A method and apparatus for inspecting a substrate having a surface on which a photoresist material has been deposited. The apparatus preferably includes a device for transporting substrates through an illumination beam such that the edges of the substrates are sequentially irradiated by the beam without requiring that each substrate be individually manipulated. The illumination beam is generated and projected onto the substrates by equipment configured to produce a beam having a size, wavelength, and intensity sufficient to cause the photoresist material to fluoresce with an intensity that can be detected without magnification. Inspection can be performed manually or automated through optical equipment that can detect flaws in the photoresist based on knowledge of the patterned image desired for the photoresist.

In the processing of semiconductor devices, photoresist materials are used for a variety of applications, including use as etch masks for the fabrication of surface features and implant masks for patterning implants in a semiconductor material. Understandably, significant problems arise if the photoresist material is missing or improperly exposed and/or developed. Without early detection that would permit the use of remedial procedures, semiconductors with improper photoresist coverage must be scrapped at considerable cost.
In response to this problem, the prior art has sought to visually inspect semiconductor wafers to ensure the presence and suitability of their photoresist coverage. For this purpose, the prior art has proposed the use of fluorescence microscopes operating at a wavelength which will cause the photoresist material present on a wafer to fluoresce, though only sufficiently to be detectable with considerable magnification, e.g., about 100.times. or more. With this method, each wafer is individually placed on a microscope stage, an operator focuses the microscope to obtain a clear image of the wafer, and then illumination radiation is projected along the optical axis of the microscope and focused on the surface of the wafer. The operator must then scan the surface of the wafer to visually determine the presence of the photoresist and evaluate its coverage and patterning.
A single silicon wafer is likely to go through numerous masking levels, an error at any one of which can result in wafer scrap. Because deficient photoresist coverage, exposure and development occur generally randomly at low levels, a 100% inspection rate is often necessary to achieve any significant reduction in wafer scrap. Unfortunately, doing so using the above-noted prior art methods entails significant additional labor and slows processing considerably. Therefore, it would be desirable if an inspection method were available that was capable of accurately and reliably detecting the presence and patterning of a photoresist material on the surface of a substrate, though at a rate vastly higher than that possible with prior art techniques.

Method and apparatus for inspecting a photoresist material by inducing and detecting fluorescence of the photoresist material


A USB Type-C connector module includes a circuit board, a configuration-channel (CC) chip and a plurality of conductive terminals electrically connected with the circuit board. One end of the circuit board has a tongue, which a plurality of golden-fingers are arranged at two sides thereon. A USB Type-C connector is constituted by the tongue and the golden-fingers. CC golden-fingers of the USB Type-C connector are electrically connected to the CC chip for accepting a CC operation. Power golden-fingers of the USB Type-C connector are electrically connected to a power control chip of an external mainboard through the plurality of conductive terminals for receiving power. Data golden-fingers of the USB Type-C connector are electrically connected to a PCH of the external mainboard for transmitting data.

Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a connector and, in particular to a connector module.
Description of Prior Art
With the development of semiconductor industry, all kinds of electronic devices such as personal computers, tablet computers and smart phones are innovative. Because of convenience and powerful functionality, they spread to the general public living around rapidly.
In recent years, with the popularity of universal serial bus (USB), all kinds of electronic devices are almost provided with a USB port. Therefore, users can transfer data via USB interface easily. Currently the most common USB interfaces are USB2.0 for supporting 480 Mbps high-speed transmission rate, USB3.0 for supporting 5 Gbps high-speed transmission rate, and Micro USB providing for mobile electronic devices (i.e. smart phones).
However, with the rapid development of electronic devices, the transmission rate of above-mentioned USB2.0, USB3.0 and Micro USB have not been able to meet some users' needs. Thus a new generation of USB3.1 specification on the market is developed, wherein the USB 3.1 Type-C for supporting 10 Gbps transmission rate is the most attracted by users.
As USB Type-C has complex functions and with up to 24 terminals, one or more chips have to be disposed on a mainboard if a USB Type-C connector is provided in an electronic device. For example, a chip for detecting output signals through a configuration channel (CC) of a USB Type-C connector, a chip for switching an upper layer signals and a lower layer signals of USB Type-C, and a chip for amplifying input and output signals.
Hence the above chips will occupy the limited configuration space on the mainboard that will make the mainboard not have inadequate space for using. Therefore, nowadays electronic devices are minimized as a mainstream. Thus how to support USB Type-C interface without wasting configuration space and having difficulty in circuit design when those chips are disposed on the mainboard is the object of researchers of the present field.


Identifying parking spaces and notifying user devices provides an easy way to reduce traffic and save time for registered users. One example may include activating a sensor to detect at least one status change, monitoring a predefined area for the at least one status change, receiving at least one status change at a first time, receiving at least one additional status change at a second time, comparing the at least one status change and the at least one additional status change to a valid sequence of status changes, determining a valid sequence of status changes has occurred, and transmitting a notification to a registered user device previously registered to receive a notification when the valid sequence of status changes occurs.

There are approximately one quarter of a billion cars currently registered in the United States. The majority of these vehicles spend the majority of their time in a resting state. This resting state requires a parking spot to rest in when not in use. In large cities the number of available parking spots may be limited with respect to the number of cars wishing to park at that moment. In some large cities individual parking spots have sold for nearly a million dollars, which tends to indicate the potential value of finding a parking spot.
In publicly available parking environments, there are two general types, parking garages or open lots and individual parking spots on the street. The curb-side parking spots may be timed, metered or restricted. The availability of these curb-side parking spots may be limited and being aware of their location and availability may prove an optimal service. The instant disclosure will concentrate on the availability of public parking spaces and the alerting of available parking spaces and their subsequent filling.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Transport parking space availability detection


The present invention provides compositions and methods for selectively inhibiting the proliferation of stellate cells, which are important for the development of liver fibrosis upon liver injury. The invention describes conditioned media from immortalized hepatocytes as containing a death factor that induces apoptosis of activated liver stellate cells. This pro-apoptotic activity is shown to be associated with an 80 kDa protein, which is associated with a fetuin peptide sequence and an albumin peptide sequence.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to compositions and methods of treating liver fibrosis or cirrhosis. Specifically, the invention is directed to compositions and methods for killing liver stellate cells.
2. Description of the Related Art
According to the American Liver Foundation, over 300,000 Americans are hospitalized each year for cirrhosis of the liver. The primary causes of cirrhosis are alcohol abuse and chronic hepatitis C. To date, approximately 3.9 million Americans suffer from Hepatits C. It is also estimated that 18,000 people are in need of liver transplants, which are in woefully short supply. Thus, it is essential to saving lives that new medical treatments for preventing and reversing liver cirrhosis are developed.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major causative agent of acute and chronic hepatitis, which may lead to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (Choo, Q. L. et al, 1989; Di Bisceglie, A. M. 1997; Saito I. et al 1990). Natural immune responses are not capable of terminating HCV infection in most patients. Furthermore, neither a vaccine nor any other means of very effective therapy is available to control HCV (McHutchison et al., 1998). Immune evasion and a quasispecies nature are prominent features of HCV (Farci et al., 1992; Weiner et al., 1992; Purcell, 1994). The molecular mechanisms whereby HCV circumvents the immune response, persists, and causes chronic liver disease is not well understood. However, these processes would likely require immune mediated factors, and the interaction of viral proteins with cellular factors (Rehermann and Chisari, 2000).
HCV contains a single positive-stranded RNA as its genome. HCV genome encodes a precursor polypeptide of ˜3,000 amino acids. This precursor polypeptide is cleaved by both host and viral proteases to at least 10 individual proteins: C, E1, E2, p7, NS2, NS3, NS4A, NS4B, NS5A, and NS5B (Clarke, B. 1997). Diverse functional activities of the HCV core protein have already been noted by a number of investigators (Ray and Ray, 2001-FEMS). Our own work and the results from other laboratories suggest that the core protein has multifunctional activities. These include encapsidation of viral RNA, a regulatory effect on cellular and unrelated viral promoters, interactions with a number of cellular proteins, a modulatory role in programmed cell death or apoptosis under certain conditions, involvement in cell growth promotion and immortalization, induction of HCC in transgenic mice, and a possible immunoregulatory role. These intriguing properties suggest that the core protein, in concert with diverse cellular factors, may contribute to pathogenesis during persistent HCV infection.
Hepatic stellate cells (HSC) constitute approximately 15% of the total number of resident liver cells, and are the pivotal cell type involved in the development of hepatic fibrosis (McGee J O, J Pathol; 106, 1972; McGee J O, Lab Invest; 26:429-440, 1972). Following liver injury of any etiology, HSC are activated from quiescent cells into proliferative, fibrogenic, and contractile myofibroblasts (Friedman, 2000, and Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1985; 82: 8681-8685. and Rockey D C, Submicrosc Cytol Pathol 1992; 24:193-203.). The survival of activated HSC in liver injury is dependent on soluble growth factors and cytokines, and on components of the fibrotic matrix (Iredale, 2001).
Liver fibrosis is a central feature of the majority of chronic liver injuries due to metabolic, genetic, viral, and cholestatic diseases. It results in distortion of the liver architecture (cirrhosis), which is associated with disturbance of liver function and significant morbidity and mortality (Friedman S L. N Engl J. Med., 328:1828-1835, 1993). During the liver injury these cells are activated and the process involves cell proliferation and acquisition of fibrogenic and contractile capacity. Liver hepatocytes plays an important role in this activation (Smith et al; 2003; Hepatology). The resolution of hepatic fibrosis is associated with the remodeling of the excess liver matrix and may result in restitution of near normal liver architecture in patients (J. F. Dufour, et al Dig Dis Sci. 1998, 43 2573-2576; J. F. Dufour, et al. Ann Intern Me, 199,7 127, 981-98; Kaplan, R. A. et al. Ann Intern Med. 1997, 126, 682-688) and experimental animal models (G. Abdel-Aziz, 1990). An essential element of this recovery process is the apoptosis of activated HSC (J. P. Iredale et al J Clin Invest. 1998, 102 538-549). Understanding the mechanisms of HSC apoptosis might provide insight into novel therapeutic approaches to treat advanced hepatic fibrosis. HSC apoptosis are shown to be induced by activated Kupffer cells through a novel mechanism (Fischer R, et al. Gastroenterology. 2002; 123:845-61) and by ligands of the peripheral type benzodiazepine receptor (Fischer R, et al. Gastroenterology. 2001; 120:1212-1226). However, very little is known about the role of hepatocytes for HSC apoptosis. Murine hepatocytes have been shown to secreate an inducing protein that selectively causes apoptosis in liver (Ikeda et al, Immunology, 2003, 108,116-122). Hepatic stellate cells, when isolated and grown on plastic surface, spontaneously undergo activation. This culture induced activated stellate cells have been extensively studied as a model cell line of liver fibrogenesis.
The inventors have sought to address the issue of liver homeostasis and disease, particularly the interaction between hepatocytes and stellate cells. Is stellate cell growth controlled by immortalized hepatocytes? Do activated stellate cells in turn regulate hepatocyte growth? Understanding these interactions will offer new avenues for therapeutic strategies to combat liver disease.

