A camera with a built-in strobe according to the present invention comprises a camera housing, an optical system located substantially in the center of the camera housing, a gripping section formed at an end of the camera housing in a direction that does not cross the optical axis of the optical system and is aligned in a substantially vertical direction, a release button formed above the gripping section and on the top of the camera housing, a strobe that is installed on the front of the camera between the release button and the gripping section and that lies between a finger for manipulating release and the other fingers for gripping the gripping section when the camera housing is gripped by a human hand, and a finger intrusion prevention screen that has a convex portion for preventing any of the fingers gripping the gripping section from intruding into the strobe.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera, or more particularly, to a camera with a built-in strobe.
2. Related Background Art
Various models of strobe built-in type cameras have been commercialized in the past. Many models of cameras have made their debuts in recent years, wherein a zoom lens is incorporated as a means for providing sophisticated functions. In these cameras, a strobe is located at one end of a camera housing with respect to a lens barrel, and a gripping section of the camera housing and a release member are arranged at the other end of the camera housing. In a background of having determined the above arrangement of the members, an effort has been made to prevent a red-eye phenomenon by maximizing a distance d between a lens and a strobe. The red-eye phenomenon is correlated to an angle .theta.0 between a lens and a strobe with respect to a subject. To suppress the red-eye phenomenon, the angle .theta. must be increased; that is, the distance d must be increased. Examples of a camera satisfying these prerequisites will be described below.
FIG. 15 is a front view of a camera of a related art in which components are laid out to meet the above prerequisites.
In the first related art, as shown in FIG. 15, a cartridge chamber PT is located in the right-hand area (left in FIG. 15) of a camera housing and a spool chamber SP is located in the left-hand area of the camera housing. A lens barrel L is located between the cartridge chamber PT and spool chamber SP. A battery storage BT is located on the left-hand side of the spool SP. A strobe ST is located above the battery storage BT. In this layout, a distance d4 between the lens and strobe ST is long enough. RS, AF, F, and W in FIG. 15 respectively denote a release button, an auto-focus unit, a viewfinder unit, and a film wind/rewind gear array. Alphanumeric characters h4 and r4 denote a height of the camera housing and a distance between an optical axis and a right-hand side surface of the camera housing (side surface of a gripping section) respectively.
In the foregoing layout of the first related art, the distance r4 between the optical axis and right-hand side surface of the camera housing is so short that when a user holds the camera, the fingers of the right hand gripping the camera are likely to intrude into the front of the lens to intercept part of a beam. Moreover, since the user's thumb interferes with a projection of the lens barrel, the camera is hard to grip.
FIG. 16 is a front view of a camera of the second related art in which components are laid out to meet the foregoing prerequisites.
In the camera of the second related art, a battery storage BT is located on the right-hand area (left in FIG. 16) of a camera housing. This is a difference from the camera of the first related art. According to this layout, a distance d5 between a strobe ST and a lens barrel L becomes shorter than a distance d4 in the first related art. In the second related art, when the camera is put to practical use, the strobe ST is popped up in the arrow direction to provide a long distance d'5. Z denotes a zoom drive. Alphanumeric characters h5 and r5 denote a height of the camera housing and a distance from an optical axis to the right-hand side surface of the camera housing (side surface of a gripping section) similar to those in the first related art.
In the foregoing layout of the second related art, the distance r5 between the optical axis and the right-hand side surface of the camera housing is larger than the distance r4 in the first related art. Occurrence of the aforesaid drawbacks is diminished. However, since the strobe ST must be popped up as described above to avoid occurrence of a red-eye phenomenon resulting from a decrease in the distance d5 between the optical axis and the strobe, this related art is disadvantageous in terms of cost and space.
When a strobe and a gripping section of a camera housing are arranged with a lens barrel between as described above, the strobe occupies a large portion of the space of the camera housing. This is disadvantageous, in particular, to a compact camera which has been demanded to be more and more compact.
FIG. 17 is a front view of a third related art showing a single-lens reflex camera having a layout that meets the foregoing prerequisites.
The layout of the camera of the third related art greatly differs from the first and second related arts in a point that a strobe ST is located in the right-hand area (left in FIG. 17) of a camera housing: that is, on a gripping section of the camera housing. The appearance of the camera is shown in FIG. 18. A strobe 32 (aforesaid strobe ST) of a camera 31 is of a pop-up type. A release button 34 (release button RS)is located below the strobe 32 on the front of a camera housing 33 in a bid to prevent a finger from intruding into the strobe 32. As a result, a finger of a user's right hand for manipulating release comes to lie on the front of the camera housing 33 in a natural manner. This prevents a finger from intruding into the strobe 32 located above the release button 34.
The above layout has succeeded in increasing a distance d6 between a lens and a strobe ST. The strobe ST is designed, similarly to that in the second related art, to pop up in the arrow direction. Therefore, the distance d6 becomes further longer. MD and AD denote a mirror aperture drive unit and an auto-focus lens drive unit respectively. Alphanumeric characters h6 and r6 denote a distance from a release button RS to a bottom of a camera housing and a distance from an optical axis to a right-hand side surface of a camera housing (side surface of a gripping section) respectively.
In the foregoing layout of the third related art, the distance r6 between the optical axis and the right-hand side surface of the camera housing is relatively long. The aforesaid problems have thus been solved. However, since the strobe ST is located in the right-hand area of the camera, when a release button is located on the top of the camera, a beam traveling from the strobe ST may be intercepted by a finger. In an attempt to cope with this problem in this related art, a release button RS is arranged in the right-hand area of the front of the camera. However, in this layout, the index to little fingers of the right hand gripping the camera housing stays in an area equivalent to a distance h6 from the release button RS to the bottom of the camera housing. When the distance h6 is held equal to the distance h4 of the first related art, a space allocated to each of the fingers shrinks to disable stable gripping. When the distance h6 is increased in an attempt to improve grip-ability, the camera housing cannot help being made larger.
One of the prerequisites for a camera is to solve a problem that a photographer intercepts a strobe beam with his/her finger.
FIGS. 19 and 20 are front views of a general camera in which the above problem is solved, thus showing a fourth related art.
In the camera of the fourth related art, a release button 42 is located on the right-hand area (left in FIGS. 19 and 20) of the top of a camera housing 40, and a strobe 44 is located on the left-hand (right in FIGS. 19 and 20) upper area of the front of tile camera housing 40. Below the strobe 44, a projection 46 is formed on the front of the camera housing 40 to prevent a finger from intruding into the strobe 44. Specifically, when a user senses the projection 46 with the left hand, the user refrains from extending his/her finger beyond the projection 46. Thus, the projection 46 prevents a finger from intruding into the strobe 44.
In the foregoing fourth related art, similarly to a majority of general cameras on the market, the release button 42 is located on the right-hand area of and the top of the camera housing 40. Therefore, the positions of the fingers of the right hand are specified in a natural manner; that is, the index finger rests on the release button 42, the middle, ring, and little fingers stay on the front of the camera housing 40, and the thumb rests on the back of the camera housing 40. On the other hand, the positions of the fingers of the left hand are hardly specified. This is because the left hand does not take part in release manipulation but plays mere a supplementary role in holding a camera housing. Besides, a way of gripping a camera with the left hand varies from user to user. In particular, when taking photographs, a user is usually not conscious of the presence of the projection 46. As shown in FIG. 20, therefore, a finger of the left hand may screen the strobe 44 without sensing the projection 46. In this case, the user is unaware that his/her finger has intruded into the strobe 44, and takes a photograph.

Camera with a built-in strobe having a gripping section and a finger intrusion prevention screen


The present invention describes a planar waveguide-type integrated non-reciprocal polarization rotator. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the planar waveguide-type non-reciprocal 90° polarization rotator includes optical waveguide-type input and output ports, a reciprocal 45° polarization rotator based on an asymmetric optical waveguide structure, a non-reciprocal 45° polarization rotator based on an optical waveguide with a clad layer of magneto-optic material, and a phase compensator placed between the above reciprocal 45° polarization rotator and non-reciprocal 45° polarization rotator compensating the phase difference between two polarization modes.

