A keyboard that can yield a favorable keying feeling to a user is disclosed. The keyboard includes multiple keys, a pressure sensor configured to sense a pressure used for pressing a key, a haptic device configured to generate haptic feedback that involves a micro vibration, and a feedback control unit configured to issue a signal used for driving the haptic device according to the pressure that the pressure sensor has sensed. In response to one-time key pressing, the feedback control unit issues a drive signal for generating a first haptic feedback when the pressure that the pressure sensor has sensed reaches a first threshold value, and a drive signal for generating a second haptic feedback when the pressure that the pressure sensor has sensed reaches a second threshold value.

A computer keyboard has an operational feeling (a keying feeling) that a user's finger senses when a switch of a key that the user has pressed works. The switch of the key gives appropriate reaction force to the finger before the switch works. The reaction force that is suitable for each user has such a merit that fatigue caused by long-term operation is alleviated by making a rhythmical key operation possible and therefore a hardware keyboard that feeds back a certain degree of the keying feeling is desired.
There are several kinds of keying feelings, and the keying feeling preference is different for each user, but the keying feeling of an existing mechanical keyboard that is one of the above-mentioned keying feelings has deep-rooted popularity. On the other hand, thinning of keyboards of late years is accelerated and a plate-shaped keyboard begins to appear on the market. It is quite difficult for the plate-shaped keyboard of this type to feed back a strong keying feeling, and a user who prefers the keying feeling of the mechanical keyboard is not satisfied with the keying feeling of the plate-shaped keyboard.
The keying feeling of a mechanical keyboard is derived from two kinds of reaction force, namely, the reaction force generated by deformation of a mechanism component such as a rubber cup and so forth when a key has been pressed, and the reaction force generated when the mechanism component returns to its original shape when the user intends to take the finger off the pressed key. Therefore, simply giving some kind of feedback when the key has been pressed leaves a sense of dissatisfaction that a feeling of use of the plate-shaped keyboard greatly differs from the behavior of the keying feeling of the mechanical keyboard.
Consequently, it would be preferable to provide a keyboard that can yield a favorable keying feeling to a user.


A method of automatic content verification may include requesting, from a server by an application executed by a client device, an item of content for display to a user of the client device, the request comprising environmental information related to an environment in which the item of content is to be rendered on the client device. A network interface of the client device may receive, from the server, the requested item of content. A renderer of the client device integrated with the application may render the received item of content. A capture module of the client device integrated with the application may capture an image of the rendered item of content. The network interface of the client device may transmit, to the server, the captured image, the server comparing the captured image to a predetermined image to identify any rendering distortion.

It can be difficult to have mobile applications or "Apps" consistently and properly render items of content provided by a server because of the wide variety of in-App rendering environments. On the web, by contrast, there is a fairly consistent environment: most rendering occurs in one of a small number of browsers, which each have only a few versions that must be accounted for. For Apps, there is a wider variety of environmental factors, including the App itself, the client device type, the OS type, and the browser type if the item of content is to be rendered in an in-App browser window.

Systems and methods for automatic content verification


An electrode-carrying catheter has elongate, flexible tubing defining a proximal end, a distal end, and an electrically insulative outer tubular layer intermediate the ends, the tubing including a flexible electrically conductive core of wire and a flexible non-conductive core-covering layer of plastic about the core. At least one electrically conductive ring electrode is crimped on and flush with the outer tubular surface. In order to conduct electrical signals between the proximal end and each of the ring electrodes, a longitudinally-spaced plurality of flexible electrically conductive wires are helically wound around and at least partially into the core-covering layer. The wound wires define a removed section beneath a segment of each of the ring electrodes to enable electrical contact between a respective one of the wound wires and a respective one of the ring electrodes. An electrically conductive flexible flat ribbon is disposed intermediate each of the ring electrodes and the tubing, each ribbon being electrically and physically joined to a respective one of the wound wires and wrapped about the outer tubular surface, each of the ring electrodes being crimped onto a respective one of the ribbons and the outer tubular surface.

The present invention relates to electrode-carrying catheters, and more particularly to an inexpensive and reliable electrode-carrying catheter and a method of making the same.
Electrode-carrying catheters as well know in the medical art and find diagnostic and therapeutic utility in a wide variety of different applications. For example, mapping catheters are used diagnostically to produce a wave function of the heart's electrical impulses so that a doctor can determine proper functioning or fault, and location of the fault, in the heart. Ablative catheters are used therapeutically to destroy tissue in the heart causing tachycardia, utilizing radio frequency current catheter ablation. Such catheters are also used for heart pacing purposes and for analgesia in various parts of the body. Depending upon the particular application for which the catheter is used, it may be desirable for the catheter to carry one or more side electrodes, one or more end electrodes, or a combination thereof. The use of a plurality of smaller electrodes rather than a single large electrode enables higher current densities to be obtained and frequently enables superior electrical contact with the tissue, both of these being highly desirable factors in connection with ablative catheters in particular, where larger areas of radio frequency ablation in the tissue are desirable.
Electrically conductive wires have never proven to be entirely satisfactory as the electrodes since a functional electrode requires a much larger surface area than can be provided by a flexible wire. Further, unless provisions are made to fix the wire relative to the catheter tubing, it is extremely difficult to ensure that the wire is held in place so as to assure a reliable electrical contact. While a wire could be held in place by use of an electrically conductive adhesive securing the wire to the tubing, it would be extremely difficult to create an electrode by applying an adhesive in a thin layer over a large surface area, as would be necessary to ensure that the electrode layer is flexible.
While a biocompatible conductive paint as an electrode has the advantage of being easily applied in an extremely thin layer to the tubing outer surface by printing techniques, so as to ensure flexibility thereof and cover the wire, there are other problems associated with such conductive paint. While the flexible, thin layer of conductive ink painted on the tubing outer surface forms a good electrical connection with the wire, the conductive paint does not form a reliable physical connection with the typical wire, as necessary to ensure that the passage of the catheter through the human body along the guidewire to the proposed working site does not to some degree remove, separate or abrade away the thin layer of conductive paint.
Typically electrode-carrying catheters are made by applying metal strips on the outer side and/or distal (front) surfaces of a flexible tubing of non-conductive plastic, each side strip acting as a side or ring electrode and each distal strip acting as an end electrode. The presence of the metal strips limits the natural flexibility of the tubing so that the catheter is not of high flexibility throughout its entire length, and this presents problems in threading the catheter into the human body over a guidewire since the diminished flexibility may limit the ability of the catheter to conform to the travel path defined by the guidewire, leading to blood vessel trauma. Nonetheless, such catheters carrying ring electrodes are in favor because of the high level of reliability of the electrical connections therein.
The conventional processes for forming ring or metal band electrodes flush with the outer surface of a catheter are arduous, time-consuming and/or require further processing. For example, in one process, metal bands and sleeves therebetween are slipped over the tubing outer surface with the sleeves maintaining the appropriate spacing between adjacent electrodes; this requires the use of additional pieces (namely, the sleeves) and an arduous assembly process. Another process requires the tubing to be stretched to lower the outer diameter thereof, metal bands placed over the stretched tubing and disposed in appropriate spatial relationship, and the tubing then heated and released. The metal bands sink into the heat-softened tubing outer surface as the tubing resumes its original configuration (except where the metal bands are embedded therein). This technique requires additional stretching, heating and cooling steps.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide in one embodiment an electrode-carrying catheter having a ring or metal band electrode thereon flush with the catheter outer surface.
Another object is to provide such a catheter which can mount a large number of electrodes.
A further object is to provide such a catheter wherein there is a reliable adhesive-free electrical contact between an electrode and any conductive wire extending from the proximal end to the electrode, the electrode has a sufficiently large surface area for electrode functioning, and all exposed surfaces are biocompatible.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide such a catheter which is easily and inexpensively manufactured.
It is another object to provide processes for the manufacture of such catheters.

Electrode-carrying catheter and method of making same


A method of biomonitoring marine water is provided, as are probes and kits. The method comprises: extracting messenger Ribonucleic Acid (mRNA) from Mytilus species; preparing cDNA from the mRNA; hybridizing a plurality of probes with the cDNA to provide a set of hybridized cDNA, the probes consisting of at least 20 consecutive nucleotides of at least 50 sequences of SEQ ID NO: 1-122; and quantifying an abundance of the set of hybridized cDNA, thereby biomonitoring marine water.

