A pulse diagnostic device has a pulse wave sensor, a pulse wave signal processing unit and a register--all connected in series. The sensor is provided with means for correcting its amplitude-frequency response to obtain a prescribed shape of the pulse wave signal. The processing unit has an amplifier, an analog-to-digital converter and an analyzer all connected in series for analyzing of the pulse wave signal shape according to prescribed parameters. The method of measuring a pulse wave using the pulse diagnostic device resides in the fact that the sensor is pressed to the wrist in the Cyn, Gyan and Chi points, regulating the force of pressure; in so doing, one creates a pressure force by hand and regulates the position of the sensor corresponding to the measurement of a surface and/or deep or full pulse, until the first maximum value of the maximum amplitude of a signal appears to be visually received in the register.

The development of modern methods of clinical diagnostics and physiological control of the condition of human health, combining in itself express-effect, simplicity and high self-descriptiveness is one of the typical problems facing contemporary physiology, medicine and medical instrument making.
Present day Western medicine makes use of diversified instrumental methods involving tonometers, cardiographs, sphygmographs, plethysmographs and the like to conduct a special study of a particular feature of the cardiovascular system functioning, namely, evaluation or pressure changes in the blood flow, the condition of vessels' walls, and various hemodynamic parameters.
Oriental medicine, in turn, regards the pulse study as a universal method of diagnostics. Pulse diagnostics has been considered as the "kernel" of Oriental medicine and represented a sophisticated and subtle method for assessing the functional condition of practically every organ and system in the human organism. Figuratively speaking, the radial artery in the wrist zone is viewed by an oriental doctor as the focus and resonator where various physiological processes in the organism manifest themselves most vividly. The entire complex of sensations when palpating the pulse carries information about the condition of functional systems, the type and character of disorders, and the prognosis as regards the course of a disease.
Until recently, however, mastering the technique of pulse diagnostics has been fairly difficult owing to the duration (15 to 20 years) and difficulty of instruction, requiring a pulse diagnostician to have specially sensitive fingers, as well as the impossibility of acquiring objective information received from the pulse for collation and analysis.
In this connection, it has become necessary to develop devices permitting pulse diagnostics to be made more objective and teaching pulse diagnostics methods to be made easier.
One of the basic elements of pulse diagnostic devices is a pulse wave sensor, serving to convert different kinds of energy, e.g., mechanical energy of a pulse beat to an electrical signal. All major types of pulse wave sensors, namely, capacitive, tensometric, optical, piezoelectric, transform mechanical oscillations of the radial artery, which are the basic carrier of information, to an electric signal.
In Oriental medicine the pulse was studied in several positions, namely, in the wrist zone, on the radial and ulnar arteries, in the region of malleoluses, in carotids, in the lubital region, etc. But it is the wrist zone on the carotid in the area of the styloid process that was considered the main place for diagnostics. This place was regarded as the one connecting all canals and vessels of the body. But arranged close to the carotid are the venous and lymphatic vessels, the nerve trunk, as well as the meridian of the lungs, according to the teaching of Oriental medicine about the meridians. The condition of adjacent tissues also affects the pulse perception. Besides, according to the contemporary biophysics, the wave comprises the processes different by nature, namely, the movement of blood along a vessel, mechanical peristalsis wave running along the vessel, a sound wave formed from an impact during a systolic blood ejection from the heart to the blood channel and, in the final analysis, an electromagnetic wave. Each of these processes has its flow speed and its own character of action. Thus, in the place of the pulse wave collection there is formed a complex conglomerate of various processes both in the carotid per se and the effects on the part of adjacent vessels, namely, venous, lymphatic and nerve trunks. An experienced pulse diagnostician perceives not only general parameters in the form of frequency, strength and rhythmicity, fullness of the pulse, but also "burning", "prick", "hardening", "vibration" and the like, characterizing, in addition to the level and character of functional processes, the presence of inflammation, spasms or lithogeny, respectively. Hence, the physician's fingers, trained over dozens of years, serving as supersensitive biological sensors, perceive not only mechanical oscillations of the wall of the radial artery stipulated by its deformation caused by the blood pressure pulse, but also other finer and more subtle wave processes.
In this connection, there arises a problem of measuring the pulse wave, conditioned by the necessity of obtaining complete information about the processes in the section of the radial artery in the place of measurement, and correct interpretation of a pulse wave signal to make the diagnosis. The aforementioned sensors of the pulse wave have their own technical characteristics and, in particular, an amplitude-frequency response, stipulating the shape of a pulse wave signal. However, the amplitude-frequency responses of these sensors are such that as the pulse wave is measured, the pulse wave signal does not fully reflect all the processes at the section of measurement.
Closest to the invention claimed is a pulse-diagnostic device (U.S. Pat. No. 4,066,066), comprising, at least, one pulse wave sensor mounted on the inside of the wrist in the Cyn, Gyan and Chi points reflecting the condition of the internal organs and systems, a unit for processing the pulse wave signals, which processes n-sets of the pulse wave signal connected to the pulse wave sensor, and a register whose input is connected to the output of the pulse wave signal processing unit.
In said pulse diagnostic device the pulse waves are measured simultaneously by three pulse wave sensors secured on the patient's wrists. The force of pressing the pulse wave sensors is regulated by means of a vacuum cuff encompassing the wrist at the section of the pulse wave sensor arrangement.
An amplifier is used as a unit to process the pulse wave signals. From each pulse wave sensor an amplified signal enters the ammeter end/or register.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,066,066, piezoelectric microphones serve as pulse wave sensors converting mechanical oscillations stipulated mostly by the deformation of the radial artery at the sections of measurement, caused by the blood pressure pulse. However, as was noted above, the pulse wave is a far more complicated phenomenon than only mechanical oscillations of the radial artery: it is a combination of all wave processes from slow, namely, the blood flow and the peristaltic wave, up to rapid, including sonic and electromagnetic ones. Thus, as the pulse wave is measured, the piezoelectric microphone perceives only part of the information about the pulse which is due to the amplitude-frequency response of the piezoelectric microphone and this is reflected also in the shape of the pulse wave signal.
The pulse-diagnostic device being described is a sphygmograph intended to be used in practice based on the methods of Chinese medicine. Analysis of the pulse wave signals, which in actual fact are only amplified and then registered, is made by the doctor visually. The analysis is carried out with due regard for the amplitude (beat strength) characterizing the pulse as pulses magnus or pulses parvus, for the frequency of beats, characterizing the pulse as swift of slow pulse, and for rhythmicity, characterizing the pulse as rapid (non-rhythmic) or equal (rhythmic).
The pulse is regarded as a single information field and, depending on the depth of maximum amplitude, can be surface, i.e., "bright", "active", deep, i.e., "small", "weak", perceived only upon fully pressing the wrist, and intermediate between the first two.
The Cyn, Gyan, Chi points in which measurement is taken from the radial artery on the wrist, show the character of disturbance, namely, in the Cyn region--from head to chest, in the Gyan region--from the diaphragm to the navel, and in the Chi region--from the navel to the feet.
The pulses are referenced to the specific organs by virtue of empirically derived criteria. For instance, as to the heart and lungs, referred to the Yang point, a prolonged and active is referred to the heart, and brief and slow pulse--to the lungs.
For the liver and kidneys related to the Yin point, a long pulse relates to the kidneys and a short and soft pulse--to the liver. It is said that the spleen pulse occupies an intermediate position and is diagnosed with difficulty.
Solution of the problem of locating the place of a disease is interpreted as follows: a rapid pulse corresponds to the Yan region (six hollow organs), and a slow pulse--to the Yin region (five dense organs).
Using the above-identified criteria, one singles out the basic types of pathological pulses in the classical Chinese medicine: a tense pulse, large pulse, small pulse: high spirit, but little blood, small pulse: "little spirit and blood", abrupt pulse: "Yah thrives, Yin is absent", soft pulse: "Yin thrives, Yan is absent".
In view of the foregoing, one can draw the following conclusions. In the said method the surface and deep pulses, taken in one pulse position, are not differentiated as the pulses related to different organs, namely, hollow (Yan) and dense (Yin), respectively. The pulse wave is analyzed as regards the strength, rate and rhythmicity or beats, and the shape of the pulse wave signal is not analyzed.
The above-described interpretation of pulses performed by a doctor visually rules out automation in obtaining the diagnostic conclusions and collation of the data obtained, as well as it makes the diagnosis more subjective and the training of a doctor becomes difficult.
The method of measuring a pulse wave by means of said pulse diagnostic device consists in the fact that the pulse wave sensor is pressed to the wrists in the Cyn, Gyan, Chi points, regulating the pressure force with the aid of a vacuum cuff. Since the pulse wave is measured in said three points at a time and the force of pressing the piezoelectric microphones to the patient's wrist is set practically equal, it is fairly probable that the measurement in an adjacent point affects that of a pulse wave in each of said points, thus impairing the authenticity of information. Besides, as the pulse wave is measured simultaneously in three points, it is impossible to control the position of piezoelectric microphones to obtain reliable information about the surface and deep pulses.

Pulse diagnostic device and method of measuring a pulse wave using this device


The attachment plate has a rectangular planar front wall (2) with two groups (3) each with three mounting sites (3a-3c). These groups are used for mounting sanitary fixtures such as for example isolating valves and the like. The two groups (3) have in each instance two mounting sites (3b, 3c) disposed on a straight line (A). Each group (3) has moreover at least one third mounting site (3a) at a distance (Y) one from the other which is different from the distances (X, Z) of the remaining mounting sites (3b, 3c). The mounting sites (3a-3c) are disposed in such a manner on the attachment (1) that all commonly used sanitary fixtures and the like can be mounted.