1. Technical Field
The present invention describes an integratable planar waveguide-type non-reciprocal polarization rotator. As an embodiment of the present invention, the planar waveguide-type non-reciprocal 90-degree polarization rotator includes optical waveguide-type input and output ports; a reciprocal 45-degree polarization rotator of an asymmetric optical waveguide structure; an optical waveguide-type non-reciprocal 45-degree polarization rotator with cladding layer of magneto-optic material; and a phase compensator which compensates the phase difference between polarizations by having positioned between the above reciprocal 45-degree polarization rotator and non-reciprocal 45-degree polarization rotator.
2. Description of the Related Art
On-chip-type non-reciprocal polarization rotators are important optical devices for future applications to integrated optical isolators and circulators and to various polarization sensors.
The non-reciprocal polarization rotator is an optical device rotating the polarization of an optical beam traveling in one direction by 90 degrees, but passing another optical beam traveling in the opposition direction without changing its polarization. The non-reciprocal polarization rotator can be used for applications to optical isolators and optical circulators by having polarization filters or polarization beam splitters combined at its input and output ports.
The optical isolators based on the non-reciprocal polarization rotator utilizing Faraday rotation function of the magneto-optic effect in bulk-optics have been used popularly. However, various approaches for integrated planar waveguide-type non-reciprocal polarization rotators, which can be integrated with other photonic devices, are still under development and not ready for a practical optical isolator of integration-type.
The conventional art of US 2013/0142475 describes an integrated non-reciprocal polarization rotator and an integrated optical isolator utilizing the integrated reciprocal and non-reciprocal polarization rotators, which have a block of magneto-optic material, such as bismuth europium holmium gallium iron garnet or bismuth yttrium iron garnet, located between two silicon waveguides, an index-matching layer formed between the silicon waveguide and magneto-optic material, and a magnetic field applied to the magneto-optic material by attaching a magnet. This prior art uses a scheme of 45° polarization rotation in the reciprocal polarization rotator section and additional 45° polarization rotation in the non-reciprocal polarization rotator section. However, this art requires a difficult fabrication process to form an index-matching layer between the silicon waveguide and magneto-optic material, and has a significant drawback of a high optical loss over the entire device.
Another prior art of the non-reciprocal polarization rotator has been demonstrated by using birefringence between two orthogonal polarization modes in an InGaAsP optical waveguide of asymmetric square shape with one side of inclined surface, which includes a hybrid integration of Ce:YIG crystal formed on the top of the waveguide and a magnetic field applied in an orthogonal direction to the light propagation direction [IEEE J. Quantum Electronics 46(11), 1662(2010)]. In this art, the etching control is not easy to form the asymmetric InGaAsP optical waveguide and a uniform bonding process of the magneto-optic crystal is difficult. Thus, this art has a drawback of low efficiency of the Faraday polarization rotation.
A prior art of a reciprocal polarization rotator describes reciprocal polarization rotation in a GaInAsP or Si waveguide having a long asymmetric trench pattered inside the waveguide [Opt. Express 17(14), 11267 (2009) & Opt. Commun. 324, 22 (2014)]. In this art, a long asymmetric trench is formed in the semiconductor waveguide, and the waveguide rotates the TE polarization mode into TM polarization mode for an optical beam travelling in either direction. However, this art cannot provide the function of non-reciprocal polarization rotation.
Another prior art of the reciprocal polarization rotator is proposed by numerical simulation on reciprocal 90° polarization rotation in a silicon nanowire waveguide with a partially etched section [J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 25(5), 747 (2008)]. This prior art describes only a scheme of reciprocal polarization rotation for optical beams in both directions, but cannot provide the function of non-reciprocal polarization rotation.

Integratable planar waveguide type non-reciprocal polarization rotator


A method and composition for deodorizing rugs is provided herein by applying a non-free flowing powder-fragrance composition onto a carpet and subsequently removing the composition, preferably by vacuuming. The invention also includes a package in the form of a shakeable canister for applying to rugs the aforementioned non-free flowing powder-fragrance composition. The non-free flowing powdered composition is made up of essentially an inorganic salt, such as sulfate, a chloride or bicarbonate or mixtures thereof, a fragrance, an antistatic and rheological control agent selected from natural and synthetic zeolites, and a liquid agglomerating agent. The composition exhibits stable non-free flowing properties, even at elevated temperatures, over a long period of time.

The present invention relates to a method and composition for deodorizing rugs and rooms by applying a nonfree flowing powder-fragrance composition onto a carpet and subsequently removing the powdered composition from the carpet. The composition also imparts other attributes to the carpet including antistatic and anti-soiling effects. The invention also includes a package in the form of a shakeable canister for applying to rugs the aforementioned non-free flowing powder-fragrance composition.
In practice, it is desirable to apply powdered fragrance compositions, including the powdered composition of the present invention, onto the rugs by means of a shakeable canister containing openings at the top thereof and then to remove the composition by means of a vacuum cleaner. In such a method, not only is the deodorizing effect of the fragrance composition imparted directly to the rug, but the vacuuming process itself provides deodorizing or air freshening properties to the surrounding atmosphere. This is because the fragrance composition is spread throughout the carpet during the vacuuming and also some of the fragrance is exhausted into the atmosphere by the vacuum cleaner. Thus, the carpet, room and vacuum cleaner play an integral part in deodorization.

Antistatic zeolite composition and method for deodorizing rugs and rooms


In order to control the pressure in an abdominal cavity of a patient and a pressure in a hollow organ, a medical system includes: a first pressure sensor for measuring the pressure of a gas in the abdominal cavity; a first port for insufflating and evacuating the abdominal cavity; a second pressure sensor for measuring the pressure of a gas in the hollow organ; a second port for insufflating and evacuating the hollow organ; an air supply apparatus connected to the second port for controlling the air supply and evacuation based on the output by the first and second pressure sensors; a third port connected to the second pressure sensor in the air supply apparatus; an endoscope connected to the air supply apparatus; a pneumoperitoneum needle connected to the first port; and a puncture needle connected to the second port.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for accessing the abdominal cavity and a medical operation via a natural orifice. Also, the present invention relates to an endoscopic system and an overtube.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the case of accomplishing medical intervention (including observation and treatment and the like; as applied hereafter) to the viscera of the human body, in lieu of cutting deeply into the abdominal wall, surgery in which multiple openings are cut into the abdominal wall, through which are respectively inserted such medical devices as rigid laparoscopes, and forceps and the like, is well-known. Since this is accomplished with only small openings, there is the advantage of minimal invasion and the rapid recovery of the patient.
In recent years, as a method of further reducing the invasion of the patient, it has been proposed that operations be accomplished by inserting an endoscope through such natural orifices as the patient's mouth, a nostril, or anus. An example of such a medical operation is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,458,131. By inserting a flexible endoscope from the mouth of a patient in which insufflation of the abdomen has been initiated, the endoscope can then be sent to the abdominal cavity through an opening formed in the stomach wall, and used to monitor the inside of the abdominal cavity. Furthermore, organs can be treated using treatment devices passed through the endoscope, or through other openings to the stomach, or from the opening in the Sigmoid colon formed from the anus, and upon completion of the operation within the abdominal cavity, the treatment devices can be removed and the openings closed. At the time of closing the openings, the tissue can be aspirated by binding the periphery of the opening, and constraining it with an O ring.

Natural orifice medical operation and endoscopic overtube


An outdoor unit of an air conditioner includes a compressor-driving inverter circuit to convert direct current power for driving a compressor into pseudo three-phase alternating current power using a plurality of switching elements; a fan rotational speed detection unit to detect the fan rotational speed of a fan that cools the switching elements; an ambient temperature detection unit to detect the ambient temperature at a location where the air conditioner is located; and a compressor inverter drive unit to control the compressor rotational speed of the compressor by controlling the compressor-driving inverter circuit. The compressor inverter drive unit controls the compressor-driving inverter circuit on the basis of the fan rotational speed and the ambient temperature.

An outdoor unit of an air conditioner includes an inverter circuit for converting direct current (DC) power into three-phase alternating current (AC) power using a plurality of switching elements. Such an inverter circuit sequentially turns on and off the switching elements to generate three-phase AC power to drive a compressor motor and a cooling fan motor.
As for the switching elements, an increase in the output of the compressor motor increases the current flowing to the switching elements and thus increases the amount of heat generated in the switching elements. Thus, to prevent the switching elements from undergoing thermal breakdown, the air conditioner of Patent Literature 1 controls the rotational speed of the cooling fan using a temperature detection value detected by a thermistor and the value of current flowing through the compressor motor.


A sliding block for a loading rail includes a central part defining a coupling structure along an upper face thereof. The sliding block further includes at least one side part defining an undercut having an inner face directed toward the central part and angled away from the central part in a direction along a central axis of the central part away from the upper face.

