Polythioether polymers, curable compositions of polythioether polymers, the process of making polythioether polymers, and the use of polythioether polymers in sealants, wherein the polythioether polymers and curable compositions are liquid at a temperature of 20° C. or less, are disclosed.

Polythioether polymers are widely used in aviation and aerospace sealants primarily due to their excellent fuel-resistance. In addition to resistance to aviation fuels, polymers useful in aviation and aerospace sealants desirably exhibit the properties of low temperature flexibility, room temperature liquidity, and high temperature resistance. It is also desirable that the process used to synthesize the polythioether polymers be low cost, and free of malodorous and acidic byproducts. Developments in polythioether polymer chemistry have led to polymers exhibiting properties suitable for aviation and aerospace applications. For example, polythioether polymers formed by the free radical catalyzed addition reaction of vinyl ethers and polythiols as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,172,179, U.S. Pat. No. 5,959,071, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,912,319 are liquid at room temperature, exhibit excellent low-temperature flexibility and fuel resistance, and the synthesis does not generate undesirable cyclic or acidic byproducts.
It is further desirable that polythioether polymers used in aviation and aerospace sealants remain liquid at low temperatures potentially encountered, for example, during transportation and storage. Specifically, it is desirable that the polythioether polymers remain liquid at a temperature of 20° C. (68° F.), and more preferably at a temperature of 4° C. (39° F.), for an extended period of time.
In polythioether polymer systems it is known that the introduction of non-linearity into the polymer backbone, such as by incorporating pendent groups, reduces the glass transition temperature of the polymer and enhances the ability of the polymers to remain liquid at low temperatures. U.S. Pat. No. 4,366,307 discloses the incorporation of pendent alkyl side chains to provide liquid polythioether polymers with a glass transition temperature less than −50° C. U.S. Pat. No. 5,959,071 discloses incorporating pendent methyl groups into polythioether polymers to produce fuel resistant polymers that are liquid at low temperatures and that exhibit a glass transition temperature less than −50° C.
Polythioether polymers formed by the two-step addition reaction of polythiol, polyepoxide, and polyvinyl ether are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,486,297. In a first step, a polythiol is reacted with either a polyepoxide or a polyvinyl ether to form a prepolymer. In a second step, the prepolymer and un-reacted polythiol is reacted with the component not participating in the first reaction step. The polyepoxide reaction introduces pendent hydroxyl groups along the backbone of the polythioether polymer and thereby increases the non-linearity in the polymer backbone. Polythioether polymers produced using polyepoxides as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,486,297 exhibit a glass transition temperature less than −40° C. However, because the polyepoxide reaction favors polymer chain extension during the reaction, the resulting polythioether polymers are characterized by a high molecular weight and exhibit commensurate high viscosities on the order of 400 poise at room temperature. For use of polythioether polymers in curable sealant compositions, it is desirable that the polymer viscosity be on the order of 100 poise or less at room temperature.
To overcome the disadvantages inherent in polythioether polymers synthesized using polyepoxides while maintaining the properties advantageous for aviation and aerospace sealant applications, a three-step method using monoepoxides for the synthesis of polythioether polymers and sealants made therefrom, are herein disclosed.
Use of thiol addition chemistry in a three-step reaction process enables control of the polymer structure leading to polythioether polymers that exhibit low-temperature liquidity, as well as other properties desirable for aviation and aerospace sealant applications.
In a first reaction step, a polythiol can be reacted with a monoepoxide having an epoxy group and a second group, other than an epoxy group, that is reactive with a thiol group, such that the reaction takes place preferentially at the second group, to form a first prepolymer. In the first step, a thiol group adds across the double bonds of the second, non-epoxy, group to form the first prepolymer. The first prepolymer can be the 1:1 addition product of a polythiol and a monoepoxide, and comprises an epoxy group and a thiol group. Following the first reaction step, the reaction mixture comprises the first prepolymer and un-reacted polythiols.
The second reaction step comprises the ring opening of the epoxy groups by un-reacted thiol groups, typically in the presence of a catalyst, to form a second prepolymer. In the second reaction step, thiol groups on both the first prepolymer and un-reacted polythiols participate in the ring opening of the epoxy groups to form the second prepolymer. After the completion of the second reaction step, the reaction mixture comprises the second prepolymer and un-reacted starting polythiols. The second prepolymer is a polythiol having a higher molecular weight than the starting polythiols.
The third reaction step comprises the free radical-catalyzed addition of the thiol groups of both the second prepolymer and remaining un-reacted starting polythiols across the double bonds of a polyunsaturated compound such as a divinyl compound.
The three-step synthesis enables control of the molecular weight, polymer structure, and the equivalent weight, to produce polythioether polymers with consistent chemical and physical properties, and existing as a liquid at a temperature of 20° C. or less and that are useful for aviation and aerospace sealant applications. The controlled introduction of polar hydroxyl groups into the backbone of the polythioether polymer, by increasing the overall polarity of the polymer without undesirable chain extension, enhances the compatibility of the polythioether polymer with additives used in the formulation of useful sealant compositions, and also enhances the adhesion properties of the polythioether polymer to surfaces.

Low temperature liquid polythioether polymers


The present invention relates to an internal combustion engine, and more particularly, to an internal combustion having improved performance by promoting mixing of fuel and air using a fuel mixing means installed at an intake port to improve the flow property of the mixture introduced into a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine according to the present invention, a fuel mixing means is installed at an intake port for use in supplying a mixture of fuel and air into a combustion chamber. The fuel mixing means is provided with a stream-disturbing body having a plurality of vanes for disturbing a stream passing through the intake port. The stream-disturbing body is installed rotatably in the intake port to generate a vortex or turbulence so that fuel and air are mixed uniformly and then supplied into the combustion chamber.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an intake port formed in a cylinder head of a conventional internal combustion engine.
An intake port 16 is formed in a cylinder head 15 to communicate with a combustion chamber 17 in order to supply a mixture of fuel and air into the combustion chamber. An intake manifold 18 is coupled to an inlet of the intake port 16. Particularly, in case of a gasoline engine, a fuel injector 19 is installed on an intake manifold side at a juncture of the inlet of the intake port 16 and the intake manifold 18. Fuel injected from the fuel injector is mixed with air passing through the intake manifold 18, and the mixture of fuel and air is supplied into the combustion chamber 17. At this time, if a stream of fuel and air is kept in a laminar flow state, the fuel and air are not mixed uniformly, and thus, the occurrence of incomplete combustion and a knocking in the combustion chamber 17 increases. Therefore, in view of improvement in performance of an internal combustion engine, it is an important task to disturb a gas stream to be supplied into the combustion chamber so as to uniformly mix fuel and air with each other.
To this end, there have been developed a variety of conventional swirling units each of which is inserted into an intake manifold or between an intake manifold and an air cleaner to disturb an air stream, thereby inducing the generation of a vortex or turbulence.
However, since such a conventional swirling unit is disposed in an intake manifold or between an intake manifold and an air cleaner, a vortex or turbulence considerably disappears due to friction in a pipe before air that has passed through the swirling unit reaches a fuel injector or a combustion chamber. Accordingly, fuel cannot be efficiently mixed with air, and a mixture of fuel and air supplied to the combustion chamber cannot be formed into a vortex or turbulence thereof within the combustion chamber.

Internal combustion engine having fuel mixing means installed in intake port


A cooling system is provided for an engine. The cooling system may have an air cooler configured to cool intake air being supplied to the engine. The cooling system may also have a sensor configured to generate a temperature signal indicative of a temperature of the intake air and a fan in proximity to the air cooler. The cooling system may further have a controller in communication with the sensor and the fan. The controller may be configured to cause the fan to operate at a speed that is a function of the temperature signal when the temperature of the intake air is above a threshold temperature. The controller may further be configured to selectively cause the fan to pulse when the temperature of the intake air drops below the threshold temperature.

