The present invention relates to a method capable of easily manufacturing a curved thin glass sheet and a curved joined glass sheet to which functionality is added.

Glass is a material that has been applied to various living spaces because of its unique transparency. In particular, a joined glass sheet made by joining two glass sheets is used. A curved joined glass sheet, which is curved to have a curved surface, is used depending on the intended use. In addition, the curved joined glass sheet is manufacturing by using a thick glass sheet and a thin glass sheet to reduce volume and weight of the curved joined glass sheet.
In general, self-weight molding, compression molding, or cold molding is used to manufacture the curved joined glass sheet. The self-weight molding is a method that uses a molding frame for fixing a rim of a glass sheet, and increases a temperature of the glass sheet to be molded to a temperature in the vicinity of a softening point of glass, molds the glass sheet by using sag of the glass sheet caused by its own weight, and then joins the molded glass sheets. In addition, compression molding is a method that molds a glass sheet by compressing the glass sheet with a frame having a predetermined shape in a state in which the glass sheet is sufficiently heated, and then joins the molded glass sheets. In addition, cold molding is a method wherein one glass sheet is disposed on a concave surface of the other curvedly molded glass sheet, and the one glass sheet is elastically and curvedly deformed by using a vacuum technology, such that the glass sheets are joined.
Recently, curved joined glass sheets having functionality are being used in various fields such as buildings and vehicles to maximize environmental friendliness and energy efficiency. However, it is not easy to form a transparent heat generating layer or a transparent display on a curvedly molded glass sheet in order to add functionality to the curved joined glass sheet. The reason is that it is not easy to perform a process of forming a thin functional layer on a curvedly molded glass sheet, and it is not easy to form a functional layer having a uniform thickness on the curvedly molded glass sheet.
Therefore, there is a need for a technology capable of easily manufacturing a curved joined glass sheet having functionality.

Method of manufacturing curved thin glass sheet having functional layer and method of manufacturing curved joined glass sheet having functional layer


The present disclosure relates to approaches for assessing a sample or the presence of microorganisms. The sample, in certain implementations may be assessed for one or both of absence of microorganisms (sterility) and/or for concentration of said organisms (bio-burden). sample partition device may be employed that partitions the sample input volume into multiple discrete measurement zones with little or no loss of sample (e.g., zero-loss) and with little operator involvement, thereby reducing operator- and environment-based false positives.

In various contexts it may be desirable to test a sample (e.g., a drug, water, or food sample) for the presence of microorganisms (e.g., bacteria, yeast, mold, and so forth). Such tests may involve testing for the presence of any micro-organisms (i.e., sterility) or for the presence of an acceptable threshold amount of a micro-organism (i.e., bio-burden).
Existing testing processes for sterility and bio-burden, however, may be relatively slow, (e.g., 714 days). The slowness of these processes may be driven by several factors including low assay sensitivity, room-temperature incubation to avoid temperature-sensitive bias, and end-point interpretation due to lack of real-time feedback over the incubation interval. In addition, current testing processes may be subject to numerous manual steps leading to low throughput. This low throughput may be driven by, for example, sample preparation requirements associated with filtering and/or diluting and culturing the sample with appropriate controls to detect operator-based and environment-based false positives. In addition, test results may be difficult to track in certain settings due to manual interfaces with the laboratory information management system (LIMS) in these settings. Lastly, currently employed compendial methods involve manual inspection and interpretation of cell growth in liquid or agar plate cultures. Such manual and labor intensive processes may result in a time-consuming testing process, which may delay corrective action in a manufacturing context or other time-sensitive context.


The invention provides a method for instantly recognizing and positioning an object, comprising steps of: a) wirelessly searching a wireless identification of the object; b) capturing a plurality of images of the object for each image capture; c) determining a 2D center coordinate (x, y) of the object based on a center coordinate (xw, yw) of the wireless identification of the object; d) transforming the captured images of the object to acquire a 3D pattern of the object, and comparing the 3D pattern of the object with 3D patterns pre-stored; and e) if the 3D pattern of the object matches with a pre-stored 3D pattern, calculating and obtaining a 3D center coordinate (x, y, z) of the object to recognize and position the object. The invention also provides a system and a processor enabling the method, and use of the system.

In the metropolitan, the parents in most of the family are necessary to work outside, leaving baby, pet, child, elder or etc. with housekeeper at home. They cannot instantly view and control objects, receive alerts and monitor the events happening at home.
Presently, a plurality of cameras and/or responders are required for positioning objects, which results in expensive cost of hardware. General users may need to consult an engineer to do the hardware installation and set up each object with the aid of complex software menu. Some smart home systems currently available in the market allow a user to input the floor plan that may easily locate objects, and thus reduce the confusion of searching same objects at different location. However, there is no indication and tracking way to confirm which object and where the object to be correctly positioned. Most of existing smart home systems use cameras for monitoring purpose only and but control electronic objects through cable or wireless technology separately from the cameras, the images of the objects captured by the cameras are not used to control the objects, thus these systems cannot simultaneously position and control an object in real scene. The following table shows some technologies used in the current systems:
SolutionsPositioningControlling1Wireless communication NoYesas 433 MHz, 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz or etc.2RFID systemNoNo3Infra-Red (IR)NoYes43 sets of ultra-sonicYes Noresponder(single object)53 sets of cameraYesNo
Due to above technical limitations, there is no solution which can provide instant positioning of an object in real scene with only one camera, and which can allow the user to control an electronic object in real scene after the positioning and to achieve recognizing, positioning and control simultaneously. So the smart home system and other existing solutions are not user friendly because they are quite complicated and the user is required to take a lot of time to do hardware installation via cable or wireless network and software setup for each object. With the existing systems, the user cannot determine exact location and instantaneous scene of the object, and tends to mix up the control of the object with instantaneous alert originating from the same object. Moreover, the existing systems need a plurality of cameras and/or responders for searching and positioning objects and thus require for expensive cost for hardware.

Method, system and processor for instantly recognizing and positioning an object


An easily installed, automatically operated sanitizing direct current, electrolytic cell canister assembly and a method or efficiently providing brominated water for swimming pools and the like, the method including furnishing d.c. power at a constant amperage to the bipolar electrode graphite plate electrolytic cell canister, controlling the flow of electrolyte through the canister, turning the d.c. current on and off to provide d.c. on/off switching, turning the d.c. power off, adjusting the time of the on/off switching so that the current is off for a predetermined selected time in a cycle of about 1 to 60 seconds, and, just prior to reversing the polarity of the electrodes, turning the power off for about five seconds, with separate polarity changing switching to help efficiently clean the graphite plates and keep the bromine atoms from going back to their ionized state and reduce any power surge due to the reversal of the polarity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrolytic cell assembly for the production of bromine for providing brominated water for sanitizing a body of water such as a swimming pool or hot tub. The invention also relates to a process for producing bromine by the electrolysis of sodium bromide in an electrolytic cell.
2. Description of the Related Art
The production of a halogen, especially chlorine, in an electrolytic cell using bipolar electrodes or monopolar electrodes for sanitizing a body of water, especially swimming pools, is known. The Fair et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,714,534 describe a monopolar electrode system and a bipolar electrode system, the patent being directed to the use of trapezoidal shaped electrode plates used in the monopolar electrode system.
The Sweeney U.S. Pat. No. 4,256,552 discloses a chlorine generator for the chlorination of a body of water. The generator uses bipolar electrodes.
The Davis et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,255,246 discloses an electrolytic cell and method of making hypochlorous acid from aqueous sodium chloride. An electronics control package is shown that is coupled to a source of alternating current and includes typically a rectifier and voltage regulator to provide for a constant but adjustable direct current output voltage across the electrodes of the electrolytic cell.
The Davies U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,782 shows an electrolytic cell including a cylindrical casing for housing a stack of electrode plates and mounting rings to maintain the plates in a fixed position.
The McCallum U.S. Pat. No. 4,142,959 (also related U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,028) is directed to an electrode assembly having bipolar electrode elements for use in producing chlorine. The assembly runs on a.c. current. It is indicated that the problem of unwanted deposits on the bipolar electrodes is reduced by controlling the electrolyte feed solution and by reversing the direction of current flow to the electrodes.
The Shindell U.S. Pat. No. 4,263,114 is directed to treating swimming pool water electrochemically. Shindell uses a.c. current, and rectifies it to apply a unidirectional d.c. current to a pair of electrodes. The method includes reversing the polarity of the energy applied to the electrodes, the feed water flowing past the electrodes. The feed water is, for instance, pool water to which sodium chloride has added to make it electrically conductive.
The Jansen U.S. Pat. No. 4,306,952 is directed to an electrolytic process for producing a halogen, including chlorine and bromine, using an electrolytic cell with bipolar graphite electrode plates. Jansen indicates that reversing the polarity of the plates will help to keep the electrode plates clean. Jansen discloses that the polarity should be changed every 80 to 330 minutes to obtain the benefits of the invention. Jansen uses an electrolytic cell assembly that has one permanent anode and two other anodes, one being a co-anode and the other being a cathode.
The above described patents, especially the McCallum patent and the Jansen patent are incorporated by reference for the description of what is old in the background of the invention.
Also incorporated by reference are pages 671-80, Vol. 8, Third Edition, Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 1979, John Wiley and Sons. As therein stated, in discussing electrochemical processing, electrolytic cells, and the electrolysis of brine, cells are often designed with a stack of bipolar electrodes between monopolar feeder electrodes (anode and cathode). The bipolar electrodes are not electrically connected to the d.c. power supply but are polarized by the potential gradients in the cell. Generally, the bipolar anodes are polarized anodically on the side facing the feeder anode electrode and cathodically on the reverse side.
However, the prior patents and the Kirk-Othmer reference do not solve the problems of (1) removing unwanted deposits efficiently from bipolar graphite plates and (2) controlling the flow of electrolyte to provide an efficient flow rate through the cell.