Field of the Invention
The present technology relates to probes and methods of use thereof for monitoring aquatic environmental quality. More specifically, the technology relates to Mytilus edulis and Mytilus galloprovincialis probes and methods of use thereof to quantify stress levels in these invertebrates as a measure of anthropogenic or environmental variables in the water.
Description of the Related Art
Ocean coastlines around the world are under increasing pressure from urbanization, industry, recreation, aquaculture and climate change impacts. The presence of stressing agents from environmental, for example, but not limited to, temperature, salinity, food availability, or oxygen levels, biological, (for example, but not limited to bacteria or toxic algae) and anthropogenic sources; (for example, but not limited to wastewater, pollution, poor resource management or aquaculture practices) can affect the marine environment. These pressures require effective diagnostic tools to continually monitor coastal ecosystem health and function. Shellfish are a critical part of coastal and estuarine ecosystems and as sessile, filter-feeding animals, act as the "canary in the coalmine" of our coastal environment, providing a living warning of dangers to people on our coasts where human populations are concentrated. In North America, three such shellfish—mussels, oysters and Zebra mussels—have become sentinel or indicator species for monitoring environmental quality on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts from Alaska to Hawaii and from the Great Lakes to Puerto Rico. This "Mussel Watch" program has run continuously since 1986, includes 300 active monitoring sites and assesses 140 contaminants. Because shellfish are well distributed along coasts and are sessile, they are better integrators of contaminants in any given area. They are good indicators for environmental quality because their tissues respond to changes in ambient environmental levels, their wide geographical distribution, and their sessile nature make them excellent in situ bioaccumulators of pollution, providing valuable information on changes in coastal environments.
The global market for instrumentation to test and monitor wastewater is expected to reach $10 billion by 2016 as regulations in all jurisdictions become increasingly stringent and enforcement mechanisms improve. The Canadian economy relies heavily on fish and seafood—in 2004 these aquatic resources were the single largest export food commodity, by value, in Canada. Canada is the fifth largest seafood exporter in the world with more than $4.3 billion in value in 2005.
Uses of indicator species, as currently practised through well established programs like Mussel Watch, have become standard practice for monitoring the receiving environment. However, most of the analysis techniques rely on physical and chemical tests of the animal tissues, which are extremely slow and inefficient, and provide limited information on animal health and function.
In the US, biomonitoring is required under National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permits, which may include freshwater, marine or estuarine species. Facilities that process over a million gallons of wastewater per day are required to test water samples daily for toxicity and smaller facilities typically run these tests monthly. Effluent bioassays, biomonitoring and Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) testing are all terms used to describe testing of wastewater discharge with aquatic organisms to assess the discharge's toxicity. WET tests are today's most common test for toxicity, but provide no information on the biological impacts of toxicity levels in ecosystems. In a WET test, organisms are exposed to various effluent concentrations for a specified time period in order to estimate toxicity. Sewage outflow water is used in the laboratory to simulate what happens in the natural environment. The most commonly used organisms for these tests are fathead minnows and an invertebrate—Ceriodapahnia dubia. Acute tests measure the concentration of test material that produces a lethal outcome during a 48-96 hour period. Chronic tests estimate the concentration of effluent that interferes with growth, development and reproduction over 4-7 days—the life cycle or life stage of the organism. WET tests average about $100/test in the US market.
When WET tests reveal the presence of a toxin and that toxin requires further identification, then the waste water facility must conduct a TIE and/or TRE study. A TRE—Toxicity Reduction Evaluation—is a systematic evaluation of the wastewater effluents to determine sources of toxicity and how to control this. This may include chemical screens, process reviews, evaluation of the facility's process performance and TIE—Toxicity Identification Evaluation. The objective of TIE is to characterize and identify the compound(s) causing toxicity. In TIE, effluent samples are manipulated to remove suspect chemicals and then re-test them to see if the toxicity remains, which provides clues to the analyst as to the source of the toxicity. TIE tests typically cost $1,000 each in the US market.
According to a Chief Plant Operator at a US waste water treatment plant, "it makes sense to offer a test similar to WET, but that is able to gather more nuanced information . . . at the depth offered by molecular analysis. End-users may find a new type of toxicity testing appealing if it were capable of gathering data on components beyond those for which testing is currently mandated. Other components of interest include: metals, chemical toxins, microbes, hormones or pharmaceuticals. A new method should be able to detect the presence of these components in trace amounts. End-users at water treatment plants may be interested in a micro-array if it can somehow identify toxins early, in a way that prevents drastic follow-up attempts to purify the water in the presence of toxins. If it could be demonstrated that this test can help prevent problems with toxins before reactionary methods become necessary, then end-users may be willing to purchase this type of technology before it is mandated by EPA." A Lab Manager in the Ecology Division of a US environmental consulting firm, said that "one near-term application that may not require EPA approval is to use this new technology to reduce the number of TIE procedures that have to be performed once a toxin has been identified. If the new technology could reduce the number of TIE tests required to isolate toxins, then this would save companies time and money."
At present tools for wastewater management using bivalves include visual indicators of acute and chronic mortality phases and other indicators such as shell growth, which have proven to be highly variable and therefore not always informative. To assess the effects of contaminants, histology assays have been developed that include the evaluation of lysosomal membrane stability and response indices. Biochemical assays include acetylcholinesterase activity, metallothionein content, vitellogenin, superoxidase dismutase, glutathione peroxidase levels and the accumulation of heat shock proteins. These assays are relatively difficult, time consuming to conduct, and each test provides information on only the end point of one gene which limits their usefulness in environmental monitoring. In addition, analysis of pollutant concentrations in sediments provides information on contamination levels, but not the effects on organism function, and benthic biodiversity analysis provides information of detrimental impacts only after community structure has shifted.
Microarrays have been used to measure gene expression in many systems. This is more sensitive than measuring biomarkers at the protein level. Analysis of gene expression profiles is increasingly used to evaluate the biological effects of stress on aquatic animals. Using Reverse Transcription real-time quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) in mussel studies, only limited numbers of genes have been examined, for example five genes from M. galloprovincialis in Li et al., 2010 ("Expression of Mytilus immune genes in response to experimental challenges varied according to the site of collection." Fish & Shellfish Immunology 28(4): 640-648), five in Veldhoen et al., 2011 ("Relationship between mRNA biomarker candidates and location near a marine municipal wastewater outfall in the benthic indicator species Modiolus modiolus (L.)." Aquatic Toxicology 105(1-2): 119-126) and twelve in Veldhoen et al., 2009 ("Gene expression profiling in the deep water horse mussel Modiolus modiolus (L.) located near a marine municipal wastewater outfall." Aquatic Toxicology 93(2-3): 116-124) from Modiolus modiolus.
There is a need to improve environmental monitoring in coastal waters. Testing methods should be rapid, accurate and inexpensive. It would be advantageous to have a suite of biomarkers to facilitate a comprehensive understanding of organism health as it relates to the health of marine environments. These could then be employed to monitor the marine environment. It would also be advantageous if the biomarkers could support versioning to keep current and meet commercial market requirements, have broad global species coverage and have the capability to monitor a broad range of environmental stressors.

Methods and probes for monitoring marine water


Dielectric fluids are provided, the dielectric fluids comprising a mixture of polyol esters derived from a reaction of a) a polyol comprising pentaerythritol, trimethylolpropane, neopentyl glycol, or combinations thereof, and b) a mixture of fatty acid esters derived from a high oleic soybean oil comprising fatty acid moieties, wherein the high oleic soybean oil has a C18:1 content of greater than 65% of the fatty acid moieties in the oil, and a combined C18:2 and C18:3 content of less than 20% of the fatty acid moieties in the oil. Also provided are electrical apparatuses comprising the dielectric fluids, and processes for preparing the mixtures of polyol esters.

The electrical industry uses a variety of dielectric fluids which are easily available and generally cost effective. Examples are mineral oil, silicone fluid, and synthetic hydrocarbon oils used in transformers, power cables and capacitors. Such fluids must be electrically insulating, resistant to degradation, and be able to act as a heat transfer medium so that heat generated in an electrical apparatus can be dissipated to the surrounding environment.
However, currently used fluids also have several deficiencies. Many of these fluids are not considered to be biodegradable in a reasonable time frame. Some have electrical properties which render them less than optimal. In recent years regulatory agencies have become increasingly concerned about oil spills which can contaminate the ground soil and other areas. A biodegradable dielectric fluid would be desirable for electrical apparatus such as transformers used in populated or ecologically sensitive areas.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,160,144 relates to synthetic esters of alcohols and fatty acid mixtures containing at least 85% by weight of oleic acid and 0.5 to 2.5% by weight of stearic acid and to their use as lubricants and hydraulic oils and for cosmetic purposes.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,278,006 discloses oils containing a triacylglycerol polyol ester and a non-glycerol polyol ester, as well of methods of making such oils and methods for improving lubrication properties of a vegetable oil.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,048,875 relates to a high oleic oil composition useful as an electrical insulation fluid, to electrical insulation fluid compositions, and electrical apparatuses which comprise the same. Disclosed are the electrical properties of high oleic acid triglyceride compositions that comprise fatty acid components of at least 75% oleic acid, less than 10% diunsaturated fatty acid component; less than 3% triunsaturated fatty acid component; and less than 8% saturated fatty acid component. In some preferred embodiments, the electrical insulation fluid comprises fatty acid components of: at least 75% oleic acid, less than 10% linoleic acid, less than 3% linolenic acid, less than 4% stearic acid, and less than 4% palmitic acid.
Published Canadian Patent Application CA 2,492,565 discloses a dielectric coolant having at least a pour point of about −40° C. and comprising a mixture of more than one polyol ester of specified chemical structures, wherein the alkyl groups have chain lengths of C5 to C22. Neopentyl glycol and trimethylolpropane are disclosed as preferred polyols.
There is a continuing need for biodegradable dielectric fluids having good oxidative stability. There is an ongoing need for electrical apparatuses which comprise a biodegradable dielectric fluid having good oxidative stability. There is a need for a process to prepare biodegradable dielectric fluids having good oxidative stability.