A known fixture plate of this type comprises two mounting sites disposed at a distance one from the other in the form of breakthroughs. The one breakthrough is a circular bore and the other breakthrough is formed by two overlapping bores. The one or the other of the overlapping bores may be used for mounting for example a fixture so that in this attachment plate two different gauges for bore holes are available, a fact which simplifies the storage of such fixture plates. In practice, however, a large number of gauges for bore holes are required since the selection of different sanitary fixtures is very large. Consequently, several types of the known attachment plates would have to be kept in stock.
An attachment plate or mounting device is also known on which fixtures placed onto the front wall can be mounted at the front face by means of self-tapping screws. The fixtures are here provided with an outer flange on which they are mounted to the plate by screws. The mounting sites in this attachment plate are bores disposed circularly into which the tapping screws are screwed when mounting a fixture. In this case the conduits leading to the fixtures are not carried through the attachment plate but rather laterally away from it. With this plate the difficulty also exists that there must be kept several implementations in stock.

Attachment plate for mounting for example sanitary fixture


A golf bag for carrying golf clubs and related accessories. The bag has a carrying strap which can be folded and stored in a compartment in the bag when not in use. The bag also has a carrying pouch which can be detached from the bag and worn about the waist of a user. The bag also has a zippered pocket which, when opened, renders the contents immediately accessible to the user.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to golf bags; and, more particularly, to a golf bag having storage for the carrying strap, a detachable pouch and an easy access zippered pocket.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Golf bags are well known in the art. Such bags generally have a main cylindrical support tube open at the top for insertion of a plurality of golf clubs therein. A shoulder strap of some type is generally provided on the bag. One such arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,650 to Chancellor. Such bags usually have one or more compartments for carrying various golfing accessories, such as balls, tees, etc. There exists a need for a golf bag wherein the carrying strap can be stored when it is not needed to carry the bag. Also, about 60% of golf bags are used by men and the rest by women. It is usually necessary to make different bags for men and women since their needs differ. There is a need for. a unisex golf bag that can be adapted to men and women. Finally, there is a need in such golf bags to have an easily accessible pocket for quickly storing dirty golf balls or the like.


A validation apparatus in a pay television system, including a code detector means for successively detecting a sequence of code signals, from an encoded composite TV signal, a key code circuit means having a key code so as to validate the sequence of code signals detected in said code detector means for generating a first, a second and a third control signals in response to said sequence of code signals, a polarity flip-flop means being set by the first control signal, thereby assuming a first state and being reset by the second control signal, thereby assuming a second state and being toggled by the third control signal, thereby changing from the first state to the second state or changing from the second state to the first state, a counter means for generating an output signal when the number of state changes in said flip-flop means reaches a predetermined value, a feature detector means for generating an output signal when the detector means receives said third control signal in a predetermined number of times which is peculiar to said sequence of code signals, and a gating means for generating an output signal so as to generate a valid signal representing that said encoded composite TV signal is effectively decoded when both the output signal of said counter means and the output signal of the feature detector means are input thereto at the same time.

The present invention relates to a pay television system and, more particularly, to an improvement of an apparatus for validating, in the pay television system, the accurate corresponding relation between a transmitting end and a receiving end.
Attention is directed to U.S. Pat. No. 4,024,574 issued May 17, 1977, which discloses a pay television system, and a validation method and apparatus for the pay television system.
The pay T.V. system, that is, the charged T.V. system of the type of wireless broadcasting has been thought out and developed in compliance with the demand for good and substantial programs even with charge, in view of annoying commercial messages which are unavoidable in programs offered free of charge to the viewers by commercial broadcasting and of decline in the quality of such programs owing to various restrictions. The system has advantages resulting from a wireless system that it can reduce expenses and time for laying a cable for broadcasting, and that number of subscribers to a pay T.V. system. This means that the feature of the pay T.V. system is worthy of attention.
In general, since the pay T.V. system is designed to serve only subscribers therefor, a normal composite T.V. signal is encoded to exclude non-subscribers therefrom. To be specific, a transmitting end includes an encoder for receiving the composite T.V. signal and encoding it according to a predetermined procedure, and such encoder has a key code under which the composite T.V. signal may be encoded. On encoding the signal, a data for decoding the encoded signal, which is formed on the basis of the similar key code, is added to a particular position of the composite T.V. signal. On the other hand, a decoder included in a receiving end receives the encoded composite T.V. signal, reads out the decoding data, and collates the received key code with the key code which has been preset in the decoder or performs a validation detecting operation, whereby it is possible to complete an accurate decoding process and then to output the normal composite T.V. signal, if the key code has been accurately preset in the decoder.
Accordingly, it is necessary in the pay T.V. system to validate the accurate corresponding relation between the key codes of the encoder and the decoder. For this validation, a validation signal which is formed of combination of the particular code signals is output from the transmitting end at the predetermined timing which differs from that of the decoding data, and the decoder then receives the validation signal and performs the validation detecting operation. Consequently, the decoder may generate a valid signal representing that the key code therein is effective on the decoded data signal. The generation of this valid signal means that the decoding operation is completely accomplished on the assumption that a billing data is recorded, when a program selector included in the receiving end is in an appropriate operation mode and a subscriber indicates his intention of watching a T.V. program.
FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a conventional validation apparatus adapted for the transmitting end of the pay T.V. system. FIG. 2 shows a detailed circuit diagram of a portion of the validation apparatus shown in FIG. 1.
An encoded composite T.V. signal is applied to a code detector 1, a sync. signal detector 2 and a video processor 3, respectively. The code detector 1 detects a key code (validation signal) as a decoding data which has been added to the encoded composite T.V. signal in the transmitting end, and, in a key code circuit 4, the detected key code is validated with a key code which has been preset therein, and then the resulting validation is output therefrom as any one of "A", "B", "C" and "D" signals and is used to control a polarity flip-flop 5. Each of the "A", "B" and "D" signals causes the flip-flop 5 to output a signal representing one of two states thereof. The video processor 3 receives both a sync. signal output from the sync. signal detector 2 and a signal output from the flip-flop 5 (Q output), as control signals, decodes the encoded composite T.V. signal as described above, and then outputs a decoded composite T.V. signal. Also, the outputs from the flip-flop 5 are applied to a validation detector 6, and the detector generates a valid signal when the validation signal is received thereby and, alternatively, a non-valid signal when the validation signal is not received thereby. The valid signal enables an indicator such as a lamp 7, is applied to a billing data recorder 9, when the subscriber indicates his intention of watching a T.V. by turning a switch 8 ON, and, at the same time, sets a latch circuit 10. The set condition of the latch circuit turns a trigger switch 11 ON, and makes it possible to transmit the decoded composite T.V. signal to a television receiver (not shown). The billing data recorder functions, in the presence of the valid signal, to record a data representing a period during which the intention of watching is expressed, and to set a key code within the key code circuit 4.
Referring now to FIG. 2, the validation detector 6 comprises differentiators 20 and 21 which detect one state change from Q=1 to Q=1 (from the logic "1" of Q output to the logic "1" of Q output) and the other state change from Q=1 to Q=1, respectively, in the polarity flip-flop 5, an OR gate 22 for summing logically the output of each of differentiators 20 and 21, a state change counter 23 for counting the output of the OR gate 22, said counter in FIG. 2 being shown to include an AND gate 24 for generating the logic "1" when the count reaches "5", a validation field counter 25 for counting sequentially a state representing that the count of the counter 23 has reached a predetermined value, and a retrigger monostable multivibrator 26 triggered by the output of the validation field counter 25 for generating a valid signal.
It is assumed that, as disclosed in Nieson U.S. Pat. No. 4,024,574, the encoded composite T.V. signal from the transmitting end is so constructed that a signal or burst "f.sub.6 " is added to the normal composite T.V. signal to be positioned just before a vertical blanking signal therein and a sequence of code signals or bursts "f.sub.1 f.sub.5 f.sub.3 f.sub.1 f.sub.2 " each of which occupies the time period of a line is added thereto to be positioned after a equalizing pulse following a vertical sync. signal therein is completed, and the sequence of the code signals formed of "f.sub.1 f.sub.5 f.sub.3 f.sub.1 f.sub.2 " is arranged as a validation signal. On the other hand, the key code circuit 4 is so preset that the "D" signal is generated when the code detector 1 detects the code signal "f.sub.1 ", the "B" signal is generated when detects the "f.sub.2 " and the "f.sub.3 ", the "C" signal is generated when detects the "f.sub. 4 " and the "A" signal is generated when detects the "f.sub.5 ", respectively (f.sub.1 .fwdarw.D, f.sub.2 .fwdarw.B, f.sub.3 .fwdarw.B, f.sub.4 .fwdarw.C, f.sub.5 .fwdarw.D), whereby the "A" signal resets the polarity flip-flop 5 ("A" state), the "B" signal sets the flip-flop ("B" state) and the "D" signal toggles the flip-flop (changes from the "A" to the "B" or changes from the "B" to the "A"). Incidentally, the "C" signal is not effective on the operation of the illustrated circuit.
Referring now to FIG. 2, the operation of the circuit will be explained. At first, the code detector 1 detects the "f.sub.6 " signal, and the signal then acts to cause the validation field counter 25 to add "one" when the output of the AND gate 24 is the logic "1" and, on the contrary, to cause the counter 25 to be reset when the output is the logic "0". At the same time, the "f.sub.6 " signal also brings the polarity flip-flop 5 to an initial state "A" state). Then, the code detector 1 detects, in succession, a sequence of the code signals "f.sub.1 f.sub.5 f.sub.3 f.sub.1 f.sub.2 " as described above. As shown in the normal key code column of the following table [I], in successive sequence, the "f.sub.1 " signal causes the key code circuit 4 to output the "D" signal, thereby changing the polarity flip-flop 5 from the "A" state to the "B" state (Q=1.fwdarw.Q=1), the "f.sub.5 " signal causes to output the "A" signal, thereby resetting the flip-flop 5 to return it to the "A" state thereof (Q=1), the "f.sub.3 " signal causes to output the "B" signal, thereby setting the flip-flop 5 to assume the "B" state thereof (Q=1), the "f.sub.1 " signal causes to output the "D" signal, thereby changing the flip-flop 5 from the "B" state to the "A" state (Q=1.fwdarw.Q=1), and the "f.sub.2 " signal causes to output the "B" signal, thereby setting the flip-flop 5 to assume the "B" state thereof (Q=1).
TABLE [I] ______________________________________ NUMBER of STATE RESET f.sub.1 f.sub.5 f.sub.3 f.sub.1 f.sub.2 CHANGES ______________________________________ NORMAL A D A B D B .dwnarw. .dwnarw. B A B A B 5 NON- NORMAL 1 A D D B D B .dwnarw. .dwnarw. .dwnarw. B A B A B 5 2 A D D D D B .dwnarw. .dwnarw. .dwnarw. .dwnarw. .dwnarw. B A B A B 5 3 A D D D D D .dwnarw. .dwnarw. .dwnarw. .dwnarw. .dwnarw. B A B A B 5 4 A D A D D B .dwnarw. .dwnarw. .dwnarw. B A B A B 5 5 A D A D D D .dwnarw. .dwnarw. .dwnarw. .dwnarw. B A B A B 5 6 A D A B D D .dwnarw. .dwnarw. .dwnarw. B A B A B 5 7 A D D B D B .dwnarw. .dwnarw. .dwnarw. B A B A B 5 ______________________________________
The number of state changes, five times as shown in the table [I], in the polarity flip-flop 5, that is, "A.fwdarw.B.fwdarw.A.fwdarw.B.fwdarw.A.fwdarw.B", is counted by a state change counter 23, and then the AND gate 24 goes to an enabling condition. Consequently, under this condition, the output of the AND gate 24 is applied to the validation field counter 25 when the "f.sub.6 " signal is detected again by the code detector 1, and the counter 25 is advanced by one. If the forementioned operation is successively repeated by the predetermined number of times, the validation field counter 25 applies its output signal to the retrigger monostable multivibrator 26 and the multivibrator thus generates the valid signal.
As explained above in detail, in the pay T.V. system, the fundamental principle of the function of validation (the output of the valid signal) is that, on the basis of the validation signal transmitted from the encoder in the transmitting end, the decoder of the receiving end must be able to validate that the key code therein is preset to normally correspond to that in the encoder. In other words, when the valid signal is output in the decoder, there must be one to one correspondence between the key code preset in the decoder and the key code preset in the encoder. Further, in the conventional system shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the validation signal is checked only by the number of state changes of the polarity flip-flop 5, as described above.
However, as exemplified in the following explanation, the conventional system may generate the valid signal even if the key code preset in the decoder is non-normal to the key code preset in the encoder. This means that, although the encoded composite signal is decoded non-normally, the billing data may be recorded when the intention of watching is expressed. Such unjustness is fatal to the pay T.V. system.
Each of the cases of "NON-NORMAL 1" to "NON-NORMAL 7" in the key code column of the table [I] illustrates a case where an non-normal valid signal is output. The case of "NON-NORMAL 1", for example, will be explained as follows.
Even if the key code of the key code circuit 4 is so preset non-normally that the preset key code is different from the normal key code (f.sub.1 .fwdarw.D, f.sub.2 .fwdarw.B, f.sub.3 .fwdarw.B, f.sub.5 .fwdarw.A) with relation to FIG. 2 and the signals of "f.sub.1 ", "f.sub.2 ", "f.sub.3 " and "f.sub.5 " cause the circuit 4 to output the signals "D", "B", "B" and "D", respectively (f.sub.1 .fwdarw.D, f.sub.2 .fwdarw.B, f.sub.3 .fwdarw.B, f.sub.5 .fwdarw.D), the state change in the polarity flip-flop 5 occurs five times. Therefore, when such operation is successively repeated by the predetermined number of times, the valid signal may be generated to record the billing data. However, when a further sequence of code signals "f.sub.5 f.sub.2 f.sub.1 f.sub.5 f.sub.1 " differing from the sequence of code signals "f.sub.1 f.sub.5 f.sub.3 f.sub.1 f.sub.2 " as described above is received after recording the billing data, each of the signals "D(=B)", "B", "D(=A)", "D(=B)" and "D(=A)" is output in response to the non-normal key code (f.sub.1 .fwdarw.D, f.sub.2 .fwdarw.B, f.sub.3 .fwdarw.B, f.sub.5 .fwdarw.D) and the encoded composite T.V. signal, therefore, is decoded non-normally, despite that each of the signals "A", " B", "D(=A)", "A", "D(=B)" as the control inputs to the polarity flip-flop 5 is expected to be output in response to the normal key code (f.sub.1 .fwdarw.D, f.sub.2 .fwdarw.B, f.sub.3 .fwdarw.B, f.sub.5 .fwdarw.A). Thus, it is unjust that the billing data may be recorded in spite of the non-normal decoding of the signal.
The disadvantages as mentioned hereinabove are caused by the fact that the "D" signal output from the key code circuit 4 acts as a toggle signal for the polarity flip-flop 5 and, more particularly, by the fact that, for example, the state change from the "B" state (set state) to the "A" state (reset state) in the polarity flip-flop 5 upon receipt of the "A" signal is equivalent to the state change from the "B" state to the "A" state upon receipt of the "D" signal.