Electrolytic cell assembly and process for production of bromine


A zero-turn style lawnmower includes a frame, a foot platform on the frame and a deck positioned below the foot platform. A foot bar spans above the foot platform. The foot bar is attached at one end to a right pedal arm on the right side of the frame and at the opposite end to a left pedal arm on the left side of the frame. The right pedal arm extends upwardly from a right front lift bracket pivotally attached to the right side of the frame, and the left pedal arm extends upwardly from a left front lift bracket pivotally attached to the left side of the frame. A user may press a right foot, left foot or both feet simultaneously on the foot bar to raise or lower the deck.

The present disclosure relates generally to lawnmowers and more particularly to zero-turn style lawnmowers having a deck lift pedal to raise and lower a cutting deck.
Conventional zero-turn style lawnmowers typically include a cutting deck that can be raised or lowered to a desired mowing height using a single foot pedal. The cutting deck may be lowered by releasing a latch and lowering the cutting deck using the foot pedal and gravity. The cutting deck may be raised by pushing the foot pedal forward, thereby lifting the deck until the latch re-engages in a raised position. Conventional zero-turn style lawnmowers include a single foot pedal mounted on the right side of the mower connected to the deck support linkage. The foot pedal may be actuated with a user's right foot when the user is sitting in a seat on the lawnmower.
Conventional zero-turn style lawnmowers are problematic because the deck lift foot pedal may only be operated with one foot. Some users, such as elderly or young operators may be too weak to properly operate the deck lift foot pedal with just one foot. Similarly, users that have had accidents or health issues affecting their right leg may be unable to operate the deck lift foot pedal on conventional zero-turn style lawnmowers. For example, athletic accidents, car accidents, amputations or strokes may render a user unable to operate a deck lift foot pedal on a conventional zero-turn style lawnmower.
Another problem with conventional zero-turn style lawnmowers is that placement of the deck lift foot pedal on one side of the frame causes a mechanical moment to be applied to the frame when a user exerts force on the deck lift foot pedal, causing the frame to torque in an uneven manner. Such uneven distribution of force causes the seat to experience a corresponding uneven application of force, thereby resulting in a broken or damaged seat and broken or damaged seat mounts.
What is needed then is an improved zero-turn style lawnmower with a raise and lower mechanism for a cutting deck that may be operated with a right foot, a left foot or both feet.


An attenuated pseudorabies virus (PRV) having a reduced ability to reactivate from latency is produced by introducing (1) a genomic modification in the early protein 0 (EP0) gene whereby said virus is characterized by the inability to express the early protein 0; or (2) a genomic modification in the large latency transcript (LLT) gene whereby said virus is characterized by disruption of the synthesis of said large latency transcript; or (3) the genomic modifications described in both (1) and (2). The attenuated virus is useful in a vaccine for psuedorabies-susceptible animals, particularly swine. Swine vaccinated with a deletion mutant in the EP0/LLT overlap region displayed reduced virus shedding and fewer clinical signs than animals inoculated with a wild type virus. The deletion mutant-vaccinated swine also harbored less PRV DNA in the nervous tissue and showed reduced ability to reactivate the virus.

1. Field of the Invention
Pseudorabies (Aujeszky's disease) is caused by a herpesvirus belonging to the alphaherpesvirus subfamily. It is a contagious and sometimes fatal disease of swine. Infection during gestation can result in fetal death and abortion. It is estimated that annual losses to the swine industry due to pseudorabies is as high as 60 million dollars in the United States. This economic impact has resulted in a decision by the swine industry and regulatory officials to eradicate the pseudorabies virus (PRV). The virus also infects cattle, sheep, canines, and felines.
During the initial phase of the acute disease, PRV replicates in the upper respiratory tract. Virus can then disseminate by vascular, lymphoid and nervous tissues [D. P. Gustafson, In Diseases of Swine, ed. by A. D. Leman, et al., 6th edition, pp. 274-289, Iowa State University Press, Ames, IA]. Infectious virus and/or viral genome can be detected from lung, tonsil, brain stem, trigeminal ganglia and peripheral blood lymphocytes [F. Wang et al., J. Leukocyte Biol. 43: 256-264 (1988); G. Wittmann et al., Arch. Virol. 66: 227-240 (1980); H. J. Rhiza In Latent Herpes Virus Infections in Veterinary Medicine, ed. by G. Wittman et al., Martinus Nijhoff publishers, The Hague pp. 429-444 (1984); H. J. Rhiza et al., In Proc. 14th International Herpes Workshop, Nyborg, Denmark, p. 55 (1989)]. Clinical symptoms include intense pruritis, violent excitement, fits, paralysis, and eventually death. Upon cessation of clinical signs and recovery from infection, the virus is not eliminated from the animal and persists with the animal indefinitely. Sometimes, the infection is subclinical and goes unnoticed. The animal also becomes a carrier of pseudorabies. In either case, the virus exists in various cell types of the animal in a noninfectious form and is commonly known as a latent infection. The complete viral genome is present but fails to replicate fully to produce infectious virus. The latent virus can reactivate spontaneously or be induced to reactivate by exogenous stimuli, the carrier animal disseminates infectious virus to susceptible animals which may result in death of the animal or establishment of new PRV carriers. Thus, the latent virus is the source and reservoir of the disease and is regarded as an obstacle to the successful control and eradication of PRV.
This invention relates to a PRV deletion mutant vaccine characterized by a high degree of immunogenicity and yet a significant attenuation and reduced level of latency as compared to field strains of the virus.
2. Description of the Prior Art