Dielectric fluids comprising polyol esters


Fuel in aircrafts is commonly stored in a pair of tanks, identified as right and left tanks, and a fuel selector valve is provided by the present invention to selectively feed fuel to the aircraft engine from either tank, and alternatively from both tanks simultaneously. When the fuel selector valve is in a fuel feed position, a white light is illuminated, as fuel flows to the engine, a green light is also illuminated. A timer is in electrical circuit with the tanks and is activated and manually set to a predetermined time setting to sound an alarm just prior to depletion of fuel in the tank in use to warn the operator to switch to the other tank. If for any reason, a tank runs dry while in use or fuel stops flowing or decreases in volume the green light will go out and a red light will be energized along with an audible warning, such as the sound of a buzzer, to enable the operator to switch to a reserve tank commonly provided with approximately ten minutes of fuel for the engine.

This invention pertains to a fuel feeding system for aircraft and more particularly to a system of this nature including selector control means for the feeding of gasoline to the aircraft engine as well as both visual and audible indicator means to keep the operator informed at all times of the prevailing state of the fuel supply including the feed thereof to the aircraft engine relative to the various fuel supply tanks.
Therefore, one of the principal objects of the present invention is to provide a manual selector valve operably connected to both a right and left fuel storage tank whereby the fuel may be selectively delivered from either or both tanks to the engine.
A further object of the invention is to provide a first visual indicator means to identify the fuel tank or tanks currently in use.
Another object of the invention is to provide a second visual indicator means to confirm the proper flow of fuel from the tank or tanks to the engine.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a timer means, including an audible signal means, to be manually set to inform the operator of the proper time to switch the flow of fuel from one tank to the other.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a third visual indicator means to indicate an interruption in the fuel flow or an insufficient flow of fuel from one or both tanks to the engine.
Another object of the invention is to provide an audible signal means to operate in conjunction with the third visual indicator means.


A phase compensated loop antenna having phase compensation elements distributed along the length thereof. The phase compensation elements compensate for current variations along the antenna length resulting from increasing the length of the antenna. A nested loop configuration incorporating at least one phase compensated loop antenna is also provided.

A loop antenna may be utilized in a variety of systems, including, for example, EAS and RFID systems. An excitation source may provide current to, or induce current in, the loop antenna at a particular excitation frequency. The excitation source may include a tuning capacitor, where the value of the capacitor is used to set the excitation frequency. Current flowing along the length of the loop antenna generates an electromagnetic field in proportion to the current flow. If the current flow through the antenna exhibits wide variances, then the resulting electromagnetic field will exhibit corresponding variances. This leads to degradation in performance of systems utilizing such antennas.
To avoid this degradation, conventional loop antennas have been constructed to be "electrically small." An electrically small loop antenna is an antenna wherein its physical length is short relative to its operating wavelength, i.e. typically not more than 1/10th of the wavelength. The operating wavelength λ of the field generated by the antenna in free space is given equation (1), where c is the speed of light, and f is equal to the excitation frequency provided by the excitation source.λ=c/f  (1)
As the physical length of the loop antenna becomes greater than 1/10th of the wavelength λ, appreciable current variances are manifested along the length of the loop.6 Simulations and tests on prototype antennas of differing lengths have been conducted to determine the extent of current variance along the length of loop antennas. For a wavelength of 22.12 meters, corresponding to an excitation frequency of 13.56 MHz, loop antennas having lengths of 2.0 meters, 4.0 meters, and 8.0 meters have been tested. In general, the current variation along the length of the antenna increased substantially as the length of the loop antenna was increased beyond 1/10th of the wavelength.
For instance, for a loop antenna length of 2.0 meters, a 0.5 m×0.5 m square loop antenna operating at an excitation frequency of 13.56 MHz was simulated and tested. Of course, the 2.0 meter length is slightly less than 1/10th of the 22.12 meter wavelength. The simulation was performed using the Expert MININEC Series by EM Scientific, Inc. The Expert MININEC Series is a software tool that utilizes method of moments to solve for currents and electromagnetic fields for electrically thin wires. The simulation revealed that the current around the 2.0 meter loop antenna increased to a maximum level of only about 4% higher than a minimum level. An experimental measurement of the a prototype 0.5 m×0.5 m loop antenna using a Pearson RF current probe also indicated a 4% variation of current magnitude around the loop antenna.
For the longer loop antenna of 4.0 meters, a 1.0 m×1.0 m square loop antenna at 13.56 MHz was simulated using the Expert MININEC Series program. The 4.0 meter length is almost ⅕th of the 22.12 meter wavelength. The simulation revealed a current magnitude variation of about 17% comparing a maximum current level to a minimum current level around the loop antenna. An experimental measurement of a prototype 1.0 m×1.0 m loop antenna using a Pearson RF current probe indicated a 30% variation of current magnitude around the loop antenna.
Yet an even longer loop antenna of 8.0 meters, configured as a 2.0 m×2.0 m square loop antenna at 13.56 MHz, was simulated using the Expert MININEC Series program. The 8.0 meter length is almost ⅖th of the 22.12 meter wavelength. The simulation revealed a current magnitude variation of as much as 235% comparing a maximum current level to a minimum current level around the antenna. Whenever such large asymmetries exist in the antenna current distribution, as indicated by both the simulated and experimental results, the resulting electromagnetic fields are also asymmetrical. Again, this leads to degradation in performance of systems utilizing such antennas, and in particular is highly undesirable for field-canceling antennas which rely on even field distribution for canceling affects.
It is clear, therefore, that increasing the loop length of conventional antennas to degree appreciably greater than 1/10th of the operating wavelength causes increasingly larger current variations around the antenna. These current variations lead to degradation in performance of systems utilizing such antennas. In systems wherein the excitation frequency is fixed, e.g. in some EAS and RFID systems, current variations associated with exceeding an antenna length of 1/10th of the operating wavelength place a practical limit on the physical length of the loop antenna. Limited antenna length limits the effective range of such antennas. Also, where such antennas are provided in nested configurations to achieve far-field canceling benefits, the length of the inner loop antenna is constrained by the limited length of the outer loop antenna. As such, the range of an inner loop antenna in a nested loop configuration is also limited.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a loop antenna configuration wherein the antenna length may be greater than 1/10th of the operating wavelength without causing unacceptable current variance about the antenna length.

Phase compensated field-cancelling nested loop antenna


A foot orthosis for correctably realigning and repositioning specific anatomic segments of the human foot consists of three functional components, namely, a heel complex segment and two longitudinal forefoot segments--namely, a medial segment and a lateral segment.. The heel complex segment is independently connected to each longitudinal forefoot segment by a connector. The segments function sufficiently independently from one another to consider the device a triplanar foot orthosis.