Validation apparatus in a pay television system


A suspending cable rack for a patch panel adopts a movable design for hanging on one side of a patch panel to organize and hold communication cables in a centralized fashion. The suspending cable rack consists of a cable support plate, a suspending arm and an anchor element. The cable support plate is pivotally engaged with one end of the suspending arm, which has its other end fastened to the anchor element, which in turn is fastened to the patch panel. The suspending arm is detachable and movable, and can conveniently fasten the cable support plate to the communication cable end of the patch panel.

The invention relates to a suspending cable rack for patch panels, and particularly a suspending cable rack that is capable of mounting to the communication cable end of a patch panel for sorting and holding communication cables in an organized manner.
In this age of information, gathering, processing and transmitting digitized information has become an essential ability for people living in the modem world. Network communication is very popular and widely adopted. As a result, most enterprises, government organizations or schools have set up network centers. In these network centers, there are usually patch panels to organize and hold numerous communication lines. A general network center usually has dozens of network terminal sockets to allocate and distribute network resources. A large number of communication cables and lines are required to meet this purpose. These numerous communication cables and lines tend to tangle with one another, making repairs and maintenance very difficult. Hence, cable racks are usually required to organize and hold the communication lines. Conventional frame type cable racks are used to organize jump lines and are mounted to the cabinet of patch panels. These frame type cable racks for jump lines have limited applications and cannot be adopted for environments other than the patch panels installed on the cabinets. Moreover, the frame type cable racks should have various dimensions to match different dimensions of the cabinets. They are also not convenient to install or remove, and usually require tools to do the installation or removing.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages, the primary object of the invention is to provide a suspending cable rack for patch panels that is simply structured, easy to fabricate, and adopts a movable design. The cable rack of the invention is located on a communication cable end of a patch panel, may be directly mounted to the patch panel regardless of cabinet types and specifications, and can be flexibly adopted without many different models or dimensions.
The suspending cable rack according to the invention includes a cable support plate with paired apertures formed thereon to thread bonding bands for holding communication cables. The cable support plate is pivotally mounted to an anchor element of a patch panel through a suspending arm. As the suspending cable rack is directly mounted to the patch panel through the suspending arm and anchor element, only the cable support plates of different dimensions are required to fit the patch panels of different specifications, while the specifications of the suspending arm and anchor element remain unchanged. Such a design may facilitate mass production and enhance package convenience. In addition, the suspending cable rack of the invention may adopt separable and detachable designs with the cable support plate, suspending arm and anchor element being packed separately before installation. As a result, package size can be greatly reduced to facilitate transportation, and reduce storage space and expand distribution channels.
The suspending cable rack of the invention utilizes movable suspending arms to pivotally hold the cable support plate, with one end of the suspending arms fastening to the anchor elements for mounting the cable support plate to one end of the patch panel. The movable suspending arm is pivotally engaged with a latch section of the cable support plate. The latch section includes an elastic hook and an anchor channel. The suspending arm has a latch lug located at one end to slip into the anchor channel of the latch section and engage with the elastic hook. By means of such a construction, two sets of suspending arms may be securely fastened to two ends of the cable support plate. In addition, the suspending arms are detachable and may be easily removed to facilitate installation and disassembly of the cable support plate.
The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings are only to serve for reference and illustrative purposes, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.