Pseudorabies virus deletion mutants involving the EPO and LLT genes

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture


A semiconductor device is formed with an interlayer insulation layer having its high flatness. A metal wiring is formed on a silicon substrate via a silicon oxide layer. A multi-layer silicon oxide layer that is to be the interlayer insulation film is formed over the insulation layer and the metal wiring. The multi-layer silicon layer consists of an upper most first silicon oxide layer, a lower most third silicon oxide layer and an intermediate second silicon oxide layer. The second silicon oxide layer has higher polishing rate than the first and third silicon oxide layer. By performing chemical mechanical polishing for the multilayer silicon oxide layer, a step formed by the presence of the metal layer can be satisfactorily eliminated fox planarizing the surface of the interlayer insulation film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a fabrication process of a semiconductor device. More specifically, the invention relates to a planarization technology in a semiconductor integrated circuit device.
2. Description of the Related Art
On a semiconductor substrate various elements, such as isolation layer, a stacked capacitor, metal wiring and so forth, are formed to form a large step. When a photolithographic method in a condition where the step is maintained, the focusing margin becomes small to cause lowering of pattern precision. Furthermore, due to decreasing of step coverage of a deposited metal layer, breakage of wiring can be caused easily. Therefore, in the prior art, various surface planarization technologies, such as glass flowing method, SOG Spin on Glassy method, etching back method, CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing) method and so forth, are implemented. Among these methods, attention has been attracted to the CMP method for the capability of obtaining global flatness.
FIGS. 3A to 3C are sections showing planarization technology disclosed in D. Webb, et al., "Complete Intermetal Planarization Using ECR Oxide and Chemical Mechanical Polish" 1992, VMIC Conference Proceeding, pp. 141-148
As show in FIG. 3A, an aluminum wiring 3 is formed on al semiconductor substrate 1 via a silicon oxide layer 2. Next, as show in FIG. 3B, a silicon oxide to be an interlayer insulation film 31 is deposited by an ECR system CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) method. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 3C, the surface is planarized by polishing with the CMP method thereinafter referred to as "first prior art").
On the other hand, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. Heisei 3-295239 proposes a method in which the SOG technology and polishing method are employed in combination as shown in FIGS. 4A to 4C (hereinafter referred to as "second prior art).
At first, as show in FIG. 4A, the aluminum wiring 3 is formed in a layer thickness of 1 .mu.m on the semiconductor substrate 1 via the silicon oxide layer 2. A PSG layer 41 to be the interlayer insulation film is deposited in the thickness of 0.8 .mu.m thereover.
Next, as shown in FIG. 4B, a SOG layer 42 to be a buried layer is spin coated. Then, heat treatment is performed at a temperature of 400.degree. to 450.degree. C. for 30 minutes. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 4C, polishing of the surface is performed employing hydrofluoric acid of 0.5 to 1.0% for planarization. At this time, by adjusting water content in the SOG layer, polishing speed of the SOG layer is set higher than polishing speed of the PSG layer.
In the first prior art, since the interlayer insulation film is formed by one kind of material, when a region formed as a wide wiring to be a projecting portion (hereinafter referred to as "wide area firing region") is polished, a flat portion is also polished simultaneously. Therefore, when polishing is continued, an absolute "step" 32 remains as shown in FIG. 3C, that makes it difficult to obtain global flatness.
On the other hand, in the second prior art, if polishing is initiated from the condition shown in FIG. 4B, polishing in the wide area wiring region that is as the projecting portion is progressed earlier, so that the SOG on the wire wiring is polished out earlier. Subsequently, the SOG is polished in the flat portion (wiring concentrated portion) and the PSG is polished in the wide area wiring region. However, since the polishing speed of the SOG is higher than that of the PSG, the SOG is polished out except for the recessed portion. This condition is similar to the polishing condition of the first prior art. Therefore, even when polishing is continued in this condition, the absolute step cannot be eliminated.

Fabrication process of semiconductor device


A wiring harness comprises a first covered electric wire, and a second covered electric wire. The first covered electric wire comprises a first electric wire conductor made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy and an insulator covering the first electric wire conductor. The first electric wire conductor comprises a wire strand of a plurality of elemental wires twisted together, and has a flat portion where a cross-section of the wire strand intersecting an axial direction of the wire strand has a flat shape. The second covered electric wire comprises a second electric wire conductor made of copper or a copper alloy and an insulator covering the second electric wire conductor. The second electric wire conductor has a lower flatness and a smaller conductor cross-sectional area than the first electric wire conductor of the first covered electric wire.

A flat cable containing a flat-shaped conductor is commonly known. A flat cable occupies a smaller space for routing than a conventional electric wire configured with a conductor having a substantially circular cross-section.
As described in Patent Literature 1, a flat rectangular conductor is often used as a conductor for conventional flat cable. The rectangular flat conductor is made of a single metal wire formed to have a rectangular cross-section.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Electric wire conductor, covered electric wire, and wiring harness


The present invention provides an electromechanical transducer which can prevent light from being incident on a receiving face, without deteriorating mechanical characteristics of a vibration film. The electromechanical transducer has at least one cell 2 in which the vibration film 7 containing one electrode 8 out of two electrodes 3 and 8 that are provided so as to interpose a space 5 therebetween is vibratably supported. The electromechanical transducer has a stress relaxation layer 9 formed on the vibration film 7, which has an acoustic impedance matching that of the vibration film 7, and has a light reflection layer 6 formed on the stress relaxation layer 9.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electromechanical transducer such as a capacitance type electromechanical transducer which is used as an ultrasonic transducer or the like, and to a photoacoustic apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a micro-mechanical member to be manufactured with a micro-machining technology can be processed in a micro-metric order, and various micro-functional elements are realized by using these members. A capacitance type electromechanical transducer such as CMUT (Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducer) using such a technology has been studied as an alternative of a piezoelectric element. Such a capacitance type electromechanical transducer can transmit and receive an acoustic wave such as an ultrasonic wave by using the vibration of a vibration film, and it can easily obtain superior broad band characteristics particularly in a liquid. On the other hand, an ultrasonic transducer has been proposed, which illuminates an object to be measured with an illumination light (near-infrared rays or the like) and receives a photoacoustic wave thereby emitted from an inside of a subject (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-075681). The mentioned transducer is provided with a light reflection member for reflecting a light, and this light reflection member is structured so as to be larger than receiving faces of the ultrasonic transducer which receive the photoacoustic wave.

Electromechanical transducer and photoacoustic apparatus


Disclosed are several embodiments of a micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) mirror and a mirror scanner employing the same. An optical scanning unit employing such mirror scanner and an image forming apparatus including the optical scanning unit are also disclosed. The MEMS mirror may include a movable unit, which may in turn include a mirror portion and a magnet frame portion. The mirror portion may have mirror surfaces on the face surface(s) thereof. The magnet frame portion may include an opening into which a magnet is received. The MEMS mirror may also include a first fixing end and a second fixing end, to which the moving unit may be elastically supported by one or more elastic members that allows oscillating or pivoting movement of the moving unit.

Generally speaking, an optical scanning units is an optical apparatus that is used to scanning light from a light source onto an exposure object, and may typically be found in electrophotographic image forming apparatuses, such as photocopying machines, printers, and facsimiles, that reproduce images on printing media.
In operation, an electrophotographic image forming apparatus includes an optical scanning unit that irradiates the light onto and across the surface of a photosensitive drum using to form an electrostatic latent image on the drum. The electrostatic latent image is then developed using developer such as toner, and transferred and fused onto a printing medium.
A polygon mirror is typically used in an optical scanning unit of a conventional electrophotographic image forming apparatus. To realize full-color images, typically four light beams are scanned using two polygon mirrors. In order that the scanning of the light beams are synchronized with each other, the rotating speed of the spindle motors driving the two polygon mirrors needs to be synchronized with each other. In addition, when a polygon mirror is used, the surface area of the mirror needs to be sufficiently large in order to allow for the two parallel light beams to be incident on one reflective surface. The increased surface area however tends to restrict the rotating speed of the spindle mirror.
A new structure for an optical scanning unit that can substitute for, and that thus overcomes the shortcomings, such as for example, the rotating speed limitation, noise generated by the spindle motor operating at high speed and the enlarged size of the optical scanning unit, associated with, the spindle motor and the polygon mirror is thus desired.

MEMS mirror, mirror scanner, optical scanning unit and image forming apparatus including the optical scanning unit