Method of manufacturing a stellate cell death factor


A method and apparatus for molding a plastic element having a body with a surface from which at least one rib extends and an insert at least partially arranged against the surface and under the rib. The method carried out by the apparatus includes the steps of: (a) installing the insert against a wall of an injection cavity, the wall having at least one slit extending at least partially opposite at least one part of the insert, the slit being adapted to form the rib of the plastic element; and (b) injecting molding material into the injection cavity to create the body and the rib of the plastic element. A support element is positioned in the slit, against the insert, to support said insert during the injection.

Molded plastic elements such as are used in motor vehicles are sometimes made with a body having a surface from which at least one rib extends, and an insert at least partially arranged against said surface and under said rib. These plastic elements may be made by installing the insert against a wall of an injection cavity, the wall comprising at least one slit extending at least partially opposite at least one part of the insert, the slit being adapted to form the rib of the plastic element, and then injecting molding material into the injection cavity to create the body and the rib of the plastic element.
Such a plastic element is typically intended to form a tactile surface, for example, for a motor vehicle central console, the or each rib being intended to stiffen the plastic element.
However, the known plastic elements are not fully satisfactory. In fact, it often happens that the insert is damaged during the molding process and that, once integrated into the plastic element, it cannot perform its function correctly.

Molding a plastic element having an insert


There is disclosed a semiconductor device which has a first insulating film formed on a surface of a semiconductor substrate, a polysilicon layer formed on the first insulating film, a second insulating film formed on the polysilicon layer, and a metallic interconnection layer formed on the second insulating film. The polysilicon layer is formed thicker at a connection portion than other portions and is connected to the metallic interconnection layer via a hole formed in the second insulating layer. The film thickness of the polysilicon layer is large at the contact forming portion so that it is possible to prevent the contact hole from being formed passing through the polysilicon layer even if the lower polysilicon layer is excessively etched during the contact hole forming process.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device, and more specifically to an MOS semiconductor device using a polysilicon layer as an interconnection layer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, in semiconductor devices, or in MOS semiconductor devices in particular, a polysilicon layer formed by doping impurities is often used as an electrode or an interconnection layer. Further, aluminum is usually used as the interconnection material. Accordingly, a polysilicon layer is electrically connected to an aluminum layer in such a way that the polysilicon interconnection layer and the aluminum interconnection layer are laminated, disposing an interlayer insulating film therebetween, and then both the layers are connected to each other via a hole formed in the insulating film.
In more detail, in a conventional semiconductor device, an insulating film is formed to cover a polysilicon layer, a contact hole is formed in the insulating film, an aluminum layer is formed on the insulating film, and the polysilicon layer is connected to the aluminum layer via the contact hole.
With the advance of semiconductor manufacturing technology, recently there exists a tendency that the difference in level in an interlayer insulating film on which an interconnection layer is formed can be reduced and additionally the film thickness of the polysilicon layer can be reduced owing to the progress of micromanufacturing technology.
Further, although conventionally the contact holes have been formed by wet etching technique, recently dry etching is often used to form the contact hole.
As described above, in order to form a contact hole for interconnection between the two layers, it is necessary to form a desired contact hole in the insulating film formed on the surface of the polysilicon layer by dry etching. In this process, it is indispensable to etch only the insulating film without etching the polysilicon layer under the insulating film, by appropriately determining etching gas and etching conditions. In general, however, since the dry etching conditions are determined so that the insulating film can be removed perfectly for providing a secure connection, by utilizing a difference in etching rate between the insulating film and the polysilicon layer, it is unavoidable that the polysilicon layer is etched even slightly.
In the conventional device, as described above and as shown in FIG. 1, where a polysilicon layer 6 is reduced in thickness, there exists a problem in that the contact hole is formed passing through the polysilicon layer 6 into a field isolation oxide film 3 under the polysilicon layer 6, without being stopped at the polysilicon layer 6, as depicted on the right side in FIG. 1.
When an aluminum layer is formed on the upper layer, the electric contact between the aluminum interconnection layer and the polysilicon layer cannot be achieved normally, with the result that the contact resistance increases or, in the worst case, both the layers are not connected electrically.

Semiconductor device having an interconnection layer of a polysilicon layer and a metallic layer


Provided herein are methods and arrangements and related cell-free biomolecular breadboards configured to design, build, implement, debug, and/or test a genetic circuit to be operated in a target environment, by testing in a cell-free system under conditions of the target environment, molecular components of the genetic circuit and/or combinations thereof to select the molecular components and/or combinations thereof of a genetic circuit operative in the target environment.

Synthetic biology has emerged as a useful approach to decoding fundamental laws underlying biological control. Recent efforts have produced many systems and approaches and generated substantial insights on how to engineer biological functions and efficiently optimize synthetic pathways.
Despite efforts and progresses, current approaches to perform such engineering are often laborious, costly and difficult. Challenges still remain in developing engineering-driven approaches and systems to accelerate the design-build-test cycles required for reprogramming existing biological systems, constructing new biological systems and testing genetic circuits for transformative future applications in diverse areas including biology, engineering, green chemistry, agriculture and medicine.

Cell-free biomolecular breadboards and related methods and arrangements


A package (1) for containing loose items comprises at least one outer casing (2), at least one inner casing (3) accommodated slidably within the outer casing (2) and capable of motion between a closed configuration, in which an opening (4) presented by the inner casing (3) is concealed completely by the at least one outer casing (2), and an open configuration in which the opening (4) is exposed at least in part. The package (1) further comprises at least one connecting appendage (5) hinged along a first line to a side wall of the outer casing (2), and along a second line to a side wall of the inner casing (3) breasted in sliding contact with the side wall of the outer casing. The outer casing (2) comprises a locking part with a flap (6) folded to act against a corresponding locking part of the inner casing (3) also comprising a flap (7), both flaps (6, 7) in folded state being attached to the outer casing (2) and the inner casing (3), respectively. The two locking parts prevent immediate opening of the package from the closed configuration to the open configuration and wherein said part of the outer casing (2) is thicker than said part of the inner casing (3).

Prior art discloses packages of a reclosable type consisting of a container of parallelepiped appearance that presents a base, and a set of side walls extending parallel to a longitudinal axis. The package is also furnished uppermost with a lid, hinged to the container and retained in the closed position by means of a tongue attached permanently to the selfsame container and designed to engage a lip presented by an inside face of the lid.
The products contained in such packages often cannot be dispensed satisfactorily, in particular small tablet-type items, given that with the lid in the open position, the size of the opening through with the contents are released is the same as the entire cross sectional area of the package.
In addition, the lid remains free to pivot on its hinge when open, and can impede the passage of the contents when shaken out of the pocket.
Finally, the tongue is easily defaced, so that the closure of the lid cannot be guaranteed of as long as the contents may remain in the package.
FR 2850952 discloses a package composed of two casings slidable one within another. The inner casing presents an opening of outline selected to suit the product, located in one side face, which is opened or closed by sliding the outer casing of the inner casing. The two casings are joined by a tear-off strip that must be removed in order to enable the sliding motion that opens the package. Finally, the two casings are interconnected by way of a common appendage associated with a bottom edge of the outer casing and with a bottom end face of the inner casing, serving as a travel limiter that prevents the two casings sliding entirely free of one another.
Once the tear-off strip has been removed, the two parts of the conventional package described briefly above remain free to slide as far as the travel limiting appendage will allow, and consequently it will often happen that when movement is induced in the package, for instance when in a garment pocket or a bag, the two parts extend one from another, far enough to expose the opening and allow the tablets or sweets to spill out accidentally.
In US 20050029336 another example is shown of a folding box that comprises an outer contour unit having outer wall elements connected via outer contour fold lines, a lid unit, a base unit, and a reclosable removal opening. A lower inner contour unit with lower inner wall elements connected via lower inner contour fold lines is folded inside the outer contour unit and connected to the outer contour unit via connecting fold lines. A polygonal upper inner contour inner unit having the removal opening and upper inner wall elements connected via upper inner contour fold lines is folded inside the outer contour unit. At least one connecting flap connects the lower and upper inner contour units and is folded inside the folding box. Folding or extending of the connecting flap allows relative displacement of the upper inner contour unit towards the outer contour unit.
A further example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,291 showing a package for containing loose items. The package comprises at least one outer casing and at least one inner casing accommodated slidably within the outer casing and capable of motion between a closed configuration, in which an opening presented by the inner casing is concealed completely by the at least one outer casing, and an open configuration in which the opening is exposed at least in part. The package further comprises means interposed between the outer casing and the inner casing, by which to stabilize the inner casing in each of the two configurations.
For overcoming the above mentioned problems a solution is suggested in EP 1 888 414 where, apart from what is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,291, the stabilizing means comprise at least one connecting appendage hinged along a first line to a side wall of the outer casing, and along a second line to a side wall of the inner casing breasted in sliding contact with the side wall of the outer casing.
When used for items that should not be easily accessible for children, for instance medicine, there are requirements or guidelines as concerns child safety. No one of the above described packages provides for a package that is considered difficult for a child to open and at the same time has a simple construction.