The present invention relates to a foot orthosis and, more particularly, to an orthopedic appliance for correctably realigning and repositioning specific anatomic segments of the human foot.
In describing the motions which can occur within the subtalar and midtarsal joints, it is important to realize that the axis of motion of these two important joints is not perpendicular to any one body plane. Therefore, the resultant motion which occurs is considered a tri-planar or complex motion. The complex motions which occur at the subtalar and midtarsal joints are called pronation and supination.
Subtalar joint pronation is a complex triplanar motion which essentially will "unlock" the bones of the foot and render the foot loose and mobile. This feature is particularly useful at heel strike so that the foot can effectively adapt to the supporting surface. As the foot pronates, the calcaneus or heel bone everts and the talus above adducts and plantarflexes. This is also accompanied by an internal rotation of the lower extremity. Pronation of the subtalar joint is a necessity since by permitting this motion between these two bones, thus facilitating flexion of the knee above, it becomes a very effective attenuator of the impact shock which can be as high as 2.5 times body weight.
Supination, on the other hand, is the opposite of pronation. It is essentially a motion that "locks" the various bones of the foot together in order to convert our "loose mobile bag of bones", so to speak, into a more rigid lever in preparation for the transfer of body weight distally toward the toes. The motion consists of an inversion of the calcaneus and abduction and dorsiflexion of the talus and an external rotation of the lower extremity, thus facilitating extension of the knee.
Pronation in and of itself is a very healthy and necessary motion to permit a gait which is both efficient and low in impact shock. It is when this pronatory motion is abnormally prolonged or excessive that problems develop both within the foot and more proximally in other body joints, i.e., ankle, knee, and hip.
By comparison, the midtarsal joint, which determines and/or permits movement of the forefoot on the rearfoot, functions around two axes of motion; a longitudinal axis and an oblique axis. The longitudinal axis permits primarily inversion and eversion of the forefoot; while the oblique axis allows primarily abduction and dorsiflexion of the forefoot or a combination of adduction and plantarflexion of the forefoot on the rearfoot. The two axes function not only concurrently to permit a pronatory/supinatory motion of the forefoot to take place but also separately to permit clinically observable independent oblique or longitudinal axis motion to take place.
If the forces which are entering the feet are abnormal, excessive, misdirected or mal-phasic, the ability of the foot to perform its function segmentally and sequentially will be disturbed. Previous therapeutic or assistive approaches have failed to address the combination of factors affecting foot function. While biomechanical or functional foot orthoses attempted this, their "uni-body" construction actually intensified some of the problems:
1. By causing lifting of the lateral column of the foot in mid-stance phase, thus, making the longitudinal joint-to-ground angle more acute and destabilizing the lateral column.
2. By preventing the medial column from lowering itself sufficiently to achieve its adaptive function or by allowing the medial column to lower too much, thus preventing the phasic restoration of the medial column position.
3. By tilting the forefoot position too much or too little in a varus or valgus position (i.e., fixed inversion or fixed eversion position), thereby allowing forefoot orthotic corrections which should function in midstance and/or propulsive phase to influence and disrupt the function of the rearfoot in the earlier occurring contact phase.
4. By the inability of the orthoses because of the "uni-body" construction to adapt to the changing positions, lengths and widths of the foot occurring because of dynamic function.
5. By preventing the first ray from functioning independently from the lesser metatarsals and/or preventing the lesser metatarsals from functioning independently from the first ray complex.
6. By essentially ignoring the all-important oblique axis of the midtarsal joint, thus disallowing any stabilization of the lateral and, therefore, medial columns of the foot during the propulsive phases of gait. Thus, single, continuous non-segmented, biomechanical foot orthoses which attempt to supply control primarily on the frontal plane are incapable of adjusting to the changing functional positions of the various foot segments as they go through their phasic structural and muscular repositioning in an attempt to achieve their normal stabilization and propulsion. Other foot orthotic devices which attempted stabilization failed to address the aspects of muscular force vectors, angular osseous relationships, the subtalar joint axis, the longitudinal and oblique axes of the midtarsal joint, and the tri-plane motions involved with corresponding phasic muscle activities.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a foot orthosis which is capable of adjusting to the varying positions and activities of the human foot in a manner which maximizes the body's own muscular, neurologic and skeletal functions.
Another object is to provide such a foot orthosis which is able to mobilize, restrict or enhance certain motions by altering the angular relationships of the osseous structures of the feet which, together with phasic muscle activity, are responsible for the unlocking and locking (adaptive and propulsive) mechanisms in the feet.
A further object is to provide such a foot orthosis which permits control of the degree of positional change in a sequential manner.
It is also an object to provide such a foot orthosis comprised of components modularly assemblable to meet the particular needs of a given patient.

Segmented triplanar orthopedic appliance


Precise concentric alignment of the coolant, plasma and sample gas tubes d in conventional ICPs is an operationally important factor often achieved by fused arrangements which effectively preclude dismountability for maintenance and repair. Spacer rings slip-fitted into the coolant and plasma passages provide support for the concentric arrangement and also permit dismountability. Each ring is slotted to direct coolant and plasma gases and improve their intended functions. One ring spans the plasma tube and has a number of vertically-directed peripheral slots producing a laminar plasma gas flow. The other ring spans the coolant passage and has a pair of threads cut at spaced intervals to spiral the coolant gas and improve its heat transfer function. A separable base member supports the concentric lower ends of the tubes.

The present invention relates to inductively-coupled plasma torches and, in particular, to torch designs that improve performance and facilitate maintenance.
The relative ease of operation, power capability and overall performance of an inductively-coupled plasma torch (ICP) depends upon a number of factors not the least important of which is the torch design itself. In general, most ICPs include three concentric silica and/or Pyrex tubes usually referred to as an inner sample tube, a `flared` plasma gas tube and an outer coolant tube. Conventionally, these tubes either are fused into one- or two-piece units through glass blowing techniques or they have their lower ends mounted in some demountable base assembly.
With regard to the glass-blown torch, precise concentric alignment, of course, can be achieved during construction through the use of an assembly jig. However, as will be recognized, a fused torch is not dismountable and therefore not easily repaired or maintained. As to repairs, conventional ICP torches, due to their limited heat transfer capabilities, are known to have rather restricted operational lives due to rather frequent melt-downs of the coolant tubes. When they occur, the fused arrangements have no capability for removing and replacing only the coolant tube itself.
The dismountable base approach also presents some difficulties in that the three tubes which are supported only by the base are difficult to align and to maintain in precise alignment. This problem is aggravated by the fact that commercial quartz and Pyrex glass tubing rarely is perfectly straight or cylindrical.
As already indicated, coolant tube melt-downs all too frequent are due mostly to their limited heat transfer capability. Improved gas flow patterns clearly can improve the heat transfer and reduce the melt-downs. Further, to the extent of the improvement, operation of the ICP also can be measurably improved since higher powers and longer coolant tubes can be used. The longer coolant tubes are beneficial since their additional length helps to shield the discharge and avoid entrainment of external gases such as environmental oxygen and nitrogen.
An object of the present invention is therefore to provide a demountable ICP arrangement in which concentricity of the coolant, plasma and sample tubes is securely maintained. Another object is to improve the gas pattern of the ICPs.
In brief, the objects of the invention are achieved by mounting the lower ends of the concentric tubes in a dismountable base assembly and supporting the upper ends by means of slip-fitted spacer rings. One ring which spans the plasma tube is slotted to produce a laminar plasma gas flow. Another ring spanning the coolant passageway is formed with spiral threads significantly increasing the tangential flow velocity of the coolant gas and improving its heat transfer capability.

Dismountable inductively-coupled plasma torch apparatus

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


An ice merchandiser includes a cabinet assembly including a base panel, a front panel, a rear panel, a right side panel, a left side panel, and a top panel. A first joint type is used to couple the rear panel to the base panel, the base panel to each of the right and left side panels, and the rear panel to each of the right and left side panels. A second joint type is used to couple the top panel to the right side panel, wherein the second joint type includes a slide channel structured to receive a flange of the right side panel and a flange of the top panel to couple the top panel to the right side panel. The first joint type differs from the second joint type, yet neither joint type utilizes a fastener or an adhesive.

Enclosures are used in a variety of applications. One type of an enclosure is an insulated enclosure, which includes insulation to maintain or substantially maintain an interior space of the enclosure at a desired temperature. An example of an insulated enclosure is an ice merchandiser enclosure for storing and supplying ice products (e.g., bagged ice) to patrons.
Ice merchandisers are usually fairly large and heavy temperature-controlled storage units. Their size and shape is often dependent upon the ice product that they are designed to store (e.g., one-hundred seven pound bags of ice, three-hundred seven pound bags of ice, etc.), the presence of a refrigeration system, the use of heavy-duty weather-resistant (e.g., rust resistant) materials, and the like. The ice merchandiser usually includes an inner housing and an outer housing. The outer housing is typically made by sheet metal panels connected by welds, soldering, and/or fasteners. However, the outer housing can be difficult for technicians to construct or assemble because the technicians may be required to perform various actions in uncomfortable positions (e.g., soldering over-head). Thus, complicated assembly processes can result in relatively long lead times (i.e., the time to make an enclosure) and even result in errors in the construction of such enclosures (e.g., gaps between adjoined walls).


A device for identifying an end of a fiber tape rolling over a composite structure is presented. The device includes a light source disposed proximate to the composite structure and configured to project a line of light at a first angle on the fiber tape rolling over the composite structure. Also, the device includes an image capturing unit disposed proximate to the composite structure and configured to capture an image of the line of light on the fiber tape at a second angle. Further, the device includes a controller coupled to the image capturing unit and configured to process the captured image to detect a discontinuity in the line of light on the fiber tape and identify the end of the fiber tape based on the detected discontinuity in the line of light on the fiber tape.

Embodiments of the present specification relate generally to a composite layup machine, and more particularly to a system and method for monitoring tape ends of the composite layup machine.
Composite layup machines are used to fabricate composite structures, such as aircraft wings, fan casing, and fuselages in aerospace, automotive, marine, and other industries. Typically, the composite layup machine moves over a layup surface of the structure to place strips of fiber carbon material, known as tapes, on the layup surface. The composite layup machine may make multiple passes over the layup surface in a pre-defined pattern, building up layers of the tape until a layup has been formed.
In general, the tapes are repeatedly rolled over the surface of the structure at different angles to maximize the strength of the structure. Also, it is important to place the tapes at a correct position on the surface of the structure to improve the strength and quality of the structure. In some instance, the layup machine may slip and may take offset by a millimeter. This in turn causes the layup machine to place the tapes at an incorrect position on the surface of the structure. Also, there may be other errors, such as twists in the tapes and splice breaks in the tapes that may cause the tapes to be placed at an incorrect position on the surface of the structure. Further, this incorrect positioning of tapes on the structure may cause bulging and may reduce the strength of the structure. Also, there may be bad spots in the final product of the structure. Thus, it is very important to monitor the placement of tapes on the structure.
In existing systems, an operator visually identifies the location of tape ends on the surface of the structure while the layup machine places the tape over the structure. Further, the operator visually inspects the tape ends to verify whether the tape is placed at the correct position on the surface of the structure. However, this layup process requires the operator to stand at the layup machine and continously watch the operation. Also, it is very difficult for the operator to visually identify the location of tape ends for each layer on the structure as the tape ends are below the layup machine. Additionally, the fiber nature of the tape may make the tape surface appear bright in some orientations and very dark in other. This in turn makes it difficult for the operator to visually find the actual edge or end of the tape. Moreover, by the time the operator identifies the error in placing the tape, multiple layers may be laid down on the incorrect tape. This in turn causes the operator to stop the layup machine and peel all the layers that are above the incorrect tape, which is a tedious and time consuming process. Moreover, finding a error tape that is buried deep in the structure may prove to be very difficult and expensive to repair. Also, peeling all the layers that are above the incorrect tape and relaying new tapes may increase the material cost and labour cost for fabricating the composite structure.
Thus, there is a need for a system and method to automatically detect the location of tape ends and monitor the placement of tape ends on the composite structure.