When loading vehicles, it is frequently a problem to securely fasten objects such that the latter are fixed to the vehicle during the journey. To this end, it is known, for example, to pull lashing straps, with which load objects are fixed within the luggage compartment of a vehicle, through fixed eyes. However, fixed eyes are not suitable for all loads and situations that occur. More flexible handling can therefore be made possible by fastening elements which are displaceable on loading rails, can be brought into a multiplicity of positions and on which, for example, eyes for lashing straps are arranged. Furthermore, components of workshop equipment, such as, for example, containers for small parts, frequently have to be fastened securely in a vehicle. Increased demands in respect of the handling and the safety are imposed in particular on fastening systems for seats and other objects of vehicle installations which, for example, have to have a sufficient retaining capability even in the event of a crash. In respect of reducing the production costs, it would be desirable to provide a uniform fastening system which meets the demands imposed on handleability and safety for all of the applications mentioned and, at the same time, provides a maximum amount of flexibility and adaptability to different objects to be fixed and fixing locations.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,877,671 discloses a lashing device which consists of elements which are connectable to one another and each have a lashing channel in which sliding blocks, which bear a ring for the fastening of lashing straps, are guided. For the guidance of the sliding blocks, the channel has lips projecting into the channel and lateral projections. This does not make it possible to achieve adequate fixing safety for fastening seats. Furthermore, jamming of the sliding blocks during displacement cannot always be reliably avoided.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,874,774 B2 discloses a loading system for vehicles, in which a sliding block which bears a holder, for example for a lashing strap, is guided in a longitudinal groove of a loading rail. The sliding block has two parallel grooves, in which corresponding projections of the loading rail reach and prevent rotation necessary for the removal of the sliding block from the guide rail. The sliding blocks are likewise clamped via the projections and the grooves of the sliding block. U.S. Pat. No. 7,070,374 B2 discloses a fastening arrangement in which a holder can be clamped in a slot in a rail or can be released therefrom for displacement, the holder having flute regions interacting with the rail, and toothed edges. Even this does not ensure adequately secure fixing for all of the applications mentioned.
It is an object of the present invention to propose a loading rail and a sliding block for a loading rail of this type, by means of which the abovementioned disadvantages are avoided. In particular, this is intended to permit fixing which is as flexible as possible but which at the same time meets the respective safety requirements, both of loads and of installations or seats in a vehicle, along with simple handling.
This object is achieved by a loading rail and by a sliding block as indicated in the independent claims.

Loading rail and sliding block for a loading rail


In some embodiments, a method of forming an interconnect structure includes selectively depositing a barrier layer atop a substrate having one or more exposed metal surfaces and one or more exposed dielectric surfaces, wherein a thickness of the barrier layer atop the one or more exposed metal surfaces is greater than the thickness of the barrier layer atop the one or more exposed dielectric surfaces. In some embodiments, a method of forming an interconnect structure includes depositing an etch stop layer comprising aluminum atop a substrate via a physical vapor deposition process; and depositing a barrier layer atop the etch stop layer via a chemical vapor deposition process, wherein the substrate is transferred from a physical vapor deposition chamber after depositing the etch stop layer to a chemical vapor deposition chamber without exposing the substrate to atmosphere.

Resistance capacitance (RC) delay is a significant roadblock in scaling copper interconnects beyond 14 nm technology nodes. A barrier layer is typically deposited substantially uniformly atop underlying metal and dielectric surfaces. However, barrier layer materials typically have a high k value and increase the capacitance of the interconnect resulting in RC delay.
Traditionally, thick barrier films, for example at a thickness of about 100 angstroms, have been used in order to meet etch stop, barrier and reliability parameters. However, a thick barrier film also results in an increase in overall capacitance of the interconnect. To reduce the thickness of the barrier film, a thin, high-selectivity etch stop layer (ESL), such as aluminum nitride (AlN) may be used within the interconnect. However, such thin, high-selectivity ESLs can easily be oxidized, leading to lower etch selectivity and also a degradation in reliability performance. In addition, the thinner dielectric barrier layer and the thin, high-selectivity ESL cannot act as a suitable hermetic and copper (Cu) barrier layers when deposited separately.
Accordingly, the inventors have developed improved techniques to selectively deposit dielectric barrier layers in the process of forming an interconnect and to deposit aluminum containing etch stop layers in the process of forming an interconnect.

Methods for depositing dielectric barrier layers and aluminum containing etch stop layers


A clean-spot apparatus for improving the cleanliness and hygienic conditions in a restroom is disclosed. In one example, the clean-spot apparatus can include an elevated platform supported by a support structure, and a pair of recessed areas. A person using a restroom receptacle in the restroom can place their feet into the recessed areas and the elevated platform extended center section prevents urine from dripping/splashing inadvertently onto the restroom floor.

Typically, when a person is using a restroom there is a high probability of urine dripping/splashing inadvertently onto the restroom floor. This requires frequent cleaning of the restroom floor. Additionally, the inadvertent dripping/splashing causes unpleasant and unsanitary hygienic conditions for the next person(s) using the restroom. Existing designs are floor mats and only provide a way of absorbing or concealing urine that drips onto the floor surface level.
Hence, a need exists for keeping restroom floors clean between normal restroom cleaning intervals thereby improving the hygienic conditions in the restroom.


The invented extensible wading staff includes an elongate shaft with first and second ends, a gripping area, a retractable hook near the first end, and a foot structure such as a rubber cap on the sealed end. A fisherman who is in water, especially moving water, may use the wading staff to maintain his balance while he is flyfishing. In addition, a fisherman may use the staff to help him retrieve snagged fishing devices such as flies, lures, lines and hooks from overhanging tree branches or underwater obstacles.

Flyfishing is an outdoor sport enjoyed by many people. When flyfishing, a fisherman uses a fly tied on the end of a line attached to a rod and reel. A fisherman wades into shallow water or stands very near a bank of a body of water and he repeatedly casts his fly upon the water. A fish swimming in the water is tricked into thinking that the fly landing on the water is a real fly or bug.
It is common for a fisherman to fish in a briskly moving stream or river and quite often a fisherman will wade into water to get closer to an area where he is more likely to catch fish. When wading into the water, a fisherman may find it difficult to maintain his balance on rocky bottoms or in fast currents and may choose to use a wading staff for a stabilizing support. Wading staffs are commercially available and appear in two basic varieties: (1) an unextensible single piece of solid material such as metal or wood; and (2) extensible by either telescoping or collapsing the staff. The key advantage of an extensible staff over an unextensible one is ease of portability provided by reducing the size of the staff.
Trees or shrubs are often found in or near the water where fishermen fish. Often, the flies, lines, hooks, lures, etc. of the fisherman may become snagged in overhanging branches when the fisherman casts. If the fly is snagged in a branch that is beyond the fisherman's reach, he may lose the fly by inadvertently breaking the fishing line or by cutting the fishing line in frustration. This can cause a loss of time and money because flies can cost $1 to $3 or more, and it may take several minutes to tie or replace a fly onto the line. A need exists for a tool to help retrieve snagged flies, lines, hooks, lures, etc. that are out of the fisherman's reach.
The invention described in this document provides the dual function of a wading staff, which may be used as a stabilizing support for a fisherman wading in water, and a tool to retrieve snagged flies, lures, hooks or other fishing devices.

Extensible wading staff with retractable hook


A protection switching circuit includes a plurality of ferrite modules arranged in a matrix, wherein the matrix includes a plurality of columns and a plurality of rows. The protection switching circuit further includes a primary control module configured to select a specific ferrite module to be polarized and a redundant control module configured to select a specific ferrite module to be polarized, wherein the redundant control module is used when the primary control module is not used. The protection switching circuit further includes a plurality of first switches, wherein the plurality of first switches couples the plurality of columns of the matrix to a first and second charging circuit. The protection switching circuit further includes a plurality of second switches, wherein the plurality of second switches are organized into pairs, wherein each pair in the plurality of second switches couples a respective row of the matrix to a reference potential.

Some communication nodes in a communications network are not easily accessible for repairs if there is a failure in the node. For example, some communication nodes are located in space. Switch networks are used in communication nodes to redirect communications in the event of a failure of a component. This is often referred to as "protection switching." Ferrite switches are used in some communications nodes for protection switching to provide redundancy for the communication pathway. Ferrite switches provide many benefits over electro-mechanical switches and are used in space and other applications where accessibility for repair is limited.

Protection switching for matrix of ferrite modules with redundant control


A dual disk drive peripheral data storage system is disclosed. The dual disk drive is a combination of a hard disk drive and a solid state disk drive whereby the solid state buffer memory that is typically used as a data cache for the hard disk drive is partitioned such that one portion provides the memory for the solid state disk drive while another portion remains as the cache for the hard disk. The dual disk drive provides the capability for a user to repartition the solid state buffer memory such that the sizes of the solid state disk drive memory and cache memory can be adjusted to increase the data transfer rate with a host computational system.