A conductance at an oxidizer flow path forming member is defined as C1, a conductance at an opening portion of the oxidizer flow path forming member at which an oxidizer flow rate regulating portion is arranged is defined as C2, the conductances have a relationship of C1>C2. Further, the fuel cell stack has at least one inner fuel cell unit having a value of C1/C2 which is larger than values of C1/C2 of fuel cell units located at both ends of the fuel cell stack.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel cell stack, and more particularly to an oxidizer flow path of a fuel cell stack.
2. Description of the Related Art
A polymer electrolyte fuel cell basically includes a polymer electrolyte membrane having proton conductivity, and a pair of catalytic layers and electrodes arranged at both sides of the polymer electrolyte membrane.
The catalytic layer is generally composed of platinum or a platinum-group metal catalyst. A gas diffusion layer that supplies gas and collects electricity is provided at the outer surface of the catalytic layer.
An assembly in which the polymer electrolyte membrane and the catalytic layer are integrated is referred to as a membrane electrode assembly (MEA). In the membrane electrode assembly, fuel (hydrogen) is supplied to one electrode, while oxidizer (oxygen) is supplied to the other electrode, whereby electricity is generated during the process of generating water.
The electrode to which the fuel is supplied is referred to as a fuel electrode, while the electrode to which the oxidizer is supplied is referred to as an oxidizer electrode. Power is taken out from the electrodes at both sides.
The theoretical voltage of a fuel cell unit made of a membrane electrode assembly is approximately 1.23 V. In a normal operation state, the fuel cell unit is mostly used with the theoretical voltage being set to about 0.7 V.
Therefore, in a case where it requires a higher activation voltage, a plurality of fuel cell units are stacked and arranged electrically in series to be used.
The stack structure described above is referred to as a fuel cell stack. Usually, the oxidizer flow path and the fuel flow path are isolated from each other by means of a member, which is called a separator, in the stack. A recess/protrusion pattern (groove) is formed in the respective plate-shaped separators, wherein the recessed portion facing the membrane electrode assembly is configured as a gas flow path, while the protruding portion is configured as a current-collecting portion.
In a fuel cell used in a portable electronic device, air that is the oxidizer is taken in such that outside air is directly supplied due to a natural diffusion or a ventilation means such as a fan. In the stack structure, air is taken in from only a side surface of the stack.
In the fuel cell stack described above, a plurality of cell units simultaneously generate electricity. However, since the plurality of cell units are stacked, the rate of heat radiation differs for each part.
Specifically, heat is more likely to be accumulated in the cell units located at the central position in the stacking direction, while heat is more likely to be radiated at the cell units located at both ends.
Therefore, a temperature distribution will be formed such that the temperature is the highest at the central part and the temperature is relatively lower at both ends in the stacking direction of the fuel cell stack.
Due to the temperature distribution, each cell unit of the fuel cell stack will generate electricity under the different temperature condition.
Accordingly, the disadvantages described below likely to occur.
Firstly, a so-called flooding phenomenon is more likely to occur at the cell units located at the uppermost part or the lowermost part in the stacking direction.
The flooding phenomenon refers to a phenomenon in which water generated at the oxidizer electrode is condensed, and the condensed water degrades the gas diffusion property in the oxidizer electrode to thereby cause degradation of the characteristics. When the temperature distribution occurs in the stack, water is easier to be condensed at the cell unit having a low temperature. Therefore, the flooding phenomenon is more likely to occur at the cell units located at both ends.
A so-called dry out phenomenon is likely to occur at the cell units located at the central part in the stacking direction. The dry out phenomenon refers to a phenomenon in which water content in the polymer electrolyte decreases with the temperature rise, which increases the internal resistance in the cell unit to thereby cause degradation of the characteristics.
Since water, which is generated at the oxidizer electrode, is more rapidly evaporated at the cell unit having a higher temperature, the dry out phenomenon is more likely to occur at the cell units located at the central part.
In order to eliminate the instability of the characteristics due to such temperature distribution, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-340173 proposes a fuel cell stack in which a distribution is given to the air-supply amount to each cell unit of a fuel cell stack.
In this fuel cell stack, the sectional area of an oxidizer flow path formed in a separator of each cell unit, which have the low temperature and are located at both ends, is set to be the largest.
By virtue of this structure, the amount of taking in the supplied air becomes large at the both ends. Therefore, even when the temperature is lower, water is hardly condensed, so that the variation in the degree of occurrence of the flooding phenomenon in the stacking direction is reduced.
Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-311279 proposes a fuel cell in which the sectional area of an oxidizer flow path of each cell unit at the central part in the fuel cell stack is set to be the largest.
This fuel cell is configured such that the air-supply amount is set to be the largest at the central part so as to increase the radiation amount of the cell units at the central part, due to heat exhaust through the air, thereby suppressing the dry out phenomenon.
However, the above-mentioned conventional fuel cells have the problems described below.
Specifically, in the fuel cell stack disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-340173, the power generation temperature of the stack may vary greatly depending on the output required for the device or the operation environment factors.
Furthermore, the temperature distribution tends to increase, as the temperature of the whole stack becomes high. Therefore, when the temperature of the whole stack is low, the chances are small that the temperature of the cell units at the central part is prominently high.
In the fuel cell disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-340173, the sectional area of the oxidizer flow path of the cell units at the central part in the stacking direction is relatively smaller, so that the amount of taking in air is reduced.
Therefore, when the power generation temperature of the fuel cell stack is not sufficiently raised, the flooding phenomenon is likely to occur at the cell units at the central part instead. However, this patent document does not disclose any countermeasure against such situation.
Apart from the external humidification type fuel cell stack in which humidified fuel or oxidizer is supplied, the technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-311279 is not necessarily effective in a self-humidification type fuel cell stack that does not humidify the supplied gas.
Since the self-humidification type fuel cell stack directly takes in air from the outside, the humidity of the supplied air becomes relatively small, if the power generation temperature of the stack is higher than the outside temperature.
Supplying the air having such low humidity in a large amount to the central part that is likely to have a high temperature may allow the dry out phenomenon to be easy to occur.


A method for embedding a digital watermark includes a step of inputting digital watermark information; a step of inputting an image; a step of dividing the image into a plurality of areas; a step of ordering the plurality of areas according to a predetermined ordering criterion; a step of embedding the digital watermark information over the plurality of areas that have been ordered; and a step of outputting an image with the digital watermark information embedded therein.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to techniques for embedding digital watermark information mainly in document images.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, in the trend of networking and digitization of media for text data, image data, audio data, and the like, demand has arisen for prevention of unauthorized copying of digital data and for association of meta data with digital data. Still, however, documents and images are often distributed in the form of printed materials. Since both digital data and printed materials are used as described above, demand has also arisen for techniques for controlling a destination to which digital data is to be distributed in the form of a printed material or linking a printed material with digital data. Under such circumstances, interest has arisen for a method for embedding information by digitally watermarking a multi-level still image or document image.
Embedding of information by digital watermarking is a technique for modifying part of original data to embed information, in a human-unperceivable manner, in digital image data, audio data, or text data.
For example, as techniques for embedding and extracting a digital watermark in and from a multi-level image, various methods based on the redundancy of the intensity levels of pixels are generally known. Also, as a technique for digitally watermarking a document image that is a binary image, several digital watermarking methods based on characteristics specific to document images are known. For example, a method of embedding digital watermark information by changing the length of a space between words of English text (alphabetic text) according to a predetermined criterion is known. Such a method is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-186603 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,861,619).
According to the digital watermarking method for documents, digital watermark information is represented by varying the lengths of spaces between words or between characters so that one-bit information (either "1" or "0") will be assigned according to the values of the two space lengths.
In another method, digital watermark information is embedded in a character by rotating the character to change a tilt angle thereof. Such techniques are disclosed, for example, in Nakamura and Matsui, "Wa-bunsho heno shiirugazou niyoru denshisukashi" (which could be translated as "Digital Watermarking of Japanese Documents using Seal Images"), November 1997 (Transactions of IPSJ, Vol. 38-No. 11).
A document image in which digital watermark information is embedded according to the related art will be described with reference to FIG. 13. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a document image in which digital watermark information has been embedded by rotating a character to change a tilt angle thereof according to the related art.
For example, if a character is rotated clockwise, "1" is embedded in the character (as in character (1) in FIG. 13), and if a character is rotated counterclockwise, "0" is embedded in the character (as in character (2) in FIG. 13). Digital watermark may be embedded in continuous characters, at an interval of several characters, or in characters at predetermined positions.
Referring to FIG. 13, since the character (1) is rotated clockwise and the character (2) is rotated counterclockwise, information representing "10" is embedded.
However, regarding embedding of digital watermark information in document images according to the related art, a method of embedding a digital watermark with consideration of the layout of characters in the document image has not been established. For example, when a digital watermark is embedded in a document image by the method according to the related art, a feature regarding each character or each character and an adjacent space is considered. When the layout of the document image is complex, for example, when illustrations, tables and figures, and text areas are mixed or when the document image is multicolumned, if digital watermark information is embedded simply in each of the areas, the digital watermark information becomes discontinuous among the areas. Thus, it is not allowed to embed digital watermark information continuously, which is inconvenient.

Method, apparatus, and computer program product for embedding digital watermark, and method, apparatus, and computer program product for extracting digital watermark


Apparatus, systems and methods for providing smart pick-up and drop-off are presented. The apparatus comprises at least one vertical support member and at least one storage shelf supported by the at least one vertical support member. A payload transfer surface, supported by the vertical support members, is located below the lowest storage shelf. The payload transfer surface has an access channel so that a self-driving material-transport vehicle equipped with a lift appliance can pick up or drop off a payload on the payload transfer surface. A sensor associated with the payload transfer surface senses the presence or absence of a payload on the payload transfer surface, and sends a signal to a fleet-management system in communication with the self-driving material-transport vehicle.