A liquid crystal display panel and a liquid crystal display device are provided. The liquid crystal display panel includes: a first substrate, a second substrate arranged opposite to the first substrate, and a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between the first substrate and the second substrate, in which a heating electrode is arranged on a side of the first substrate facing towards the liquid crystal layer. Heat generated by the heating electrode can directly act on liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer, so that the liquid crystal display panel can be quickly started and a response of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer can be accelerated in a low temperature environment, thereby guaranteeing the display quality of the liquid crystal display device in the low temperature environment.

Since liquid crystal display devices for military or on-vehicle display are often used in special operating conditions, they are required to have a wide range of adaptable ambient temperature, and sometimes even are required to operate normally in a temperature range of −20° C. to 55° C. However, since viscosity coefficient and threshold voltage of liquid crystal material increase, response becomes slow at a low temperature, or even liquid crystal crystallization phenomenon occurs, the liquid crystal display devices cannot operate normally at low temperature. The wide-temperature type liquid crystal display device (produced by SHARP Corporation) has a low temperature normal operating point of −10° C., while a normal-temperature type liquid crystal display device has a low temperature normal operating point of −5° C. Below the above low temperature normal operating points, the response of the liquid crystal display device may be slow down. Therefore, in the development of the liquid crystal display devices for military or on-vehicle display, measures must be taken to widen the low temperature operating range of the liquid crystal display device, in order to ensure its normal operation in a low temperature environment.

Liquid crystal display panel and liquid crystal display device

SHANGHAI TIANMA MICRO-ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.


An improved pulse oximeter incorporating an innovative method for exposing a patient's extremity to electromagnetic radiation of two wavelengths, e.g., a red wavelength and an IR wavelength, and detecting the absorbance of the extremity at each of the wavelengths, said method comprising the steps of:. (a) generating overlapping first and second pulse trains of electromagnetic radiation having first and second wavelengths and having the same frequency but differing in phase by 90 degrees; PA1 (b) exposing the extremity to the first and second pulses; PA1 (c) producing an electrical signal corresponding to the electromagnetic radiation intensity of both the first and second pulses added together; PA1 (d) amplifying said electrical signal using a tuned amplifier; and PA1 (e) demodulating said electrical signal using the first pulse and second pulse, independently, as reference signals. In an alternate embodiment of the invention, improved rejection of noise is provided by using pseudo random sequences for the LED drives and the demodulator reference signals.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to oximeters which measure levels of blood oxygenation and, in particular, to a plethysmograph system for pulse oximetry having a reduced noise sensitivity.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Oximeters are photoelectric devices which measure the oxygen saturation of blood. Historically, these devices were first used in clinical laboratories on samples of blood taken from patients. In recent years, non-invasive oximeters have been developed and are now widely used in intensive care units to monitor critically ill patients and in operating rooms to monitor patients under anesthesia. Early non-invasive devices relied on dialization of the vascular bed in, for example, the patient's ear lobe to obtain a pool of arterial blood upon which to perform the saturation measurement. More recently, non-invasive devices known as "pulse oximeters" have been developed which rely on the patient's pulse to produce a changing amount of arterial blood in, for example, the patient's finger or other selected extremity. See Yelderman et al., "Evaluation of Pulse Oximetry", Anesthesiology, 59:349-353 (1983), and Mackenzie, N., "Comparison of a Pulse Oximeter with an Ear Oximeter and an In-Viv Oximeter", J. Clin. Monit., 1:156-160 (1985).
Pulse oximeters measure oxygen saturation by (1) passing light of two more selected wavelengths, e.g., a "red" wavelength and an "IR" wavelength, through the patient's extremity, (2) detecting the time-varying light intensity transmitted through the extremity for each of the wavelengths, and (3) calculating oxygen saturation values for the patient's blood using the: Lambert-Beers transmittance law and the detected transmitted light intensities at the selected wavelengths.
Prior to the present invention, the patient's extremity has been exposed to the selected wavelengths sequentially, that is, a first light source, such as, a red-emitting LED, has been turned on for a period of time and then turned off, and then a second light source, such as, an IR-emitting LED, has been turned on and then off. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,167,331 and 4,407,290. Alternatively, it has been proposed to pass broadband light through the extremity and separate the transmitted light into two components using appropriate filters. See U.S. Pat. No. 3,998,550.
Each of these approaches lead to complex and/or expensive devices. For example, filters which are able to adequately separate IR from red light are generally expensive. Also, two light sensors, one for each wavelength, are required for the filter approach. Accordingly, with this approach it is difficult to produce an inexpensive, disposable sensor module, as is required for operating room and other uses.
In the case of the sequential exposure approach, the apparatus must keep track of which light source is active. This involves deploying switches throughout the signal processing portion of the apparatus whose states are changed as the different sources become active. In addition, delay or "dead" times must be incorporated in the system to ensure that the measured transmittance relates to just the source which is currently active and not to a combination of the two sources. Moreover, the sources must be switched rapidly and the delay times must be kept short so that within each on-off/on-off cycle, the amount of blood and other characteristics of the patient's extremity remain essentially constant.
In addition to the foregoing, both approaches suffer from interference problems due to ambient light and signals produced by random electrical and optical energy sources. In particular, changing amounts of ambient red and/or IR radiation can lead to errors in the oxygen saturation measurement. Both of these radiations are normally present in, for example, an operating room as a result of general lighting and the presence of active electrical equipment. Variations in the levels of these radiations at the location of the oximetry sensor can result from such simple activities as movement of personnel or equipment within the operating room. Moreover, even constant amounts of these background radiations pose problems for existing oximeters since they saturate the sensor and/or lead to low signal to noise ratios.
Development of an oximeter with a high signal-to-noise ratio is extremely important. Currently, pulse oximeters are not very useful in the treatment of some of the sickest people. Lowering of the pulse decreases the signal-to-noise ratio, and therefore, negatively affects the oximeter reading. Patients that have cardiac problems or that are very cold have weak pulses. The elderly generally have very weak pulses in the extremities. There has also been great difficulty is using a pulse oximeter to measure the oxygen saturation of a fetus. If a pulse oximeter, less susceptible to noise, could be developed, it would be capable of providing a reading even when a patient has a weak pulse, and would thereby make pulse oximetry available to a larger population of patients.
In an attempt to deal with the ambient radiation problem, existing oximeters have incorporated complicated circuitry to compensate for background radiation and have placed the sensors in hoods or other packages designed to minimize the amount of ambient light which can reach the sensor element.
In addition to the ambient radiation problem, existing oximeters are also highly sensitive to signals created by electrical apparatus. Electrical devices in hospitals, such as electro-surgical instruments, can generate radio frequency signals that a plethysmograph system can pick up. It is desirable then to minimize the sensitivity of the system to interfering signals from sources of this nature.
A known technique for minimizing the interfering signals described above is to alternately drive the light sources by a signal having a frequency which is not present in artificial light or characteristic of other medical instrumentation. While effective for rejecting unwanted signals, the energization of the light sources in alteration by the driving signal mandates that the detector be synchronized with the driving signal for correct demodulation. As the following discussion will show, this arrangement requires undesired widening of the receiver bandwidth resulting in an introduction of noise to the system.
A second known technique for eliminating the interfering signals described above is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,555,882. This technique involves scanning each demultiplexor frequency to determine which has the lowest associated noise. The noise level, associated with the operating frequency, is used to determine the signal-to-noise ratio of the pulse oximeter signals and thereby qualify certain signals from the pulse oximeter. Those pulses associated with a signal-to-noise ratio below a predetermined threshold are rejected and excluded from use in calculating blood oxygen saturation. This technique reduces noise to a certain extent, however, where several interference sources exist, the selection of the optimal modulation frequency can be extremely difficult.
A third known technique for reducing noise in pulse oximeters is disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4807630 and 4848901. This technique involves the use of dual drive frequencies for the LEDs. This technique has a number of drawbacks. First, implementation of this technique requires the use of a pair of bandpass filters, thereby increasing the cost of the oximeter. Second, use of this technique requires the introduction of a second modulation frequency, which on its own may make the system more receptive to noise. Third, treating the two modulation frequencies differently (giving them different frequencies) may prevent cancellation of error when the red signal and the IR signal are eventually divided by the microprocessor.
A simpler and more effective solution to the interference/noise problem is to adopt an alternate modulation scheme which allows the use of a narrow-band photodetector amplifier. Use of such an amplifier completely avoids the generation of spurious response lobes, as will be discussed in further detail below. Since sensitivity is restricted to a narrow band of frequencies, there is much less opportunity for noise to enter the system. Further, the analysis of harmonics and selection of the optimal modulation frequency is much simplified.
The above mentioned solution may also be useful in improving the design of oximeters incorporating a reflectance sensor which uses back scattered rather than transmitted light. A pulse oximeter incorporating a reflectance sensor has a much smaller amplitude signal to work with. Consequently, a reduction in noise would be extremely useful for such an oximeter.