As the speed of host computational systems increase, one of the primary system bottlenecks becomes the inefficiency in retrieving data from peripheral storage subsystems. Such subsystems have been typically based on magnetic or hard disk technology. The mechanical components of this technology (e.g. the disk rotation and read/write head movement components), cause these subsystems to be inherently slow in comparison to the electronic speeds of the host computational systems they are designed to support. Various strategies have been devised to increase the data transfer rate of hard disk technology. One such strategy combines a relatively small volatile solid state data cache together with a hard disk such that data items that are most frequently accessed are maintained in the cache. Since such a cache has a substantially higher data transfer rate than a hard disk, a significant increase in host data processing efficiency can be obtained. In fact, the larger this cache the better performance can be expected from the host system when processing data transfer intensive applications. There are however disadvantages to this strategy. In particular, since most of the information for anticipating future data requirements of host applications reside in the host, for most efficient cache use, the host must make decisions as to what data should be retained in the cache. This implies that the host must be capable of managing such characteristics as the size of data items in the cache, when data items are to be placed in the cache and when they are to be replaced by other items more likely to be accessed. However, since there are no cache/host interface standards, any host/hard disk cache interface strategy will be restricted to a narrow range of host systems. The disk controller, therefore, is left with the responsibility of managing the data transfer between the cache, the hard disk and the host. In such cases the controller usually supplies a relatively simple, and less than optimal, data caching strategy such as the strategy where the most recently accessed data is always stored in the cache regardless of the access frequency. This drawback can, of course, be overcome to some extent by increasing the cache size, but cache memory under utilization is an expensive disadvantage.
More recently, an alternative strategy to alleviate the hard disk data transfer bottleneck has been devised. Solid state memory devices, known as "solid state disks" (SSDs), have been introduced that interface to host systems using the same interface standards as have been applied to hard disks, for example, the Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) standard. Thus, a host can configure SSD storage, set performance parameters and transfer data as if an SSD were a standard conforming hard disk. Thus, each SSD provides data transfer rates comparable to those of a host system plus the capability to communicate properly with most host systems without host or SSD modifications. There are however drawbacks to SSD technology also. The memory within substantially all SSDs is relatively small and possibly volatile. Thus, by necessity a host system using an SSD also uses a larger non-volatile peripheral storage as well, typically hard disks. However, having a peripheral storage composed of both hard disks and SSD devices leads to increased hardware expense (e.g. separate power units and cabling), increased demands on space to accommodate the storage devices and increased maintenance costs. This is particularly unfortunate in that much of the hardware and associated software for both hard disks and SSDs are similar internally as well as having identical host interfaces.
It would be beneficial to be able to combine a hard disk and SSD into a single unit thus reducing the duplication in hardware and software, and thereby reducing the peripheral storage costs. It is well known in the art how to configure a single hard disk controller to manage the data transfer between a host system and a plurality of hard disks, thus reducing hardware and software duplication. However, combining an SSD and a hard disk requires a different approach. Since an SSD is already capable of transferring data at electronic rates, any disk controller data caching is both unnecessary and wasteful for data items stored on the SSD. Moreover, an SSD does not require the controller to provide as elaborate an internal data formatting structure as a hard disk requires. For example, no "pad bytes" are necessary to account for a rotational displacement resulting from the time taken by hard disk logic computations in verifying a correct disk sector for a read or write. In fact, due to the significantly higher cost per byte of storage for an SSD in comparison to a hard disk, it is mandatory that this superfluous structure be omitted. Finally, if volatile memory is used in an SSD, preventing the loss of data during power failures must be addressed somewhat differently than in the multiple hard disk configuration.


A standard musical score represented in digital format is analyzed for its constituent parts in order to identify notational directives for traversing through the musical score. A linearized version of the musical score is generated that is in substantially the same visual format but allows the reader to traverse through the musical score exclusively in a forward direction and without need for jumps in a reverse direction or forward jumps beyond the subsequent consecutive page. In certain embodiments, forward jumps may be minimally limited to a page within the musical score while in other embodiments a forward jump may be minimally limited to a line or a measure. In yet other embodiments, reverse jumps may be entirely eliminated while in still other embodiments, reverse jumps within pages may remain unchanged.

Musical scores have been used for centuries for representing musical pieces. Traditionally printed on paper, such scores are sometimes referred to as sheet music, with each page of a musical score capturing the notes, rhythm, and sequence of how the musical piece is to be performed. One particularly challenging aspect of performing or practicing with sheet music is the need to physically turn the pages in order to continue with musical scores that extend beyond one page. The act of turning pages interrupts the playing of the instrument and can cause the practice session or performance to suffer. Oftentimes, professionals employ assistants whose job it is to physically turn the music sheets so that the musician can focus on playing. This can be critical for a musician whose instrument is the piano or the violin, where both hands are needed to play the instrument.
Rather than employing assistants, mechanical means to turn pages can be used and U.S. Pat. No. 7,238,872 discloses a mechanical system for automatically turning pages of musical scores. While such a machine can usefully address the simple act of turning pages, musical scores may not be linear entities and may require the musician to move within the score in nonlinear ways.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,760,323 describes an electronic music stand that displays a digital score that can be scrolled via a foot pedal, sound recognition, or a timing mechanism. However, the scrolling is limited to paging forward or backwards, which results in a potential need for repeated scrolling if the musical piece requires the musician to jump forward or backwards by several pages. Without the tactile feedback of physical pages, such repetitive scrolling may result in overshooting the page and a need to reverse the scrolling, thereby disrupting a performance by even a greater amount than the intended goal of saving the musician time and distractions.
Specifically, musical pieces often repeat sections but the physical repetition of such sections in a score can be expensive to create—especially when scores are transcribed by hand—and result in literally heavy burdens for the musicians to carry as well as be wasteful of paper. Consequently, notational shorthand has been created to instruct the musician when a section needs to be repeated, saving on the need to redundantly reproduce the exact same sections multiple times. However, this creates a situation where, unlike a book that the reader simply turns to the next page to continue reading, a musician may need to go back a page when progressing in a musical piece or even jump forward several pages within a score in order to skip over parts that are not included in the repetition. Such nonlinear turning of pages makes the mechanical act of page turning even more disruptive. With the introduction of digital storage media, the possibility of nonlinear traversal without physical overhead became possible.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,431,809 describes an electronic music display that allows the musician to define the points at which a musical score continues on another page that may be earlier in the score.
The system renders visual cues on the digital page to indicate where page turns will occur and additional visual cues indicate where the page will go to when it is turned. However, the system requires manual entry of the repetitions and requires a timer that calculates when a page turn will occur. To have to manually define all the nonlinear jumps in a score before using such a system could be a tedious task and the visual indicators may be distracting. Furthermore, having a timer can be difficult for musicians who are still becoming familiar with the score and need to practice without adhering to a preset timing for progressing through the musical piece.
U.S. Patent 2011/0203442 discloses an electronic display of sheet music that is capable of jumping from one portion of a score to another. The system assumes the existence of sub-module that would require manual intervention to alter, the flow of the music in order to conform to the intent of the musical score. Such manual intervention is costly in terms of time and labor.
In general, systems for electronic display of musical scores are based upon the fundamental unit of the original physical musical page of the sheet music. For example, U.S. Patent 2001/0037719 discloses a system for displaying music sheet where a musician can manually program the flow of the music but the system is based upon the fundamental unit of a page within the score. As well, in U.S. Patent 2008/0092723, a hands-free system for traversing musical scores is based upon the fundamental unit of a page within the score.
While basing the display of musical scores on a fundamental unit of a single page within the score is sensible, it can also be suboptimal for the musician. Specifically, when the correct page has been found, the musician has to know where to look in order since the point where the piece continues may not be at the top of the page but somewhere in the middle of the page. This need to search for the correct position to focus on adds an additional cognitive task for the musician and, taken together, the traversal of a musical score can be far more challenging than the traversal of a standard book which is generally in a linear fashion. With respect to musical scores, there is a need for an understanding of the structure of the musical score in order to traverse the score as intended.
In U.S. Patent 2006/0048632, the musical score is broken down into atomic units, each unit comprising of at least one musical note, which are then displayed in a browser. While such a system may be suitable associating audio components to a score and for providing a musician with minute control over the elements of a musical piece, it does not address the issues relating to the traversal of a piece of music that may potentially be nonlinear due to repetitions within the piece.
In U.S. Pat. No. 8,442,325, a method for recognizing musical score images is disclosed whereby the lines of a musical staff is detected and separated from the notes. The disclosed method is used for generating a sound corresponding to the musical notes, and does not use the understood components of the musical score to sequence the musical components in order to aid a musician in traversing the score.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,687 describes a musical score display that can accommodate the basic elements of a musical score, including repeat instructions such as Da Capo, Dal Segno, Al Fine, and other constructs. However, the system is based upon musical data that need to be created specifically for the pieces of music being displayed. Thus, the described system does not have the ability to take advantage of the huge corpus of existing musical scores, such as classical pieces by Beethoven, unless the laborious work of converting standard music notation to the needed musical data format is undertaken manually.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,530,735 describes a system that replaces displayed portions of a musical piece with subsequent portions of the same musical piece so that the display is synchronized with a performer. The system is well suited for performers, such as singers in a karaoke setting where the performer needs to follow some existing musical guide. However, the system is not based upon standard musical scores and so has no concept of musical structure represented in the sheet music format preferred by classical musicians. It is therefore unable to take advantage of existing musical scores but will need to have some system of converting existing scores to an internal format.
It can be seen that there is a need for a system and method to display traditional paper-based musical scores using an electronic device. It can also be seen that there is a need for a system to allow page turning in a manner that conforms to the progression of the musical piece while minimizing the possibility of turning to the wrong page. Furthermore, it can be seen that there is a need for a system that presents the established visual format of musical scores but is freed from the limits of being constrained to music sheet pages which require cognitive effort by the musician to find the continuation point when a jump within the musical score is made. Finally, it can be seen that it would be advantageous for such a system and method to take advantage of the large corpus of existing musical score by automating the ingestion of the scores so that the musicians will not need to manually enter data for each score they desire to use.