The open end of the nozzle 42 is positioned close to and facing the surface of the metal base 20 on the side were the portion of the semiconductor ingot is to be cut off. An electromagnetic valve 46 is provided in the passage through which compressed air is supplied to the nozzle 42. The initial position of the blade 19 is detected by the detector 50U and the counter 52 measures the distance the blade 19 travels downward from the detected position and then the comparator 56 detects the point at which the measured value matches the value set on the numeric value setting device 54. The electromagnetic valve 46 is opened to emit compressed air from the nozzle 42 after this detection, until the detection of the lower limit position of the blade 19 by the detector 50D. This compressed air travels along in the direction of the rotation of the metal base 20 to enter the notch of the partially cut portion of the semiconductor ingot 10 made by the inner circumference cutting edge 22 and to consequently blow out the liquid coolant present between the metal base 20 and the semiconductor ingot 10.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inner diameter saw slicing machine used for cutting semiconductor ingots.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The semiconductor ingot 10 has a cone-shaped tail portion 10b and a cone-shaped head portion 10c formed on the ends of the cylindrical body portion 10a. The semiconductor ingot 10 as shown in FIG. 5B is transported in the direction of its axis over the feed rollers 12 and 14 which are arranged in a V formation. Then it is pressed down and secured by the clamper 16 at the position shown in FIG. 5A.
In the rotor 18, the outer circumference portion of the blade 19 is held in the tension head 24. In the blade 19, an inner circumference cutting edge 22 is formed by bonding diamond abrasive grain onto the inner circumference portion of the thin ring-shaped metal base 20. For example, the thickness of the metal base 20 may be 180 .mu.m and the thickness of the inner circumference cutting edge 22 may be 430 .mu.m. The rotor 18 is driven and rotated by a motor not shown. When the rotor 18 is lowered in this state, the end of the semiconductor ingot 10 is cut off as shown by the two-dot chain line. During this cutting, a liquid coolant, which may be plain water or a water solution of a surface active agent, is sprayed on the inner circumference cutting edge 22 from a liquid-emitting nozzle not shown. This liquid coolant travels along the direction of the rotation of the inner circumference cutting edge 22, enters the notch of the partially cut portion of the semiconductor ingot and is spread over both sides of the metal base 20.
Because of this, when the cutting of the tail portion 10b is completed, the tail portion 10b adheres to the metal base 20 due to the film-like liquid coolant between the metal base 20 and the tail portion 10b and the rotation force of the metal base 20 is thereby communicated to the cut-off tail portion 10b via the coolant. This results in the tail portion 10b being propelled in the direction of the rotation of the metal base 20. At this time, since the degree of adhesion to the metal base 20 and the force received from the metal base 20 in the direction of its rotation become greater in proportion to the size of the contact surface of the tail portion 10b and the metal base 20, the tail portion 10b will be so propelled even when the diameter of the body portion 10a is large and also the weight of the tail portion 10b is great. The weight of the tail portion 10b varies depending upon the diameter of the body portion 10a; it typically ranges from 1.5 to 8.5 kg.
As the tail portion 10b being propelled outward presents a certain danger, a barrier 26 is provided on the side where the tail portion 10b is propelled so that the tail portion 10b hits the barrier 26 and drops down to be collected in a collection box which is located below not shown.
However, sometimes the tail portion 10b may be bounce off the barrier 26 as indicated with the arrow in the figure and on the rebound it may hit the blade 19 and deform it. This greatly reduces the service life of the blade 19.
In order to deal with this problem, the tail portion 10b is cut while it is being held by a vacuum chuck 28 in the prior art, as shown in FIG. 6.
Because there are crystal habit lines as well as protuberances and depressions on the surface of the tail portion 10b, when the tail portion 10b is to be held by the vacuum chuck 28, it is necessary to make fine adjustments of the shaft center of the vacuum chuck 28 manually for each semiconductor ingot 10, and this prevents full automation of the cutting operation.
The problems described above also occur during cutting of the head portion 10c.


A gas burner element for a barbecue grill which can be utilized in a wide variety of barbecue grill base portions. The burner element has leg members which extend from the element in the direction of the base floor so that the burner element is supported solidly above the floor and the gas intake member is in communication with the gas supply pipe irrespective of the placement of the foot pads on the floor. In a preferred manner, the leg members are pivotally and extendably attached to the burner element.

This invention relates to a burner element for a barbecue gas grill and more particularly to a gas burner element wherein leg members support the burner element above the floor of the base portion with the burner element solidly supported from the floor irrespective of the placement of the foot pad supports on the floor and in a communication with the gas supply pipe.
Various barbecue grill bases have floors with foot pads for the burner element located at various positions on the floor. Accordingly, it is necessary to construct each burner element to match the particular location of the foot pad support so that the burner element is solidly supported therein and have the gas intake member in communication with the gas supply pipe. Cost savings could be effected if one burner element is fabricated so as to fit in a stable manner in any barbecue base portion and in an operative manner.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a burner element for a barbecue gas grill which can operatively fit numerous gas grill base floors. It is another object of this invention to provide a burner element with leg members which can be positioned on foot pads located at various positions on the floor of the gas grill. It is still another object of this invention to provide leg members for a gas burner element wherein the legs are pivotally and extendably attached to the burner hollow body. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a universal gas burner for a gas grill which can be manufactured in an economical manner. It is still another object of this invention to provide an adjustable and telescoping gas intake tube assembly for a gas grill.

Universal burner element for a gas barbecue grill


A sealed bearing includes inner and outer race rings, roller members disposed therebetween, and built-in sealing members for sealing the space in which the roller members are situated. The outer race ring is equipped with a mounting groove 5 for each sealing member. The groove is situated axially inside of a side plane of the outer race ring and is inclined obliquely relative to that side plane. The mounting groove has an opening situated axially outside of the outer race track, whereas at least a part of the inner end of the groove is situated axially inside of the outer axial end of the outer race track.

The present invention refers to sealed bearings incorporating an inner race ring, outer race ring, rolling bodies arranged between the inner race ring and the outer race ring in one or more rows, and so-called built-in sealing members, whereby the outer race ring, at least at one of its sides, is equipped with a mounting groove for receiving the sealing member, the groove being situated inside the side plane of the outer race ring and being arranged to taper at an angle relative to the side plane.
The "life span" of a bearing is reduced by dirt and impurities penetrating into the bearing. The assembly of the bearing, on one hand, may occur in dirty surroundings, and the bearings may, on the other hand, during operation, be exposed to dirt, metal chips, and the like. Also, during use of bearings in continuous casting machines, rolling mills, paper making machines, etc., the bearings may be highly exposed to different kinds of impurities. This also places high demands on maintenance.
Thus, a good seal for a bearing in many cases can be most important, on one hand for increasing the life span and on the other hand for reducing the maintenance.
Known solutions for designing sealed bearings are based on two different principles, i.e., a seal can either be assembled onto a bearing or be built into the bearing. Embodiments of how a seal is assembled onto a bearing is shown, e.g., in Wittmeyer et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,543 and Asberg et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,755,067. The seal in these embodiments is constituted by two cooperating sheet metal rings, whereby at least one of the sheet metal rings is notch-joined into the outer race ring, whereas the other is fitted to the inner race ring. This solution, however, means that the seal will project outside the side planes of the race rings, which in some cases necessitates modification of the bearing housing and also of the mounting and dismantling tools.
According to the other alternative mentioned above, the seal is built into the bearing. In this case the seal does not project beyond the side planes of the race rings. Assembly of the seal inside one of the bearing side planes requires space and for this reason the width of the bearing itself can be increased, or, in the case with roller bearings, the roller length has been reduced.
In one known sealed bearing, the width of the bearing has been increased as compared to a corresponding unsealed bearing in order to maintain the carrying capacity. In that case, the seal is mounted in a radial groove formed in the outer race ring, where it is fixed with a locking ring, and the opposite side of the seal engages a tapering surface on the inner race ring. (It is also known to attach the seal in the outer race ring with some type of rubber lip.)
The attachment of the seal in a radial locking ring groove requires large axial space which means that the outer race ring necessarily will become wide if the carrying capacity shall be maintained. That is a drawback, as it is desirous to keep the bearing as small and compact as possible due to the particular uses for which the bearing is intended, and to maintain the ISO-width according to ISO standards.
Another drawback is that an attachment with a rubber lip does not give the high retaining force desired.
In spherical roller bearings, in contrast to others, the set of rollers may hit and dislodge the seal.
Purposes of the present invention include providing a sealed bearing having a built-in seal, wherein the attachment of the seal requires a minimum of assembly space; the outer race ring preferably should not be made wider as compared to unsealed bearings. The carrying capacity, speed ranges, and the like should also not be adversely affected.