An end portion of an elongate personal flotation device includes a hand-held tool. In one embodiment, a hand-held tool head assembly has a mounting cup with a cylindrical wall and a flat cup base. The cup is fitted over an end portion of a flexible, cylindrical, noodle-type flotation device. A boss extends from the cup base outward, generally along the longitudinal axis of the flotation device. In a first embodiment, a trigger actuated, plunger type hand pump for pumping water is pivotally mounted on the boss and may rotate about the boss axis. In a second embodiment, a scrubbing brush is so mounted.

Personal flotation devices which provide buoyant assistance to a person immersed in water in maintaining a portion of their body above the water's surface long have been known in the art. Such devices have been used for safety and rescue purposes as well as for recreation and amusement. These devices have taken various forms including life vests, water wings, small rafts, and toroidally shaped life preservers. Such devices may be fabricated utilizing rigid or soft buoyant materials and/or may include air filled chambers. A currently popular form of such device, used primarily for recreational purposes, is an elongate noodle-type device with free ends formed of soft, deformable, buoyant, plastic, closed-cell foam material. These devices may be placed between the legs, or across the chest and under the arms, or across the back and under the arms by a user to provide buoyant support and assistance. These personal floatation devices of the prior art have not generally been utilized to provide buoyant assistance when working with hand-held tools in an aquatic environment because of the difficulty of managing and controlling such flotation devices while utilizing an independent hand-held tool.
When used for recreation and amusement, these noodle-type personal flotation devices of the prior art are passive, generally offering only a buoyant force for flotation assistance and playful resistance.
Hand-held tools such as pump devices for projecting a stream of liquid toward distant locations have also long been known in the art. Such pump devices are commonly used to apply cleaners , water and other liquids to surfaces. Such pumps may also take the form of squeeze balls and water pistols utilized to project streams of water for amusement and recreation. These pumps are typically associated with a reservoir of relatively small volume from which liquid is drawn and projected as a stream, spray, or mist.

Personal flotation device apparatus with hand-held tool


A microwave dispersing apparatus of a microwave oven having a dispersing unit for evenly dispersing into a cooking chamber through first and second waveguides the microwaves generated by oscillation of a magnetron, the apparatus comprising: a rotary motor mounted on a first waveguide; first and second pulleys installed at the first and second waveguides for being rotated along with a driving rotary motor; a belt positioned between the first and second pulleys for enabling the two pulleys to be simultaneously rotated; first and second feeders disposed for being subsequently rotated by the rotating first and second pulleys; and first and second rotary antennas rotatively installed for evenly dispersing microwaves to the cooking chamber through the first and second waveguides as the antennas are eccentrically rotated by the power of the first and second feeders.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microwave dispersing apparatus of a microwave oven, and more particularly to a microwave radiating apparatus of a microwave oven which evenly heats and cooks foodstuff in a cooking (heating) chamber by rotating rotary antennas to evenly disperse the microwaves (high frequency waves or electric waves) generated by oscillation of a magnetron.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A microwave oven, in accordance with a first embodiment of the prior art in FIG. 1, includes a housing(14) dividing the cooking chamber(12) in a main body(10) forming an external appearance and a turntable motor(16) disposed at a bottom of the housing(14) for being driven by power generated from a power source (not shown).
In addition, it also includes a coupler(20) installed at a turntable motor shaft(18) of the turntable motor(16) for being rotated by the rotating turntable motor, a roller member(22) for being rotated along with the coupler(20) and a releaseable turntable(24) for placing foodstuff thereon.
There are also provided a waveguide(26) welded on one side of the housing(14), a high voltage generator(28) installed on the other side of the housing(14) for generating a high voltage with power supplied from the power source and a magnetron(30) disposed at one end of the waveguide(26) for generating microwaves by the high voltage power from the high voltage generator(28).
A microwave oven in FIG. 2, in accordance with a second embodiment of the prior art, includes first and second waveguides(42, 44) welded at external upper ends of a housing(40) at a predetermined interval, first and second rotary motors(48, 50) mounted with a motor bracket(46) on the first and second waveguides(42, 44) for being driven by power and non-metallic motor shafts(52, 54) disposed under the first and second rotary motors(48, 50) for being respectively penetrated through the first and second waveguides(42, 44).
The microwave also includes first and second metallic feeders(56, 58) respectively coupled for being rotated by power from the first and the second rotary motors(48, 50), first and second metallic rotary antennas(62, 64) disposed at ends of the first and second feeders(56, 58) for evenly dispersing the microwaves from the first and second waveguides(42, 44) into the cooking chamber(60) and first and second feeder brackets(66, 68) disposed at openings of the first and second waveguides(42, 44) for closed engaging the first and second motor shafts(52, 54) and for supporting the rotation thereof.
Combining parts between the first and second motor shafts(52, 54) and the first and second feeders(56, 58) are formed in multi-angular shapes for preventing from racing when they are assembled. The same applies to the first and second feeders(56, 58) and the first and second rotary antennas(62, 64).
The first and second feeders(56, 58) are formed with their middle portion tapering-off for being supported by the first and second feeder brackets(66, 68) for rotation, with their upper portion being fastened in the first and second waveguides(42, 44) to the first and second motor shafts(52, 54) and with their lower portion being connected in the cooking chamber(60) to the first and second rotary antennas(62, 64).
However, there is a problem in the first embodiment of the conventional microwave oven in that the microwaves radiated by the waveguide(26) are not evenly dispersed all over the cooking chamber(12) but concentrated on the foodstuff placed in the cooking chamber(12), thereby resulting in an ineffective cooking.
In addition, there is another problem in the second embodiment of the conventional microwave oven in that, in spite of the microwave dispersing apparatus including first and second rotary motors(48, 50), first and second feeders(56, 58) and first and second rotary antennas(62, 64) for evenly dispersing microwaves through the first and second waveguides(42, 44) into the cooking chamber, the first and second rotary motors(48, 50) are needed for driving the first and second rotary antennas(62, 64), thereby increasing manufacturing cost of the product and reducing job efficiency.

Microwave dispersing apparatus of microwave oven


In a LTE network user devices can access voice application service via Voice over LTE (VoLTE) and Voice over WiFi (VoWiFi). To detect faults in the data link associated with an evolved packet data gateway for providing access by the user device to the LTE network from a non-trusted network which will affect VoWiFi capability, a packet data gateway monitors the status of ePDG and if a fault is detected, the user device is notified that it should connect to voice services via VoLTE.

Cellular data networks provide data connectivity to mobile devices having cellular network interfaces. The network is formed of a network core for handling control plane functions and data packet routing, and a radio access network (RAN) of—typically—macrocell base stations located throughout the coverage area of the mobile network for wireless communication with subscriber mobile devices. An example of a cellular network architecture is Long Term Evolution (LTE). Unlike previous generation second generation (2G) and third generation (3G) cellular networks which offer packet-switched data services over a circuit-switched voice platform, LTE is an all-packet-switched data network architecture that does not support the traditional voice calling platform.
Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) operating in accordance with the IEEE 802.11 family of standards (commonly referred to as Wi-Fi™) are common in many user locations and provide data connectivity over a short geographic range. Typically, the wireless local area network is generated and maintained by a wireless Access Point (AP) which acts as a packet routing interface between devices connected to the WLAN (e.g. smartphones, tablets) and local devices connected via a wired Local Area Network (LAN) such as televisions and network attached storage. The wireless access point serves local devices and will typically be co-located, or integrated with an external network interface such as a modem for providing a backhaul link to external networks such as the Internet via an Internet Service Provider's (ISP's) core network. Example backhaul technologies include Digital Subscriber Line (xDSL) copper/fibre and cable based on the Data over Cable Service Interface Specifications (DOCSIS) architecture.
Such a combined AP, routing and modem device will be referred to as a hub throughout the description.
VoIP/VoLTE/VoWiFi
With the change of architecture, there is a need for an alternative way of providing voice communication services. Earlier methods involve Circuit-Switched Fallback (CSFB) to a legacy circuit-switched voice network. To avoid the need for CSFB or a Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) service, an Internet Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is connected to the LTE network and hosts a number of applications for use by subscribers of the LTE network, one of which is a telephony application called the MMTel.
When a user of a mobile telephone is connected to the LTE network and makes or receives a voice call, their connection to the MMTel is known as Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE). VoLTE is an example of a Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) application for allowing voice communication via a LTE cellular network. The voice data is sampled into packets of voice data and the packets are sent over the data network. To prioritise the transmission of voice packets over other types of packet data carried by the LTE network, VoLTE uses optimised headers and priority markings.
Although the packets may arrive in a different order to the transmission order, packet loss is tolerated because latency has a greater negative effect on the quality of experience to the users.
Voice-over-Wi-Fi (VoWiFi) or 'Wi-Fi Calling' provides access to the same MMTel voice service as VoLTE, but the voice data link is initially carried from the mobile handset of the user via a WLAN instead of the cellular radio access network of base stations. In VoWiFi, since the IMS is typically only accessible via LTE network and not the public Internet, User Equipment (UE) must access a specific Internet-facing gateway of the LTE network so that voice calls can be made and received using the standard telephony software and packet data is tunneled to and from the cellular network core. VoWiFi therefore extends the cellular network voice service coverage, particularly to indoor locations. VoWiFi also allows for handover to a normal VoLTE service when the mobile device moves to an outdoor location which is outside of the range of the WLAN.
Mobile devices such as smartphones will therefore have both a cellular network interface and a WLAN interface for data connectivity. Traditionally, WLANs offer cheaper, and occasionally faster and more reliable service, especially in indoor locations, so the mobile device can be configured to prefer the WLAN interface for all data connectivity when both WLAN and cellular access are available.
With the conventional processing, the mobile device is only concerned with the quality of the WLAN signal to the hub. As long as the WLAN signal strength is above a signal strength threshold, the mobile device will stay connected to the WLAN even if there is no onward connection to the external networks such as the Internet. This can cause confusion for users because the phone displays a strong WLAN connection (typically via an icon with various bars to indicate signal strength) but the data services cannot connect and incoming calls may be lost.
The present invention seeks, at least, to alleviate the problems identified above.