System and method for linearizing musical scores


A capacitor used in a semiconductor integrated circuit, in which lower electrode 31, a ferroelectric film 33, and an upper electrode in the form of a comb are formed on the source region 13a of a field-effect transistor 10 in the stated order, to form a ferroelectric capacitor which is apparently made of a plurality of capacitors small in area which are connected in parallel to one another. Thereby, the capacitor for a semiconductor integrated circuit can store a sufficient amount of signal charge, and is short in switching time.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the structure of a capacitor employed in a semiconductor integrated circuit, and more particularly to a capacitor formed by using a ferroelectric substance, and a non-volatile memory using the capacitor.
2. Description of the Related Art
As for a non-volatile memory of this type, a memory cell has been disclosed, for instance, by Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Hei-2-304796/(1991) FIG. 5 shows an electrical equivalent circuit of the memory cell, and FIG. 6 shows the structure of the same.
The memory cell, as shown in FIG. 5, comprises: a switching element, namely, a field-effect transistor 10, and a signal charge storing capacitor 20 using a ferroelectric substance. The field-effect transistor 10 has a gate electrode 11, a drain electrode 12, and a source electrode 13. The gate electrode 11 is connected to a word line WL, and the drain electrode 12 is connected to a bit line BL. The capacitor 20 comprises: a ferroelectric film 23; and two electrodes 21 and 22 formed on both sides of the ferroelectric film 23, respectively. The electrode 21 is connected to the source electrode 13 of the field-effect transistor 10, and the electrode 22 is connected to a ground line Vss or to a drive line DL. The ferroelectric film 23 is, in general, made of lead zirconate-titanate (called "PZT").
The structure of the memory cell thus organized will be described with reference to FIG. 6 in brief.
A field oxide film 2 is formed by selective oxidation of the surface of a silicon substrate 1, thus defining a element forming region. In the region, the field-effect transistor 10 is formed which consists of a gate electrode 11 covered by an oxide film 3, a drain region 12a, and a source region 13a. The lower electrode 21, the ferroelectric film 23, and the upper electrode 22 are formed on the source region 12a in the stated order, to form the capacitor 20. A metal conductor 4 is formed, as the bit line BL, on the drain region 12a, and a metal conductor 5 is formed, as the ground line Vss or the drive line DL, on the upper electrode 22.
The storage of charge of the ferroelectric capacitor in the above-described conventional non-volatile memory will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the conventional capacitor formed on a semiconductor substrate. In FIG. 7, reference characters a and b designate the terminals of the capacitor. When voltage is applied across those terminals a and b of the capacitor, an amount of charge stored in the ferroelectric film 23 between the electrodes 21 and 22 is as shown in FIG. 8, in which the horizontal axis represents field strengths E and the vertical axis, amounts of polarization P. As the voltage between the terminals a and b changes, the amount of polarization of the ferroelectric film 23 changes as O.fwdarw.A.fwdarw.B.fwdarw.C.fwdarw.D.fwdarw.E.fwdarw.F.fwdarw.G.fwdarw.B, thus showing a hysteresis characteristic.
When the field strength between the electrodes 21 and 22, after being raised to E.sub.sat much larger than E.sub.O, is returned to O, then an amount of polarization P.sub.s (called "spontaneous polarization") remains in the ferroelectric film 23. Similarly, when the field strength between the electrodes 21 and 22, after being decreased to -E.sub.sat, is returned to O, then an amount of polarization -P.sub.s remains in the ferroelectric film 23. With those positive and negative spontaneous polarizations corresponding to data "1" and "0" write states, the capacitor 20 provides a read signal charge Q represented by the following equation:
Q=2 P.sub.s .multidot.S (Coulomb)
where S is the capacitor's area.
The spontaneous polarization P.sub.s is determined from characterization such as composition and thickness of the ferroelectric film 23.
The conventional non-volatile memory designed as described above suffers from the following difficulties:
As shown in FIG. 9, in general, the switching time of a capacitor formed with a ferroelectric substance such as PZT is decreased as the electrode area decreases. This is a merit provided when the electrode area is decreased for integration. However, as shown in FIG. 10, as the electrode area decreases, the inversion charge density (corresponding to 2 P.sub.s in the above-described equation) is decreased abruptly, as a result of which it is difficult to read the signal charge Q.

Capacitor in a semiconductor integrated circuit and non-volatile memory using same


Flow rates of multi-phase streams may be determined by use of a fiber optic probe which establishes an illuminated sensing zone of finite dimensions. The probe collects light backscattered from the zone, the collected light being converted by a photodiode to voltage waveforms. Flow rate is determined by sampling voltage waveforms at discrete points in time, the sample being digitized and the digits being autocorrelated for such discrete points.

Flow rates of multi-phase streams, such as those including suspended solids, have been measured by cross correlation of upstream and downstream detector outputs based on the time change required for suspended solids to flow from the upstream detector to the downstream detector. Procedures of this type may not be of adequate dependability if, for example, disturbances occur in the multi-phase stream to scramble the position or orientation of the suspended solids being tracked during transit thereof between the two detectors. Such scrambling may occur particularly in turbulent stream flow.
Where two or more spaced probes are utilized, alignment of the probes is essential with respect to the direction of stream flow. Additionally, use of multiple spaced probes inherently extends the time in which a desired analysis of a multi-phase stream flow can be accomplished.
In some systems autocorrelation of the product of spaced detector outputs is utilized. Generation of beat frequencies between the detectors is established resulting from flow-induced Doppler shifts arising from the occurrence of disturbances upstream and downstream. However, in utilizing the frequency of these beats, the autocorrelation of the product of the signals from the detectors becomes rather complex.
In an effort to stabilize flow to permit more accurate determinations of flow rates, a system utilizing a vortex-producing member located upstream from a pair of spaced probes has also been proposed. A series of time-related vortices is generated and autocorrelation of the outputs of the spaced probes, based on the time period between consecutively generated vortices, are averaged.
Still another approach to the determination of flow rate of a multi-phase stream involves fiber optic illumination of at least a segment of the stream and the transmission of images of particles flowing past an endoscope as recorded with a camera and viewing monitor. Presumably, image analysis can be relied upon to obtain flow rate.
Other systems in use include the use of optical fibers to measure bubble flow rate and size. One such system relies on Doppler shifting of monochromatic light. In the operation of this system a bubble impinges on the end of an optical fiber with the fiber penetrating the first surface portion of the bubble and subsequently the second surface portion in order to obtain a flow-by measurement.
As has been explained, the majority of known systems rely on cross correlation techniques. Alignment of the sensors is critical in effective use of such techniques. Additionally, two channels of data need to be sensed and processed. The present invention constitutes a substantial improvement over known flow rate determination procedures.

Method and apparatus for fiber optic backscattered light measurement to determine flow rates of multi-phase streams


A method of treating a mammal with a neurodegenerative disease which is caused at least in part by the neurotoxic effects of the .beta.-amyloid protein. This method constitutes administering a metabotropic receptor agonist to such a mammal. In particular, the agonist trans-ACPD or 1S,3R-ACPD can be administered intravenously to treat a mammal with Alzheimer's disease.