Engine-driven machines, such as dozers, loaders, excavators, motor graders, and other types of heavy equipment typically include a cooling system that cools the associated engine below a threshold temperature. The cooling system consists of one or more air-to-air or liquid-to-air heat exchangers that chill, among other things, coolant circulated throughout the engine and/or intake air directed into the engine. Heat from the coolant or intake air is transferred to air by a fan that is speed controlled based on temperatures of one or more of the various systems being cooled (e.g., engine).
Many cooling system fans are hydraulically powered. Specifically, a fan circuit may include a pump driven by the engine of the machine to draw in low-pressure fluid and discharge the fluid at elevated pressures to a motor that is connected to the fan. When temperatures are higher than desired, the fan circuit increases the speed of the fan. When temperatures are low, the fan circuit decreases the speed of the fan. However, due to a minimum inlet pressure requirement of the motor, the fan often has a limit on the minimum speed. Therefore, in some situations, for example, in cold ambient conditions, even when operating at the minimum speed, the fan may provide more cooling than is required or desired. This excessive cooling can cause icing of the engine inlet manifold.
One control strategy of preventing over cooling of the engine is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,453,853 (the '853 patent) issued to Hawkins et al. on Sep. 24, 2002. Specifically, the '853 patent describes a strategy for controlling a hydraulic cooling fan. The control strategy reduces the possibility of engine overcooling during cold weather operation by turning the fan completely off whenever engine compartment temperatures are within acceptable limits and there is no request for fan speed.
Although the system of the '853 patent may reduce the likelihood of engine over cooling, it may still be less than optimal. Specifically, because the system of the '853 patent turns the fan completely off for an extended period of time, there is a risk that thermal shock of system components may occur when the fan is turned back on. Another control strategy to allow operation at lower temperatures is to raise engine speed and add loads to the system, but doing so greatly reduces fuel economy of the engine.
The cooling system of the present disclosure is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above and/or other problems with existing technologies.

Cooling system having pulsed fan control


The mechanical energy of an actuator is used for producing vibration alerts in a portable electronic device. The same mechanical energy is also utilized to control the flow of fuel or to mix the fuel in a fuel cell of the portable electronic device. Thus, the flow of fuel into a reaction area of a fuel cell is controlled or fuel is mixed in a fuel storage area of a fuel cell assembly. Such fuel flow control and mixing is performed passively whenever a vibration alert occurs, or is performed actively in response to monitoring the status of the fuel cell assembly.

Some portable electronic devices having fuel cells for charging internal batteries and/or directly powering device functions. Devices with fuel cells often also include additional components (e.g., fuel conditioners, fuel pumps, heat exchangers) and routines for ensuring proper operation of the fuel cell. Active fuel cell management can increase the cost and complexity of and require additional components take up valuable space in a portable device.

Apparatus for electronic devices with vibrators and fuel cells


A method, simulator and program for simulating vehicular movement based upon user input parameters related to simulation topology and simulation vehicles including, but not limited to linear vehicular density. The simulator generates the simulation topology having a simulation area using the user input parameters, places a plurality of simulation vehicles within the simulation area at an initial placement using at least two input parameters related to simulation vehicle and the generated simulation topology; and determines movement of the plurality of simulation vehicles starting with the initial placement using a plurality of movement models. Each of the plurality of simulation vehicles has mobility characteristics generated using the plurality of movement models. When vehicle moves outside the simulation area, the vehicle re-emerges at a location within the simulation area. The vehicle re-emerges with new movement characteristics.

Vehicle mobility simulators have been used to virtually mimic traffic movement. The simulated movement has been used and analyzed by city planners to predict traffic patterns, to design and build new city roads and other infrastructure required for traffic flow. For example, Simulation of Urban Mobility (SUMO) is an open source simulation package that allows a user to simulate traffic flow in an urban environment such as a large city. A user can manually define the roads and other infrastructure elements for the simulation and manually define all of the vehicles needed for the simulating, starting locations and travel route.
Additionally, vehicle mobility simulators have been used in conjunction with mobile wireless networks for model movement of nodes within the network.

Architecture, method, and program for generating realistic vehicular mobility patterns


Apparatus for monitoring respiration of a patient being ventilated through a flexible gas reservoir of an anesthesia machine. The flexible reservoir is provided with electrical components for generating an electrical signal which varies in response to movement of opposing sides of the reservoir closer to or farther from each other. Sound generating apparatus receives the electrical signal producing an audible sound the pitch and volume of which varies in response to the distance between opposing sides of the reservoir.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to apparatus for monitoring respiration of an individual. More specifically, the present invention pertains to apparatus for monitoring respiration of a patient being ventilated through the flexible gas reservoir or bag of an anesthesia machine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A typical anesthesia machine is provided with compressed gas containers, conduits, relief valves, pressure gauges, flow meters and filters. A face mask is connected by a Y-connection to two flexible conduits, one for inhalation and one for exhalation of the patient. Oxygen or other gases may be provided to the patient through the inhalation conduit and carbon dioxide may be exhaled from the patient through the exhalation conduit. The flexible bag or reservoir fills and empties as the patient is being ventilated. The patient can be ventilated by hand, with a mechanical ventilator or by spontaneous respiration. In spontaneous respiration the patient breathes on his own. In respiration by hand, the flexible reservoir or bag is squeezed during inhalation and released during exhalation. With a mechanical ventilator, the reservoir bag is by=passed to an electrical or pneumatic ventilator.
If the person monitoring the respiration of the patient, usually an anesthesiologist, is near the gas reservoir or breathing bag, he/she can tell by visual observation or feel whether or not the patient's lungs are being ventilated in a satisfactory manner. However, it is not always possible to feel or visually observe the flexible gas reservoir or breathing bag.
In a number of cases, it may be necessary for the anesthesiologist to be located some distance from the patient. For example, the anesthesiologist may need to be out of the operating suite while a patient is undergoing general anesthesia for an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) procedure. The anesthesiologist may be required to be away from the patient undergoing X-ray or CAT-scan examination to whom general anesthesia has been administered to prevent movement of the patient. This may be required for neonates, infants, children and adults, including confused or disoriented patients. Patients undergoing X-ray therapy for tumors and other specifically located tumors may require general anesthesia for absolute non-movement. In these cases, the anesthesiologist would not be allowed to be near the patient. In other situations, intra-operative X-ray therapy may be given directly to tumors in operating rooms, requiring all personnel to leave the operating suite while the patient is under anesthesia for the X-ray therapy treatment.
Of course the primary purpose of monitoring the respiration of a patient is to make sure proper lung ventilation is taking place and that apnea (an arrest of respiration) does not occur. Apnea or unusual respiratory oxygen changes can be due to laryngospasm, bronchospasm, drug, mechanical, or physiologically induced pulmonary changes, cardiac arrest, malposition of the laryngeal mask airway or aspiration.
To detect apnea and other respiratory problems, most patients placed under general anesthesia are presently monitored with a pulse oximeter. The oximeter utilizes a sensor peripherally attached to some part of the patient's anatomy, e.g. finger, toe or ear lobe. When oxygen decreases to an unacceptable level, the oximeter so indicates allowing the anesthesiologist to take measures to restore proper ventilation. However, with administration of oxygen (typically 50% to 100%) during an anesthetic the pulmonary oxygen saturation level may remain high, due to oxygen super saturation, for two or three minutes after apnea or other respiratory problems occur. By the time the oximeter indicates an oxygen problem, the anesthesiologist must move very quickly to correct the problem. If the oximeter is not properly positioned or the anesthesiologist is slow in reacting, a potentially harmful situation may arise.
Obviously, any improvement in recognizing apnea or oxygen problems more quickly would be desirable. If detection of such problems could occur two or three minutes earlier, it might result in reduction of respiratory problems, including possible death.


A circuit and method for generating a generally logarithmic transfer function based upon switching signals. The circuit includes a plurality of transistors and a switch operatively connected to each transistor in the programmable set. A line is in communication with each switch for carrying switching signals thereto thereby selecting which of the transistors will contribute to the generally logarithmic function. Preferably, the circuit is a portion of a programmable gain amplifier, and a digital code controls the gain. The gain can be generally logarithmic as a result of which transistors which are selected to contribute to the generally logarithmic transfer function. For example, there may be a plurality of sets of transistors where the values of the transistors in each set are such that when all the transistors of the set are selected to contribute to the generally logarithmic gain, the set of transistors provides a gain having a value approaching m. Each of the transistors in the set has a value which is generally a multiple of 1/2 m.

It is desirable to be able to provide a logarithmic transfer function within certain applications. For example, it is desirable to be able to provide a logarithmic transfer function with an automatic gain control loop because having a logarithmic or exponential gain characteristic "linearizes" equations which are used to calculate bandwidth. In other words, the loop bandwidth is made constant with respect to gain. As a result, it is easier to compensate the loop to guarantee stability.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to provide a logarithmic transfer function in a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) device because these devices have a square law characteristic. In contrast, a bipolar device, for example, has a current-to-input voltage relationship which is exponential. While a CMOS device will have a current-to-input voltage relationship which is exponential at very low currents, this is not a viable option for circuitry which requires a bandwidth above the 1 MHZ range.
The present invention is directed to provide a transfer function which is generally logarithmic and which can be employed in a CMOS device such as in a programmable gain amplifier.