System and method for monitoring tape ends of a composite layup machine


A method of processing a device wafer comprising applying a sacrificial material to a surface of a carrier wafer, adhering a surface of the device wafer to an opposing surface of the carrier wafer, planarizing an exposed surface of the sacrificial material by removing only a portion of a thickness thereof, and planarizing an opposing surface of the device wafer. A wafer assembly is also disclosed.

Conventional wafer carrier systems bond a process wafer, which may also be characterized as a device wafer, to a carrier for back side processing including substantial thinning of the process wafer, after which the process wafer and carrier are separated. However, in order to sufficiently planarize, as well as thin, a device wafer as bonded to the carrier, the carrier itself when bonded to the device wafer and during the device wafer thinning process, should exhibit a sufficient planarity so as to act as a reference plane and prevent unacceptable deviations from planarity of the thinned device wafer.
While carriers in the form of both semiconductor and glass materials are known, it is currently preferred to planarize semiconductor (generally silicon) carriers in the form of carrier wafers, after bonding to the device wafer and before the device wafer is thinned. This preference is largely due to the ability to use the same equipment to planarize a semiconductor carrier wafer as may be subsequently used to thin and planarize the device wafer. In contrast, due to the different material characteristics of a glass carrier, different equipment and specifically the tool element used to contact the glass, must be employed to planarize a glass carrier.
A significant drawback, however, in the use of a carrier wafer of either a semiconductor or a glass material is the required thinning of the carrier wafer during planarizing thereof. Such thinning, typically of at least about 20 μm to no more than about 30 μm restricts the re-use of the carrier to a relative small number of times before the structural rigidity of the thinned carrier wafer is insufficient to support the device wafer during processing. At such point, the carrier wafer must be discarded and replaced with another carrier wafer. As a result, the high volume of device wafers processed in a modern, state of the art semiconductor fab results in costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more, per year for carrier wafers.

Method and apparatus for processing semiconductor device structures


The present invention relates to a breaker of a reinforced glass, including a power source for driving a breaking cylinder to compress a strong spring. When the compressed strong spring is released, the strong spring may produce an instantaneous bounce force so as to drive the breaking cylinder to strongly hit and break the reinforced glass, thereby breaking the reinforced glass quickly and efficiently.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a breaker of a reinforced glass, and more particularly to a breaker that may produce an instantaneous bounce force to drive the breaking cylinder to strongly hit and break the reinforced glass, thereby breaking the reinforced glass quickly and efficiently.
2. Description of the Related Art
The closest prior art of which the applicant is aware is disclosed in the Taiwanese Patent Publication No. 363426, which discloses a conventional breaker which includes a box fixed on a corner of a reinforced glass window. The box contains a slide track which is fitted with a slide base which has a front side secured with a motor which has a rotation shaft connected to a gravity rod that is rested on the reinforced glass window. The slide track has a rear side provided with a strong spring pushing the slide base.
Thus, when an accident happens, and it is necessary to hit and break the reinforced glass window, the motor may drive the gravity rod to rotate at a high speed, so that the conic head of the gravity rod may be pushed by the strong spring to drill a hole in the reinforced glass window, so as to break the reinforced glass window, thereby achieving the purpose of escape.
However, the conventional breaker of a reinforced glass window has the following disadvantages.
1. The strong spring is disposed at a compressed state during a long period of time, so that the strong spring easily produces an elastic fatigue, thereby failing the breaker.
2. The conic head of the gravity rod pushed by the strong spring needs to take a great deal of time so as to drill a hole in the reinforced glass window, thereby wasting time of escape.
3. The conic head of the gravity rod pushed by the strong spring can only drill a small hole in the reinforced glass window, and the user has to use other article to break and enlarge the small hole for escape, thereby wasting time of escape.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the disadvantage of the conventional breaker of a reinforced glass window.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a breaker that may produce an instantaneous bounce force to drive the breaking cylinder to strongly hit and break the reinforced glass, thereby breaking the reinforced glass quickly and efficiently.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a breaker of a reinforced glass, comprising: a body, having a first end formed with a closed end, and a second end having an end face formed with a slide groove and a through hole in parallel with each other, a breaking cylinder slidably mounted in the through hole, an elastic member mounted in the breaking cylinder and rested on the closed end of the body, a slide base slidably mounted in the slide groove, a power source mounted in the body for moving the slide base, a clutch device mounted on the slide base and detachably locked on one end of the breaking cylinder.
Preferably, the closed end of the body is sealed by a support plate, the closed end of the body is formed with a receiving groove communicated with the slide groove, the closed end of the body is formed with a guide groove that is communicated with and has an inner diameter greater than that of the through hole, and a connecting hole is connected between the slide groove and the through hole of the body.
Preferably, the power source is mounted in the receiving groove of the body, and has one end provided with a ball screw that is directed toward the slide groove, the ball screw may be driven by the power source to rotate, the ball screw is positioned and supported in the slide groove by a bearing, the slide base is slidably mounted in the slide groove, and has a center formed with a screw hole screwed on the ball screw, so that when the ball screw is rotated by the power source, the slide base may slide on the ball screw by guidance of the slide groove.
Preferably, the clutch device is a clutch swing bar, the slide base has one side formed with two pivot ears received in the connecting hole of the body for pivoting the clutch swing bar which may swing horizontally in the connecting hole of the body, the slide base is formed with a longitudinally extended cutout located between the two pivot ears, a guide rod has a first end inserted into the cutout of the slide base, and a second end screwed on a side face of the body, the clutch swing bar has a first end pivotally mounted between the two pivot ears of the slide base, and a second end having a first side formed with a protruded stop portion and a second side formed with a protruded guide portion, the stop portion of the clutch swing bar has a free end formed with a circular nose end, the guide portion of the clutch swing bar has a free end pivoted with a roller, the stop portion of the clutch swing bar is rested on the end face of the breaking cylinder, and the roller of the guide portion of the clutch swing bar is rested on the guide rod of the slide base.
Preferably, the breaking cylinder is slidably mounted in the guide groove and the through hole of the body, and has a closed first end provided with a striking needle, and a second end having an outer periphery formed with an annular locking flange that may be rested and locked in the guide groove of the body, and the breaking cylinder has an inner portion formed with a chamber for receiving the strong spring which is rested on a support plate.


Activation of an automatic driving feature in a vehicle is detected by evaluating sequential vehicle operation data against subtractive and additive heuristic rules that define a likelihood of an automatic driving feature having been engaged as a function of vehicle performance. The sequential vehicle operation data, which does not include an explicit indication of whether the automatic driving feature was engaged, is provided for time intervals of a trip made by the vehicle. Automatic driving information is generated, which provides an indication of whether the automatic driving feature was engaged during a subset of the time intervals.

Traditional automobile insurance premium pricing is based on aggregated statistical historical data to produce rating factors. The aggregated statistical historical data typically includes an insured person's driving record, credit-based insurance score, personal characteristics (age, gender, and marital status), vehicle type, garage location, vehicle use, previous claims, liability limits, and deductibles, among other information. Additionally, discounts on traditional automobile insurance premium pricing are available based on the presence of protection devices (like airbags or antilock brakes) in the vehicle, driving education courses taken by the insured person, and mileage driven by the vehicle, among other considerations. Furthermore, traditional automobile insurance premium pricing is a fixed cost, assessed annually and usually paid for in lump sums on an annual, semi-annual, or quarterly basis.
Usage Based Insurance (UBI), on the other hand, typically individualizes insurance premium pricing based on the mileage driven by the vehicle as determined by Global Positioning System (GPS) location data obtained for the vehicle. UBI, therefore, attempts to more accurately price insurance based on actual usage of the vehicle, since there is a correlation between claims made against insurance for accidents for a vehicle and the mileage driven by that vehicle. Additionally, recent developments in technology have increased the effectiveness and cost of using telematics devices installed in vehicles, thereby enabling insurers to capture not just how many miles an insured person actually drives, but how and when they drive too. The result has been the growth of several UBI variations, including Pay-As-You-Drive (PAYD), Pay-How-You-Drive (PHYD), Pay-As-You-Go, and Distance-Based Insurance.
The introduction of driver assistance technology, vehicle autopilot, and self-driving vehicles has generally reduced accident risks and claim and loss costs. Nevertheless, traditional and UBI automobile insurance premium pricing has generally not taken into consideration the risk and cost reduction resulting from the usage of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).