Self-driving material-transport vehicles are used to move payloads such as parts and inventory throughout industrial facilities such as factories and warehouses. As such, it is necessary to load payloads onto material-transport vehicles, and unload them from material-transport vehicles. While some material-transport vehicles such as fork lifts and pallet jacks may be equipped to lift a pallet directly off a floor, other material-transport vehicles are not similarly equipped. In these cases, an apparatus may be used to hold the payload in order to facility loading and unloading of the payload.
However, the addition of a new apparatus often creates problems for managers and operators of industrial facilities. For example, floor space in an industrial facility such as factories and warehouses is often considered scarce, and the efficient allocation of floor space is highly valued.
Furthermore conventional approaches to providing apparatus for holding a payload require some degree of human intervention. For example, human intervention may be required to identify when a payload has been loaded or unloaded from the apparatus.

Apparatus, systems, and methods for payload pick-up and drop-off with a self-driving material-transport vehicle


A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor chip, an interposer, a surface circuit pattern, and a post array. The surface circuit pattern is formed on one surface of the interposer and includes chip side pads connected to an external connection pad of the semiconductor chip, junction pads, and interconnecting lines having an end connected to the chip side pads and another end connected to the junction pads. The interconnecting lines extend from the chip side pads toward an outer edge of the interposer. The post array includes conducting paths and insulating resin insulating the conductive paths from each other. The post array is arranged such that the conductive paths extend in a direction intersecting with the surface of the interposer. The conducting paths each have an end connected to the junction pad and another end to be connected to the printed wiring board.

Semiconductor devices of this type are increasingly expected to have smaller size in recent years. For example, a package of a semiconductor chip and an interposer that are integrated with each other is mounted on a printed wiring board made of organic material such as a motherboard, namely, a CSP structure, is in practical use.
The semiconductor device in Patent Document 1 is an example of the CSP structure including a package in which a semiconductor chip is connected to an interposer made of organic material (resin). The interposer has a plurality of through holes, and solder balls are exposed at upper and lower surfaces of the interposer through the through holes. An external connection pad provided on the semiconductor chip is connected to an upper end of a solder post of the interposer. A lower end of the solder post is connected to a pad of the motherboard with a solder ball, for example. In this configuration, the packaged semiconductor device has a size only slightly larger than the size of the semiconductor chip. The size is regarded as almost the minimum.


An improved vibrating actuator for notifying the user of a call upon signal arrival by any of a buzzer, a speech and a vibration, and a power supply mechanism thereof. The device has high impact resistance by a magnetic yoke having a flange, a damper material is provided between an oscillation plate and a cover to prevent generation of noise, and a hole is provided in the cover to change acoustic characteristics as required within the same frequency band. As a power supply mechanism for ensuring electrical connection, a projecting electrical connection terminal is provided on the actuator side, and a conductive material touching with the electrical connection terminal is provided as a power supply terminal electrically connected to a power supply section of a circuit board.

The present invention concerns an improved vibrating actuator and a power supply mechanism thereof, comprising a call notification means that notifies of a call upon signal arrival by any of a buzzer, speech or vibration, and a portable electronic device such as a pager or a portable telephone.
Generally, a vibrating actuator fitted to a portable electronic device is provided with a coil for current application, a diaphragm fastened at one side of the coil, a magnet to form a magnetic circuit, a magnetic yoke supporting this magnet, and an oscillation plate that supports this magnetic yoke. A diaphragm is mounted within the frame of a case by a lip with a magnetic gap between the coil and the magnetic yoke, and an oscillation plate is mounted within the frame of the case at an edge. A cover over the mounting side of an oscillation plate is fitted to the case. Vibration is generated from the oscillation plate at low frequency by the action of current applied to a coil and a magnetic field of a magnet while a sound is issued from the diaphragm at high frequency.
This type of vibrating actuator must have high impact resistance so that it does not break even if dropped by a user. A means of imparting such impact resistance is to mount a projection from the side wall of the case to the interior to function as a stopper that contacts the magnetic yoke should it swing violently due to impact.
Expansion of the frame diameter of the case is inhibited to the extent that a projection is mounted in this vibrating actuator, and a comparatively thick magnetic yoke is provided because of the need to ensure a weight sufficient to actuate the oscillation plate. Consequently, actuators are limited to thin ones.
Furthermore, when impact is applied, it is transmitted from the cover to the oscillation plate, causing the oscillation plate to deform which causes noise due to abnormal vibration.
In addition, the coil and the power supply section of the circuit board are connected by using a flexible cord as the wiring that applies current to the coil, but even if they are connected by this flexible cord, there is a fear of disconnection of the flexible cord at the connection terminal because of the application of a load to the connection terminal of the lead line accompanying vibration during operation.
An expansion of the utility of aforementioned vibrating actuator is desired as a product by altering the acoustic characteristics at a given frequency band.
The present invention concerns a vibrating actuator provided with a coil for applying current, a diaphragm fastened at one side of the coil, a magnet to form a magnetic circuit, a magnetic yoke supporting this magnet, and an oscillation plate that supports this magnetic yoke, wherein a diaphragm is mounted within the frame of a case by a lip with a magnetic gap between the coil and the magnetic yoke, an oscillation plate is mounted within the frame of the case at an edge, and said actuator operates the diaphragm and oscillation plate by the attraction/repulsion of magnetism of the magnet and magnetism of the coil, as well as an improved power supply mechanism for said vibrating actuator.
The objective of the present invention is to provide a vibrating actuator having high impact resistance that can be constructed so as to be thin overall.
To attain aforementioned objectives, the present invention is provided with a magnetic yoke having a protruding flange, an oscillation plate that supports this magnetic yoke with the flange appropriately positioned at the base, the oscillation plate being fastened to the magnetic yoke with the central part of each support arm that is disposed on the side facing aforementioned oscillation plate being appropriately positioned relative to the flange, and a concave case that accepts the flange.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a vibrating actuator that prevents impact applied to the case from affecting the oscillation plate via the cover and to prevent the generation of noise through deformation of the oscillation plate. The objective is attained by providing a vibration control damper between the oscillation plate and the cover.
In addition, the present invention provides a power supply mechanism for the vibrating actuator that reliably provides an electrical connection without disconnection due to vibration during operation. To attain the objective, a projecting electrical connection terminal is mounted on the actuator side and the conductive material in contact with said electrical connection terminal is mounted as a power supply terminal that connects with the power supply section of the circuit board.
In addition, the present invention provides a vibrating actuator structured to suitable change the acoustic characteristics as required even at a given frequency band. The cover is structured with vent holes to attain the objective.

Vibrating actuator and feeding mechanism thereof


According to one embodiment, a display device includes an insulating substrate, a first insulating film, a second insulating film, a third insulating film, a fourth insulating film, a fifth insulating film, a sixth insulating film, a color filter layer, a semiconductor layer disposed between the second insulating film and the third insulating film, and a gate electrode disposed between the third insulating film and the fourth insulating film, wherein the first, fourth, and sixth insulating films are formed of a silicon nitride, and the second, third, and fifth insulating films are formed of a silicon oxide.

In recent years, liquid crystal display devices include a structure in which a color filter layer is disposed in an array substrate with pixel switching elements and pixel electrodes disposed thereon in order to suppress degradation of color purity by color mixing. In some cases, an interference filter is used for the color filter layer.

Semiconductor device having multiple insulating films of varying thickness


There is disclosed an organic light-emitting device having at least one layer of light-emissive organic material arranged between first and second electrodes, one of the first and second electrodes being a multilayer structure, each layer of the multilayer structure being a DC magnetron sputtered layer. There is also disclosed an organic light-emitting device having two or more layers of light-emissive organic material arranged between first and second electrodes, an upper most layer of the organic material being more resistant to sputter deposition than an underlying layer of the organic material, and the electrode formed over the upper most layer of organic material being a sputtered layer. There is also disclosed methods for making such structures.