Circuit and method for providing a generally log logarithmic transfer function


A hanger apparatus for allowing garments of various sizes to be hung up with out being stretched. The hanger apparatus includes a hook member being designed for selectively engaging a hanging member whereby the hook member is suspended from the hanging member. A pair of arm members are coupled to the hook member whereby the arm members are suspended from the hanging member when the hook member engages the hanging member. The arm members are designed for being positioned in one of the garments to allow the garment to be suspended from the hanging member. Each of a pair of extension assemblies engages one of the arm members whereby each of the extension assemblies selectively extends beyond the associated one of the arm members to accommodate garments of a larger size.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to adjustable clothes hangers and more particularly pertains to a new hanger apparatus for allowing garments of various sizes to be hung up with out being stretched.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of adjustable clothes hangers is known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 5,102,019 describes a device for extending the shoulder pads outwardly from the support arms to support garments to be hung on the hanger. Another type of adjustable clothes hanger is U.S. Pat. No. 6,409,058 having a pair of movable arms that are extendable from a medial portion to accommodate garments of different sizes. U.S. Pat. No. 6,179,174 has a pair of V-shaped connectors that are connected to a V-shaped hanging member with the connectors being adjustable with respect to hanging member to accommodate garments of different sizes.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the need remains for a device that has certain improved features to provide stability in the hanger when larger garments are placed on the hanger.


The present invention provides a method and system for processing media data on a host processor. The method and system involve receiving media data, generating clocking signals, transferring media data to host processor buffers, generating media transfer done interrupts for each media data stream and generating an override interrupt to indicate to the host processor to process the media data. The override interrupt has high priority and effectively indicates to the host processor to forgo all other scheduled tasks and to start processing the media data.

In the field of telecommunications processing, the development of the private branch exchange (PBX) provided medium to large size enterprises with the ability to provide numerous telephony services without relying upon a central carrier for the provision of the services. Thus, a PBX could provide a medium to large sized enterprise with the ability to provide employees extensions from a central number, each extension being served by a voicemail or other telephony service, without relying upon the telephone service carrier to provide these services. PBX equipment is dedicated equipment designed to service only standard telephony needs. Although this provided a cost effective solution for a number of companies, standard PBX systems are too costly for smaller enterprises, and do not provide the level of telephony service functionality required by many industries.
To provide a simpler solution aimed at smaller markets, standard personal computing platforms have been used as the basis for telephony services. These systems have typically relied upon dedicated expansion cards to provide both a connection to the telephone network (or to a PBX served network) and to provide much of the call processing required. A number of drawbacks to this solution have arisen. Dedicated processors, or digital signal processors (DSP), are typically required on the interface cards as operating systems such as Microsoft Windows XP, Linux and Apple's OS X are not truly designed to perform real time processing on asynchronous streaming data. The dedicated processors are provided on the expansion cards, and typically require a dedicated memory on the card as well. This increases the cost of the card, and also has other adverse side effects including increasing the heat generated in the computer chassis.
In many applications, personal computers with the dedicated expansion cards are used to perform a number of telephony and non-telephony activities. These systems are often used to process the audio in a number of ways, including call logging and recording. Furthermore, the resources of the computer can be used for other telephony functions, such as using the hard drive of the personal computer as storage for both call recording and voice messaging services. The programmability of the personal computer allows monitoring and other related functions to be triggered by any number of variables including time of day, the number dialled, the number a call is received from, the detection of signalling tones originating from either the local or remote phone, and other such variables that will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
These systems can also be deployed in environments such as call centers, where the computer can be used to support non-telephony functions such as databases that access the phone number of the remote party to allow a call operator to access information such as call history and products purchased to allow simplified customer service. As a result, the host computer cannot be treated as a dedicated system because other applications related to, but not directly supporting, the telephony functionality must be able to run on the processor without either degrading the media processing or being degraded by the media processing.
One skilled in the art will appreciate that in addition to audio processing, these system are often employed in the handling of video for videoconferencing and other related functions. The host processor is often employed to adjust the display of the video streams to suit the needs of the viewer. As the video processing for display, and the video processing for both the receiving and transmitting, along with the accompanying decoding and encoding, must be performed in real time, the use of expensive dedicated hardware has been relied upon to provide the stability demanded by users.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a computer based system for processing media stream data that would have the media data processing carried out on the computer processor and that would not require DSPs on interfacing boards connected to the computer. Further, it is also desirable that the computer-based system provides excellent real-time processed media data while allowing undisrupted performance of other applications running on the computer.

System and method for synchronous processing of media data on an asynchronous processor


A solid electrolyte, in which a part of an element contained in a mobile ion-containing material is substituted, and an occupied impurity level that is occupied by electrons or an unoccupied impurity level that is not occupied by electrons is provided between a valence electron band and a conduction band of the mobile ion-containing material, and a smaller energy difference out of an energy difference between a highest level of energy in the occupied impurity level and an energy and a LUMO level difference between a lowest level of energy in the unoccupied impurity level and a HOMO level is greater than 0.3 eV.

Using a non-retardant polymer electrolyte and an ionic liquid as electrolytes for batteries has been considered. However, both electrolytes contain organic substances, and it is thus impossible to eliminate concern regarding liquid leakage and ignition from batteries using these materials.
Meanwhile, all-solid secondary batteries using ceramics as electrolytes are essentially non-combustible and are highly safe, and it is thus possible to eliminate the concern regarding liquid leakage, liquid depletion, and the like. Therefore, all-solid secondary batteries have attracted attention in recent years.
As solid electrolytes for all-solid secondary batteries, various materials have been reported. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses that LiZr2(PO4)3 can be used as a solid electrolyte. Meanwhile, LiZr2(PO4)3 has a problem that a crystal structure changes to a structure with low ionic conductivity at a temperature of equal to or less than 60° C. and ionic conductivity is lowered.
Also, Patent Document 2 and 3 disclose that a part of zirconium in LiZr2(PO4)3 is substituted with typical elements such as Ca. A stable phase of a crystal changes, and a rhombohedral crystal with high ionic conductivity is maintained at a room temperature.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Solid electrolyte and all-solid secondary battery


A system and method for manufacturing a carbon layer is provided. An embodiment comprises depositing a first metal layer on a substrate, the substrate comprising carbon. A silicide is epitiaxially grown on the substrate, the epitaxially growing the silicide also forming a layer of carbon over the silicide. In an embodiment the carbon layer is graphene, and may be transferred to a semiconductor substrate for further processing to form a channel within the graphene.

Generally, integrated circuits may be formed from a variety of active and passive devices on a semiconductor substrate. These active and passive devices may include, for example, transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors, or the like. Additionally, the integrated circuits may also have a plurality of interleaved conductive layers and insulative layers in order to interconnect the various active and passive devices into the desired functional circuitry. This functional circuitry may be connected to external devices using, for example, contact pads or other types of connection to provide power, ground and signal connections to the various active and passive devices.
However, in the race to further miniaturize the integrated circuits, and in particular to further miniaturize the active and passive devices within the integrated circuits, problems have arisen with the various materials that have historically been used to form the active and passive devices. As such, new materials have been investigated as potential replacement materials for various aspects of the active and passive devices in an effort to make the active and passive devices not only smaller and more efficient.
Unfortunately, while there may be materials that may offer benefits if used in various aspects of the active and passive devices, a problem may arise in that the materials may not be easy to incorporate within the manufacturing processes that may be utilized to mass produce the integrated circuit for consumption by the general public. As such, without the ability to mass produce the materials and to integrate them into a mass production process flow, such materials may be only minimally useful. As such, it would be beneficial to find a useful material that is also easily scalable so that the material can be mass produced and incorporated into the mass production of integrated circuit process flows.
Corresponding numerals and symbols in the different figures generally refer to corresponding parts unless otherwise indicated. The figures are drawn to clearly illustrate the relevant aspects of the embodiments and are not necessarily drawn to scale.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


The switch opening-closing mechanism, which makes it possible to increase a contact force so as to improve a vibration resistance, includes a sliding part, a second movable piece, and a second fixed contact. In a case where an amount of movement of a sliding part reaches a second retraction amount, the second movable piece comes into contact with the second fixed contact due to a spring force applied to the second movable piece. In a case where the amount of movement of the sliding part reaches a third retraction amount which is larger than a second retraction amount, the sliding part presses the second movable piece against the second fixed contact.