A connector-incorporating plug which has a built-in connector in a tube-shaped barrel and in which a coupling is mounted at an outer circumference of the barrel at a front end thereof so as to be movable along a center axis of the barrel includes a C ring mounted, in a detachable manner, in a groove formed on the outer circumference of the barrel and restricting movement of the coupling toward a rear end of the barrel. The C ring is made of a resin material. An outer circumferential side portion of an intermediate portion of a C shape of the C ring protrudes back and forth in the thickness direction thereof to be thick.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration disclosed in Patent Literature 1 as a conventional example of a connector-incorporating plug 10 of this type. FIG. 1 illustrates a barrel 11 and a coupling 12. The barrel 11 having a tube shape includes a built-in optical connector, although it is hidden in FIG. 1. The coupling 12 is mounted to the outer circumference of the barrel 11 at its front end so as to be movable along the center axis of the barrel 11.
This connector-incorporating plug 10 is of a push-pull connection type. It can be connected to a mating receptacle by grabbing the barrel 11 and pushing it in a single operation, and can also be extracted from the mating receptacle by grabbing the coupling 12 and pulling it backwards in a single operation.
In order to be able to visually check that the coupling goes forward to a predetermined position to make the connector-incorporating plug 10 connect to the mating receptacle, a groove 13 appearing when the coupling 12 goes forward to the predetermined position is formed as a mark on the outer circumference of the barrel 11.
Patent Literature 2 also mentions that a groove appearing when a coupling goes forward to a predetermined position is formed on the outer circumference of a barrel and that it is checked by looking at the groove that the connector-incorporating plug is appropriately connected to a mating receptacle.

JAPAN AVIATION ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY, LIMITED


An optical distance measurement apparatus comprises a system controller for controlling the entire operation of a system, a light emitting circuit for emitting a high-power pulse light beam as a distance measuring medium to an object in response to a drive signal from the system controller, a light receiving circuit for receiving a light beam reflected from the object, a trigger signal generation circuit for generating a trigger signal indicative of a start time point for measurement of a light moving time, and a time-distance conversion circuit for measuring the light moving time in response to the trigger signal from the trigger signal generation circuit and in response to an output signal from the light receiving circuit, and for converting the measured light moving time into a distance to the object. The time-distance conversion circuit obtains a time difference between the trigger signal from the trigger signal generation circuit and the output signal from the light receiving circuit and converts the obtained time difference into the distance to the object.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to distance measurement using a light beam, and more particularly to an optical distance measurement apparatus and method in which a distance to an object can be measured with no contact using a light beam by measuring a pure light moving time precisely, so that they are applicable to various distance measurements including a distance measurement of a car collision prevention system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional distance measurement equipments are mostly adapted to measure distances to objects relatively using standard measurement devices with corresponding lengths.
Such a conventional distance measurement equipment utilizes trigonometry for the distance measurement. For this reason, the conventional distance measurement equipment needs a relative measurement device with a length corresponding to the distance to be measured, or many measurement devices to calculate the distance. As a result, the conventional distance measurement equipment is complex in construction. In particular, it is impossible to install the conventional distance measurement equipment in a car for the purpose of measuring continuously the distance traveled by of the car.
To solve the above problems, there have been proposed optical distance measurement apparatus. Such a conventional optical distance measurement apparatus measures a light moving time and then the distance to the object on the basis of the measured light moving time and a light velocity. Precision in the distance measurement is dependent on accuracy in the light moving time measurement. However, since a light beam moves 30 cm for 1 nsec, it is very hard to measure accurately the light moving time.
Also, the conventional optical distance measurement apparatus is adapted to emit a pulse light beam to the object, convert a light beam reflected from the object into an electrical signal, and amplify the converted electrical signal, so as to measure the light moving time using the amplified electrical signal. Here, the pulse light beam is emitted to the object by light emitting means and the light beam reflected from the object is received by light receiving means. Noticeably, an intensity of the pulse light beam emitted from the light emitting means is rapidly reduced as the distance to the object is increased, thereby causing the reflected light beam received by the light receiving mean to be rapidly reduced in amount. Also, the light receiving means must detect a peak point of the pulse light beam, emitted from the light emitting means, for the distance measurement. For this reason, a distance error is generated in emitting and receiving the pulse light beam. Further, in the case where amplification of the same degree is applied for every distance, a measurable range of the distance is very short or the distance measurement cannot be performed.

Optical distance measurement apparatus and method

Hyundai Electronics Industries Co., Ltd.


A display is disclosed which is disposed on a shelf wherein the merchandise rests on the display and when the merchandise is removed from the display, the display springs upward and forward so as to provide an advertising message display surface at the forward part of the shelf. The message display surface serves both to remind the store personnel of the need to refill the shelf with the proper identified product while at the same time providing advertising surface relating to the product for the consumer. This display secures the shelf space for the identified product.

It was known in the vending machine field to provide spring actuated mechanically-controlled signs to indicate that the machine was empty and required refill of a particular product. Such mechanical devices for vending machines are disclosed in Weitlock, U.S. Pat. No. 852,088 and Fogelsonger, U.S. Pat. No. 1,556,777.
While such prior art devices were suitable within the context of a mechanical vending machine they were not suitable for application where space and economics mitigated against such devices.
It was thus desired in the prior art to provide refill notice which would be suitable for small space utilization but at low cost, and particularly so in large volume applications.
It was also desirable in the merchandising field to maximize the advertising space available in shelving, particularly shelving as found in supermarkets, mass merchandisers and retail stores.
Now there is provided by the present invention a display which is specifically useful in a shelf environment, and wherein the removal of the product actuates the display.
It is thus a principal object of the present invention to provide a shelf display which is actuated by the removal of the merchandise on the shelf.
It is another object of this invention to provide a shelf display as aforesaid wherein the unactivated condition of the display does not interfere with the normal shelf stocking of merchandise.
It is still a further object of this invention to provide a shelf display wherein when actuated, the message display surface is disposed at the forward edge of the shelf.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a display which resides in the back of the shelf, but when actuated provides a message at the forward end of the shelf, and is adaptable to do so over a wide range of shelf sizes.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a display shelf as aforesaid which is readily constructed of relatively inexpensive materials and yet is practical and functional in its intended use.


An apparatus state estimation method includes: storing first apparatus data that indicates a state of an apparatus; storing a work record, the work record being a record indicating a work that has been carried out for maintenance of the apparatus; estimating a category that is a malfunction of the apparatus or a content of a measure by using the work record; and learning a relationship between the estimated category and the first apparatus data.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to apparatus state estimation methods, apparatus state estimation devices, and data providing devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
In management of apparatuses that require maintenance, such as a large-sized air conditioner or a refrigerating apparatus, there is known a technique for estimating the state of an apparatus by using operation data or the like acquired by an internal sensor of the apparatus (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 8-29027).
In such a system, there is a demand that the state of an apparatus be estimated with higher accuracy.

Apparatus state estimation method, apparatus state estimation device, and data providing device