Sealed bearing with mounting grooves for sealing members


Stroke information from pen-down to pen-up being one unit is grouped automatically so that editing thereafter can be performed efficiently. Grouping of stroke information is determined in accordance with a predetermined rule of grouping each time stroke information is input or with timing indicated by a user. Strokes input within a predetermined time interval and stroke information input at a position within a predetermined distance interval are assumed to be the same group, and in the editing thereafter, a collective pointing and processing on a plurality of grouped strokes becomes possible.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing method and apparatus for processing handwritten image information written by an operator.
In particular, the present invention relates to an image processing method and apparatus for handling stroke data formed of a plurality of coordinate information.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally speaking, as dedicated drawing apparatuses or information processing apparatuses which read and execute a drawing-type application, handwriting information input apparatuses are used which input handwriting information and edit it, for example, input traces drawn by an operator as strokes by using a handwriting input member, such as a pen or a mouse, and edit the input strokes.
Such a handwriting information input apparatus is set in such a way that a trace drawn continuously is input as one stroke, and this one stroke is handled as a minimum unit. Since the apparatus is set so that one stroke is handled as a minimum unit as described above, when the same editing is performed on a plurality of input strokes, a method of grouping a plurality of input strokes into one data is often used so that a plurality of strokes are edited collectively by taking into consideration editing efficiency. As a method of grouping a plurality of input strokes into one data, there is a method in which each object stroke is selected and indicated individually from among the strokes input by the operator, and a plurality of strokes which are indicated so as to be grouped is handled as one data. There is another method in which a plurality of input strokes are grouped by using a grouping command. In this method, an area containing strokes which are grouped by the operator is indicated, and each stroke of this indicated area is handled as one data.
However, in practice, often a plurality of strokes are input in time sequence, and the strokes are interrelated. For example, when characters are input by handwriting by using a pen or the like, often each stroke which forms the character is input in a time sequence, and each stroke which forms this character is handled as one data. Conversely, it is rare that each stroke which forms the character is edited individually.
As described above, in the case where each stroke which forms a handwritten character is handled as one data, in the former method used in the above-described apparatus, each object stroke must be selected and indicated from among the input strokes, and this indication operation requires a lot of time and effort.
In the latter method, although grouping is possible in character units by using a grouping command, it is necessary to indicate an area containing strokes which form a character and further, when a plurality of characters are input close to each other, a very fine indication operation becomes necessary for appropriately dividing the section between the input characters. Therefore, grouping into character units cannot be performed efficiently.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing method and apparatus capable of efficiently grouping a plurality of input image data without spending time and effort on an operation.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an image processing method and apparatus capable of automatically grouping data according to the intention of the operator.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an image processing method and apparatus capable of instructing the execution of a clustering process using a clustering rule according to the intention of the operator.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an image processing method and apparatus capable of performing editing on strokes which are grouped during input after each stroke is input.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide an image processing method and apparatus capable of performing a grouping release process on a plurality of data which are grouped during input according to the intention of the operator.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide an image processing method and apparatus capable of knowing the state of the grouping of input data.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide an image processing method and apparatus which hold at least one of a clustering level, a stroke input time, stroke coordinate information, positional information, and display attributes as clustering information.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide an image processing method and apparatus which define positions which are defined by a circumscribed rectangle which surrounds a single stroke or clustered strokes as each positional information.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide an image processing method and apparatus which use at least one of a difference in input time between strokes, a difference in position between strokes, or a difference in display attributes between strokes as a clustering rule for determining whether or not a plurality of strokes should be grouped.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide an image processing method and apparatus capable of clustering input strokes more appropriately because a plurality of clustering rules are held and the input strokes are grouped using an adaptively selected clustering rule.
The above and further objects, aspects and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.


The present disclosure details novel modified anthracyclines, the synthesis thereof, and their use in treating patients with tumors. Preferred aspects of the disclosure involve modified anthracyclines which have an O-substituted aromatic ring on their sugar moiety. Other preferred aspects of the disclosure involve synthesis steps wherein a hydroxyl group on a sugar moiety to be added is blocked with a halo-substituted alkyl group during the process of adding it to an anthracycline ring compound.

1. Field of the Invention
This application relates generally to the treatment of cancer. Specifically, the invention relates to novel compounds useful for chemotherapy, methods of synthesis of these compounds, and methods of treatment employing these compounds. The novel compounds described are analogs of the doxorubicin which is known to have anti-tumor effects.
2. Description of the Related Art
Resistance of tumor cells to the killing effects of chemotherapy is one of the central problems in the management of cancer. It is now apparent that at diagnosis many human tumors already contain cancer cells that are resistant to standard chemotherapeutic agents. Spontaneous mutation toward drug resistance is estimated to occur in one of every 10.sup.6 to 10.sup.7 cancer cells; this mutation rate appears to be independent of any selective pressure from drug therapy, although radiation therapy and chemotherapy may give rise to additional mutations and contribute to tumor progression within cancer cell populations (Goldie et al., Cancer Treat. Rep., 63:1727, 1979; Goldie et al., Cancer Res., 44:3643, 1984; and Nowell, Cancer Res., 46:2203, 1986). The cancer cell burden at diagnosis is therefore of paramount importance because even tumors as small as 1 cm (10.sup.9 cells) could contain as many as 100 to 1,000 drug-resistant cells prior to the start of therapy.
Selective killing of only the tumor cells sensitive to the drugs leads to an overgrowth of tumor cells that are resistant to the chemotherapy. Mechanisms of drug resistance include decreased drug accumulation (particularly in multidrug resistance), accelerated catabolism of the drug and other alterations of drug metabolism, and an increase in the ability of the cell to repair drug-induced damage (Curt et al., Cancer Treat. Rep., 68:87, 1984; and Kolate, Science, 231:220, 1986). The cells that overgrow the tumor population not only are resistant to the agents used but also tend to be resistant to other drugs, many of which have dissimilar mechanisms of action. This phenomenon, called pleiotropic drug resistance or multidrug resistance (MDR), may account for much of the drug resistance that occurs in previously treated cancer patients.
Gene amplification (i.e., the production of extra copies of genes within a cell) is one of the mechanisms that can lead to drug resistance. Gene amplification is involved in the phenomenon of multidrug resistance. Multidrug resistance appears to be linked to over-expression of a cell membrane glycoprotein, termed P-glycoprotein, on the surface of cancer cells (Bell et al., J. Clin. Oncol., 3:311, 1985; and Bertino, J. Clin. Oncol., 3:293, 1985). The action of this glycoprotein is unknown, but its over-expression is associated with decreased accumulation of multiple chemotherapeutic drugs within the resistant cells. A multidrug-resistance gene that encodes the P-glycoprotein has been isolated and sequenced, and when it is transferred, this gene confers drug resistance on previously drug-sensitive cells (Gros et al., Nature, 323:728, 1986). The multidrug-resistance gene termed mdrl is expressed in several normal tissues, and its expression is increased in some human tumors (Fojo et al., P.N.A.S., 84:265, 1987). Various human tumors are now being analyzed to determine whether they express this gene. Because many heavily treated patients who are in relapse harbor tumors that do not show over-expression of the mdrl gene, it appears that other mechanisms are probably also involved in causing resistance to chemotherapy.
The commonly used chemotherapeutic agents are classified by their mode of action, origin, or structure, although some drugs do not fit clearly into any single group. The categories include alkylating agents, antimetabolites, antibiotics, alkaloids, and miscellaneous agents (including hormones); agents in the different categories have different sites of action.
Antibiotics are biologic products of bacteria or fungi. They do not share a single mechanism of action. The anthracyclines daunorubicin and doxorubicin (DOX) are some of the more commonly used chemotherapeutic antibiotics. The anthracyclines achieve their cytotoxic effect by several mechanisms, including intercalation between DNA strands, thereby interfering with DNA and RNA synthesis; production of free radicals that react with and damage intracellular proteins and nucleic acids; chelation of divalent cations; and reaction with cell membranes. The wide range of potential sites of action may account for the broad efficacy as well as the toxicity of the anthracyclines (Young et al., N. Engl. J. Med., 312:692, 1985).
The anthracycline antibiotics are produced by the fungus Streptomyces peucetius var. caesius. Although they differ only slightly in chemical structure, daunorubicin has been used primarily in the acute leukemias, whereas doxorubicin displays broader activity against human neoplasms, including a variety of solid tumors. The clinical value of both agents is limited by an unusual cardiomyopathy, the occurrence of which is related to the total dose of the drug; it is often irreversible. In a search for agents with high antitumor activity but reduced cardiac toxicity, anthracycline derivatives and related compounds have been prepared. Several of these have shown promise in the early stages of clinical study, including epirubicin and the synthetic compound mitoxantrone, which is an amino anthracenedione.
The anthracycline antibiotics have tetracycline ring structures with an unusual sugar, daunosamine, attached by glycosidic linkage. Cytotoxic agents of this class all have quinone and hydroquinone moieties on adjacent rings that permit them to function as electron-accepting and donating agents. Although there are marked differences in the clinical use of daunorubicin and doxorubicin, their chemical structures differ only by a single hydroxyl group on C14. The chemical structures of daunorubicin and doxorubicin are as follows: ##STR1##
Unfortunately, concomitant with its antitumor activity, DOX can produce adverse systemic effects, including acute myelosuppression, cumulative cardiotoxicity, and gastrointestinal toxicity (Israel et al., Cancer Treat. Rec., 14:163, 1987). At the cellular level, in both cultured mammalian cells and primary tumor cells, DOX can select for multiple mechanisms of drug resistance that decrease its chemotherapeutic efficacy. These mechanisms include P-gp-mediated MDR, characterized by the energy-dependent transport of drugs from the cell (Bradley et al., Biochem. Biophys. Acta., 948:87, 1988), and resistance conferred by decreased topoisomerase II activity, resulting in the decreased anthracycline-induced DNA strand scission (Danks et al., Cancer Res., 47:1297, 1987; Pommier et al., Cancer Res.), 46:3075, 1986; Moscow et al., J. Natl. Cancer Inst., 80:14, 1988.
Among the potential avenues of circumvention of systemic toxicity and cellular drug resistance of the natural anthracyclines is the development of semisynthetic anthracycline analogues which demonstrate greater tumor-specific toxicity and less susceptibility to various forms of resistance. One such analogue, AD 198, exhibits a variety of mechanistic differences compared with anthracycline, including weaker binding to purified DNA, preferential inhibition of RNA versus DNA synthesis, irreversible G.sub.2 /M blockade, pronounced membrane lytic activity, and a lack of inhibition of purified mammalian topoisomerase II despite significant levels of protein-associated DNA strand breaks in alkaline elution assays (Israel et al., 1987; Traganos et al., Cancer Res., 45:6273, 1985; Bodley et al., Cancer Res., 49:5969; and Israel et al., Cancer Chemother. Pharmacol., 25:177, 1989). When compared with anthracycline, AD 198 demonstrates enhanced cytotoxicity against cultured murine and human tumor cells and the ability to circumvent MDR in P388 and L1210 leukemic cells and B16-BL6 melanoma cells, and both MDR and resistance due to altered topoisomerase II activity in variant CCRF-CEM leukemic cells (Ganapath, et al., Br. J. Cancer, 60:819, 1989; Sweatman et al., J. Cell. Pharmacol., 1:95-102). Unfortunately, despite the high degree of toxicity seen in vitro, AD 198 exhibits limited efficacy against transplanted MDR L1210 cells in vivo. This observation suggests that resistance to AD 198 may be conferred either systemically through enhanced drug metabolism or pharmacologic sanctuary of the neoplasia or through cellular resistance (Ganapathi et al.).
AD 198 is an anthracycline analogue designed to circumvent MDR and thereby enhance chemotherapeutic efficacy against drug-resistant neoplastic cells. Circumvention of MDR by AD 198 appears to be due, at least in part, to the inability of P-gp to transport AD 198 from the cell (Sweatman et al.). Cellular resistance to AD 198 can emerge rapidly within murine macrophage-like J774.2 cells and with characteristics that were similar to those of MDR. However, AD 198.sup.R cells differ from MDR cells in the persistence of high levels of intracellular AD 198 similar to that of drug-sensitive cells. Resistance to AD 198 could limit the successful utilization of this and other highly hydrophobic anthracycline analogues in the treatment of MDR tumor cells. In addition, it has been shown that MDR J774.2 selected with vinblastine were cross-resistant to AD 198. This finding was in contrast to previous studies showing the ability of AD 198 to circumvent MDR in lymphocytic and melanoma cell lines selected with either anthracycline or vinblastine (Ganapathi et al.; Sweatman et al.), suggesting that cell type may have a significant effect upon the MDR phenotype which emerges in response to challenge with a particular drug.
A further example of cell type effecting the drug resistance phenotype with regard to a particular drug is seen in the various particular AD 198 resistant cells. Two types of AD 198-resistant cells are the AD 198.sup.R cells, which are created by selecting AD 198 resistant cells from the normally AD 198 susceptible J774.2 cells, and the A300 cells, which are created by selecting cells with even greater resistance to AD 198 than the normally resistant A100 cells (Lothstein et al. Cancer R., 52:3409 (1992). Although both AD 198.sup.R cells and A300 cells are resistant to AD 198, the basis of the resistance appears to be different between the cell types (Lothstein).
The development of drug resistance is one of the major obstacles in the management of cancer. There are various types of drug resistance, for example, classic MDR as opposed to AD 198 resistance. Furthermore, different cell lines can establish resistance to the same drug in different ways, as seen in the case of the differences in AD 198 resistance in AD 198.sup.R cells as opposed to A300 cells. One of the traditional ways to attempt to circumvent this problem of drug resistance has been combination chemotherapy.
Combination drug therapy is the basis for most chemotherapy employed to treat breast, lung, and ovarian cancers as well as Hodgkin's disease, non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, acute leukemias, and carcinoma of the testes.
Combination chemotherapy uses the differing mechanisms of action and cytotoxic potentials of multiple drugs. Although all chemotherapeutic drugs are most effective on cells that are active in DNA synthesis, many agents--particularly the alkylating agents--can kill cells that are not cycling. Such agents are termed non-cell proliferation-dependent agents can shrink tumor mass by reducing cell numbers; the surviving cells will then move into the cycling compartment, where they are more susceptible to cell proliferation-dependent drugs. The combined use of agents less dependent on the cell cycle followed by those dependent on cell proliferation is effective in enhancing tumor cell death. Each cycle of treatment kills a fixed fraction of cells, so repetitive cycles are required for cure. For example, a drug combination that kills 99.9 percent of cancer cells per treatment cycle would have to be repeated at least six times to eliminate an average tumor burden (if tumor cells did not regrow between cycles).
Although combination chemotherapy has been successful in many cases, the need still exists for new anti-cancer drugs. These new drugs could be such that they are useful in conjunction with standard combination chemotherapy requires. Or, these new drugs could attack drug resistant tumors by having the ability to kill cells of multiple resistance phenotypes. For example, a drug that has the ability to kill cells with both MDR and AD 198 resistance could eliminate two populations of resistant cells from a tumor.
A drug that exhibits the ability to overcome multiple drug resistances could be employed as a chemotherapeutic agent either alone or in combination with other drugs. The potential advantages of using such a drug in combination with chemotherapy would be the need to employ fewer toxic compounds in the combination, cost savings, and a synergistic effect leading to a treatment regime involving fewer treatments.