According to an increase in output of an electric power tool, the level of vibration of the tool has been increased. A contact force of a switch is therefore more necessary than before. As a conventional technique for increasing a contact force, for example, a trigger switch disclosed in Patent Literature 1 is known. The term "contact force" means a force by which a contact of a switch is pressed against the other contact.
As illustrated in (a) of FIG. 10, a trigger switch 100 disclosed in Patent Literature 1 includes (i) a first movable contact 111 which is provided at one end part and (ii) a second movable contact 112 which is provided at the other end part. The trigger switch 100 further includes (i) a movable contact piece 110 configured to turn while being supported at the support member 101, (ii) a slide member 102 configured to slide while pressing a slide surface 113 of the movable contact piece 110 so that the slide member 102 causes the movable contact piece 110 to turn in a seesaw-like pattern, (iii) a first terminal 103 having a first fixed contact 103a, (iv) a second terminal 104 having a second fixed terminal 104a, and (v) a plunger 106 configured to cause the slide member 102 to move horizontally.
As illustrated in (b) of FIG. 10, in a case where the trigger switch 100 thus configured pushes the plunger 106 in, the slide member 102 slides in a rightward direction on the slide surface 113. When the slide member 102 passes a protruding support point 113a provided on the slide surface 113, the movable contact piece 110 turns so that the second movable contact 112 comes into contact with the second fixed terminal 104a.
As illustrated in (c) of FIG. 10, in a case where the plunger 106 is further pushed in, the slide member 102 further slides in the rightward direction on the slide surface 113. Then, in a case where the slide member 102 reaches a top portion 113b of the slide surface 113 at the movable contact piece 110, the pressing force of the slide member 102 increases. This causes the second movable contact 112 and the second fixed terminal 104a to be firmly in contact with each other.
According to the trigger switch 100 thus configured, the contact force between the second movable contact 112 and the second fixed terminal 104a can be increased so as to improve a vibration resistance.

Contact structure for switch, trigger switch and electric power tool


An apparatus includes a planar substrate and an array of substantially transparent spherical micro-lenses forming a pattern. The pattern has an internal two-dimensional lattice symmetry on the planar substrate. Each micro-lens includes a convex bulge or a concave depression in a surface of the planar substrate. The micro-lenses and substrate include hydrogel that swells and contracts in a manner that is responsive to an environmental condition.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to optical lens arrays and methods for making such arrays.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Some living organisms have natural arrays of optical lenses. Examples of natural arrays of optical lenses include the compound eyes of many insects and the skeletons of brittle stars. In these natural arrays, the individual optical lenses are capable of forming separate images. Lens arrays that simultaneously form multiple images have many potential applications. These applications have stimulated an interest in making such arrays artificially. For some applications, it is desirable to have arrays whose individual optical lenses have tunable optical parameters.
Examples of optical lenses with tunable focal lengths include variable compound lenses and electro-wetting controlled droplet lenses. A variable compound lens includes two spherical lenses and a mechanical device for varying the distance between the two spherical lenses. Varying the distance between the two spherical lenses varies the overall focal length of the compound lens. An electro-wetting controlled droplet lens includes a liquid droplet, a non-wettable substrate to support the droplet, and a voltage source to apply a voltage across the droplet. The voltage produces electro-wetting forces between the droplet and substrate. The electro-wetting forces redistribute the liquid of the droplet thereby changing the droplet's surface curvature and the focal length of the droplet lens.
Artificial arrays could provide for tunable focal lengths by incorporating tunable compound lenses or electro-wetting controlled droplet lenses. Nevertheless, compact arrays of such lenses are often inconvenient or complex because of the need for devices to enable tuning of each lens therein. Simple tunable artificial lens arrays are desirable.


An apparatus and method for analyzing a sample containing multiple analytes that combines a separation device that separates the individual analytes by virtue of some physical and/or chemical characteristic other than the mass to charge ratio (m/z) interfaced with a mass spectrometer that detects the m/z of individual analytes. Separation is performed on the shorter timescale than signal detection with the mass spectrometer. A preferred embodiment utilizes an ion mobility spectrometer interfaced with an Orbitrap mass spectrometer.

The past several decades have witnessed exponential progress in the health sciences and biotechnology fields. From the mapping of the human genome to the development of proteomics, today's scientific community has gained an understanding of the processes of living organisms unimaginable to earlier generations. At the core of this progress has been the development of new instruments and new techniques that have allowed scientists to correctly analyze and identify the molecules that are central to their scientific inquiry. To continue to push their progress forward, researchers in these fields are in constant in need of new instruments and/or analytical techniques that offer more precise analysis of these molecules.
One difficulty confronting current researchers is created by the fact that molecules that have structural differences can appear similar or identical in a given analysis. For example, when analyzed in a mass spectrometer, different isoforms of the same protein present the same m/z peaks, and can thus appear identical despite their structural differences.
This problem is illustrated in top-down proteomics, which may involve direct analysis of intact proteins, access to complete protein sequences, and localization and characterization of post translational modifications (PTMs) of the intact proteins. PTMs have well-documented roles in signal transduction, regulation of cellular processes, clinical biomarkers, and therapeutic targets. The identification of proteins with similar or identical mass to charge ratios thus provides an excellent example of the more general problems facing scientists seeking to provide devices and techniques that allow high resolution characterization of molecules.
One exemplary system of such analysis is a so-called Orbitrap mass spectrometer (MS). Due to high mass resolution and mass accuracy at higher molecular masses, an Orbitrap MS is an attractive detection system for biochemical analysis of intact proteins. The high resolution high mass accuracy of the Orbitrap MS provides high sensitivity detection and reliable identification of protein isoforms. However, as is the case with many MS systems, an Orbitrap MS system will not necessarily distinguish between two isoforms of the same protein. It is the different isoforms of the same protein that yield biologically significant functions, and are implicated in a variety of diseases, including Alzheimer's and cancer.
Another exemplary device used in sample analysis is a Drift Tube Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS). An IMS is an orthogonal to MS gas phase separation approach, which differentiate analytes by their shapes and is capable of distinguishing different protein isoforms. However, while an IMS can provide information distinguishing different protein isoforms, it does not provide high resolution and high mass accuracy of the Orbitrap MS.
The coupling of an Orbitrap system with in IMS system would appear to offer ideal separation combined with high resolution detection. However, prior to the present invention, no successful coupling of these devices has occurred, which illustrates a more general problem.
Coupling and efficient operation of a relatively fast separation system, such as an IMS, with a relatively slow MS detection system, such as an Orbitrap system, is problematic because of the different acquisition timescales. Specifically, an IMS separation proceeds relatively rapidly when compared with the analysis in the Obritrap system. Thus, while IMS instrument enables separation of different protein isoforms by their tertiary structures, a feature unavailable with current MS instrumentation, the direct injection of these analytes from the IMS to, for example, and Orbitrap MS would lose this separation data because separated ions would simply be recombined in the Orbitrap MS, due to its relatively slow acquisition time.
In contrast, in systems where a relatively slow separation is coupled with a relatively fast MS analysis, the problem does not exist because the acquisition period of the detection system is shorter than the temporal profile of a front-end separation peak, so that multiple detector measurements can be performed for any given separation peak. The fundamental issue in coupling any fast separation technique (e.g., IMS) to slower detection system (e.g., the Orbitrap or FTICR MS) is the inability to acquire a separation spectrum, as the separation completes before acquisition of a single mass spectrum.
Thus, there is a need for the effective integration and coupling of relatively fast separation techniques with relatively slower MS analysis systems. There is a further need for the ability to analyze samples wherein both the mass spectrometry and the mobility data are preserved, such that the final output is an accurate mass spectrum that retains the high resolution data from every digitized point where each ion species is identified not only by the mass to charge ratio, but also by the separation time of the various species in the sample. The present invention meets those needs.