BRITISH TELECOMMUNICATIONS public limited company


A piezoelectric device is provided that comprises a mechanical amplifier adapted to produce a displacement output and/or receive a force input, and first and second flexible platforms connected to the mechanical amplifier. The first flexible platform is connected to one side of the mechanical amplifier and piezoelectric material is mounted on the first flexible platform for controllably flexing the first flexible platform. The second flexible platform is connected to another side of the mechanical amplifier and piezoelectric material is mounted to the second flexible platform for controllably flexing the second flexible platform.

Actuators are extensively used in mechanical, electronic and optical systems like positioning lenses in telescopes, focusing in microscopes or vibration suppression in dedicated equipment. Traditional actuation by pneumatic, hydraulic or electromagnetic means cannot fulfill modern machinery requirements in terms of response time, frequency, resolution and size. Thus, several classes of actuators using piezoelectric, magnetostrictive and shape memory alloy smart materials have been developed for these applications.
The construction of these actuators is usually based on bulky, fragile and expensive smart material elements like piezoelectric multilayer stacks and complex and expensive mechanical amplifiers, which make these actuators vulnerable to damage and very complex and expensive. Among the piezoelectric actuators, unimorph/multi-morph type devices as illustrated in FIG. 1(a) are the most competitive in terms of size, weight, cost, reliability and manufacturing. These kinds of devices 100 comprise alternating layers of piezoelectric materials 102 and substrate materials 104 bonded together or grown by sputtering/chemical processes. The piezoelectric materials 102 are mostly piezoelectric ceramics and the substrate materials 104 can be made of metals, polymers, ceramics or their composites. When an electrical signal is applied across the piezoelectric materials, the piezoelectric materials change their shapes, causing the multiple layers of materials to deform. Additionally, these types of devices can also generate electrical signals when loads are applied on them. This two-way capability makes these unimorph/multi-morph devices suitable for use as actuators, sensors and/or sensoriactuators. Unimorph/multi-morph devices are well known to be capable of providing large displacement output. However, their blocked forces are relatively small due to their small flexural strength, and their applications are generally limited to those requiring smaller loading.
An example of a type of piezoelectric actuator is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,760,570 entitled "Piezo-Electric Device". The patent describes a device with piezoelectric ceramic plates sandwiching an intermediate plate. The device is used as a vibration source for delivering vibrational motions. However, it has a limited loading capacity, as explained above. Another example of a prior art piezoelectric actuator is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,952,835 entitled, "Double Saggital Push Stroke Amplifier". This patent describes a mechanism that is applicable in high performance piezoelectric actuators. The geometric profile of this device resulting from its amplification scheme can provide a relatively high displacement output and higher forces when a piezoelectric ceramic multilayer stack is used. Nevertheless, it is vulnerable to damage and is expensive to produce.
To achieve higher loading, a descendent of the unimorph devices, such as a descendent device 106 shown in FIG. 1(b) utilizes a dome-shaped architecture wherein a piezoelectric material 102 is bonded to a curved substrate 108 formed at elevated temperatures. The curvature is inherently a compact mechanical amplifier which provides the device with comparably higher displacement and force output than unimorph/multimorph devices. Such architecture is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,734,603 entitled "Thin Layer Composite Unimorph Ferroelectric Driver and Sensor".
Although this descendent device 106 possesses better performance, it suffers from installation problems due to its inherent curvature which makes the device performance sensitive to mounting. Reliability of the device under operation is also worsened due to the concentrated loading on the curved surface of the device, which induces stress concentration and rubbing on the brittle piezoelectric ceramic layers. Thus, it requires extra peripheral components specially designed for the descendent device if the device has to be coupled to an external object.

Piezoelectric device with amplifying mechanism


A multipurpose folding tool including a pair of pivoted scissors blades or pliers jaws, each having a handle in the form of a channel, attached through a pivot joint permitting the handles to fold around the scissors blades or pliers jaws. Each handle includes a pair of parallel legs, separated by a deep notch defined in the base of the channel forming the handle. Parts of the scissors blades or pliers jaws pass through the notch as the handles are folded, and the channel base faces outward when the handles are extended for use of the scissors or pliers. Other blades are stowed inside the handles and have back surfaces which are coplanar, giving the tool a generally smooth overall configuration when it is folded.

The present invention relates to multipurpose folding hand tools, and particularly to such a tool including pliers or scissors whose handles fold around their jaws or blades.
Many types of multipurpose pocket tools are known in which various knife blades, screwdrivers, or other tool bits fold into storage locations within either of a pair of handles, while each jaw of a pair of pliers or blade of a pair of scissors is also connected to a respective one of the handles. In some such tools the handles are configured as channels of formed sheet metal that are able to pivot around the bases of the pliers jaws, to reduce the size of the tool so that it can be carried in a person's pockets and presents the outside of the channel-shaped handles as the outer surface of the folded tool. Such a tool is disclosed, for example, in. Leatherman U.S. Pat. No. 4,238,862.
Use of a knife blade, screwdriver or other tool bit of such a tool requires that the handles first be spread apart from each other, and, after a selected blade is unfolded from its storage position within one of the channel-shaped handles, the handles are held together while the tool bit is used. Use of the pliers in such a tool requires simply that the handles be unfolded, that is, pivoted outward from their folded positions with respect to the pliers jaws, but this leaves the edges of the channel sides of the handles facing outward, so that squeezing the handles to grip an object between the pliers jaws requires force to be exerted directly against the edges of the channel sides. Since this may be uncomfortable, it is desired to provide a tool having similar capabilities but having the smooth outer surface of the channel base of each handle oriented outward to be contacted in squeezing the pliers handles together to grip an object in the pliers jaws. At the same time it is still desired to be able to fold the handles easily about the pliers jaws to reduce the overall size of the tool when the pliers are not in use. It is also desired to be able to select and unfold one of the knife blades, screwdrivers, or other tool bits from its storage position in one of the handles without then having to manipulate the handles before using the blade, and it is desired for the multi-purpose tool to be compact, present a pleasing appearance and have a shape that is unlikely to cause rapid wear of a pocket in which the folded tool is carried.

Folding multi-purpose tool with comfortable handles


A method of tuning a violin bow to improve the quality of sound consists of clamping the bow at the frog, tapping the bow near the frog, and trimming the material in the proximity of the tapping point until a desired tone is produced by the vibrating bow. The bow is subsequently clamped at the previous tapping point, and the tapping and trimming steps are repeated. This process is continued until the head end of the bow is reached.

There has been some disagreement among authorities as to how to improve the quality of the sound of a string instrument, such as a violin. Some experts attribute sound quality to the selection of the wood used during fabrication of the violin, others to the skill in shaping the wood to the desired shape and thickness to achieve the desired sound, still others to the finish applied to the instrument after fabrication.
In my patent application referenced above, I disclose a method for tuning new or used violins to improve the quality of the sound, wherein the selected wood material is first shaped so that the overall thickness is slightly greater than the desired finished thickness. The material is then firmly held and tapped to determine the existing sound. Tapping is first done around the periphery of the material, and material is selectively removed in proximity to the area being tapped, to adjust the audible sound of the wood to a desired pitch over substantially its entire surface, and thus to improve the quality of the sound of the instrument. The material is selectively tuned from the peripheral edge towards the center of the instrument, and the instrument made therefrom resonates at the selected pitch to produce the desired tonal quality.
A finished stringed instrument may be fine tuned by selective material removal to achieve the optimum tonal quality for the selected instrument. Where a finished instrument is tuned, the material may be scrapped on the inside of the
The bow, the bridge, and the bass bars sound bars of a violin, guitar or other stringed instrument may also be tuned in a similar manner. The present application is directed to a more specific teaching of the preferred embodiment of a method of bow tuning, as more completely disclosed in the specification, drawings and claims disclosed herein.