Anthracyclines with unusually high activity against cells resistant to doxorubicin and its analogs


In an exemplary embodiment, a method of creating an impression of structures of the human oral cavity comprises: preparing impression trays; creating a first, or base, impression; grinding out portions of the base impression; and using the void(s) in the ground out base impression to take a second, or wash, impression. The base impression is taken with an excess of a high-density impression material which is positioned to extend beyond the structures of interest (of which the impression is being taken). The base impression is removed and all fine structure surrounding the structure(s) of interest is ground out. A wash impression is then taken using a low-density impression material. The base impression creates a seal around the structure(s) of interest (a closed system), thereby producing omnidirectional hydraulic pressure on the low-density material. Such omnidirectional hydraulic pressure produces a highly detailed final impression from which a high-quality model (e.g., cast) can be made.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices, systems and methods for dental impressions. More specifically, the present invention relates to devices, systems and methods for creating hydraulic pressure formed dental impressions.
Description of the Related Art
Requirements for the fabrication of many types of dental products (e.g., dental trays, orthodontic appliances, crowns, bridges, implants, study models, etc.) can be highly exacting. Therefore, these dental products require highly sophisticated and detailed molding procedures capable of capturing the required detail of the relevant oral structures. Currently used dental impression techniques create predominantly unidirectional vertical pressure and consequently do not consistently capture sufficiently detailed reproductions of certain oral structures. Another problem with these dental impression techniques is that they can allow the formation of bubbles and voids, typically called pulls, on and in the impressions. The presence of such bubbles and pulls in impressions, particularly in critical areas of the oral impressions, renders the impression useless and necessitates that the impression be taken again, thereby increasing, among other things, the required time, materials, patient time, doctor time, and overall cost. Commonly used techniques are particularly ill-adapted to capture slight or highly detailed structures, including but not limited to the small but very sharp crevice at the junction of the teeth and gums, generally known as the gingival crevice.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved devices, systems and methods for creating more detailed dental impressions.

Hydraulic pressure bite-down dental impression


The computing device comprises non-recursive, digital filters, with finite impulse response, computing, from samples taken over a period of the power system, for at least two distinct phases, two components with a phase difference of 90.degree. between them and representative of the quantity involved in the phase involved. A matrix computation using a two-dimensional rotation matrix enables the components with a 90.degree. phase difference of the inverse component to be deduced therefrom.

The invention relates to a device for numerical computation of a symmetrical component of an electrical quantity, current or voltage, of a three-phase power system, comprising means for measuring said quantity in at least two phases of the power system, means for sampling and for analog-to-digital conversion connected to the output of the measuring means, and means for determining said symmetrical component connected to the output of the conversion means.
It is known that an unbalanced three-phase system of sinusoidal quantities, voltages or currents, can be considered as being the superposition of three symmetrical balanced systems able respectively to be represented by the direct, inverse and zero sequence components of the quantity involved. Some protection relays, connected to a three-phase electrical power system, take account of certain of the symmetrical components of the power system voltages or currents, notably the inverse voltage or current.
In state-of-the-art devices, the values representative of the inverse component are generally computed analogically. In patent application FR-2,650,711, a shunt circuit breaker comprises a microprocessor generating the inverse voltage component from dephased voltage samples measured at a predetermined time on a first phase of the power system and respectively 13.3 ms and 6.6 ms later on the other two phases of the power system, in the case of a 50 Hz frequency power system. This method has the shortcoming of giving a wrong inverse voltage value if the phase voltage modules vary in module and in phase during the time required for computing.

Device for numerical computation of a symmetrical component of an electtical quantity of a three-phase power system and relay incorporating it


A multi-ply food container. The multi-ply food container has selective reinforcement at the center of the food container, and regions of a raised side wall and/or rim which are not reinforced. The reinforcement is preferably done by joining an additional ply to the food container.

Disposable food containers are well known in the art. Disposable food containers include common paper plates, bowls, clam shells, trays, etc.
The art has paid considerable attention to making, molding, and deforming these food containers out of a single plane. In this latter process a blank is provided. The blank is inserted between mating platens and pressed. The periphery of the blank may have radial grooves. The radial grooves provide for accumulation of the material deformed by the platens. Exemplary art includes U.S. Pat. No. 3,033,434, issued May 8, 1962 to Carson; U.S. Pat. No. 4,026,458, issued May 31, 1977 to Morris et al., the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference; U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,496, issued Aug. 19, 1986 to Marx et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,609,140, issued Sep. 2, 1986 to van Handel et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,721,500, issued Jan. 26, 1988 to van Handel et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,230,939, issued Jul. 27, 1993 to Baum; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,326,020, issued Jul. 5, 1994 to Cheshire et al.
The blanks are typically comprised of paperboard, and more particularly a single sheet of paperboard, as illustrated in the aforementioned patents. A single sheet of paperboard is utilized due to the belief that to deform the blank out of its plane the blank must be thin and of a single ply. The paperboard, or other material used for the blank, is typically substantially homogeneous, as illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 4,721,499 issued Jan. 26, 1988 to Marx et al. It is believed that homogeneity aids in the radially symmetric deformation of round food containers, such as plates and bowls.
However, these attempts in the art suffer from several drawbacks. As illustrated by the plethora of attempts to improve the rigidity and stability of the food containers, the prior art attempts do not provide food containers of sufficient strength. This lack of strength leads to spillage of food when the food container becomes overloaded, or, alternatively, unduly constrains the amount of foods which can be placed on the food container at a given time.
There have been several attempts in the art to improve the rigidity of such food containers. For example, food containers having a bottom wall, a side wall disposed radially outwardly of and circumjacent the bottom wall, and a rim disposed radially outwardly of and circumjacent the side wall are known in the art. Food containers with densified regions in the side wall have been attempted in the art. Likewise, containers having densified circumferentially spaced regions extending radially through annular portions of the rim are known. Such attempts in the art are alleged to provide resistance to bending throughout the entire structure. Illustrative of such attempts are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,606,496 issued Aug. 19, 1986 to Marx et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,609,140 issued Sept. 2, 1986 to Van Handel et al.
But, the side walls/rims are usually angled relative to the plane of the food container. Such angles increase the section modulus of the side wall/rim and thereby structurally increase their stiffness without densification. There is clearly a need in the art to increase the rigidity of the planar portion of the food container, as this is the portion of the food container onto which food is typically deposited.
Another attempt in the art uses multi-ply laminate food containers. One such attempt uses single face corrugated materials, as illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,989 issued Nov. 26, 1986 to Neary. Neary acknowledges the industry has not been able to create a satisfactory unitary construction by stamping corrugated paperboard of more than two plies. But Neary's construction does not selectively reinforce the planar portion of a food container.