Method and apparatus for coupling fast separations and slow detection systems


A functionalized polymer includes an elastomer, a terminal functional group including at least one heteroatom, and a unit intermediate the elastomer and the functional group; the intermediate unit includes a terminal moiety which, in its anionic form, is less basic than a secondary amino radical ion. Methods of making the functionalized polymer and of using it with particulate filler to make, e.g., a tire tread composition also are disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the manufacture and use of functionalized polymers capable of interacting with fillers.
2. Background of the Invention
Tire treads, power belts, and the like often are made from compositions that contain one or more elastomers and one or more reinforcing materials such as, for example, particulate carbon black and silica. For a general discussion of this topic, see, e.g., The Vanderbilt Rubber Handbook, 13th ed. (1990), pp. 603-04.
Safety and durability considerations mandate that tire treads provide both good traction and resistance to abrasion; however, motor vehicle fuel efficiency concerns argue for a minimization in their rolling resistance, which correlates with a reduction in hysteresis and heat build-up during operation of the tire. The foregoing considerations are, to a great extent, competing and somewhat contradictory: a tire tread composition designed to improve tread traction on the road usually results in increased rolling resistance and vice versa.
Typically, filler(s), elastomer(s), and additives are chosen so as to provide an acceptable balance of these properties. Ensuring that constituent reinforcing filler(s) are well dispersed throughout the elastomeric material(s) in such compositions both enhances processability and acts to improve physical properties such as, e.g., compound Mooney viscosity, elastic modulus, tan δ, and the like. Resulting articles made from such compositions can exhibit desirable properties such as reduced hysteresis, reduced rolling resistance, and good traction on wet pavement, snow and ice.
Increasing the interaction with elastomer(s) is one way to improve their dispersion. Examples of efforts of this type include high temperature mixing in the presence of selectively reactive promoters, surface oxidation of the compounding materials, surface grafting, and chemical modifications to the terminal ends of the polymers with, e.g., amines, tin compounds, and the like.
Because elastomers used in such compositions often are anionically polymerized, attachment of certain functional groups, particularly amines, is difficult. This is because living polymers are terminated by active hydrogen atoms such as are present in, e.g., hydroxyl groups, thiol groups, and particularly primary and secondary amine groups. This undesired termination can be avoided through use of reaction schemes that allow for attachment of non-amine N-containing compounds followed by conversion to amines, i.e., indirect attachment schemes.
Continued hysteresis reduction and provision of a direct mechanism for attaching amine functionality to a living polymer both remain highly desirable.

Functionalized polymer with linking group


A computer-implemented method is provided for optimizing scheduling and resource allocation for a workflow. The method includes receiving i) resource information representing resources available for allocation to the workflow and ii) one or more workflow constraints. The method determines one or more probable sequences for executing the workflow. Each probable sequence includes tasks usable to execute at least a portion of the workflow. Each task is assigned a probability of task execution. The method assigns a probability of sequence execution to each of the probable sequences based on the probability of task execution of the tasks forming the probable sequence. The method further determines an optimized scenario for scheduling the workflow based on the probable sequences. The optimized scenario can have an optimized probability of completion.

Workflow management involves, in part, planning, organizing, securing and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of workflows with respect to specific goals and objectives. A workflow generally includes a sequence of interdependent tasks, where each task is executed following the previous task without delay and ends just before the subsequent task begins. Goals and objectives achievable by a workflow can be provided in a service-level agreement (SLA), which can define, for example, a contracted delivery time of service.
In today's workflow planning, there is a lack of efficient mechanism to model and manage resource demands by workflows. In addition, there is a lack of efficient mechanism to optimize scheduling of workflows to achieve certain business targets. Due to an ever-increasing number of operations-related concerns in today's work environment, there is a great deal of interest in improving these mechanisms. For example, in operations workforce planning, a manger may be concerned with having the appropriate resources available for allocation to the right work groups to deliver certain business-level goals associated with a forecasted volume of work. As another example, in business operations planning, a manager may be concerned with developing an efficient resource allocation plan that allows the business to achieve targeted goals defined by one or more SLAs, even during peak seasonal workloads.

Method and system for optimized scheduling of workflows


The abject of the invention is a device for maintaining crimping regions of a flexible circuit in an electrical connector comprising a body (12) provided on the one hand with housings (14) adapted to receive contacts (16) with pins (24,25) to be crimped, and on the other hand with a flap (28) that is moveable in rotation with respect to this body about an axis (30).

The present invention concerns a device for maintaining seating zones of a flexible circuit in an electrical connector. The invention also covers the electrical connector thus equipped with this maintaining device.
The flexible circuits in question, more generally designated as xe2x80x9cflexxe2x80x9d in the field of connectors, are sheets formed from a first layer of insulating material on which are built up wiring lines of conductive material which constitute both conductors and contacts.
These wiring lines are protected and insulated by a second layer of insulating material or by a dielectric varnish.
Such flexible circuits are used in the case of multiple contacts to be disposed in a small clearance and to be rejoined at their outlet as they were at their inlet.
The width and thickness of the wiring lines determines the conductive capacity, which in turn leads to disposing, on a same flexible circuit and in a same connector, varying dimensions of contacts.
The numerous advantages of these flexible circuits have led to designers using them more and more, especially in the automotive field.
In practice, the connection of the set of contacts is effected in a single operation, generally by seating after introduction of the flexible circuit into the connector. Generally, locking means assure in a complementary manner the mechanical retention of the sheet in the said connector.
Connection devices for flexible circuits are known, in particular from French patent application No. 99/13772 now published under FR 2 800 520 A1 in the name of the same applicant, which illustrates this type of connector and this mode of connection.
To that end, the connector described in this prior art comprises a casing provided with a series of cavities for receiving contacts with terminals to be seated on the flexible circuit, and a cover element constituted of a frame provided with an opening permitting the passage of a seating tool.
Thus, the casing is present with its cover opened to permit the introduction of the contacts, then this element is closed, leaving a passage slit for inserting the flexible circuit, which immediately arrives above the contacts to be seated. The seating is done by crimping the contacts by means of a crimping tool and permits seating various contacts on the circuit.
This cover element is also provided with foldable tabs, integral with the supporting frame of the pins. Simultaneously with crimping, these tabs are folded and the pins penetrate into holes previously provided in the flexible circuit.
The pins, after passing through these holes of the flexible circuit, are retained in corresponding housings of the casing.
Although this arrangement is satisfactory from the viewpoint of contact quality, as well as mechanical resistance to detachment and reliability, there remains a difficulty in that the manufacturing is delicate in the sense that the circuits must be pre-formed with holes.
Moreover, the mechanical retention is effected only at two or three points corresponding to the holes, and could be improved.
Finally, the formation of holes requires positioning them in the circuit between the wiring lines, to the detriment of compactness.
The present invention seeks to further improve this arrangement, so as to provide a connector wherein the device for maintaining crimping zones is complete, with distributed and linear forces. Moreover, the present device, a detailed description of which will follow, is especially advantageous in the sense that it avoids any manipulation of the flexible circuit for forming holes therein, as it is, on the contrary, mounted xe2x80x9cas is.xe2x80x9d
The manufacture of the connector itself is facilitated and the mounting of the flexible circuits is also greatly simplified.
According to the present invention, the device for maintaining crimping seating zones of a flexible circuit in an electrical connector comprises a body provided on the one hand with housings adapted to receive contacts with pins to be crimped, and, on the other hand, with a flap that is moveable in rotation with respect to this body about an axis, characterized in that it comprises means for clamping the flexible circuit in the body comprising an opposed tongue and groove pair, disposed parallel to the axis of rotation of the flap.
According to a preferred embodiment, the tongue has a trapezoidal section, so as to constitute with the groove an open U-shaped offset portion.
The retaining solution consists of disposing the tongue on the flap and providing the groove in the body.
The invention also covers the electrical connector equipped with this device for maintaining crimping zones of a flexible circuit and it moreover comprises locking means for the flap when the tongue cooperates with the groove, after the flexible circuit has been positioned.
According to another characteristic, the flap is formed by molding with the body and may assume three principal positions:
an as-molded open position, with an angle of about 75xc2x0,
a delivery position permitting the insertion of the contacts and the insertion of the flexible circuit, with an angle comprised between 20xc2x0 and 5xc2x0 , and
a closure position, with no angle, upon crimping of the flexible circuit.

Device for maintaining seating zones of a flexible circuit in an electrical connector, and connector so equipped

Abstract: The invention also covers the connector equipped with this device.


A system for analyzing at least a portion of a telecommunications network is provided. The system includes a traffic flow analyzer 124 operable to (a) assign a plurality of network components to at least first, second, and third component sets 1216, 1220 and 1224, respectively, wherein the first and second component sets correspond to voice communication endpoints; (b) determine bulk voice traffic flows at least one of generated and received by the first and second component sets and passing through the third component set; and (c) based on the bulk voice traffic flow passing through the third component set, determine a requirement for the third component set to realize a selected grade and/or quality of service.