The field of the invention relates to organic light-emitting devices with improved electrodes and their deposition.
Organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,190 assigned to Cambridge Display Technology Limited or in Van Slyke et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,539,507, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference and example, have great potential for use in various display applications, either as monochrome or multi-colour displays. Principally, an OLED consists of an anode that injects positive charge carriers, a cathode that injects negative charge carriers and at least one organic electroluminescent layer sandwiched between the two electrodes. Typically although not necessarily, the anode would be a thin film of, for example, indium-tin-oxide (ITO), a semi-transparent conductive oxide which is commercially readily available already deposited on glass or plastic substrates. The organic layer(s) would then normally be deposited onto the ITO-coated substrate by, for example, evaporation/sublimation or spin-coating, blade-coating, dip-coating or meniscus-coating. The final step of depositing the cathode layer onto the top organic layer is normally performed by thermal evaporation or sputtering of a suitable cathode metal in vacuum. Layers of Al, Ca or alloys of Mg:Ag or Mg:In, or Al alloys are often used as cathode materials.
One of the key advantages of the OLED technology is that devices can be operated at low drive voltages, provided that suitable electroluminescent organic layers and electrodes with good efficiencies for the injection of positive and negative charge are used. In order to achieve good performance in OLEDs it is of great importance to optimise all the individual layers, the anode, the cathode and the organic layer(s), as well as the interfaces between the layers.
A cathode of high quality is of great importance to achieve overall high performance in OLEDs, judged on criteria such as power efficiency, low drive voltage, shelf life, operating life, and stability in stringent environmental conditions such as high temperature and/or high humidity, etc. The criteria for the quality of the cathode are in particular but not exclusively the work function, corrosion resistance, morphology and barrier properties, adhesion to the polymer and sheet resistance.
Metallic cathode layers for OLEDs are most commonly deposited by simple thermal evaporation of the cathode material in vacuum. Similarly, cathode layers consisting of a metal alloy can be deposited by thermal evaporation from two or more sources containing the alloy constituents and by choosing appropriate relative depositing rates to achieve the desired relative alloy composition.
However, simple thermal evaporation of metals onto OLEDs to form a cathode layer can result in poor adhesion between the cathode and the top organic layer and, very often, the morphology of the evaporated layer is polycrystalline with large average grain size such that there is a high density of grain-boundary for diffusion of ambient gases such as oxygen and moisture into the device. Poor adhesion and large grain-size polycrystalline morphology can severely deteriorate the OLED performance, in particular environmental stability (device shelf-life and operating life, corrosion of the cathode).
The same issues (adhesion, morphology) apply to the case in which an OLED is built up from the cathode, i.e. when the cathode is deposited on the substrate with the subsequent deposition of the organic layer(s) and as the final step deposition of the anode on top of the top organic layer.
Simple thermal evaporation from different sources of elemental metal or evaporation of a ready-made alloy to obtain cathodes in alloy form also has problems. For example, if a cathode alloy layer comprising reactive low work function elements, such as alkali or earth-alkali metals, is required the processing and/or handling of these elements in a normal environment in air may be difficult if not impossible. Alternatively, if an alloy itself is evaporated, the alloy composition of the deposit (cathode) may be difficult to control due to, for example, different thermal properties and differential evaporation rates of the source-alloy constituents.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a structure and method of fabrication for an organic electroluminescent device that overcomes, or at least minimises, the above-described problems.
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided an organic light-emitting device, comprising at least one layer of a light-emissive organic material arranged between first and second electrodes, wherein at least one of the electrodes is a multi-layered structure, each layer of the multi-layered structure being a DC magnetron sputtered layer.
This first aspect of the invention also provides a method of fabricating an organic light-emitting device, comprising the steps of:
forming an electrode over a substrate;
forming at least one layer of a light emissive organic material over the electrode; and
forming a multi-layered electrode structure over the at least one layer of organic material, each layer of the multi-layered structure being a DC magnetron sputtered layer.
This first aspect of the invention further provides a method of fabricating an organic light-emitting device, comprising the steps of:
forming a multi-layered electrode structure over a substrate, each layer of the multilayered structure being a DC magnetron sputtered layer;
forming at least one layer of a light-emissive organic material over the multi-layered electrode; and
forming an electrode over the at least one layer of organic material.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided an organic light-emitting device, comprising:
a first electrode;
two or more layers of light-emissive organic material formed over the first electrode, wherein the uppermost layer of organic material is more resistant to sputter deposition than the underlying layer of organic material; and
a second electrode formed over the uppermost layer of organic material, wherein the second electrode comprises at least one layer, the layer adjacent the uppermost layer of organic material being a sputtered layer.
This second aspect of the invention also provides n organic light-emitting device, wherein the uppermost layer of organic material is substantially resistant to sputter deposition.
Thus, the first and second aspects of the invention provide an organic electroluminescent device with a metallic cathode of compact morphology with low average grain size and good adhesion to the adjacent layer of the OLED stack with the said cathode laid down by sputter deposition. Good adhesion between the cathode and the adjacent layer minimises delamination and the ingress of, for example, oxygen, moisture, solvents or other low molecular weight compounds at/along said interface. Also, the compact morphology of the cathode metal layer minimises diffusion of ambient species such as oxygen, moisture, solvents or other low molecular weight compounds into the OLED through the cathode layer itself. Said cathode forms the electron injecting electrode for an OLED with at least one electroluminescent organic layer between said cathode and an anode that injects positive charge carriers. The organic electroluminescent layer(s) are preferably but not necessarily conjugated polymers.

Electrode deposition for organic light-emitting devices


The automated solution injection-discharge system is used as an APDS system to supply and discharge a dialysate and a patient""s drain. And an automated solution injection-discharge system provides free of contamination and operation mistakes, and can accurately control the injected dialysate volume and the discharged dwell solution volume even when a patient does not maintain a fixed posture while replacing the solution.