Selectively reinforced multi-ply food container


The embodiments described above utilize and leverage RSS to enable a user to interact more easily with different types of data, or data from different sources that are available over the web. In accordance with at least some embodiments, a hostable and/or customizable control is provided and gives the user the ability to interact with RSS feeds to store and further manipulate collections of items from different RSS feeds.

Today, the web has many different types of content with which a user may interact. That is, web sites offer up a seemingly endless array of different types of content, such as documents, pictures, products, new items, blogs and the like. Many times, a user looking to interact with such content must do so in different ways which reflect the inconsistent behavior associated with these items. For example, a user who wishes to copy a photo from a web site typically has to right-click on the photo and select the "save" option. Doing so, however, typically loses the metadata associated with the photo. If a user is browsing a web site that sells books and wishes to save information about the book, the user must typically select the text that they wish to save and copy it to a document. Likewise, if a user is working with a document on Sharepoint and they wish to save it, they must typically press on the document to interact with the "download now" prompt.
The above constitutes but a few examples of the inconsistencies that a user encounters when attempting to interact with different types of web-available content.


Two-phase LMMHD energy conversion systems have potentially significant advantages over conventional systems such as higher thermal efficiency and substantial simplicity with lower capital and maintenance costs. Maintenance of low velocity slip is of importance for achieving high generator efficiency. A bubbly flow pattern ensures very low velocity slip. The full governing equations have been written out, and a computer prediction code has been developed to analyze performance of a two-phase flow LMMHD generator and nozzle under conditions of no slip. Three different shapes of an LMMHD generator have been investigated. Electrical power outputs are in the 20 kW range. Generator efficiency exceeds 71 percent at an average void fraction of about 70 percent. This is an appreciable performance for a short generator without insulating vanes for minimizing electrical losses in the end regions.

Two-phase flow liquid metal magnetohydrodynamic (LMMHD) systems have a number of significant potential advantages over conventional or other energy conversion systems.
First, the thermal efficiency of LMMHD systems is close to the Carnot cycle efficiency due to substantial reheat of the expanding gas by the coflowing liquid metal. In this way the expansion of the gas is almost isothermal.
Second, an LMMHD system has minimal or no moving parts. This makes such a system considerably less expensive to manufacture and maintain. In addition, absence of highly stressed high temperature moving parts (such as blades in thermal turbines) should permit increasing the top operating temperature without appreciable additional costs. In this way, thermal efficiencies could be raised by an additional ten percentage points or more. Combined with the first advantage this means that LMMHD systems could potentially produce 50 percent more electrical energy from the same heat source than conventional systems.
A third advantage is that LMMHD systems can operate over a large temperature range, i.e., from 300 to 3000K. This means that they are suitable for a variety of heat sources such as waste heat, cogeneration or conventional fuels as usual or at higher temperatures.
The fourth advantage is the very high electrical conductivity (10.sup.5 to 10.sup.6 mho/m).
The fifth advantage is that a wide range of power sizes are possible, from a few kW to several hundred MW.
Fabris, G. and Hantman, R. G., "Interaction of Fluid dynamics Phenomena and Generator Efficiency in Two-Phase Liquid-Metal Gas Magnetohydrodynamic Power Generators," Energy Conversion and Management an International Journal 21:49-60, 1981, and Pabris, G. and Pierson, E. S., "The Role of Interfacial Heat and Mechanical Energy Transfers in a Liquid-Metal MHD Generator," Energy Conversion an International Journal 19:101-118, 1979, have discussed the need to operate an LMMHD generator efficiently at a high void fraction in order to fully realize the potential advantages of LMMHD systems. In the past, the main cause of a decrease of the LMMHD generator efficiency was the slip loss (Fabris, G., "Formulation of the Slip Loss in a Two-Phase Liquid-Metal Magnetohydrodynamic Generator," Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics 84:218-224, 1983) which occurred due to the transition of a two-phase flow pattern from bubbly to churn turbulent flow at higher void fractions. An improper flow pattern could be created by a poorly designed two-phase flow mixer.
Proper design of the mixer is discussed by Fabris, G., Kwack, E., Harstad, K., and Back, L. H., "Two-Phase Flow Bubbly Mixing for Liquid Metal Magnetohydrodynamic Energy Conversion," Proceedings of the 25th Intersociety Energy Conversion Engineering Conference, 2:486-493, Reno, Nev., 1990. It was shown that a properly designed mixer can create a low slip homogenous bubbly flow pattern at high void fractions. Another major cause of an improper flow pattern is coalescence of bubbles away from the mixer.
Fabris, G., "Discussions on Liquid Metal Magnetohydrodynamics," Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Magnetohydrodynamics Electric Power Generation VI:427, Washington, D.C., 1975, was the first to suggest that the surface activity of liquid metals can be used to prevent coalescence of bubbles and therefore to maintain a bubbly flow pattern at much higher void fractions. In this way, very significant improvements in the performance of an LMMHD generator can be obtained over earlier experimental results.

High expansion magnetohydrodynamic liquid metal generator of electricity


Ultra-oriented, crystalline synthetic filaments with high tenacity are produced by extrusion of a fiber-forming synthetic polymer melt into a liquid isothermal bath maintained at a temperature of at least 30.degree. C. above the glass transition temperature of the polymer, withdrawing the filaments from the bath and then winding up the filaments. Polymer filaments so produced are characterized in that the ratio of the crystalline orientation factor (f.sub.c) to the amorphous orientation factor (f.sub.a) is 1.2 or less, and are further characterized in that the percent crystallinity is less than 40. The filaments also have a fine crystal size. The crystal size is less than 40 .ANG. in the 100 and 105 planes and less than 30 .ANG. in the 010 plane.

This invention relates to a melt spinning process for production of fully oriented crystalline synthetic filaments with high mechanical properties, and to the thus produced filaments. More specifically, the present invention provides for melt spinning fiber-forming synthetic polymers to produce filaments with a very high degree of orientation, high crystallinity, low shrinkage, and high tenacity.
The typical melt spinning processes used commercially in the production of filaments or fibers from fiber-forming synthetic polymers may be characterized as two-step processes. The molten polymer is extruded through spinneret holes to form filaments, and then in a separate step, performed either in-line coupled with the extrusion step or in a separate subsequent operation, the filaments are stretched or drawn to increase the orientation and impart the desired physical properties. For example, commercial polyester filaments, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), have for many years been produced by a two step process in which the polymer melt is extruded through a spinneret to form filaments and after solidification, the filaments are wound up at speeds on the order of 1000 to 1500 m/min. The as-spun fibers are then subjected to drawing and annealing at speeds on the order of 400 to 1000 m/min. The handling, energy and capital equipment requirements for such two-step processes contribute significantly to the overall production cost.
In order to reduce production cost and increase production rate, it would be desirable to develop a process for producing fully oriented crystalline PET fibers in a single step with properties equivalent to or better than those produced by the conventional two-step processes. To this end, a number of researchers have explored technology based on high speed spinning. In 1979, DuPont [R. E. Frankfort and B. H. Knox, U.S. Pat. No. 4,134,882] documented a process based on high speed spinning technology at speeds up to about 7000 m/min, providing oriented crystalline PET filaments in one step having good thermal stability and good dyeing properties. However, the fibers have mechanical properties still inferior to those of fully drawn yarns produced by the conventional two-step process.
Parallel to the above study, reports on high speed spinning research can be found elsewhere in the literature since the late 1970's. Properties and structure of high speed spun PET fibers are well characterized. Typical characteristics of high speed spun fibers are lower tenacity, lower Young's modulus and greater elongation as compared with conventional fully oriented yarns [T. Kawaguchi, in "High Speed Fiber Spinning", A. Ziabicki and H. Kawai, Eds John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1985, p. 8]. More recently, a take-up speed up to 12,000 m/min for spinning PET has been reported. But, heretofore it has not been possible to produce as-spun PET fibers by superhigh speed spinning that have properties equivalent to those of conventional two-step spun fibers. Moreover, the orientation and crystallinity of as-spun fibers, respectively, reach maximum values at certain critical speeds, above which severe structural defects such as high radial non-uniformity and microvoids start to develop, which materially restrict attainment of high performance fibers.
Our objective in the present invention is similar to that of the above-noted researchers: namely, providing a process for producing fully oriented crystalline fibers in a single step with properties equivalent to or better than those produced by the conventional two-step processes. However, in pursuing this objective, we have departed from the path followed by the above-noted researchers. This invention modifies the threadline dynamics of the spinning operation to produce high performance fibers in a one-step process.
It was revealed in our previous work [Cuculo, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,976, granted Mar. 20, 1990] that fiber structure (orientation and crystallization) development along the fiber spinning threadline can be significantly enhanced by optimizing the threadline temperature profile. This was achieved by introducing a zone cooling and zone heating technique to alter the temperature profile of the spinning threadline to enhance the structure formation. Take-up stress remained almost unchanged as compared with that of conventional spinning.