Tuning the wood of a musical instrument bow


The present invention relates to a self-tightening keyless chuck to enable electric percussive drills to grip a tool shank. The chuck includes a rear sleeve, a body, a bearing ring, a bearing assembly, a nut, a jaw, a front sleeve and a stopper and so on. The bearing assembly utilizing a ball bearing is positioned with a circumferential arcuate race with a fixed depth, and the bottom surfaces of said circumferential arcuate race are provided with a plurality of ball-shape grooves. During the chuck grips a tool shank, the balls of said ball-bearing enter into the ball-shape grooves and are locked there, so as to prevent the tool from loosening due to the percussion vibration. In addition, the front sleeve engages with a nut through radial smooth press-fit to securely transmit a torque.

A variety of keyless chucks have been developed so far. A conventional chuck generally comprises a rear sleeve, a body, a bearing ring, a bearing, a nut, a jaw, a front sleeve, a stopper and so one. The jaw extends/retracts under the rotation of the nut and the engagement of conical threads, and the nut is rotated by movement of the front sleeve. Such a chuck is keyless if the front sleeve is rotated by hand. The chuck may be attached to a driving shaft of a drill by means of threads or a conical bore.
A conventional keyed or keyless chuck has the disadvantage that because the nut and the jaw are secured only by rotation of threads, the jaw tends to loosen its grip on a tool due to axial percussive vibrations transmitted through the chuck and the tool during operation. This will cause the tool to skid, thus resulting in a loss of working efficiency and a loss of safety.
A conventional chuck is disclosed in Chinese Patent Publication CN1068532 (Chinese Patent Number: ZL 92104999.4), in which the anti-percussion of the chuck is achieved by forming spokewise grooves in the surfaces of two members that act as bearing races, the opposing sides of the grooves being provided with round angles of different radii. The depth of the grooves has a great influence on the anti-percussion ability of the chuck as well as on the release of the chuck. If the grooves are too deep, the chuck will not be released after use. If the grooves are too shallow, the chuck will have a poor anti-percussion performance. Therefore, in order to keep a uniform depth of the grooves in all members to thereby ensure the anti-percussion ability of all chucks, it is necessary to frequently adjust the machine for manufacturing the members. This, however, will affect the efficiency of production and can result in an increase of defective products. To overcome this drawback, it is necessary to provide a pressing machine with a higher pressing accuracy or larger tonnage, which however will increase the cost of production.
Furthermore, the front sleeve of a conventional keyless chuck is generally made of plastic. The chuck generally has a configuration in which a steel ring is embedded in an inner side of the plastic front sleeve, and two nut halves that are placed in a circular groove in the body of the chuck are press-fit into the hole of the steel ring embedded in the inner side of the plastic front sleeve, thereby securing the two nut halves in the circular groove in the body. This configuration, however, is complicated in structure and manufacturing process, and the front sleeve of the chuck which has a low strength is susceptible in damage.


A flashlight having a light-emitting diode light source with first and second leads extending therefrom, a power source, a power source frame enclosing at least a portion of the power source; a housing containing the light source and power source, a switch located adjacent the power source and operable to close a circuit including the light source and the power source, and wherein one or all of the following may be included 1) a keyring extension extending from a power source frame or the housing with the keyring extension having an opening whereby an article can be attached to the keyring extension and includes a keyring lock wherein upon exerting a force against the keyring lock, the keyring lock is opened to permit the article to be attached to the keyring extension; 2) the housing is comprised of translucent material; and 3) the housing includes at least one side cover which is not integral with the housing and the at least one side cover being selected from anodized aluminum, anodized metal, anodized metal which includes indicia, die struck metal, laser engraved metal, and a side cover having a separate medallion attached thereto.

1. Field of Invention
This invention is directed generally to flashlights, and more particularly to a miniature flashlight using a light emitting diode ("LED") as a light source that is useful for law enforcement personnel and civilians alike.
2. Background of the Invention
Conventional general purpose flashlights are well known in the prior art and have often been used by law enforcement personnel in the execution of their duties and by them and civilians in emergency situations. Flashlights are used for a wide variety of purposes. For example, they are often used during traffic stops to illuminate the interior of a stopped vehicle or to complete a police report in the dark. They are also used to facilitate searches of poorly lit areas and may be used to illuminate dark alleys or stairwells. Also, they are used to check or adjust equipment when positioned in a darkened area or at night time, and can be used to send coded signals to one another. Generally, small incandescent lightbulbs and LED flashlights were not dependable when needed.
However, the size and weight of conventional flashlights add to the inconvenience and reduce the mobility of law enforcement personnel required to carry such flashlights along with the other law enforcement equipment. Sometimes the flashlight is purposefully or inadvertently left behind. This presents a problem when the need for a flashlight arises and the flashlight is not located on the person, or otherwise readily available In addition to the use of flashlights by law enforcement personnel, civilians also use flashlights for a number of different reasons. Besides the traditional, home uses of flashlights, smaller flashlights are used in today's society for various security purposes. For example, when going to one's car late in the evening, it is not uncommon for an individual, especially a female, to carry a small flashlight with her. She can use the flashlight to assist in getting the key in the keyhole in the dark. Additionally, she can use the flashlight to check whether someone is hiding in the back seat before getting into the car. Even small conventional flashlights, however, are generally cumbersome and inconvenient to carry for this purpose.
Thus, there is a need for a compact, lightweight flashlight that may easily be carried on the person of a law enforcement officer or civilian and conveniently attached to one's keychain or carried on one's clothing to help insure that the flashlight remains in possession of the user and can be quickly and easily retrieved and removed when needed.

LED flashlight including a housing having a translucent portion


Devices and systems are disclosed for the non-invasive treatment of medical conditions through delivery of energy to target tissue, comprising a source of electrical power, a magnetically permeable toroidal core, and a coil that is wound around the core. The coil and core are embedded in a continuous electrically conducting medium, which is adapted to have a shape that conforms to the contour of an arbitrarily oriented target body surface of a patient. The conducting medium is applied to that surface by any of several disclosed methods, and the source of power supplies a pulse of electric charge to the coil, such that the coil induces an electric current and/or an electric field within the patient, thereby stimulating tissue and/or one or more nerve fibers within the patient. The invention shapes an elongated electric field of effect that can be oriented parallel to a long nerve. In one embodiment, the device comprises two toroidal cores that lie adjacent to one another.