1. The Glutamatergic System
The amino acids glutamate and aspartate are known to function as excitatory neurotransmitters in the mammalian central nervous system. These amino acids activate a large series of excitatory receptors known as "glutamate receptors". These receptors, along with the various neurotransmitters which activate them, in turn make up the glutamatergic system, the dominant excitatory nerve impulse transmission system of the mammalian central nervous system.
Over the last few years, it has come to be recognized that the overstimulation of excitatory neurotransmitter receptors can have serious pathological consequences. The overstimulation of cultured neurons invitro by glutamate, for example, can lead to neuronal cell death. Excitotoxicity is now thought to be important in the pathogenesis of several neurodegenerative disorders, including stroke and ischemic injury.
2. The Glutamate Receptors
Both pharmacological and molecular studies have revealed that glutamate receptors comprise a large family of proteins with extensive heterogeneity at the molecular level. The different classes of glutamate receptors differ in both their preferred pharmacological ligands and in their functions.
At least three classes of glutamate receptors have been identified. One of these, the NMDA class of receptors, is specifically activated by the glutamate analog N-methyl-D-aspartate. When stimulated, NMDA receptors open ion channels and allow an influx of cations into a neuron. The non-NMDA receptors comprise another group of ionotropic receptors which mediate cation flow into neurons.
A third class of glutamate receptors which has been identified is known as the metabotropic class of receptors. These receptors are referred to as "metabotropic" because their stimulation does not result directly in the opening of an ion channel, as is the case with the NMDA and non-NMDA ionotropic glutamate receptors. Instead, the cellular effects caused by the stimulation of a metabotropic receptor are mediated by G-proteins. The metabotropic receptors can be pharmacologically distinguished from other types of glutamate receptors in that they are specifically stimulated by trans-ACPD (aminocyclopentane 1,3-dicarboxylic acid). No other known glutamate receptors are stimulated by trans-ACPD.
At least four types of metabotropic receptors have now been described (see Henley, J. M. and Johnston, G. A. R., Trends in Pharmacological Sci, 12:357-360 (1991)). Metabotropic receptors are found in nerve cells of the central nervous system both presynaptically and postsynaptically, and are also found in glial cells. In vitro, metabotropic receptors have been shown to mediate slow depolarization of hippocampal neurons. It has also been found that metabotropic receptors block spike accommodation, a slow hyper-polarization following the excitation of a neuron which limits its ability to fire action potentials. Thus, the activation of the metabotropic receptors can render neurons more excitable (see Miller, Richard J., Metabotropic excitatory amino acid receptors reveal their true colors, TIPS, 12:365-367 (1991)).
3. .beta.-Amyloid Protein and Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease which is histologically characterized by an accumulation of neuritic plaques and neurofibrillary tangles and by neuron cell death. A major component of these neuritic plaques is the .beta.-amyloid protein, which is derived from a precursor protein called the .beta.-amyloid precursor protein (APP). The .beta.-amyloid protein itself has been shown to be toxic to neurons in vitro.
The .beta.-amyloid protein has, moreover, also been shown to potentiate the cytotoxicity caused by the overstimulation of glutamate receptors. When mature neuron cultures are exposed to doses of .beta.-amyloid that are too low to cause neuronal degeneration by themselves and are then subsequently exposed to sublethal doses of glutamate, massive cell death occurs. In addition to potentiating the toxicity of glutamate, .beta.-amyloid has been shown to increase the toxicity to neurons of exposure to NMDA and kainate, which are agonists of non-metabotropic glutamate receptors (Koh, J., et al., .beta.-Amyloid protein increases the vulnerability of cultured cortical neurons to excitetoxic damage, Brain Research, 553:315-320 (1990)).
There is also evidence that .beta.-amyloid exposure specifically makes neurons more susceptible to injury or death due to the stimulation of non-NMDA glutamate receptors. The addition of 100 .mu.M of a synthetic .beta.-amyloid peptide to a neuron cell culture which had previously been exposed to quisqualate (an agonist of metabotropic receptors and also other glutamate receptors) caused a threefold increase in the release of LDH (lactate dehydrogenase, an indicator of cell damage) by the neurons in the culture. Even at higher concentrations of quisqualate, we have observed greater cell death when neurons are exposed to the .beta.-amyloid peptide compared to when they are exposed to quisqualate alone.

Use of metabotropic receptor agonists in progressive neurodegenerative diseases


A backpack power blower apparatus including a frame carrying an engine and a blower. The frame is provided with a sound insulating planar member for reducing noises produced by the engine and the blower, the sound insulating planar member including opposite side portions extending rearwardly from a front portion of the frame and a rear portion extending between the opposite side portions at rear end portions thereof whereby the sound insulating planar member surrounds a machine body, including the engine and the blower, at least at opposite sides and a rear side of the machine body.

The present invention relates to a backpack power blower apparatus.
The backpack power blower apparatus, such as a power sprayer and a blower cleaner, is equipped with an engine as a power source on a backpack frame having a backplate. The frame is also provided with a blower driven by the engine. The cooling of the engine is commonly carried out by an air stream branched from the main stream of the blower. The noise caused by the cooling air is actually louder than the exhaust noise and the suction noise of the engine. To reduce noises, an attempt has been made to mount a noise insulation material to the backplate of the frame. The insulation effect is however still poor since noises produced due to both cooling air and the air stream from the blower leak to the outside from the sides of the frame from which cooling air and exhaust gases are discharged. Thus, the operator and the surroundings feel unpleasant.


The invention relates to an optical unit for generating an optical data signal in conformity with a data pattern. The unit has an input for receiving the data pattern with a modulation period T, a pulsed laser for supplying an optical pulse series having a pulse period n.T and a pulse duration .tau., in which n is an integer, and a converting unit for converting this pulse series into an optical data signal in conformity with the data pattern. The converting unit is a radiation-controlled optical switch. This switch has a first input for receiving the data pattern in the form of an optical pulse series whose pulses have a pulse width b, a second input for receiving the optical pulse series from the pulsed laser for sampling the data pattern during periods when the switch is open, and an output for supplying a data pulse series having a pulse width .epsilon..b, in which 0 <.epsilon.<1.

The invention relates to an optical unit for generating an optical data signal in conformity with a data pattern, said unit having an input for receiving the data pattern with a modulation period T, a pulsed laser for supplying an optical pulse series having a pulse period n.T and a pulse duration .tau., in which n is an integer, and means for converting said pulse series into an optical data signal in conformity with the data pattern.
The invention also relates to an optical transmission system and a transmitter including such a unit.
An optical unit of the type described in the opening paragraph may be used, for example in the transmitter of optical telecommunication systems. In such systems, a digital electric data signal is converted in the transmitter into an optical pulse pattern by modulating the radiation from a laser in the transmitter in conformity with the data signal to be transmitted. Subsequently, the formed series of optical pulses can be transported via, for example an optical fibre to an optical receiver in which it is converted again into a digital electric signal.
In present-day telecommunication systems the aim is, inter alia an increased data transmission rate. This requires optical data pulse series consisting of short pulses. However, optical pulse series consisting of short pulses are relatively difficult to modulate with data.
One of the possibilities of generating a pulse series consisting of short optical pulses and having a pulse pattern in conformity with a data pattern to be transmitted is what is commonly referred to as gain-switching of the laser. In this method a short current pulse is applied to the laser in the case of a digital "1", whereupon the laser in its turn transmits a short optical pulse. However, the following problem then presents itself. To obtain said short pulses, the modulation of the current through the laser should be such that each optical pulse is generated only by the relaxation oscillation of the laser, rather than by the length of the current pulse. The laser oscillation is determined by the charge carrier density and the photon density in the laser medium. The supply of a data pattern, in other words a succession of digital zeros and ones, to the laser means that different current patterns are applied to the laser. These current patterns cause different charge carrier densities in the laser medium. For example, after a number of digital ones has successively been applied to the laser, the charge carrier density will be different than after a succession of a number of zeros. As a result, the shape of the optical pulses will vary. Not only the shape, but also the instant when the optical pulse is formed will be varied so that time jitter is produced. Time jitter is understood to mean that the pulse position is defined inaccurately with respect to the pulse period.
As a result of the phenomena mentioned above, the pulse pattern of the optical data pulse series thus formed no longer corresponds entirely to the original data pattern.
Another manner of generating an optical pulse series consisting of short optical pulses and having a pulse pattern in conformity with a data pattern to be transmitted is the modulation of a pulse series obtained via mode-locking with the aid of an external modulator driven by the data signal to be transmitted. An example thereof is described in the article: "Monolithic semiconductor soliton transmitter" by P. B. Hansen et al. in OFC '94 Technical Digest, pp. 74-75.
The drawback of the use of such a modulator, for example of the electro-absorptive type, for applying a data signal to an optical pulse series is that the electric voltage required by the modulator for obtaining a sufficiently high extinction ratio is relatively high. The extinction ratio is the ratio between the light intensity of a digital "1" and the light intensity of a digital "0". In order that a clear distinction can be made between a "0" and a "1", this ratio should be sufficiently high. Particularly at high transmission rates, this may lead to problems because the modulation frequency increases in this case, and with an increasing modulation frequency the required extinction ratio is relatively difficult to achieve as a result of non-ideal electric transfer characteristics. Moreover, it is relatively difficult to smooth these transfer characteristics so that no level differences and electrical reflections which, moreover, are relatively difficult to smooth, are produced in the range between the DC level and the maximum modulation frequency. Moreover, such modulators are very expensive and the modulation frequency is limited to 10-20 GHz, which is too low for the desired transmission rates.

Unit for modulating an optical pulse series in conformity with a data signal


A method for preparing copolymers of a bicycloheptene and 1,3-butadiene is described. The method comprises polymerizing said monomers in a hydrocarbon solvent in the presence of a catalyst mixture comprising:. (a) at least one organoaluminum compound of the formula R.sub.3 Al or R.sub.2 AlX wherein R is an alkyl radical containing from one to about 12 carbon atoms, and X is a halogen, and PA0 (b) at least one molybdenum salt.. These copolymers can be oil extended and vulcanized to high strength rubbers.