Telecommunication engineers frequently model telecommunication networks for a variety of purposes. For example, such modeling information can be used to design, properly and effectively, new networks and identify traffic flow problems in existing networks. The networks can then be reconfigured to remove the problems, thereby enhancing dramatically both network performance and the quality of subscriber service. When a customer orders an enterprise system, it is necessary to provide recommendations for the required desired quantities of the various components and resources to be used. Many such components are traffic-sensitive and must be sized based upon anticipated call traffic levels.
Much of the modeling theories and algorithms have been developed for circuit-switched networks. Normally, the usage of a circuit-switched transmission route or switch can be defined by two parameters, namely the calling rate, or the number of times a route or traffic path, is used per unit period (or more properly defined the call intensity per traffic path during the busy hour) and the holding time, or the duration of occupancy of a traffic path by a call (or sometimes the average duration of occupancy of one or more paths by calls). The "busy hour" refers to the carried and/or offered traffic on a traffic path during the busiest continuous one-hour period of a typical day. Carried traffic is the volume of traffic actually carried by a traffic path, and offered traffic is the volume of traffic offered to the traffic path. A traffic path is a channel, time slot, frequency band, line, trunk, link, switch, server, network, circuit, or other network component over which individual communications pass concurrently or in sequence. Traffic density refers to the number of simultaneous calls at a given moment while traffic intensity represents the average traffic density during a one-hour period (and is denoted by the unit Erlang). The grade of service, denoted by p, expresses the probability of meeting call blockage during the busy hour.
When dimensioning a traffic path, several mathematical formulas have been used. The Erlang B loss formula (which is typically based on lost calls cleared) is given by the following mathematical relationship:
      E    B    =                    A        n            /              n        !                    1      +      A      +                        A          2                /                  2          !                    +      …      +                        A          n                /                  n          !                    where EB is the grade of service (i.e., the probability of finding all channels busy) n is the number of trunks or servicing channels, and A is the mean of the offered traffic. The formula assumes that traffic originates from an infinite number of sources, there is equal traffic density per source, lost calls are cleared assuming a zero holding time, the number of trunks or servicing channels are limited, and full availability exists. In the United States, the Poisson or Molina formula is preferred and is given by the following mathematical relationship:
  P  =            e              -        A                                ∑                  x          =          n                ∞                                                              A          x                          x          !                    where P is the probability that calls will be lost (or delayed) because of insufficient channels, A is the expected traffic density, expressed in busy hour Erlangs, n is the number of channels in the group of channels, and x is a variable representing a number of busy sources or busy channels. The Poisson formula assumes that traffic originates from a large (infinite) number of independent subscribers or sources (random traffic input) with a limited number of trunks or servicing channels, there is equal traffic density per source, and lost calls are held. Other mathematical formulas in use include the Erlang C formula (which assumes infinite sources, lost calls delayed, exponential holding times, and calls serviced in order of arrival) and the binomial formula (which assumes finite sources, equal traffic density per source, and holding of lost calls).
Network design in general and resource provisioning in particular is becoming increasingly more difficult. The complexity results from the multiplicity of communication modalities, such as circuit-switched voice, packet-switched voice or VoIP, instant messaging, and chat sessions, the differing types of traffic (voice and nonvoice) being handled simultaneously by a packet-switched network and the difficulty in predicting with accuracy the volume and nature of the traffic, the concurrent usage of both circuit-switched and packet-switched networks, the use of encrypted and unencrypted data streams, and the variety and number of software and hardware components required to operate the networks.
Design based on mathematical calculations, such as those noted above, is overwhelming due to the inability to cope with complex network topologies, intricate inter-population calling patterns, and the various influences of compression and resource usages imposed by inter- and intra-site codecs (or coders/decoders). Current mathematical models are capable of dealing with only a few sites, only the most generic calling patterns, and only a grossly simplified application of codecs. Real world examples, however, can include hundreds of sites with unlimited combinations of populations, calling patterns and codecs. These real-world examples are completely beyond the capabilities of any purely mathematical analysis.
Due to the limitations of mathematical approaches, stochastic or event-driven modeling or simulation techniques have been developed to assist in network design. In such techniques, the network is characterized functionally in software and calls having predefined durations are generated at selected intervals. The call interarrival and holding times follow a defined type of probability distribution, such as an exponential distribution. The generated calls are inputted into the logical characterization of the network. The individual call flows through the various nodes of the simulated network can be observed and analyzed. This approach can not only be computationally demanding but also difficult to implement. More complex networks can require hundreds of man hours to logically characterize. Such man-hour expenditures are economically prohibitive in many applications, such as resource provisioning.

Procedural XML-based telephony traffic flow analysis and configuration tool


Provided is an apparatus and method that perform display control to avoid a blackout of a display unit at the time of capturing an image for recording. The apparatus includes an imaging element, a frame memory, a display unit, and a control unit, and the control unit starts exposure preparation processing of the image for recording in response to input detection of image-capturing operation on the imaging apparatus, and executes exposure processing of the image for recording in the imaging element and storage processing of the image for recording in the frame memory after completion of the exposure preparation processing. Moreover, the control unit stops exposure of an image for displaying of the imaging element with the start of the exposure preparation processing, and displays the image for displaying on the display unit until display of the image for recording is enabled, to avoid the blackout.

In a case where image capturing is performed by using a camera (imaging apparatus), many users (image-capturing persons) confirm an image displayed on a display unit such as an LCD display unit or an electric view finder (EVF) of the camera.
For example, the user (image-capturing person) can determine an image-capturing timing by observing the image displayed on the display unit, and press a release button (shutter button).
Furthermore, the user (image-capturing person) can display the captured image on the display unit and confirm the captured image.
In a case where image capturing is not performed, a current image incident on an imaging element of the imaging apparatus, in other words, a live view image (LV image) is displayed on the display unit of the imaging apparatus. The live view image (LV image) is also referred to as a through image, and the user (image-capturing person) can determine the image-capturing timing by confirming the live view image (LV image) displayed on the display unit.
In a case where the user (image-capturing person) performs image-capturing processing, the release button (shutter button) is pressed. Along with this release button operation processing, exposure preparation processing is started, for example, mode switching of the imaging element, or the like.
However, in many imaging apparatuses, imaging is stopped of the live view image (LV image) of the imaging element due to the start of the exposure preparation processing, and as a result, a period occurs in which nothing is displayed on the display unit. A so-called blackout of the display unit occurs. Note that, the blackout of the display unit is described, for example, in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2015-186234).
When the blackout occurs, the user (image-capturing person) cannot confirm the display image.
Furthermore, there is a possibility that problems occur such as user's discomfort, or misunderstanding that operation mistake has been performed due to an influence of the blackout of the display unit generated with pressing of the release button.

Imaging apparatus and image processing method


This invention provides a novel geometry for the placement of components on a personal wireless communication device (150) to greatly reduce the radiation impinging on a user""s head and brain. Radiation intensity experienced by a user""s brain is reduced by placing transmitting antenna (152) on the bottom of communication device (150) and having the housing of communication device (150) form an obtuse angle so that the bottom portion of the housing angles away from the user""s face. Speaker outlet earpiece (158) is placed near the top of upper housing (160) to keep the user""s ear, head, and brain away from antenna (152) which is placed on the bottom of lower housing (164). Control keypad (165), display (163), and microphone (166) are placed below earpiece (158) as space allows on communication device (150). The design may include a pivot joint between upper housing (160) and lower housing (164) to provide the obtuse angled section between earpiece (158) and antenna (152) and thus, angle the lower housing of communication device (150) away from the operator""s face while in use.