The present invention relates to an automated solution injection-discharge system which automatically injects a dialysate into a patient""s peritoneal cavity and discharges the dialysate after the appointed time. In addition, the present invention relates to an automated peritoneal dialysis system (APDS) which employs the above-mentioned automated solution injection-discharge system.
Dialytic treatment has advantages such as (1) medical expenses are inexpensive, (2) the patient does not require frequent outpatient treatment, and (3) the patient can easily return to society. As a result, medical facilities in Japan have increasingly introduced dialytic treatment.
In continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD), a patient can easily replace the dialysate at home at moderate cost. Many peritoneal dialytic patients have recently received CAPD treatment. In this treatment, however, a patient has to exchange bags several times, desorb connectors, and open and close a clamp (a closing gear) every day, which is troublesome to the patient.
An operating mistake by a patient, especially by a sight-or hand-impaired patient, may contaminate the connector of the dialytic system. Moreover, a user may make mistakes in injecting and discharging.
Based on the weak points above, the peritoneal dialysis system with automatic operation has been developed and improved. A conventional peritoneal dialysis system has adopted a method in which a dialysate is injected, by the head drop, into a patient""s peritoneal cavity and discharged from a patient""s peritoneal cavity.
This type of peritoneal dialysis system is relatively simple in structure. Moreover, the mechanism is safe and gentle to the living body because the dialysate is injected and discharged by gravitation.
However, the head drop mechanism has some demerits in that the patient must maintain a fixed posture, and the system is relatively large in size.
As a countermeasure against these, a roller pump is used to inject and discharge a solution in the peritoneal dialysis system. A system with a roller pump requires no head drop. However, there is a possibility that dialysate may be excessively injected into a patient because the roller pump may rotate without reference to the prescribed volume of solution. Another possibility is that the peritoneum may be damaged if the roller pump automatically sucks when a small amount of dialysate remains in the peritoneal cavity. The conventional solution injection-discharge system has merits and demerits as mentioned above. Other demerits are as f follows. First, the system is large in size and expensive because a load cell weighs the filled and drained volumes of solution.
Second, the control system is complicated and expensive because each closing gear, which is installed on each conduit connected between a dialysate bag, a drain bag, a patient""s peritoneal catheter, a warming gear, and a reservoir for compounding and warming a solution, operates separately.
The first object of the present invention is to provide a compact, simple-structured, and user-friendly automated solution injection-discharge system ensuring safe operation of injected and discharged solution. Especially when the automated solution injection-discharge system is used as an APDS system to supply and discharge a dialysate and a patient""s drain, the object is to provide an automated solution injection-discharge system (1) which is free of contamination and operation mistakes, and (2) which can accurately control the injected dialysate volume and the discharged dwell solution volume even when a patient does not maintain a fixed posture while replacing the solution.
The second object of the present invention is to provide an automated peritoneal dialysis system (hereinafter referred to as APDS) which operates in a set order and lessens manual operations for replacing a dialysate. The third object is to provide a compact, simple-structured, and low-cost APDS.
An automated solution injection-discharge system according to the invention comprise: (1) a chamber which is provided with a gas opening to introduce or exhaust a gas at one end of the chamber, and a solution opening to suck or discharge a solution at the other end; (2) a diaphragm installed in the chamber, which divides the chamber into a room with the gas opening and a room with the solution opening, for sucking a solution into the chamber or discharging a solution from the chamber by introducing or exhausting a gas through the gas opening; (3) a driving device which drives the diaphragm; (4) a measuring device which detects the volume of a solution sucked into or discharged from the chamber, and the volume of air sucked into or exhausted from the chamber; and(5) an air-pressure sensor which detects the pressure in a tube to supply or suck air into the chamber; wherein, by sucking a gas into the chamber through the gas opening, the diaphragm is inverted to the side of the gas opening to suck a solution into the chamber, and by introducing a gas into the chamber through the gas opening, the diaphragm is inverted to the side of the solution opening to discharge a solution from the chamber.
The driving device is provided with any one of the driving device such as an air cylinder, a piston and cylinder, and a flexible bag.
The volume of the air cylinder is 1.4 to 2.0 times the volume of the chamber.
The measuring device is a position detecting sensor which is installed near the driving device.
The automated solution injection-discharge system is used for an automated peritoneal dialysis system.
An automated peritoneal dialysis system accordong to the invention comprises: a dialysate container; a reservoir to contain a dialysate before it is injected into a patient""s peritoneal cavity; a drain container to contain a drain from a patient""s peritoneal cavity;an automated solution injection-discharge system to suck and supply dialysate and drain; said automated solution injection-discharge system being provided with the following (1) to (5):(1) a chamber which is provided with a gas opening to introduce and exhaust a gas at one end of the chamber, and a solution opening to suck or discharge a solution at the other end; (2) a diaphragm installed in the chamber, which divides the chamber into a room with the gas opening and a room with the solution opening for sucking a solution into the chamber or discharges a solution from the chamber by introducing or exhausting a gas through the gas opening; (3) a driving device to drive the diaphragm; (4) a measuring device which detects the volume of solution sucked or discharged by the chamber, and the volume of gas sucked into or exhausted from the chamber; and(5) an air-pressure sensor which detects the pressure in a tube to supply or suck a gas into the chamber; a manifold connected to the automated solution injection-discharge system; plural conduits connected between the manifold and the containers: and conduit swiching device to open and close the conduits.
An automated peritoneal dialysis system according to the invention comprises:a dialysate container; a reservoir to contain a dialysate before it is injected into a patient""s peritoneal cavity; a drain container to contain a drain from a patient""s peritoneal cavity; and an automated solution injection-discharge system which sucks and supplies dialysate and drain; said automated solution injection-discharge system being provided with:a piston and a cylinder; a measuring means which measures the volume of solution sucked into or discharged from the cylinder, and the volume of air sucked into or exhausted from the cylinder; and an air-pressure sensor which detects the pressure in a tube to introduce or suck an air into the cylinder; a manifold which is connected to the automated solution injection-discharge system; plural conduits connected between the manifold and the containers; and conduit swiching device to open and close the conduits.
An automated peritoneal dialysis system according to the invention comprises:a dialysate container; a reservoir to contain a dialysate before it is injected into a patient""s peritoneal cavity; a drain container to contain a drain from a patient""s peritoneal cavity; an automated solution injection-discharge system which sucks and supplies dialysate and drain; said automated solution injection-discharge system being provided with:a flexible bag; a measuring means which detects the volume of solution sucked into or discharged from the flexible bag, and the volume of gas sucked into or discharged from the flexible bag; and an air-pressure sensor which detects the pressure in a tube to supply or introduce air into the flexible bag; a manifold connected to the automated solution injection-discharge system; plural conduits connected between the manifold and the containers; and conduit closing gears to open and close the conduits.
The plural dialysate containers, each container having a dialysate of different density are provided with.
The peritoneal catheter in the patient and/or at least a part of the conduit connected to the catheter are made from a flexible thin film.
The automated solution injection-discharge system is aseptically structured.
The pressure sensor detects the volume of dwell solution discharged so that the pressure in the peritoneal cavity is not sufficiently negative to damage a living body.
The speed of movement of the air cylinder piston is 10 to 200 ml/min, preferably 150 ml/min, for discharging a solution from a patient""s peritoneal cavity, and the speed of injection of a solution is 20 to 400 ml/min, preferably 300 ml/min.
The conduit swiching device comprises:a rotating shaft; and swiching device which are provided with: an interlocking cam installed on the rotating shaft; a thrust device which moves up and down with the rotation of the interlocking cam; and a cradle which receives the head of the thrust device; wherein the number of rotating shafts is more few than the number of conduit swiching means.
The conduit swiching device are equipped with plural rotating shafts, said shafts having two or three conduit swiching means.
The conduit swiching means are provided with two rotating shafts, of which the first rotating shaft has three sets of conduit swiching means, and the second rotating shaft has two sets of conduit swiching means.
The three sets of conduit swiching neans on the first rotating shaft have a phase difference of 120 degrees, and the two sets of conduit swiching means on the second rotating shaft have a phase difference of 120 to 180 degrees.
An automated peritoneal dialysis system according to the invention comprises:a dialysate container; a reservoir to contain a dialysate before it is injected into a patient""s peritoneal cavity; a drain container to contain a drain from a patient""s peritoneal cavity; an automated solution injection-discharge system which sucks and supplies dialysate and drain; a manifold connected to the automated solution injection-discharge system; plural conduits connected between the manifold and the containers and the patient; and a conduit swiching device to open and close the conduits; said conduit swiching device being equipped with swiching means which are driven by rotating shafts, the number of which is more few than the number of swiching means.
An automated peritoneal dialysis system according to the invention comprises: a dialysate container; a reservoir to contain a dialysate before it is injected into a patient""s peritoneal cavity; a drain container to contain a drain from a patient""s peritoneal cavity; an automated solution injection-discharge system which sucks and supplies dialysate and drain; a manifold which is connected to the automated solution injection-discharge system; plural conduits which connect between the manifold and the containers and the patient; a conduit swiching device to open and close the conduit; a measuring means which detects the volume of solution sucked into or discharged from a chamber, and the volume of air sucked into or exhausted from the chamber; and a pressure sensor which detects the pressure in a tube to introduce air into the chamber; said pressure sensor detecting the volume of dwell solution discharged so that the pressure in the peritoneal cavity is not sufficiently negative to damage a living body.

Automated solution injection-discharge system and automated peritoneal dialysis system


A projectile of hollow or solid plastic in the shape of a circle, ellipse, or other essentially toroidal body, said body having parts that are of appreciably higher density than other parts. This density difference being provided by selected loading of the plastic or use of a metal band on the body.

Games such as horseshoes, quoits, etc., are popular but they require the shoes or quoits to be aimed at stakes and are relatively relaxed and a slow paced sport so that the exercise factor is less intense.
The modern exercise trends stress dancing, jogging and related exercises that are relatively more physically intense than horseshoes, quoits and related games. The game of this invention provides a sport requiring more skill and expending more energy than the usual projectile games.

Hand projectile, method of manufacture and game played therewith


One or more friction devices of a transmission coupled to an engine through a fluid coupling are used during engine neutral idle operation to control the state of the fluid coupling for synchronous engagement and disengagement of a PTO input gear with a transmission-driven gear. The fluid coupling includes an input member connected to the engine and an output member connected to the input shaft of the transmission, and the transmission friction devices temporarily ground the output member without mechanically coupling the transmission input and output shafts under specified enable conditions. This maintains the transmission input shaft in a stationary condition while an actuator engages or disengages the PTO input gear with the transmission-driven gear. Following engagement or disengagement of the PTO input gear, the friction devices are released to resume normal operation of the fluid coupling.

Heavy duty motor vehicle transmissions are commonly configured to accept a Power-Take-Off (PTO) unit for operating various accessory devices such as winches and dump lifts. In a typical mechanization, the transmission includes a PTO drive gear coupled to the transmission input shaft, and the PTO drive gear is maintained in meshing engagement with an input gear of the PTO unit. The PTO input gear drives a PTO input shaft, and a dedicated hydraulic clutch in the PTO unit selectively couples the PTO input shaft to a PTO output shaft for engagement and disengagement of the PTO. However, this approach adds complexity and cost to the PTO unit, and tends to increase gear noise even when the PTO is not activated. Accordingly, what is needed is an improved way of selectively activating and deactivating the PTO function.