Cycloolefins can be polymerized through the olefin structure to yield plycycloaliphatics, or through a ring-opening process to yield unsaturated linear polymers. The latter process has particular appeal since the resulting polymers are sulfur-vulcanizable. Examples of patents describing catalysts and catalyst combinations as well as processes for polymerizing cycloolefins include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,002,815; 4,025,708, 3,853,830; 3,597,403; and 3,778,420.
A number of the catalyst systems which have been suggested in the prior art for preparing polymers of cyclicmonoolefins such as tungsten or molybdenum halides in conjunction with organoaluminum compounds provide linear polymers having a relatively high proportion of gel. More recently, another catalyst system has been discovered which produces linear polymers of cyclicmonoolefins which essentially are gel-free. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,025,708 a solvent is used for the tungsten compound in the catalyst system along with a non-conjugated acyclic olefin has a molecular weight modifier allowing for improved process control and substantially gel-free cyclopentene homopolymers and copolymers.
Dicyclopentadiene is a readily available ethylene production by-product, but not as much consideration has been given in the prior art to homopolymers and copolymers of dicyclopentadiene. Generally it has been observed that the application of broad prior art teachings to the preparation of homopolymers and copolymers of dicyclopentadiene has not been successful and results either in little or no reaction occurring, or if a reaction does occur, the polymer produced is substantially insoluble in hydrocarbon solvents including aliphatic, cycloaliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,853,830 and 4,002,815 describe processes for preparing substantially gel-free copolymers of cyclopentene with dicyclopentadiene utilizing a catalyst which comprises at least one compound selected from the group consisting of dialkylaluminum iodides, alkylaluminum diiodides and mixtures of trialkylaluminum compounds with elemental iodine, and at least one solvent-soluble or monomer-soluble tungsten compound along with a non-conjugated acyclic olefin. It generally has been reported such as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,025,708 and 4,002,815, that in the system described therein, conjugated olefins such as butadiene and isoprene were active inhibitors, and this is why the processes described in those patents required the use of non-conjugated acyclic olefins.

Hydrocarbon-soluble copolymers of bicycloheptenes and 1,3-butadiene


A process for producing flavorants made or derived from tobacco or, more generally, made or derived from any biomass derived from any one or more species of genus Nicotiana, or that otherwise incorporate tobacco, is provided. Provided are flavorants obtained or derived from plants or portions of plants from the Nicotiana species, such as from one or more flowers from one or more Nicotiana species, and products comprising one or more such flavorants.

Popular smoking articles, such as cigarettes, have a substantially cylindrical rod shaped structure and include a charge, roll or column of smokable material such as shredded tobacco (e.g., in cut filler form) surrounded by a paper wrapper thereby forming a so-called "tobacco rod." Normally, a cigarette has a cylindrical filter element aligned in an end-to-end relationship with the tobacco rod. Typically, a filter element comprises plasticized cellulose acetate tow circumscribed by a paper material known as "plug wrap." Certain cigarettes incorporate a filter element having multiple segments, and one of those segments can comprise activated charcoal particles. Typically, the filter element is attached to one end of the tobacco rod using a circumscribing wrapping material known as "tipping paper." It also has become desirable to perforate the tipping material and plug wrap, in order to provide dilution of drawn mainstream smoke with ambient air. A cigarette is employed by a smoker by lighting one end thereof and burning the tobacco rod. The smoker then receives mainstream smoke into his/her mouth by drawing on the opposite end (e.g., the filter end) of the cigarette.
The tobacco used for cigarette manufacture is typically used in blended form. For example, certain popular tobacco blends, commonly referred to as "American blends," comprise mixtures of flue-cured tobacco, burley tobacco, and Oriental tobacco, and in many cases, certain processed tobaccos, such as reconstituted tobacco and processed tobacco stems. The precise amount of each type of tobacco within a tobacco blend used for the manufacture of a particular cigarette brand varies from brand to brand. However, for many tobacco blends, flue-cured tobacco makes up a relatively large proportion of the blend, while Oriental tobacco makes up a relatively small proportion of the blend. See, for example, Tobacco Encyclopedia, Voges (Ed.) p. 44-45 (1984), Browne, The Design of Cigarettes, 3rd Ed., p. 43 (1990) and Tobacco Production, Chemistry and Technology, Davis et al. (Eds.) p. 346 (1999).
Through the years, various treatment methods and additives have been proposed for altering the overall character or nature of tobacco materials utilized in tobacco products. For example, additives or treatment processes have been utilized in order to alter the chemistry or sensory properties of the tobacco material, or in the case of smokable tobacco materials, to alter the chemistry or sensory properties of mainstream smoke generated by smoking articles including the tobacco material. The sensory attributes of cigarette smoke can be enhanced by incorporating flavoring materials into various components of a cigarette. Exemplary flavoring additives include menthol and products of Maillard reactions, such as pyrazines, aminosugars, and Amadori compounds. See also, Leffingwell et al., Tobacco Flavoring for Smoking Products, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (1972), which is incorporated herein by reference. In some cases, treatment processes involving the use of heat can impart to the processed tobacco a desired color or visual character, desired sensory properties, or a desired physical nature or texture. Various processes for preparing flavorful and aromatic compositions for use in tobacco compositions are set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 3,424,171 to Rooker; U.S. Pat. No. 3,476,118 to Luttich; U.S. Pat. No. 4,150,677 to Osborne, Jr. et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,286 to Roberts et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,319 to White et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,862 to White et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,235,992 to Sensabaugh, Jr.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,694 to Raymond et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,298,858 to Coleman, III et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,325,860 to Coleman, III et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,428,624 to Coleman, III et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,440,223 to Dube et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,499,489 to Coleman, III; U.S. Pat. No. 6,591,841 to White et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,695,924 to Dube et al.; and US Pat. Appl. Publication Nos. 2004/0173228 to Coleman, III; 2010/0037903 to Coleman, III et al.; and 2013/0014771 to Coleman, III et al., each of which is incorporated herein by reference. Additionally, examples of representative components that can be employed as so-called natural tar diluents in tobacco products are set in PCT WO 07/012980 to Lipowicz, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Tobacco also may be enjoyed in a so-called "smokeless" form. Particularly popular smokeless tobacco products are employed by inserting some form of processed tobacco or tobacco-containing formulation into the mouth of the user. Various types of smokeless tobacco products are set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 1,376,586 to Schwartz; U.S. Pat. No. 3,696,917 to Levi; U.S. Pat. No. 4,513,756 to Pittman et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,528,993 to Sensabaugh, Jr. et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,624,269 to Story et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,987,907 to Townsend; U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,352 to Sprinkle, III et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,387,416 to White et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 8,336,557 to Kumar et al.; US Pat. Appl. Pub. Nos. 2005/0244521 to Strickland et al. and 2008/0196730 to Engstrom et al.; PCT WO 04/095959 to Arnarp et al.; PCT WO 05/063060 to Atchley et al.; PCT WO 05/016036 to Bjorkholm; and PCT WO 05/041699 to Quinter et al., each of which is incorporated herein by reference. See, for example, the types of smokeless tobacco formulations, ingredients, and processing methodologies set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 6,953,040 to Atchley et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 7,032,601 to Atchley et al., each of which is incorporated herein by reference.
One type of smokeless tobacco product is referred to as "snuff." Representative types of moist snuff products, commonly referred to as "snus," have been manufactured in Europe, particularly in Sweden, by or through companies such as Swedish Match AB, Fiedler & Lundgren AB, Gustavus AB, Skandinavisk Tobakskompagni A/S, and Rocker Production AB. Snus products available in the U.S.A. have been marketed under the tradenames Camel Snus Frost, Camel Snus Original and Camel Snus Spice by R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. See also, for example, Bryzgalov et al., 1N1800 Life Cycle Assessment, Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of General Loose and Portion Snus (2005). In addition, certain quality standards associated with snus manufacture have been assembled as a so-called GothiaTek standard. Representative smokeless tobacco products also have been marketed under the tradenames Oliver Twist by House of Oliver Twist A/S; Copenhagen, Skoal, SkoalDry, Rooster, Red Seal, Husky, and Revel by U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co.; "taboka" by Philip Morris USA; Levi Garrett, Peachy, Taylor's Pride, Kodiak, Hawken Wintergreen, Grizzly, Dental, Kentucky King, and Mammoth Cave by Conwood Company, LLC; and Camel Orbs, Camel Sticks, and Camel Strips by R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.
The sensory attributes of smokeless tobacco can also be enhanced by incorporation of certain flavoring materials. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,668,839 to Williams; U.S. Pat. No. 6,834,654 to Williams; U.S. Pat. No. 7,032,601 to Atchley et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 7,694,686 to Atchley et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 7,861,728 to Holton, Jr. et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 7,819,124 to Strickland et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 7,810,507 to Dube et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 8,168,855 to Nielsen et al; US Pat. Appl. Pub. Nos. 2004/0020503 to Williams, 2006/0191548 to Strickland et al.; 2007/0062549 to Holton, Jr. et al.; 2008/0029116 to Robinson et al.; 2008/0029117 to Mua et al.; and 2008/0173317 to Robinson et al., each of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Because tobacco has long been cultivated throughout the world, though full utilization of tobacco biomass has yet to be attained, there is a long-felt need for a process for preparing from tobacco, or, more generally, from any one or more portions of any one or more members of genus Nicotiana, a material useful as a flavorant, inter alia, in the manufacture of smoking articles and/or smokeless tobacco products.