The field of the present invention relates to the delivery of energy impulses (and/or fields) to bodily tissues for therapeutic purposes. It relates more specifically to toroidal magnetic stimulation devices, as well as to non-invasive methods for treating medical conditions using energy that is delivered by such devices. The medical conditions include, but are not limited to, post-operative ileus, neurodegenerative disorders (such as Alzheimer's disease), post-operative cognitive dysfunction (POCD), post-operative delirium (POD), dementia, rheumatoid arthritis, acute and chronic depression, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), bronchoconstriction associated with asthma, anaphylaxis or COPD, sepsis or septic shock, hypovolemia or hypovolemic shock, orthostatic hypotension, hypertension, urinary incontinence and/or overactive bladder, and sphincter of Oddi dysfunction.
Treatments for various infirmities sometime require the destruction of otherwise healthy tissue in order to produce a beneficial effect. Malfunctioning tissue is identified and then lesioned or otherwise compromised in order to produce a beneficial outcome, rather than attempting to repair the tissue to its normal functionality. A variety of techniques and mechanisms have been designed to produce focused lesions directly in target nerve tissue, but collateral damage is inevitable.
Other treatments for malfunctioning tissue can be medicinal in nature, but in many cases the patients become dependent upon artificially synthesized chemicals. Examples of this are anti-asthma drugs such as albuterol, proton pump inhibitors such as omeprazole (PRILOSEC®), spastic bladder relievers such as DITROPAN®, and cholesterol reducing drugs such as LIPITOR® and ZOCOR®. In many cases, these medicinal approaches have side effects that are either unknown or quite significant. For example, at least one popular diet pill of the late 1990's was subsequently found to cause heart attacks and strokes. Unfortunately, the beneficial outcomes of surgery and medicines are often realized at the cost of function of other tissues, or risks of side effects.
The use of electrical stimulation for treatment of medical conditions has been well known in the art for nearly two thousand years. It has been recognized that electrical stimulation of the brain and/or the peripheral nervous system and/or direct stimulation of the malfunctioning tissue holds significant promise for the treatment of many ailments, because such stimulation is generally a wholly reversible and non-destructive treatment.
Nerve stimulation is thought to be accomplished directly or indirectly by depolarizing a nerve membrane, causing the discharge of an action potential; or by hyperpolarization of a nerve membrane, preventing the discharge of an action potential. Such stimulation may occur after electrical energy, or also other forms of energy, are transmitted to the vicinity of a nerve [F. RATTAY. The basic mechanism for the electrical stimulation of the nervous system. Neuroscience Vol. 89, No. 2, pp. 335-346, 1999; Thomas HEIMBURG and Andrew D. Jackson. On soliton propagation in biomembranes and nerves. PNAS vol. 102 (no. 28, Jul. 12, 2005): 9790-9795]. Nerve stimulation may be measured directly as an increase, decrease, or modulation of the activity of nerve fibers, or it may be inferred from the physiological effects that follow the transmission of energy to the nerve fibers.
Electrical stimulation of the brain with implanted electrodes has been approved for use in the treatment of various conditions, including pain and movement disorders such as essential tremor and Parkinson's disease. The principle underlying these approaches involves disruption and modulation of hyperactive neuronal circuit transmission at specific sites in the brain. Unlike potentially dangerous lesioning procedures in which aberrant portions of the brain are physically destroyed, electrical stimulation is achieved by implanting electrodes at these sites. The electrodes are used first to sense aberrant electrical signals and then to send electrical pulses to locally disrupt pathological neuronal transmission, driving it back into the normal range of activity. These electrical stimulation procedures, while invasive, are generally conducted with the patient conscious and a participant in the surgery.
Brain stimulation, and deep brain stimulation in particular, is not without some drawbacks. The procedure requires penetrating the skull, and inserting an electrode into brain matter using a catheter-shaped lead, or the like. While monitoring the patient's condition (such as tremor activity, etc.), the position of the electrode is adjusted to achieve significant therapeutic potential. Next, adjustments are made to the electrical stimulus signals, such as frequency, periodicity, voltage, current, etc., again to achieve therapeutic results. The electrode is then permanently implanted, and wires are directed from the electrode to the site of a surgically implanted pacemaker. The pacemaker provides the electrical stimulus signals to the electrode to maintain the therapeutic effect. While the therapeutic results of deep brain stimulation are promising, there are significant complications that arise from the implantation procedure, including stroke induced by damage to surrounding tissues and the neuro-vasculature.
One of the most successful applications of modern understanding of the electrophysiological relationship between muscle and nerves is the cardiac pacemaker. Although origins of the cardiac pacemaker extend back into the 1800's, it was not until 1950 that the first practical, albeit external and bulky, pacemaker was developed. The first truly functional, wearable pacemaker appeared in 1957, and in 1960, the first fully implantable pacemaker was developed.
Around this time, it was also found that electrical leads could be connected to the heart through veins, which eliminated the need to open the chest cavity and attach the lead to the heart wall. In 1975 the introduction of the lithium-iodide battery prolonged the battery life of a pacemaker from a few months to more than a decade. The modern pacemaker can treat a variety of different signaling pathologies in the cardiac muscle, and can serve as a defibrillator as well (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,738,667 to DENO, et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference).
Another application of electrical stimulation of nerves has been the treatment of radiating pain in the lower extremities by stimulating the sacral nerve roots at the bottom of the spinal cord (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,871,099 to WHITEHURST, et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference).
The present disclosure involves devices and medical procedures that stimulate nerves by transmitting energy to nerves and tissue non-invasively. A medical procedure is defined as being non-invasive when no break in the skin (or other surface of the body, such as a wound bed) is created through use of the method, and when there is no contact with an internal body cavity beyond a body orifice (e.g., beyond the mouth or beyond the external auditory meatus of the ear). Such non-invasive procedures are distinguished from invasive procedures (including minimally invasive procedures) in that invasive procedures do involve inserting a substance or device into or through the skin or into an internal body cavity beyond a body orifice.
Potential advantages of such non-invasive medical methods and devices relative to comparable invasive procedures are as follows. The patient may be more psychologically prepared to experience a procedure that is non-invasive and may therefore be more cooperative, resulting in a better outcome. Non-invasive procedures may avoid damage of biological tissues, such as that due to bleeding, infection, skin or internal organ injury, blood vessel injury, and vein or lung blood clotting. Non-invasive procedures are sometimes painless or only minimally painful and may be performed without the need for even local anesthesia. Less training may be required for use of non-invasive procedures by medical professionals. In view of the reduced risk ordinarily associated with non-invasive procedures, some such procedures may be suitable for use by the patient or family members at home or by first-responders at home or at a workplace, and the cost of non-invasive procedures may be reduced relative to comparable invasive procedures.
For example, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is non-invasive because it involves attaching electrodes to the surface of the skin (or using a form-fitting conductive garment) without breaking the skin. In contrast, percutaneous electrical stimulation of a nerve is minimally invasive because it involves the introduction of an electrode under the skin, via needle-puncture of the skin. Both TENS and percutaneous electrical stimulation can be to some extent unpleasant or painful, in the experience of patients that undergo such procedures. In the case of TENS, as the depth of penetration of the stimulus under the skin is increased, any pain will generally begin or increase.
The form of non-invasive electrical stimulation with which the present application is primarily concerned is magnetic stimulation. It involves the induction, by a time-varying magnetic field, of electrical fields and current within tissue, in accordance with Faraday's law of induction. Magnetic stimulation is non-invasive because the magnetic field is produced by passing a time-varying current through a coil positioned outside the body, inducing at a distance an electric field and electric current within electrically-conducting bodily tissue. Because the induced electric field and induced current depend not only upon current being passed through wire of the coil, but also upon the permeability of core material around which the coil may be wound, the term coil as used herein refers not only to the current-carrying wire, but also to the core material, unless otherwise indicated.
Large, pulsed magnetic fields (PMF) can induce significant electric fields in conducting media, including human tissue. Particular waveforms and amplitudes can stimulate action potentials in nerves, both in vitro and in vivo. Due to the noninvasive nature of the stimulation, PMF devices have found utility in several clinical applications, both therapeutically, e.g., for treating depression via transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and diagnostically, for peripheral nerve stimulation. It is an objective of the present invention to use magnetic stimulation to produce significantly less pain or discomfort, as compared with that experienced by the patient undergoing a treatment with TENS, for a given depth of stimulus penetration. Or conversely, for a given amount of pain or discomfort on the part of the patient (e.g., the threshold at which such discomfort or pain begins), an objective of the present invention is to achieve a greater depth of penetration of the stimulus under the skin.
The principle of operation of magnetic stimulation, along with a description of commercially available equipment and a list of medical applications of magnetic stimulation, is reviewed in: Chris HOVEY and Reza Jalinous, The Guide to Magnetic Stimulation, The Magstim Company Ltd, Spring Gardens, Whitland, Carmarthenshire, SA34 0HR, United Kingdom, 2006. The types of the magnetic stimulator coils that are described there include circular, parabolic, figure-of-eight (butterfly), and custom designs. Additional types of the magnetic stimulator coils are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,179,770, entitled Coil assemblies for magnetic stimulators, to MOULD; as well as in Kent DAVEY. Magnetic Stimulation Coil and Circuit Design. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, Vol. 47 (No. 11, November 2000): 1493-1499 and in HSU KH, Nagarajan S S, Durand D M. Analysis of efficiency of magnetic stimulation. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2003 November; 50 (11):1276-85.
The circuits that are used to send pulses or other waveforms through magnetic stimulator coils are also described by HOVEY and Jalinous in The Guide to Magnetic Stimulation that was cited above. Custom magnetic stimulator circuits for control, impulse generator and power supply have also been described [Eric BASHAM, Zhi Yang, Natalia Tchemodanov, and Wentai Liu. Magnetic Stimulation of Neural Tissue: Techniques and System Design. pp 293-352, In: Implantable Neural Prostheses 1, Devices and Applications, D. Zhou and E. Greenbaum, eds., New York: Springer (2009); U.S. Pat. No. 7,744,523, entitled Drive circuit for magnetic stimulation, to EPSTEIN; U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,662, entitled Apparatus for the magnetic stimulation of cells or tissue, to JANILOUS; U.S. Pat. No. 5,766,124, entitled Magnetic stimulator for neuro-muscular tissue, to POLSON].
As described in the above-cited publications, the circuits for magnetic stimulators are generally complex and expensive. They use a high current impulse generator that may produce discharge currents of 5,000 amps or more, which is passed through the stimulator coil, and which thereby produces a magnetic pulse. Typically, a transformer charges a capacitor in the impulse generator, which also contains circuit elements that limit the effect of undesirable electrical transients. Charging of the capacitor is under the control of a control unit, which accepts information such as the capacitor voltage, power and other parameters set by the user, as well as from various safety interlocks within the equipment that ensure proper operation, and the capacitor is then discharged through the coil via an electronic switch (e.g., a controlled rectifier) when the user wishes to apply the stimulus. Greater flexibility is obtained by adding to the impulse generator a bank of capacitors that can be discharged at different times. Thus, higher impulse rates may be achieved by discharging capacitors in the bank sequentially, such that recharging of capacitors is performed while other capacitors in the bank are being discharged. Furthermore, by discharging some capacitors while the discharge of other capacitors is in progress, by discharging the capacitors through resistors having variable resistance, and by controlling the polarity of the discharge, the control unit may synthesize pulse shapes that approximate an arbitrary function.
Another practical disadvantage of magnetic stimulator coils is that they overheat when used over an extended period of time, because large coil currents are required to reach threshold electric fields in the stimulated tissue. At high repetition rates, currents can heat the coils to unacceptable levels in seconds to minutes, depending on the power levels and pulse durations and rates. Accordingly, coil-cooling equipment is used, which adds complexity to the magnetic stimulator coils. Two approaches to overcome heating are to cool the coils with flowing water or air or to increase the magnetic fields using ferrite cores (thus allowing smaller currents). For some applications where relatively long treatment times at high stimulation frequencies may be required, e.g. treating asthma by stimulating the vagus nerve, neither of these two approaches may be adequate. Water-cooled coils overheat in a few minutes. Ferrite core coils heat more slowly due to the lower currents and heat capacity of the ferrite core, but they also cool slowly and do not allow for water-cooling because the ferrite core occupies the volume where the cooling water would flow. One solution to this problem is to use a core that contains ferrofluids [U.S. Pat. No. 7,396,326 and published applications US20080114199, US20080177128, and US20080224808, all entitled Ferrofluid cooling and acoustical noise reduction in magnetic stimulators, respectively to GHIRON et al., RIEHL et al., RIEHL et al. and GHIRON et al.]. However, even the use of ferrofluids may be inadequate when long treatment times at high stimulation frequencies may be required.
Another problem that is sometimes encountered during magnetic stimulation is the unpleasantness or pain that is experienced by the patient in the vicinity of the stimulated tissue. Little is known about the mechanism that produces the pain, although it is generally recognized that magnetic stimulation produces less pain than its electrode-based counterpart. Most investigations that address this question examine pain associated with transcranial stimulation.
ANDERSON et al found that when magnetic stimulation is repeated over the course of multiple sessions, the patients adapt to the pain and exhibit progressively less discomfort [Berry S. ANDERSON, Katie Kavanagh, Jeffrey J. Borckardt, Ziad H. Nahas, Samet Kose, Sarah H. Lisanby, William M. McDonald, David Avery, Harold A. Sackeim, and Mark S. George. Decreasing Procedural Pain Over Time of Left Prefrontal rTMS for Depression: Initial Results from the Open-Label Phase of a Multisite Trial (OPT-TMS). Brain Stimul. 2009 Apr. 1; 2(2): 88-92]. Other than waiting for the patient to adapt, strategies to reduce the pain include: use of anesthetics placed on or injected into the skin near the stimulation and placement of foam pads on the skin at the site of stimulation [Jeffrey J. BORCKARRDT, Arthur R. Smith, Kelby Hutcheson, Kevin Johnson, Ziad Nahas, Berry Anderson, M. Bret Schneider, Scott T. Reeves, and Mark S. George. Reducing Pain and Unpleasantness During Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. Journal of ECT 2006; 22:259-264], use of nerve blockades [V. HAKKINEN, H. Eskola, A. Yli-Hankala, T. Nurmikko and S. Kolehmainen. Which structures are sensitive to painful transcranial stimulation? Electromyogr. clin. Neurophysiol. 1995, 35:377-383], the use of very short stimulation pulses [V. SUIHKO. Modelling the response of scalp sensory receptors to transcranial electrical stimulation. Med. Biol. Eng. Comput., 2002, 40, 395-401], and providing patients with the amount of information that suits their personalities [Anthony DELITTO, Michael J Strube, Arthur D Shulman, Scott D Minor. A Study of Discomfort with Electrical Stimulation. Phys. Ther. 1992; 72:410-424]. U.S. Pat. No. 7,614,996, entitled Reducing discomfort caused by electrical stimulation, to RIEHL discloses the application of a secondary stimulus to counteract what would otherwise be an uncomfortable primary stimulus. However, these methods of reducing pain or discomfort on the part of the stimulated patient are not always successful or practical.