This invention relates to personal wireless communications devices, and more specifically to communications device designs that reduce the radiation received by the user.
The use of cellular phones and other wireless communication devices have become very popular in recent years. (PDA""s phones, cellular phone, walkie-talkies, digital communicators, wireless phones, and others are among the many ways we communicate. Along with these phones has come the fear that they may cause health problems, including cancer. Whether this fear is founded or just hysteria, science has yet to determined conclusively. However, the fact remains that the majority of people presently want devices that limit their exposure to electromagnetic radiation emitted by these communication devices. And the Environmental Protection Agency has taken the threat seriously enough to fund expensive long-term research in this area and has issued cautionary warnings about the extended use of cellular phones. The problem is particularly great with modern cellular phones and other high power wireless communication devices which use the new very short antennas. These short antennas produce a much higher power density around the antenna compared to older long antennas. When in use, these personal communication devices are brought to rest against the user""s ear and the antenna is positioned approximately one inch away from the user""s head with their brain absorbing a considerable portion of the antenna radiation. People""s biggest fear is that very this close proximity of a high-power antenna to the user""s skull can cause brain cancer and leukemia. Besides the possible problem with cancer, placing a person""s head so close to the antenna also causes a significant portion of the transmitted energy to be absorbed or blocked. This reduces the transmitted signal and can cause communication problems due to a weakened signal.
Inventors have attempted to solve the radiation absorption problem by designing a multitude of ways to block and shield the transmitted signal from the user""s head. Unfortunately, these designs still create very strong radiation patterns near the user""s head, and also interfere with transmission and reception of signals. Many companies have compromised by simply moving the location of the antenna a few millimeters further away from the user""s head. Angling the antenna slightly away from the user""s head is also a common practice.
However, prior art does exist which may reduce radiation exposure for the user, including:
Foreign Patent WO0193611 published Dec. 6, 2001 to Harris of Australia
U.S. Pat. No. 6,246,374 on Jun. 12, 2001 to Perrotta
U.S. Pat. No. 6,184,835 on Feb. 6, 2001 to Chen
U.S. Pat. No. 6,104,350 on Aug. 15, 2000 to Ng
U.S. Pat. No. 5,561,437 on Oct. 1, 1996 to Phillips
U.S. Pat. No. 5,508,709 on Apr. 16, 1996 to Krenz
U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,061 on Aug. 9, 1994 to Pye
U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,173 on Dec. 8, 1992 to Krenz
U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,346 on May 7, 1991 to Phillips
U.S. Pat. No. 4,571,595 on Feb. 18, 1986 to Phillips
None of the prior art appears to show the Applicants"" designs. The Applicants"" invention can provide radiation intensities to the user""s brain nearly an order of magnitude lower than any of the above prior art. The Applicants"" design may also provide better reception at the same power level than prior art because of reduced signal absorbed by the user""s head and face. The physical distance placed between the user and the transmitting antenna accomplishes this. Mounting the antenna on the bottom achieves this distance (see FIG. 3). Angling the antenna at the bottom of the phone can further increases the distance (see FIGS. 8 and 10), and combining a bottom mounted antenna with an angle-away body section (see FIGS. 4, 6, 7 and 12) can further reduce the radiation intensity absorbed by the user over the best prior art.
The disclosed invention solves the radiation problem for wireless communication devices by placing the transmitting antenna on the bottom of the communication device. Radiation levels can be further reduced by angling the transmitting antenna on the bottom of the communication device so that it angles away from the user""s face while in use. The phone housing may also be angled so that the bottom portion of the phone is positioned away from the user""s head and brain, which effectively positions the transmitting antenna significantly away from the user""s head and brain. The result is that the user absorbs less total energy, and the highest intensity electromagnetic radiation (xe2x80x9chot spotxe2x80x9d) next to the brain can be eliminated. This repositioning of the antenna places the antenna at about chin and neck level on the user depending on how they hold the phone. This has the secondary advantage that it allows more horizontally transmitted signal to escape absorption. Absorption is reduced both because of the thinner effective cross-section of the user""s chin and neck area, and the greater distance the antenna is away from the user""s chin and neck. Also, if a directional transmitting antenna can be used (see FIG. 7B) the user can absorb even less of the electromagnetic radiation. The result is a much smaller percentage of the transmitted and received electromagnetic radiation can be absorbed by the user, thus improving both transmission and reception of electromagnetic signals.
Accordingly, the disclosed invention can have one or more of the following objects and/or advantages:
a) To allow a cellular phone antenna to be moved significantly away from the user""s head and brain, thereby greatly reducing the potential damage done by electromagnetic waves.
b) To provide antenna transmission at approximately chin or neck level, to improve horizontal transmission field due to the thinner cross-section of the user""s chin area and neck (less absorption) compared to placing the antenna near the user""s head.
c) To provide a directional antenna in the bottom portion of a phone to further reduce radiation absorbed by the user""s head.
d) To use lower transmitter power settings because of the better horizontal transmission field mentioned in item xe2x80x9cb)xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cc)xe2x80x9d above.
e) To greatly reduce total radiation absorbed by a user""s brain and head when using a wireless communication device.
f) To greatly reduce the electromagnetic energy intensity (power density-watts/cm{circumflex over ( )}3) experienced by the user""s brain.
g) To locate the normal operating position for a wireless communication antenna a significant distance away from the user""s head without significantly changing the general ergonomics of the wireless device.
h) To greatly reduce radiation absorption from wireless communication devices, and reduce the need for radiation shields or remote earphones and microphones.
i) To allow the user to adjust the angle of the antenna for better reception while at the same time reducing the user""s exposure to high-intensity antenna radiation.
j) To allow the ear piece portion of the wireless device to be at an angle with respect to the majority of the device so that the body of the phone angles far away from the operator when used (FIGS. 7A and B). With the antenna on the bottom of the phone the radiation pattern can be placed further away from the user""s face than with phones which may be angled near their mid-section (FIGS. 4 and 6).
k) To allow lower radiation levels by mounting an antenna on the lower back portion of the wireless communication device (see FIGS. 7A, 7B and 8).
l) To allow standard antenna designs and transmitters to be used with the new invention without the need for major modifications, thereby reducing the cost of modifications to the phone.
m) To provide a bottom mounted antenna that is pivotal along one and/or two axis.
n) To allow much higher transmitter power levels while maintaining safe radiation levels to the user""s brain by operating the antenna a significant distance away from the user""s head.
o) To provide a flip-open phone where the antenna is in the lower portion of the phone and the phone opens to angle backward away from the user""s face when in use.
p) To provide a flip-phone design which opens to more than 180 degrees (see FIGS. 9, and 12A and B) and has the battery and speaker in the top portion of the phone.
q) To provide a flip-phone design which opens to more than 180 degrees and has the keypad and antenna in the bottom (lower) portion of the phone (see FIGS. 12AandB).
r) To provide a flip-phone that can be designed to be gripped by the upper portion of the phone so that the user""s hand and fingers are exposed to lower levels of electromagnetic radiation from the transmitting antenna on the lower portion.
s) To provide a flip-phone that can be designed to easily be gripped by the upper portion of the phone and not easily gripped by the lower portion of the phone to encourage the user to keep their hand and fingers away from the transmitting antenna on the lower portion. This both reduces absorbed radiation, and improves transmission and reception of electromagnetic signals.

Inverted safety antenna for personal communication devices


A device for adjusting the back foci of an objective and a camera to one another has a housing by which a graphic pattern and an optics are mounted at a predetermined distance F′ from each other. The temperature compensation for the distance F′ is constant to ±2 mm for a temperature change of Delta 20° Celsius. The device also includes an apparatus for matching the back foci of an objective and a camera to each other, in which a housing has a fastening mechanism for fastening an object-side end of the objective and a graphic pattern is arranged in the housing on the end of the device opposite the fastening mechanism. The invention also includes a method for equalizing the back foci of an objective and camera using specific steps.

A new series of objectives under the name "Digiprime" has been offered by the Zeiss company. The objectives are for high definition digital cameras. Such cameras are offered, for example, by the Sony or Panasonic companies.
An essential difference from the objectives for film cameras heretofore consists of the possibility of changing the image-side intercept distance (termed "back focus" in English) of the objective by means of a rotary ring. This is necessary because the tolerance for the back focus within the camera is large in comparison with a film camera. Moreover, the objective holder in the camera is as a rule made of aluminum, and greater wear can be expected. Such an adjustment can of course be achieved in that the back focus of the camera is changed, or a back focus change takes place by means of an intermediate ring inserted between objective and camera.
The adjustment to the correct back focus must take place very accurately, since a faulty setting results in out of focus pictures.
Methods are described hereinafter which are up to now known for matching the back focus of the objective to the back focus of the camera.
In methods used in practice up to now, a Siemens star printed on cardboard is imaged from a distance of 1–2 m by means of the camera, which is provided with a corresponding objective. The distance of the Siemens star from the objective or the camera is measured with a tape measure. The image of the Siemens star obtained with the camera is assessed. For adjustment, the image is made sharp by turning the back focus adjusting ring. The image can be observed during this adjustment by means of the viewfinder, or else by an external control monitor.