Method and apparatus for synchronized PTO control in a motor vehicle powertrain


A touch screen system includes a touch panel to input image signals, a touch controller to drive the touch panel, an extension between the touch panel and the touch controller, and an anisotropic conductive film electrically interconnecting the extension to the touch controller.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a touch panel system, and more particularly, to a touch panel system for a liquid crystal display (LCD) device.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Presently, liquid crystal display (LCD) devices are commonly used because of their ability to produce high quality images, as well as their thin profile, light weight, and low power consumption. Liquid crystal module (LCM) devices are used for displaying video signals input from external sources, such as LCD panels, and commonly include polarizing plates, power sources, such as backlight devices, and light-guiding plates. The LCD panels include upper and lower glass substrates, and liquid crystal material injected between the upper and lower glass substrates. In addition, the polarizing plates are formed on lower and upper surfaces of the LCD panel for polarizing light irradiated onto the LCD panel using the backlight device. Moreover, a printed circuit board (PCB) is provided below a main support at a rear of the LCM device, and a drive integrated circuit (D-IC) is provided on the PCB to drive switching devices (i.e., thin film transistors) of the LCM device. Accordingly, the LCM device is electrically connected to the PCB using a tape carrier package (TCP) so that the video signals of the D-IC are transmitted to the LCM device. Furthermore, a digitizer is provided in the LCD device to display images on a screen and to input electric graphic image signals thereon. The digitizer is commonly referred to as an electric graphic input panel (EGIP) or a touch panel. Due to rapid development of LCD technology, it is possible to perform graphic image work that requires high resolution on the LCD device, whereby the digitizer is used as an input device of a notebook computer.
FIG. 1 is a schematic cross sectional view of a touch panel according to the related art. In FIG. 1, transparent ITO electrodes 3 and 4 are formed on opposing surfaces of two polyethylene terephtalate (PET) films 1 and 2 at a predetermined interval, wherein the two PET films 1 and 2 are bonded to each other using an insulating adhesive. Subsequently, a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) film 5 is formed below the lower PET film 2 for polarizing light, and a triacetyl cellulose (TAC) film is formed below the PVA film 5 for protecting the PVA film 5 from humidity. In addition, a silver (A/G) layer is formed on the upper PET film 1.
An operation of the touch panel, which is categorized as a 4-line resistive-type touch panel, includes supplying a voltage to one transparent electrode along an X-axis direction, and supplying a voltage to another transparent electrode along a Y-axis direction. For example, a voltage is supplied to an upper transparent electrode 3 along the X-axis direction, and a voltage is supplied to a lower transparent electrode 4 along the Y-axis direction. Accordingly, signals are respectively supplied to the X-axis and the Y-axis in order to detect a location of a touching point in order to read the signals twice. For example, when the voltage is supplied to the upper transparent electrode 3 along the X-axis direction, the upper and lower transparent electrodes 3 and 4 contact each other at a predetermined portion, and a voltage value of the X-axis location is read through the lower transparent electrode 4. Similarly, when the voltage is supplied to the lower transparent electrode 4 along the Y-axis direction, the upper and lower transparent electrodes 3 and 4 contact each other at a predetermined portion, and a voltage value of the Y-axis location is read through the upper transparent electrode 3. Accordingly, the upper and lower transparent electrodes 3 and 4 have predetermined resistance values, so that the voltage value varies in accordance with a contact location of the upper and lower transparent electrodes 3 and 4. Thus, X-axis and Y-axis voltage values are input to a controller, whereby the controller detects coordinates of the touching point according to the X-axis and the Y-axis values.
When a predetermined portion of the upper substrate is touched with a finger or a pen, the upper and lower transparent electrodes 3 and 4 contact each other at the predetermined portion. Accordingly, the voltage values, which vary by the resistance value of the touching point, is output. For example, in order to read the voltage values that vary by the resistance value of the touching point, electrodes and lines for supplying the voltage to the upper and lower transparent electrodes 3 and 4 is necessary in order to read the voltage values.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of a connection structure between an extension of a touch panel and a controller according to the related art. In FIG. 2, a touch panel 9 includes two silver (A/G) electrodes 12 formed along left and right sides of an upper PET film 1 along the X-axis direction, and two A/G electrodes 11 formed along upper and lower sides of a lower PET film 2 along the Y-axis direction. Accordingly, the A/G electrodes 11 and 12 are formed within a dead space region of 2 μm to 3 μm along one direction of the touch panel 9. Moreover, a size of the touch panel 9 corresponds to sizes of an upper substrate of the LCD panel, wherein electrode lines of the touch panel 9 are formed in a 4-line resistive-type configuration.
In order to operate the 4-line resistive-type touch panel, interconnect of the touch panel 9, a touch controller 23, and a computer (i.e., CPU) using signal lines is required. A device in which the touch panel 9 and the touch controller 23 are connected to each other is referred to as a touch screen assembly. The touch controller 23 switches voltages and output signals provided to the upper and lower substrates of the touch panel 9, and receives input location information as electric signals. Then, the touch controller 23 converts the electric signal from analog signals to digital data, and transmits the digital data to the computer. Accordingly, the touch controller 23 is positioned separately from the LCD device, which is integrated with the touch panel, i.e, the touch controller 23 is positioned outside of the LCD device.
With the creation of ever smaller LCD devices having thin profiles and light weight to improve portability, integration of the LCD device with the touch controller is desired. For example, the touch controller can be mounted inside the LCD device, and the touch controller may be provided as a chip-type device positioned at rear of the LCM device.
In FIG. 2, the A/G electrodes 11 and 12 and conductive lines 13a, 13b, 13c, and 13d transmit and read the electric signals, and are formed within the dead space region of the touch panel 9. In addition, an extension of one of four sides of the touch panel 9 provides a connection part 15 that include end portions of the conductive lines 13a, 13b, 13c, and 13d. A flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) 16 is connected to the end portions of the conductive lines 13a, 13b, 13c, and 13d at the connection part 15. The FPCB 16 is used for electrically connecting the conductive lines 13a, 13b, 13c, and 13d of the A/G electrodes 11 and 12 of the touch panel 9 to the touch controller 23.
When the FPCB 16 of the touch panel 9 is connected to the touch controller 23, an FPCB connector 20 is mounted within the controller 23 so that a connection part 17 of the FPCB 16 is inserted into the FPCB connector 20, thereby electrically interconnecting the A/G electrodes 11 and 12 of the touch panel 9 to the touch controller 23. Since the FPCB 16 is formed of soft material(s), a stiffener is provided with the connection part 17 of the FPCB 16 for easy insertion of the connection part 17 of the FPCB 16 to the FPCB connector 20. Accordingly, the signals output from the 4-line electrodes (A/G electrodes 11 and 12) of the touch panel 9 are transmitted to the touch controller 23 using the FPCB 16 that is inserted into the FPCB connector 20 of the touch controller 23, thereby electrically interconnecting the touch panel 9 to the touch controller 23.
However, the signal connection structure between the touch panel and the touch controller according to the present invention has the following disadvantages. First, since the FPCB 16 of the touch panel 9 is electrically connected to the touch controller 23 by the FPCB connector 20, the FPCB connector 20 is thicker than IC chips below the LCM, whereby a total thickness of the entire interconnection system becomes thick. Thus, obtaining a thin profile and light weight of the LCD device is not achieved. Second, in order to connect the FPCB 16 of the touch panel 9 to the touch controller 23, the FPCB connector 20 is required, thereby increasing manufacturing costs. Third, when connecting the signal lines of the FPCB 16 to the FPCB connector 20, a connection failure may be generated.

Touch screen system and display device using the same


A light processing module includes a light modulator with a liquid crystal panel, and a dust protection member. The dust protection member includes a base frame, and first and second frame elements. The base frame has a color separator mounted therein. The light modulator is mounted spacedly on a component mounting side of the base frame. The first frame element is disposed between the light modulator and the component mounting side, and has a frame opening to receive the liquid crystal panel. The second frame element is disposed between the first frame element and the component mounting side, and has a frame opening to receive a wave plate. The dust protection member permits formation of a dustproof chamber between the liquid crystal panel and the wave plate, and adjustment of the wave plate relative to the color separator.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a light processing module for a projection display device, more particularly to a light processing module with a dust protection member for a projection display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,327,270 discloses a polarizing beam splitter apparatus that includes a quarter wave plate arranged between a polarizing beam splitter and a light valve. The polarizing beam splitter transmits a first polarized component of an incident light along a first optical axis, and reflects a second polarized component of the incident light along a second optical axis. The quarter wave plate is arranged such that a fast or slow axis of the quarter wave plate is perpendicular to a plane containing both the first and second optical axes. In view of the arrangement of the quarter wave plate, increased brightness and improved contrast of a projected image can be achieved. However, since there is no dust protection mechanism employed in the apparatus, dirt can stick onto the light valve, which can result in an adverse affect on the quality of the projected image.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,530,665 discloses a dust protection member for supporting non-rotatably two polarizers on opposite sides of a liquid crystal panel such that dirt is unable to stick onto the liquid crystal panel, thereby preventing deterioration in optical characteristics of the liquid crystal panel.
The entire disclosures of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,327,270 and 6,530,665 are hereby incorporated herein by reference.

Light processing module with a dust protection member for a projection display device