Process for producing flavorants and related materials


A roller assembly for a diesel engine used in a high mileage vehicle includes a roller having an exterior roller surface and an interior surface that defines a bore extending therethrough. A pin is positioned in the bore and defines an exterior pin surface. A plurality of rolling elements is positioned between the exterior pin surface and the roller interior surface. Each of the rolling elements rollingly engages the exterior pin surface and the roller interior surface. The roller assembly defines a clearance of between about 0.01 mm to about 0.03 mm between the rolling elements, the exterior pin surface and the interior surface. The roller assembly is configured to achieve extended life criteria wherein the clearance does not increase to more than 0.02 mm to 0.06 mm after 500,000 miles of travel of a vehicle powered by a diesel engine having the roller assembly installed therein.

Known bearings include various means for guiding and positioning rollers. Bearing types include journal bearings wherein a shaft is rotatably supported by an outer ring. Journal bearings typically require a lubricant (e.g., high pressure oil) to be pumped between and around the shaft and an interior surface defined by the outer ring. Needle roller bearings are another type of bearing. Needle roller bearings have a plurality of cylindrical shaped rolling elements, generally referred to as needles, disposed between the shaft and the interior surface defined by the outer ring. Thus the shaft is rotatably supported by the needles. Needle roller bearings require less lubricant than journal bearings. Needle roller bearings also operate at lower friction levels than comparably sized journal bearings. However, needle roller bearings have higher contact pressures on the shaft at the rolling interface with the needles. Thus the operating life of needle roller bearings is generally less than comparably sized journal bearings. Needle roller bearings are easily contaminated by debris such as byproducts of combustion generated in an engine. Such byproducts are abrasive and can cause wear and premature failure of the needle roller bearing.
Roller bearings can be used for reducing friction between components of engines. For example, tappet roller bearings can be incorporated into an engine valve drive mechanism for minimizing friction of the valve drive mechanism components. In general, to reduce friction on an engine and thus reduce fuel consumption, tappet roller bearings are fitted to the mechanism which changes the rotation of a cam shaft synchronized with an engine crank shaft into the reciprocal drive for the intake valve and exhaust valve.
Diesel engines such as those used in higher mileage applications of light, medium and heavy duty vehicles typically use journal type bearings in cam follower applications because of their ability to operate without significant wear for over 250,000 miles to as much as one million miles of operation. However, journal bearings require a pumped supply of high pressure lubricating oil to operate in such applications. There has been a long felt and unfulfilled need for lower friction cam follower bearings for use in such higher mileage applications. However, despite significant efforts, those skilled in the relevant art have been unable to design a needle roller bearing that has a sufficient life suitable for use in diesel engines for such higher mileage applications.

Needle roller cam follower for higher mileage applications of light, medium and heavy duty vehicles


A process for determining the alignment of a cylindrical body (10) with respect to a reference direction (18), by a position measurement probe (14) which is calibrated to the reference direction, a first position measurement being taken in a first measurement position on the peripheral surface (12) of the body and a second position measurement being taken in at least one second measurement position on the peripheral surface of the body which is displaced by an angle of rotation (xcfx86) in the peripheral direction with respect to the axis of the body from the first measurement position, and from the measurements data is calculated with respect to the alignment of the body with respect to the reference direction.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process for determining the alignment of a cylindrical body, especially a shaft or roller, with respect to a reference direction which is dictated especially by another roller or shaft.
2. Description of Related Art
Published German Patent Application DE 195 46 405 A1 (corresponding to Published International Application WO/9721980 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/077,887) discloses a process for parallel alignment of shafts or rollers, a position measurement probe being used which comprises at least one optical gyro and which is provided with a contact surface for defined attachment to the body to be aligned which has two planar flat sections which include a flat angle relative to one another. Furthermore, the position measurement probe is provided with a double acting inclinometer for fixing the angular position of the position measurement probe with reference to the vertical. In the determination of the alignment of two bodies relative to one another, the process lies in that, first of all, by attaching the position measurement probe to the first body in a stipulated first measurement plane, a reference position is determined, and then, within a stipulated time interval after determination of the reference position, the location of the second body in a plane which agrees with the first measurement plane or which is parallel to it is determined by means of attachment of the position measurement probe to the second body. If necessary, other position measurements of this type, i.e., a reference position determination on the first body with subsequent position measurement on a second body, can be taken in a second measurement plane which includes a defined angle, for example, 90xc2x0, with the first measurement plane. The respective measurements are taken by the position measurement probe, if the bodies to be aligned are shafts or rollers, being manually attached to the peripheral surface of the shafts or rollers.
Japanese Laid-open patent application S60-158310 discloses an angle measurement method and device for measuring the angle between two planes that form two mutually separate structures in constructions sites, shipbuilding yards and the like. In the disclosed method and device, angular velocities are sensed by mechanical gyros, and resultant angular velocity signals are integrated to convert them into angles. However, mechanical gyros do not produce a high degree of precision, and there is no disclosure as to if or how the method and device might be applied to cylinders or rolls.
In cylindrical bodies with a large diameter, as a result of the practical limitation of the dimensions of the position measurement probe to be attached and the resulting limited size of the attachment or contact surface of the position measurement probe, the problem arises that the orientation of the position measurement probe with respect to rotation around an axis which is perpendicular to the lengthwise axis of the cylindrical body and perpendicular to the peripheral surface is not determined very accurately by the geometry of the peripheral surface and the contact surface, i.e., for example, for a horizontal roller, when the position measurement probe is attached to the top of the roller, the angle of elevation of the position measurement probe is determined relatively accurately by mechanical contact, but not the azimuth angle. To increase the accuracy of the azimuth angle of the position measurement probe in this case, the distance between the two attachment edges of the contact surface and/or its length would have to be increased; however, this is essentially limited for reasons of cost and manageability.
Japanese Laid-open patent application S60-158310 discloses an angle measurement method and device for measuring the angle between two planes that form tow mutually separate structures in constructions sites, shipbuilding yards and the like. In the disclosed method and device, angular velocities are sensed by mechanical gyros, and resultant angular velocity signals are integrated to convert them into angles. However, mechanical gyros do not produce a high degree of precision, and there is no disclosure as to if or how the method and device might be applied to cylinders or rolls.
The primary object of this invention is to devise a process for determining the alignment of a cylindrical body with reference to a reference direction, which can be done easily and economically, and yet can still yield results with sufficient accuracy even for bodies with very large diameters.
This object is achieved as in accordance with the invention by a process in which, by means of a position measurement probe which is calibrated with respect to a reference direction, a first position measurement is taken at a first measurement position on a peripheral surface of a cylindrical body, and at least one second measurement is taken at least one second position on the peripheral surface of the body which is displaced from the first measurement position by an angle of rotation in the peripheral direction with respect to the axis of the body, and from the measurements taken, the alignment of the body with respect to the reference direction is calculated. In this approach according to the invention, it is advantageous that, by taking into account at least the second measurement position on the peripheral surface of the body with respect to another axis of rotation, the accuracy of the measurement is easily improved overall.

Process for determining the alignment of a cylindrical body with respect to a reference direction


A piston fluid valve mechanism and method, wherein annular outer and core inner coaxial valve members are adapted to move to and fro slidably relative to one another and to bar upstream-to-downstream fluid flow when mutually juxtaposed into seated position but adapted to enable such flow when spaced apart in unseated position.

Fluid valves, whether for liquids or gases, necessarily have components exposed to fluid being restrained from flowing as would have occurred in the absence of any valving. Increased pressure of fluid so restrained makes added demands upon valve structures, stressing not only connectors, housing, and seals, but also whatever part(s) may be designed to close, adjust, or open the valve to flow.
Conventional valves have been modified to cope with the forces to be overcome, as by shielding components with sliding or rotary sleeves, building leverage into an individual valve, or cascading valves to enable a small valve to control a larger one. Proponents have characterized some of those configurations as balanced, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,425,448 to Peterson, for Fluid Pressure Balanced Valve, U.S. Pat. No. 3,658,450 to Woodling, for Balanced Fluid Pressure Valve Means, U.S. Pat. No. 4,190,231 to Vimercati, for Bilaterally Balanced Fluid Control Valve. Numerous valve-adjustment mechanisms are known, including cams, pivoted arms, and even rack-and-pinion devices, some of which are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 829,120 to Mumford, U.S. Pat. No. 2,074,701 to Lohmolder, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,260,128 to Tito. Electromechanical actuators are known and are often employed for their capability of applying considerable force and, in servo form, for their ability to hold any selected position, such as fully closed, any given intermediate setting, or fully open.
Notwithstanding the existing variety of fluid valves, there is a pressing need to render valve structure and adjustment simpler and more nearly independent of applied fluid pressure, rather than going on and on to greater complexity and sophistication in order to cope with requirements for increasing reliability, safety, and utility. This present invention of mine meets that need in a fundamental way.

Fluid valve mechanism and valving method