Apparatus and method are disclosed for managing lock state information in a distributed file system. A set of data containers storing data is maintained. The data containers are striped across a plurality of volumes, where each volume includes one or more data storage devices. A metadata volume is maintained with the plurality of volumes, the metadata volume configured to include a lock state database that stores lock state information for the plurality of volumes. The lock state information is communicated between the metadata volume and the plurality of volumes.

A storage system typically comprises one or more storage devices into which information may be entered, and from which information may be obtained, as desired. The storage system includes a storage operating system that functionally organizes the system by, inter alia, invoking storage operations in support of a storage service implemented by the system. The storage system may be implemented in accordance with a variety of storage architectures including, but not limited to, a network-attached storage environment, a storage area network and a disk assembly directly attached to a client or host computer. The storage devices are typically disk drives organized as a disk array, wherein the term "disk" commonly describes a self-contained rotating magnetic media storage device. The term disk in this context is synonymous with hard disk drive (HDD) or direct access storage device (DASD).
The storage operating system of the storage system may implement a high-level module, such as a file system, to logically organize the information stored on volumes as a hierarchical structure of data containers, such as files and logical units. For example, each "on-disk" file may be implemented as set of data structures, i.e., disk blocks, configured to store information, such as the actual data for the file. These data blocks are organized within a volume block number (vbn) space that is maintained by the file system. The file system may also assign each data block in the file a corresponding "file offset" or file block number (fbn). The file system typically assigns sequences of fbns on a per-file basis, whereas vbns are assigned over a larger volume address space. The file system organizes the data blocks within the vbn space as a "logical volume"; each logical volume may be, although is not necessarily, associated with its own file system.
A known type of file system is a write-anywhere file system that does not overwrite data on disks. If a data block is retrieved (read) from disk into a memory of the storage system and "dirtied" (i.e., updated or modified) with new data, the data block is thereafter stored (written) to a new location on disk to optimize write performance. A write-anywhere file system may initially assume an optimal layout such that the data is substantially contiguously arranged on disks. The optimal disk layout results in efficient access operations, particularly for sequential read operations, directed to the disks. An example of a write-anywhere file system that is configured to operate on a storage system is the Write Anywhere File Layout (WAFL®) file system available from Network Appliance, Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif.
The storage system may be further configured to operate according to a client/server model of information delivery to thereby allow many clients to access data containers stored on the system. In this model, the client may comprise an application, such as a database application, executing on a computer that "connects" to the storage system over a computer network, such as a point-to-point link, shared local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), or virtual private network (VPN) implemented over a public network such as the Internet. Each client may request the services of the storage system by issuing file-based and block-based protocol messages (in the form of packets) to the system over the network.
A plurality of storage systems may be interconnected to provide a storage system environment configured to service many clients. Each storage system may be configured to service one or more volumes, wherein each volume stores one or more data containers. Yet often a large number of data access requests issued by the clients may be directed to a small number of data containers serviced by a particular storage system of the environment. A solution to such a problem is to distribute the volumes serviced by the particular storage system among all of the storage systems of the environment. This, in turn, distributes the data access requests, along with the processing resources needed to service such requests, among all of the storage systems, thereby reducing the individual processing load on each storage system. However, a noted disadvantage arises when only a single data container, such as a file, is heavily accessed by clients of the storage system environment. As a result, the storage system attempting to service the requests directed to that data container may exceed its processing resources and become overburdened, with a concomitant degradation of speed and performance.
One technique for overcoming the disadvantages of having a single data container that is heavily utilized is to stripe the data container across a plurality of volumes configured as a striped volume set (SVS), where each volume is serviced by a different storage system, thereby distributing the load for the single data container among a plurality of storage systems. A technique for data container striping is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,698,289, issued on Apr. 13, 2010, entitled STORAGE SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE FOR STRIPING DATA CONTAINER CONTENT ACROSS VOLUMES OF A CLUSTER, by Kazar et al. In such an environment, a SVS comprises one or more data volumes (DV) and a meta-data volume (MDV). Each DV and the MDV is typically served by a separate node of the distributed storage system environment. In the environment described in the above-incorporated U.S. Patent Application, the node may comprise a network element (N-module) and a disk element (D-module) that includes a file system. As used herein a D-module serving (hosting) a DV is referred to as a "DV node", while a D-module hosting the MDV for a SVS is referred to as a "MDV node."
Most file access protocols include locking capabilities. A lock is a mechanism that enables a client or system administrator to prevent access to a shared resource. An entity later attempting to access this shared resource will be notified of the exclusive lock, which prevents others from accessing the resource. The types of locks can vary, for example, in some instances, there may be a write lock placed on a resource by the owner, yet other entities may be able to obtain read access to the resource. The type of lock, and/or the absence of a lock over a particular data container, such as a file, or portion thereof are referred to herein as a "lock state."
Various challenges arise with respect to managing lock state information regarding a distributed storage system. The volume of lock state information can be potentially large and subject to constant change as information is updated and edited.
Known techniques for managing lock state information include an approach in which lock state information is distributed directly to end clients. In this case, clients and/or end users utilize specific lock state management software applications and special protocols that allow the users to create, edit and manage lock state information.
Another approach stores lock state information in a central repository for the entire system; however, this centralized approach can result in a bottleneck for file access in a large, distributed system. Thus, a need arises to decentralize, yet control lock state information while maintaining the ability to rapidly update this information on the distributed storage system without requiring users to run specialized software programs.

System and method for managing hard lock state information in a distributed storage system environment


A method comprises a system comprising a host device coupled to a first remote device actively operating according to a state diagram that the host device and all remote devices follow during operation of the system. The method further comprises powering up a second remote device while the host device and first remote device are actively operating according to the state diagram. The second remote device waits for a synchronization point sequence. Upon detecting the synchronization point sequence, the second remote device implements a predetermined feature set and synchronizes itself to the state diagram at a common point as the host device and first remote device.

Many electronic systems permit various components to communicate via a shared bus. For example, JTAG-enabled ("Joint Test Action Group," IEEE standard number 1149.1) devices in a system can be configured to communicate in a "star" configuration in which the various devices share the standard JTAG signals: test data input (TDI), test data output (TDO), test clock (TCK), and test mode select (TMS). Some systems (e.g., JTAG-enabled systems) operate in accordance with a system-wide state diagram whereby all constituent devices follow a common state diagram in concert. Moreover, the interpretation of the various bits on the common bus is a function of the particular state of the system. If a device is unaware of the state of the system, that device may not, and likely will not, be able to correctly interpret the bits on the signal lines.
JTAG systems, particularly star configurations, traditionally have not permitted the hot disconnecting and hot connecting of devices while a scan chain is being performed. However, many devices have various power states and can be powered on and off while the rest of the system is operating. Such power state manipulation of individual devices conserves power, but is not readily accommodated by the JTAG standard. If a device were to power up in a JTAG-enabled system that is otherwise already operational, the newly powered device would not know the current state of the system and thus not be able to participate in the communications and testing activity.

Synchronizing TAP controllers with sequence on TMS lead


An electrical card connector includes a base and plural rows of terminals each having a contact and a connection. The base is formed with a plurality of slots having different widths or heights and sharing a common space, and an insert port for the plurality of slots is formed at a front end of the base. The contact, which is elastic and positioned within the base, is to be connected to an electrical card. One of the slots is a bevel slot that is tilted inwardly and downward from the insert port.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electric connector, and more particularly to an electrical card connector having a bevel slot.
2. Description of the Related Art
The electrical cards used in a computer include multimedia storage cards and memory cards, wherein the memory cards in the current market have various specifications, such as those of a Secure Digital Card (SDC), a Muti-Media Card (MMC), a Smart Media Card (SMC), a Memory Stick Card (MSC), a Compact Flash Card (CFC), and the like. Because the positions of connection points of the memory cards with different specifications are different, the electrical connectors for the memory cards with different specifications are different.
In order to facilitate the usage, the manufacturers try to integrate various kinds of electrical connectors into an integrated electrical connector suitable for various memory cards with different specifications. Because several memory cards with different specifications have to be integrated, the integrated electrical connector has to be provided with several kinds of terminals for the memory cards with different specifications. Thus, the number of the terminals is quite great. It is difficult to design a light and thin electric connector, so there is no complete product design.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional electric connector includes a base 11, a row of first terminals 12 coupled to a MSC 17, and a row of second terminals 13 coupled to a SDC 18, wherein the base 11 has a top board 14 and a bottom board 15.
In the prior art design, the following problems will be caused when the product is to be designed as a thin and light one. Because the connection points 19 of the SDC 18 are more concave than the bottom surface, the contact points 21 of the second terminals 13 have to be designed higher such that they may be in good contact with the connection points 19 of the SDC 18, as shown in FIG. 2, which shows the connection state after the SDC 18 is inserted. However, as shown in FIG. 3, when the MSC 17 is inserted and its connection points 20 are connected to the first terminals 12, the second terminals 13 will be over depressed because the MSC 17 is quite thick and its bottom surface in contact with the second terminals 13 has no concave portion. Consequently, if the bottom board 15 is made too thin, the second terminals 13 will be pressed out of the bottom board 15, thereby causing poor influence in the usage. However, if the second terminals 13 are configured no to be pressed out of the bottom board 15, the connector inevitably cannot be made thin and light.

Electrical card connector having a bevel slot