manufacturing the mounting rack. Because of imprecisions in the welding process, it is difficult to maintain alignment of the mounting holes which are used to secure the electronic equipment modules to the rack. A further disadvantage of a welded rack system is the storage space required to keep finished racks in stock in order to fill orders promptly.


A muscle exerciser having a first pulley mounted on a motor shaft of a motor, a second pulley mounted on a pulley shaft and connected to the first pulley through a transmission belt, two transmission wheels respectively connected two ends of the pulley shaft, two transmission links connected to the wheels, and two sliding seats connected to the links. The transmission wheels are respectively connected to the transmission links oppositely such that the two sliding seats are moved close to or away from each other along sliding tracks when the wheels are rotated. Thus, the quick sliding of the sliders strengthens the muscle of the hands/feet placed on the sliding seats.

(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a muscle exerciser having a transmission mechanism for moving two opposite sliders transversely in leftward and rightward directions to shake hands, feet or other parts of a user and thus to strengthen the muscle of the user.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
The modern human beings may have redundant fat stored in the body due to the busy working and abnormal diet. They cannot work hard to improve the fat constitution by exercise efficiently as the diet is not particularly restricted. Consequently, it is more difficult to eliminate the fat stored in their backsides of the arms and the legs by the outdoor exercise.
Many manufacturers have developed various fat-reducing machines or devices for the consumers to choose due to the increased demands of the human beings in the aspect of beauty consideration and the health protection. Among the devices, a shaking device can shake the legs to achieve the object of burning the fat and strengthening the muscle. However, the legs are shaken back and forth and leftward and rightward, which cannot meet the requirement of human factor engineering. So, the muscle may be hurt due to the incapability of accommodation.
Also, a typical exerciser for guiding the hands and legs to shake can simultaneously exercise the muscle of the hands and feet. However, the exerciser is large in size, expensive and thus not ideal because the exerciser is configured to make the user stand thereon.
Thus, the prior art shaking device is not ideal because it cannot easily strengthen the muscle in an efficient manner due to the structural design, or even it may hurt the muscle of the user due to the incapability of accommodation.


Cleaning devices disclosed are alternatively usable as a sweep mop in a conventional wet or damp mopping operation, or in a wiping or polishing operation. Such a device comprises a mop pad holder having attachment means for the attachment of a mop pad and for the separate attachment of a sheet of wiping or polishing material.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to cleaning devices.
Cleaning devices are available, known as "sweep mops", which comprise a mop pad mounted on a pad holder attached to a handle so that the operative area of the pad lies flat on the surface being mopped as the mop is used with a sweeping action. Such mops are in general use for the wet or damp mopping of large surface areas.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is frequently desired to subject a surface to a wiping or polishing treatment using a similar sweeping action, and paper or cloth "wipes" are commonly used attached to a broom-like or similar style holder. Paper or a similar material can wipe clean a surface without leaving smears.