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


The immersion and positioning of a sink element on the sea bottom is controlled by providing a weight system suspended from the sink element. An auxiliary surface vessel has a control cable directly connecting the vessel with the weights system suspended from the sink element. The sink element is immersed with the weight system suspended therefrom and therebelow until the weight system contacts the sea bottom and the sink element reaches a preselected stabilized equilibrium elevational position above the sea bottom. Then the sink element can be laterally displaced while substantially maintaining the height of the sink element above the sea bottom by having the auxiliary surface vessel pull on the control cable connected to the weight system in a direction of movement towards the final location site. The weight system contacts the sea bottom during this movement to help control the movement of the sink element and minimize the influence of outside forces. When the sink element has substantially arrived at the final location site, the sink element is ballasted so that it will sink onto the site on the sea bottom. Buoyant floating bodies may be used for floatation and sinking of the sink element as well as mounting of the weight system.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for submersion and positioning of large, heavy elements on a preselected site on the sea bottom.
The invention is particularly attractive in connection with large sea depths for elements having a weight of 1000-5000 tons or more which are to be installed with great accuracy in offshore areas with rough weather, in some cases in close vicinity of already-installed platforms or other equipment which easily may be damaged in case of a collision with such a heavy element during the submersion and installation of the element.
In the following specification, the elements which shall be submerged and positioned on the sea bottom are generally designated as "sink elements".
(2) State of the Prior Art
It is known to use large, heavy sink elements as permanent anchoring for tension leg platforms, bridge foundations or the like. In some cases such sink elements have a substantial weight. If cranes are utilized in connection with the immersion of the element, large demands must be be met in regard to crane capacity. The crane capacity, in addition to the weight of the sink element, also must be sufficient to sustain supplementary forces which will be created due to the movements of the crane vessel caused by winds, currents, etc., which movements inevitably will be transferred to the sink element via the crane cables. At larger depths, the weight of the cables themselves will inherently set a limit. This problem is sought to be avoided by using light weight cables made of new materials. Furthermore, the natural frequency of the system will increase from small and negligible values to values which are comparable or identical with the frequencies or periods for sea waves and/or with the natural frequency of the crane vessel.
It is also known to provide sink elements with positive buoyancy such that the immersion weight or force is being reduced or eliminated. The buoyancy is usually provided by designing the sink element with buoyancy chambers which may be filled with water or other ballast materials when the installation has been finalized.
It is furthermore known to connect sink elements with separate buoyant bodies or floats which, in connection with a controlled ballasting/deballasting procedure, are utilized during the immersion of the sink element, without the use of cranes, until the sink element is positioned at a short distance or height above the sea bottom and thereafter displace the sink element laterally until the preselected installation site has been reached. This preselected height above the sea bottom is defined with reference to the sea surface either on the basis of a crane or crane vessel (if such is used), or by means of a floating ballastable buoy, and where the last part of the immersion operation down to the sea bottom takes place by a controlled ballasting of the sink element "floating element", which is connected to the buoy with a cable having a preselected length. The buoy has a small water plane area, and has height along the water surface which exceeds the remaining height between the sink element and the sea bottom. This immersion procedure is shown in Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,671. In Norwegian Patent application Ser. No. 88.2948 is shown in similar buoy utilized for identification of the position of the sink element during the immersion operation.
Regardless of which immersion system is being utilized, the movements and the position of the sink element, both vertically and horizontally, are being controlled from the sea surface.
Adequate control in the vertical direction is obtained by the known conventional system, and undesirable movements are eliminated. Thus, short amplitude movements induced by waves are eliminated by the insensibility of the system due to long natural frequencies, and the long amplitude movements which are induced by tide water is eliminated by adjusting the length of the cable (if the crane is utilized), or by means of ballasting/deballasting if a surface buoy is being utilized.
Undesirable movements in the horizontal plate are, however, induced by:
a) crane movements and hydrodynamic forces created by currents and waves, particularly in shallow waters, if a crane is being utilized, and
b) hydrodynamic forces, substantially created by currents, if the sink element is installed utilizing either the buoyancy of the sink element itself or by means of supplied buoyancy.
These movements are sought to be counteracted from the sea surface in an "active" fashion by means of tension control of the control cables from an auxiliary vessel. If the applied tension from the vessel accidentally should fail (by cable failure, engine troubles, or anchor loosening), the control is lost, and the sink element initiates an uncontrolled movement. Unintended movements may also occur due to erroneous maneuvering of the auxiliary vessel. In order to limit the consequences of such incidents, it may be important to arrange special apparatus in order to protect existing installations on the sea bottom. Such apparatus may involve large expenses, since large forces are involved, and these forces may also easily cause damage to the sink element which, as a safe guard, must be protected in several ways.

Method and means for controlled submersion and positioning of large, heavy gravity elements on the sea bottom


There is provided a differential propulsion mechanism including two or more concentric and mutually counter-rotating first wheels (4, 6, 8, 10), mutually reacting and balancing the torque of a motor drive (20) interacting with the wheels. The motor drive has a stator attached to one of the first wheels to power a first wheel over a first track (12, 14, 16, 18), a rotor coupled to a mechanical link, at least indirectly connecting the rotor with a second of the two or more first wheels to power the second wheel over a second track, and a concentric connecting device affixed for coupling a payload thereto or for coupling the mechanism itself to another device.

There is a need for different types of dedicated unmanned sensors/payloads, e.g., day cameras, thermal imagers, laser imagers, acoustic sensors, chemical sensors, etc., to be transported in a fast, reliable and cost-effective way over long lines of structures, sites and facilities. Sometimes, unmanned payloads have to be carried to barely reachable or extremely dangerous areas to monitor remote events and/or activities. In other cases, unattended payloads have to be repeatedly transported over long lines in a cost effective way.
From an economical point of view, expensive payloads having vast capabilities, e.g., surveillance equipment, may not be cost-effective in a stationary deployment. Given a cost-effective transportation solution, however, it may become more economical for the payloads to be dynamically deployed or deployed on a time-sharing basis.
This present invention provides a cost-effective solution for mobility, power and communication of platforms and payloads remotely operated over long lines of structures, sites and facilities in indoor and/or outdoor applications.


An imaging apparatus makes it possible to precisely focus on an object to be photographed in each photographic mode by controlling the focusing of the object in accordance with the photographic mode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus, such as a video camera, having an automatic focusing device for automatically focusing on an object.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, video apparatuses including video cameras or electronic cameras have been remarkably developed. In particular, functions, such as automatic focus (AF) or automatic exposure (AE), have come to be installed as standard functions to improve the functions and ease of operation thereof.
In one main-stream focusing method, utilizing an automatic focusing device, the sharpness of a picture is detected from among video signals obtained by an image sensor or the like by photoelectrically converting an object image, and the position of the lens for adjusting the focus (hereinafter referred to as a focus lens) is controlled so that maximum sharpness is attained.
To evaluate the sharpness, generally this method uses the intensity of high-frequency components of the video signal extracted by a band-pass filter (BPF) or the detected intensity of blur width (the width of an edge portion of the object) of a video signal extracted by a differentiation circuit or the like.
In a case where an ordinary object is photographed, the level of high-frequency components is low and the blur width is large when the object is not in focus. As the object comes into focus, the level of the high-frequency components becomes high, and the blur width becomes small. When the object is completely brought into focus, the level of the high-frequency components assumes a maximum value, and the blur width assumes a minimum value. Therefore, when the sharpness is low, the focus lens is driven as quickly as possible in the direction in which sharpness increases. As the sharpness increases, the speed at which the focus lens is driven is lowered, and the focus lens is stopped precisely at the peak of the hill representing sharpness. Such a control method is generally called the hill-climbing autofocus method (hill-climbing AF).
Since such an automatic focusing device described above is adopted, ease of operation is increased remarkably particularly in a video camera or the like in which a moving image is photographed, and the automatic focusing device has lately become indispensable.
In such a camera for converting an optical image into an electrical signal by an image sensor, the central portion of a picture is generally that area from which the sharpness necessary for hill climbing AF is to be extracted (hereinafter referred to as a focusing frame). Also, a method in which a focusing frame is varied depending upon the state of the object is known. According to this method, it is possible to bring an object located even at an end position of the picture into focus by, for example, enlarging the focusing frame.
Some automatic exposure control devices have functions for setting a shutter speed and an aperture value at predetermined values when a given object is photographed. This function is generally called a program AE. Program AE modes include a portrait mode, in which the depth of field is made shallow, so that people, in particular, or the like are photographed clearly, a sand and snow mode in which the brightness of people in a skiing area in winter or seashore in summer is intensified, and the like. The program AE function has come to be installed in most video apparatuses in order to easily obtain a more clear image.
In addition, the digitalization of circuits for processing image signals has progressed. Various new functions, for example, a close-up function for enlarging a part of a picture, have come to be routinely installed.
However, in such conventional video cameras equipped with a program AE, for example, in the case of the portrait mode of the program AE, a person's face is considered to be the prevalent object, but even if the face is in focus, the sharpness does not become very high. Therefore, when there is an object with high sharpness in the background, if such AF is performed as described above, in which a focusing frame is varied, a problem arises, for example, in that the focusing frame is automatically made larger and the focus would be brought on the background located at the edge portion of the picture.
Also, in the case of the close-up mode of the program AE, when the focusing frame is large, focus is made on an object outside of the picture, and no focus is made on the picture, which is problematical.
Automatic exposure control for realizing such a program AE is performed as described below.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the construction of an automatic exposure control device used in the above-described conventional video camera.
Referring to FIG. 1; reference numeral 1 denotes a photographic lens; reference numeral 2 denotes as an iris for adjusting the amount of incident light which passes through the photographic lens 1; reference numeral 3 denotes an image sensor, such as a CCD, for photoelectrically converting an image which is formed by the photographic lens 1 on its image pickup plane and whose amount of light is adjusted by the iris 2; reference numeral 4 denotes a correlated double sampling circuit (CDS circuit) for reducing noise of an accumulated charge of the image sensor 3; reference numeral 5 denotes an AGC circuit for adjusting the gain of an image signal outputted from the correlated double sampling circuit 4; reference numeral 6 denotes a camera signal processing circuit for performing a predetermined signal processing on image signals outputted from the AGC circuit 5 in order to convert the signals into standardized video signals; reference numeral 7 denotes a gate circuit for dividing the picked-up picture into a plurality of pictures and gating a signal outputted from the AGC circuit 5 in order to extract image signals corresponding to a desired area; reference numeral 8 denotes an integrator for integrating each of the image signals corresponding to the inside of a specified area on the picture, which image signals are selected by the gate circuit 7, and determining the average light amount thereof; reference numeral 9 denotes an A/D converter for converting signals outputted from the integrator 8 into digital signals having a form for allowing a system control circuit 17, which will be described later, to process the signals; reference numeral 10 denotes a CCD drive circuit for controlling an accumulation operation, a reading operation and a resetting operation of the image sensor 3; reference numeral 11 denotes an iris motor for driving the iris 2; reference numeral 12 denotes an iris drive circuit for driving the iris motor 11; reference numeral 13 denotes a D/A converter for converting digital iris control signals outputted from the system control circuit 17 into analog signals; reference numeral 14 denotes an iris encoder formed of a Hall element for detecting the amount of opening of the iris 2, i.e., the aperture value, or the like; reference numeral 15 denotes an A/D converter for converting an output from the iris encoder 14 into digital signals having a form for allowing the system control circuit 17 to be able to process the signals; reference numeral 16 denotes a D/A converter for converting digital AGC control signals outputted from the system control circuit 17 into analog control signals, and supplying the signals to the AGC circuit 5; and reference numeral 17 denotes a system control circuit formed of a microcomputer for centrally controlling the entire video camera system.
In this construction, exposure control is performed by the iris 2 and the AGC circuit 5, i.e., two types of exposure control means. Also, the shutter speed is set to the same as one cycle (field period) of a vertical synchronization signal of a standard television signal (1/60 seconds in NTSC, and 1/50 second in PAL).
An explanation will be given below of specific operations of the automatic exposure control device in the video camera constructed as described above.
The amount of incident light which passes through the photographic lens 1 is controlled by the iris 2, and an optical image is formed on the image pickup plane of the image sensor 3 and photoelectrically converted by the image sensor 3. Noise in the image signals outputted from the image sensor 3 is removed by the CDS circuit 4, and the gain thereof is controlled by the AGC circuit 5. The resultant image signals are supplied to the camera signal processing circuit 6, and outputted as normalized television signals.
Next, the exposure control system for controlling exposure will be considered: luminance signals in the video signals outputted from the AGC circuit 5 are gated by the gate circuit 7; luminance signals corresponding to the inside of the focusing frame on the picture, indicating the range in which exposure control is performed, are extracted; and these signals are integrated by the integrator 8 to determine the average value, and supplied to the system control circuit 17 through the A/D converter 9. The system control circuit 17 controls the iris drive circuit 12 so that the luminance level received from the A/D converter 9 falls below a predetermined range, and controls the drive current supplied to the iris motor 11, thereby varying the aperture of the iris 2.
More specifically, when the exposure control system based on iris control is considered, a closed loop is formed such that the aperture on the iris 2 is controlled so that the luminance level of the video signals obtained by photoelectrically converting incident light which passes through the iris 2 is always kept within a predetermined range.
Also, when the exposure control system by the AGC circuit 5 is considered, a closed loop is formed, similar to the exposure control system based on the iris 2, such that the gain of the AGC circuit 5 is controlled by the system control circuit 17 so that the luminance level received by the system control circuit 17 falls below a predetermined range.
Next, actual control characteristics will be explained in more detail. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating how two types of exposure control systems for the iris 2 and the AGC circuit 5 are controlled in accordance with illuminance.
In FIG. 2, the horizontal axis indicates the illuminance of the object; and the vertical axis indicates the set value of each of the exposure control systems. Each of the exposure control systems is divided into two control areas, A and B, in accordance with the object illuminance. That is, exposure control is performed by combining two exposure control systems of iris and AGC in accordance with the object illuminance.
In area A, the shutter speed is fixed to 1/60 seconds (1/50 second in PAL), and the gain of the AGC circuit 5 is fixed to 0 dB, exposure control being performed by only the iris 2. In area B, the shutter speed is fixed to 1/60 seconds (1/50 seconds in PAL), and the gain of the AGC circuit 5 is fixed to a full aperture value, exposure control being performed by only the AGC circuit 5. The above-described iris and shutter speed are each controlled, and set at predetermined values, thus realizing the above-described program AE.
In a case in which the shutter speed is changed, for example, from 1/60 seconds to 1/30 seconds, it is possible to practically realize a low-speed shutter of 1/30 seconds by a method in which the image sensor is read at a cycle of two fields to make the accumulation time twice as large. However, even if the shutter speed is changed, since it is fixed in a certain photographic mode, when inadequate-illuminance of an object to be photographed occurs, underexposure may not be compensated even if the iris 2 is fully opened. At that time, since the gain of the AGC circuit 5, necessarily increases, S/N deteriorates, deteriorating the image. Fine exposure control cannot be performed in accordance with slight changes in the photographic environments.