Magnetic stimulation devices and methods of therapy


A method includes loading a virtual machine snapshot of a virtual machine from a first computing device to a mobile device. The virtual machine runs on the first computing device and the virtual machine snapshot includes a COW file and an image file with files from the virtual machine. The method includes launching the virtual machine on a second computing device, where the second computing device reads the virtual machine snapshot from the mobile device and the second computing device records changes to a copy of the COW file stored on the second computing device while the second computing device runs the virtual machine. The method includes terminating a virtual machine session running on the second computing device and copying the COW file to the mobile device. The COW file includes changes to the virtual machine snapshot from execution of the virtual machine on the second computing device.

Typically, a computing device, such as a desktop computer, a workstation, a mainframe computer, etc. is used for executing applications storing data and other typical computing tasks and the computing device is often too large to carry with a user or is not made to be portable. Even a portable computing device, such as a laptop computer, can be bulky and difficult to carry. The user may want to work in a location different than the computing device. Using an interface that allows remote access to the computing device over a network, such as the Internet, may have security issues and may suffer from network issues. In addition, using this interface is not possible when the network is unavailable.

Using a mobile device to transfer virtual machine between computers while preserving session

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


Methods and apparatus are provided for improving fibre channel frame delivery. Techniques are provided for the in order delivery of frames by intelligently delaying or dropping selected fibre channel frames. Other techniques are provided for in order delivery by using label switching and frame labels. The various techniques can be applied during circumstances such as a link state or channel change.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fibre channel networks. More specifically, the present invention relates to methods and apparatus for providing in order delivery of fibre channel frames in a fibre channel network during circumstances such as changes in link state or changes in channel state.
2. Description of Related Art
Many conventional network protocols allow the out of order delivery of a packet sequence. A network node in a TCP/IP based network can receive an out of order set of packets and reorder the packets upon receipt. Packets often arrive out of order if they travel along different paths to reach a destination.
However, some fibre channel devices such as disks, disk arrays, and other storage mechanisms can not handle out of order frames. Link and channel state changes are some of the circumstances that may cause out of order delivery of frames in a fibre channel fabric. Multiple links seen as a single link between two fibre channel entities is referred to herein as a channel. Some mechanisms in existing networks call for the flushing of all frames in the network upon a change in link state. Flushing all of the frames can prevent out of order delivery when paths and routes change in a network. All frames are flushed even if the paths for the frames to the associated destinations are not changed. However, flushing all of the frames either explicitly or implicitly can be very disruptive to network operation, as more frames are dropped than is necessary and network operation is at least temporarily halted.
It is therefore desirable to provide methods and apparatus for improving fibre channel frame delivery and providing in order delivery particularly during link state and channel changes.

Methods and apparatus for fibre channel frame delivery


A sliding boat trailer roller mount is used when loading or unloading a boat from a boat trailer. The roller mount includes a mounting arm with an arch, a saddle with a curved groove in which the mounting arm rocks and slides, and a roller at each end of the mounting arm. A pair of saddles are attached to the ends of a pivot arm. A plurality of pairs of pivot arms are pivotally mounted on a boat trailer. The curvature of the mounting arm is such that it slides and pivots within the curved groove of the saddle, allowing the rollers to follow the compound curvature of a boat hull during loading or unloading.

The invention relates to a boat trailer roller mount, and, more particularly, to an adjustable roller mount for use on a boat trailer which adapts to the configuration of a boat being loaded onto or unloaded from a boat trailer.
A traditional boat trailer for transporting boats typically has roller assemblies on which the boat hull is rolled as it is loaded onto or unloaded from the boat trailer. Boat hulls have a triple compound curvature, so as a result, the roller assemblies must be adaptable to the changing curvature as the boat is moved along the roller assemblies.
Such roller mounts typically include multiple pairs of rollers on mounting arms which pivot about a centrally disposed axis. As the boat is loaded onto or unloaded from a trailer which uses conventional roller assemblies, the roller assemblies cross the strakes on the hull, and the compound curvature of the boat hull forces some of the rollers to pivot out of contact with the hull. As a result, all of the weight is applied to the remaining rollers, and the boat assumes a higher position on the trailer, becoming more unwieldy and less stable. A further problem caused by conventional roller mounts is that when the rollers cross the strakes on the boat hull, further instability and difficulty in loading or unloading the boat are created. One method of dealing with these problems is to supply the trailer with large numbers of rollers. Unfortunately, the cost and difficulty of assembly increases in relation to the number of rollers required.
Numerous complex pivot mechanisms have been tried to overcome these problems with a resulting increase in cost but with little success. There remains a need for a simple and inexpensive roller mount which can successfully adapt to the compound curvature of a boat hull.


A floor support assembly including first and second subfloors is disclosed. The first subfloor is supported over a substrate by a plurality of pads. Each pad is housed in a corresponding recess formed in the first subfloor. Each recess includes a ridge that is in contact only with its respective pad when the floor is in a lightly loaded position. In a more aggressively athletically loaded state, the pad contacts the ridge and a portion of the top of the recess. In a non-athletic fully loaded state, the first subfloor plate near the load rests on the substrate. The second subfloor is located above the first subfloor and is supported by the first subfloor. A method of installing the same is also disclosed.

Sports floors provide a high level of resiliency and shock absorption, and also preferably provide uniform play and safety to all participants. It is also preferred that sports floor systems maintain stability especially under changing environmental conditions.
A common sports floor system can be described as an upper playing surface attached to a subfloor structure, which is supported by resilient mounts. Often the upper playing surface is constructed of hardwood flooring. Sports floor systems such as these are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,710 to Randjelovic et al, entitled "Resilient subfloor pad".
The resilient mounts such as those described in the Randjelovic patent are widely used in support of subfloor construction. The resilient mounts provide deflection as athletic impacts occur on the surface of the system. Most typically the resilient mounts are attached to the underside of subfloor plates such as plywood sheeting. The subfloor structure supported by the resilient mounts is not limited to plywood plate components and may include other components such as softwood sleepers or other suitable support material.
The sports floor systems previously described offer shock absorption to athletic participants. However, as these floor systems are free floating, there is no provision to assure proper contact of the resilient mounts to the supporting substrate. Free floating systems such as these, when installed over uneven substrates, may provide non-uniform deflection under athletic load, causing uneven shock absorption under impact. For example, the non-uniform reflection of the basketball off the floor creates a condition typically referred to as dead spots.
It would be desirable to have a floating floor system that overcomes the limitations of the floors of the prior art as well as improving the load distribution and shock absorption characteristics.

Subfloor assembly for athletic playing surface having improved deflection characteristics