Device for equalizing the back foci of objective and camera


An object of the invention is to provide a coordinate input apparatus which phase-shifts an input signal in accordance with temperature and corrects a phase shift due to a change in temperature, thereby performing coordinate input. A phase shift unit of a temperature phase shift circuit is constituted by connecting two thermistors having the same temperature characteristics and two capacitors having the same capacitance to constitute a bridge circuit. An output (Eout) has a gain of 1 with respect to an input (Ein) and is phase-shifted by tan.sup.-1 [(-2.omega.CR)/.+-.(1-.omega.CR).sup.2)], where R represents a value which exponentially varies in accordance with temperature. For this reason, the output signal can be phase-shifted in accordance with a change in temperature. When this circuit is applied to a coordinate input apparatus using an ultrasonic wave vibration, the phase shift of a vibration due to variations in temperature is corrected, thereby enabling coordinate input stable with respect to changes in temperature.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a temperature phase shift circuit for performing temperature compensation of the phase of a signal or time data in, e.g., an environment with a change in temperature, and an ultrasonic wave coordinate input apparatus using this circuit.
2. Related Background Art
Normally, countermeasures against temperature changes in various electronic equipments which are susceptible to influences of such temperature changes are classified as follows.
(1) When a change in characteristics of an electronic device such as a sensor upon a change in temperature. poses a problem, the temperature is measured, and the obtained data is corrected in accordance with the measured temperature. Particularly, when a high precision is required, a temperature control mechanism is arranged to keep the temperature of the electronic device at a predetermined value.
(2) When a change in characteristics of an electronic circuit, mainly a semiconductor element upon a change in temperature poses a problem, as a first method, a feedback loop is formed in a circuit to perform feedback control, thereby obtaining a predetermined output amplitude. As a second method, reverse characteristics, with respect to temperature, of a temperature compensation passive element (represented by a temperature compensation ceramic capacitor) are utilized to cancel the change in characteristics of the semiconductor element upon the temperature change. The former method is normally used to stabilize the gain of an amplifier or the oscillation frequency of an oscillator. The latter method is generally used when the same purpose as that of the former needs to be attained though the precision need not be so high.
As an apparatus influenced by a change in temperature, an ultrasonic wave coordinate input apparatus will be described below. FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the arrangement of an ultrasonic wave coordinate input apparatus.
In FIG. 2, an arithmetic operation/control circuit 1 controls the entire apparatus and at the same time calculates a coordinate position. A vibration member driving circuit 2 drives a vibration member 4 in a vibration pen 3. A pulsed driving signal is supplied from the operation/control circuit 1 to the vibration member driving circuit 2. The driving signal is amplified by the vibration member driving circuit 2 with a predetermined gain and then applied to the vibration member 4. The electrical driving signal is converted into a mechanical vibration by the vibration member 4 and transmitted to a vibration transmission plate 8 via a pen tip 5. The vibration transmission plate 8 is constituted by a transparent member such as an acrylic or glass plate. An input operation by the vibration pen 3 is performed by touching the surface of the vibration transmission plate 8 with it.
That is, when the vibration pen 3 is brought into contact with an area (effective area) A indicated by a solid line in FIG. 2, a vibration generated by the vibration pen 3 is input to the vibration transmission plate 8, and the input vibration is detected by vibration sensors 6a to 6d. The detected vibration is converted into an electrical signal by the vibration sensors 6a to 6d, and its waveform is processed by a signal waveform detection circuit 9, thereby extracting the arrival timings of the vibration to the vibration sensors 6a to 6d. A predetermined time offset amount is subtracted from the time lengths from the driving timing of the drive signal to obtain the arrival timings of the vibration. The obtained values are used as vibration propagation times that were required by the vibration to propagate on the vibration transmission plate 8, thereby performing arithmetical processing. With this operation, the distances between the point designated by the vibration pen 3 to the vibration sensors 6a to 6d are calculated. A coordinate position can be calculated from a plurality of obtained pen-to-sensor distances by using triangulation.
The predetermined time offset amount is the sum of a time serving as the same offset amount for all the vibration sensors 6a to 6d, e.g., a time necessary for propagation of the vibration at the pen tip 5 of the vibration pen 3, and a time serving as an offset amount which is different for each of the vibration sensors 6a to 6d, e.g., a circuit delay generated in the signal waveform detection circuit 9 or the response time of each of the vibration sensors 6a to 6d. This time is present independently of the actual vibration propagation time.
The propagating vibration is reflected by the end face of the vibration transmission plate 8. To prevent (or decrease) the reflected wave from returning to the central portion, an anti-vibration member 7 is provided to the side surface portion of the vibration transmission plate 8. The operation/control circuit 1 performs coordinate calculation processing by the vibration transmission timings extracted by the signal waveform detection circuit 9, and at the same time, outputs coordinate data to a display driving circuit 10, thereby displaying the data on a display 11 such as a liquid crystal display unit. The display 11 is arranged behind the vibration transmission plate 8 and displays dots at positions traced by the vibration pen 3. These dots can be observed through the vibration transmission plate 8 (transparent member).
If the ambient temperature around the apparatus changes, the time length from the driving timing to the arrival timing changes accordingly. For this reason, a coordinate portion may be erroneously calculated and output. The main factors contributing to this problem are as follows.
a) In accordance with a change in temperature of the vibration pen 3, the propagation time of the vibration in the pen tip 5 changes to cause a change in time corresponding to the predetermined time offset amount. The pen tip 5 consists of a polyamide-imide plastic enhance the operability, i.e., feeling of writing by the vibration pen 3. In this case, the sound velocity in the material largely changes with respect to a change in temperature.
b) In accordance with a change in temperature of the vibration pen 3, the frequency of the vibration generated in the vibration pen 3 changes. Since the vibration propagating in the vibration transmission plate 8 is Lamb wave, the propagation speed changes in accordance with frequency. For this reason, the vibration propagation time itself changes.
c) In accordance with a change in temperature of the signal waveform detection circuit 9, the amount of time delay due to the circuit also changes. This is because the circuit has characteristics in which the switching speed of the semiconductor element in the circuit largely changes in accordance with temperature. When a semiconductor element having a switching speed at least 100 times that corresponding to the vibration frequency is selected in advance, a change in temperature of performance can be suppressed. However, this cannot be realized from the viewpoint of cost.
In addition to the above three factors, a change in propagation speed due to a change in temperature of the vibration transmission plate 8 (even at the same vibration frequency), or a change in response characteristics of the sensor is also a potential factor, though the influence of such factors is extremely small as compared to the above three factors.
A change in arrival timing due to the above three factors results in a change in the same direction, i.e., when the temperature increases, the arrival timing is delayed, and when the temperature decreases, the arrival timing is advanced. If the vibration generated by the vibration pen 3 has a frequency of about 500 kHz, the arrival timing changes by about 450 ns within a temperature range of 0 to 40.degree. C. If the distance between the vibration pen 3 and the vibration sensor 6 does not change, the arrival timing linearly increases with respect to temperature. The value, 450 ns corresponds to about 1/4 the period of the vibration and is too large to ignore. In this case, the value, 450 ns, is exemplified. However, this value changes when the vibration frequency or shape of the pen is changed in accordance with the use purpose of the apparatus. The value, 450 ns, is therefore only an exemplary value.
Of the factors a) to c), the factor a), i.e., a change in vibration propagation time in the pen tip 5 is considered as the largest factor influencing the coordinate calculation, and accounts for 1/2 or more of the value, 450 ns. Originally, since a plastic has a sound velocity smaller than that of a metal, the absolute amount of a change in propagation time due to a change in temperature increases even when the propagation length does not change. Therefore, although the length of the pen tip 5 is currently minimized, the above difference in propagation time is still generated.
The following methods are used to eliminate the difference in propagation time.
.alpha.) Even when the ambient temperature changes, the predetermined time offset amount is updated to a new value by designating a known input point, thereby correcting the delay time.
.beta.) Vibration sensors which number more than that necessary for coordinate calculation by at least one are arranged, and a change in time offset amount, which is included in the arrival timings of all the vibration sensors by the same amount, is obtained, thereby performing distance and coordinate calculations.
These methods are used as countermeasures against temperature changes, thereby preventing variations of the function of the apparatus itself depending on the variation amount of the physical characteristics of the vibration pen 3 (electroacoustic conversion element).
However, the above-described conventional countermeasures, applied to an electronic apparatus which is liable to the influence of the environmental temperature, have the following drawbacks.
1) In order to compensate the characteristics of an electronic device such as a sensor, a large-scaled operation control system for measuring the temperature by a temperature sensor or the like and performing correction, or a large-scaled temperature control system for keeping a predetermined temperature is required. In any case, the apparatus itself becomes bulky and expensive.
2) The conventional temperature compensation circuit is used to keep a predetermined circuit gain or oscillation frequency or to linearly change them with respect to temperature. Therefore, this temperature compensation circuit cannot compensate the phase or detection timing of a signal.
In addition, the temperature compensation ceramic capacitor to be used has a performance range of .+-.5% even if it is of a high-precision type. For this reason, a compensation circuit constituted by a capacitor prior to selection, i.e., at a low cost becomes a factor for variations in characteristics. Since the temperature coefficient is not very large, several hundred ppm/.degree.C at maximum, the performance range for temperature compensation is accordingly limited.
Furthermore, the conventional ultrasonic wave coordinate input apparatus has the following drawbacks.
1) In the arrangement .alpha.), the user of the apparatus must often designate a known input point, resulting in a complex operation. Additionally, since a known input point is designated by the user, the coordinate calculation precision is degraded.
2) In the arrangement .beta.), at least one more sensor is necessary, resulting in an increase in cost. Additionally, the arrival timing used for calculation of the variation amount of the time offset includes an error such as circuit noise. For this reason, a calculation error is generated in the obtained variation amount of the time offset as well, resulting in a degradation in coordinate calculation precision as in the arrangement .alpha.).

Temperature phase shift circuit and coordinate input apparatus