Imaging apparatus having an automatic focusing means


Various embodiments for implementing a system and method for managing and querying semi-structured, heterogeneously-typed sensor data in a distributed environment are disclosed. Example embodiments include: enabling data communications between a plurality of compute nodes and a plurality of physical data storage devices via an application programming interface (API) layer, a cache management layer, a server layer, and a storage layer; and receiving a data request from at least one of the plurality of compute nodes at the API layer, the data request including an identification of a topic of a dataset, the topic including a metadata file, a data file, and an index file, the index file including at least one pointer into the data file.

Users or compute nodes typically interact with data stored in network attached storage (NAS) through use of a distributed file system, which is a computer program providing routines to access and manipulate data stored in NAS. Well-known examples include the Hadoop File System (HDFS) and the Network File System (NFS) protocols. The three primary concerns with NAS are security, efficiency, and ease of use. Security means allowing only authorized persons or machines to access data, efficiency means that data access should be as fast as possible, and ease of use means that accessing data in NAS should be simple for application programmers. However, conventional data storage architectures do not provide an efficient solution that addresses all of these requirements without any trade-offs. Additionally, current data storage architectures cannot provide efficient data storage access in a shared environment in support of semi-structured, heterogeneously-typed sensor data with ease of use.

Storage architecture for heterogeneous multimedia data


Extrusion apparatus for production of a shaped article comprising one or more filling materials enclosed in a coating material. Included in the apparatus are inner and outer conduits through which the materials are extruded toward an iris valve adjacent the terminal portion of the outer conduit. An inner conduit preferably terminates within the outer conduit at a distance from the iris valve equal to the distance between outer surface of the inner conduit and inner surface of the outer conduit. Operation of the iris valve both determines the length of the article and the shape of forward and rearward ends of the article.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to preparation of shaped articles, such as food products, medicaments and the like, which comprise one or more ingestible substances enclosed in another ingestible substance. More particularly, this invention relates to extrusion apparatus for producing such shaped articles.
2. Prior Art
Products having a central filling material partially or wholly enclosed in an outer layer of a different material (e.g., food products and medicaments) are well known in the art. Examples of such products include tamales, ravioli, dumplings, pierogi, filled donuts, gelatin-coated pharmaceuticals, "soft-center" candies, and the like. Numerous devices have been developed in an attempt to facilitate the rapid production of such articles in large quantities. In general, such devices have included: (1) source means for supplying the inner and outer materials which are, at least initially, in a moldable or extrudable form; (2) means, generally in the form of concentric nozzle elements, for selectively continuously extruding and shaping the materials; and, (3) means for separating the shaped articles from the mass of materials supplied through the extruding means.
Typical examples of such devices are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,575,921; 3,615,147; 3,679,338; 3,778,209; 4,015,518 and 4,028,024. The prior art devices are, in general, quite complex, costly to construct and difficult to operate. As a result they are frequently limited to use in large scale processing "plants where skilled operators and repair personnel are available. Despite a well-recognized consumer preference for freshly-made foods, there is little likelihood that such devices could be economically installed and employed in production of shaped articles at, for example, a restaurant. Furthermore, such prior art devices generally do not permit easy alteration of the size and/or shape of the article to be formed without extensive modifications and changes in machine parts such as extrusion dies, and the like.


A power amplifier module includes an amplifier that amplifies an input signal and outputs an amplified signal, a matching circuit disposed between an output terminal of the amplifier and a subsequent circuit, a choke inductor having a first end to which a power supply voltage is applied and a second end from which power supply is provided to the amplifier through the output terminal of the amplifier, and a first attenuation circuit disposed between the output terminal of the amplifier and the second end of the choke inductor and configured to attenuate a harmonic component of the amplified signal.

The present disclosure relates to a power amplifier module. A mobile terminal that uses a communication network for cellular phones includes a power amplifier module for amplifying power of a radio-frequency (RF) signal to be transmitted to a base station. In the power amplifier module, a resonant circuit is used to attenuate a harmonic component of an amplified signal to be output from an amplifier (a signal having a frequency that is an integer multiple of the fundamental frequency of the amplified signal). For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-145147 discloses a configuration in which harmonic termination circuits (resonant circuits) are disposed between an output terminal of an amplifier and an output terminal of a high-frequency amplifier circuit.
A matching circuit is typically disposed between an output terminal of an amplifier and an output terminal of a power amplifier module to provide impedance matching between the amplifier and the subsequent circuit. In this configuration, if the matching circuit includes a harmonic termination circuit as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-145147, signal loss within the matching circuit may increase due to the influence of the frequency characteristics of the harmonic termination circuit.