A head-up display device includes a light source, a display unit for producing display virtual images including an alarm display image, a mirror for reflecting the light to show the alarm display image in a field of front view of a driver, at least one on-vehicle device that the driver operates, a visual-line shift detecting means and a display position shifting means. The mirror reflects the light representing the alarm display image so that a driver can see the alarm display image in a display area that is set on one of a front windshield and a combiner in front of the driver and in a field of front vision of the driver. The visual-line shift detecting means detects a visual line shift of the driver from a usual forward visual range of the driver toward the on-vehicle device that the driver operates. The display position shifting means shifts positions of the display area to a position between the usual forward visual range and a portion/part, of the on-vehicle device at operation, which the driver watches during the operation when the visual-line shift detecting means detects the visual line shift from the usual forward visual range toward the on-vehicle device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a head-up display device, for a vehicle, that provides a driver with information through a virtual image projected on a combiner, front windshield or the like in a driver's direct line of sight.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional head-up display device for vehicles is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laying-Open publication No. 2001-357498. This conventional head-up display device includes an obstacle detecting means for detecting an obstacle in front of a driver, a regard point detecting means for detecting a point of regard of the driver, a projector for projecting a virtual display image representing various information to a driver, and a display changing means for changing the information represented by the virtual display image according to the movement of the point of regard and also for changing a size of a display area according to a vehicle running environment and a driver's skill.
The above known conventional head-up display device, however, encounters a problem in that it is difficult for a driver to early become aware of the virtual display image, especially a warning display image, produced by the head-up display device when the driver looks away considerably from his or her usual forward viewpoint while the driver drives, in order to operate a switch of an on-vehicle device, such as a mirror-angle adjustment switch provided on a driver's door, which is distant from the usual forward viewpoint, because positions of the display virtual image and the display area are fixed to be accommodated to the usual forward viewpoint.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a head-up display device, for a vehicle, which overcomes the foregoing drawbacks and can help a driver recognize a display image representing information produced by a head-up display device earlier when the driver operates an on-vehicle device.


An apparatus and method for making a custom shim for a die component having one or more blind holes, where the apparatus includes a preformed laminate having an adhesive layer, a protective layer removably attached to one side of the adhesive layer, and a paper impression layer attached to the opposite side of the adhesive layer. The method includes the steps of removing the protective layer from the adhesive layer, attaching the exposed adhesive layer to a piece of shim stock, applying ink to the surface of the die component having the blind hole(s), placing that surface of the die component on the paper layer to form thereon an ink impression of the die component, removing the die component from the paper layer, cutting the piece of shim stock in accordance with the ink impression, and removing the laminate from the cut shim stock to uncover the custom shim which accurately maintains the relationship between the blind hole and the outer contour of the die component.

In tool and die work, die components or blanking dies often need sharpening to maintain their precision and accuracy in accordance with manufacturing tolerances. A die component is sharpened by grinding off or cutting the appropriate face or surface of the die component in a conventional manner. To replace or compensate for the material ground or cut off of the face of the die component, it is common to place a shim under the die component to level out the die component and keep all components in the tool at the same relationship. The shim consists of a relatively thin piece of material usually having a 0.001 to 0.032 inch thickness. The shim must be formed with substantially the same outer contour or configuration as the die component and must maintain the location of the holes in relation to the outer contour as that of the die component.
These shims have heretofore been made by painting a dye on a piece of metal shim stock and placing the die component on the dye-covered shim stock. The outer contour and the through holes of the die component are then etched into the dye-covered shim stock in a conventional manner. After etching, the die component is removed from the shim stock and any blind holes in the die component are approximately etched in the dye-covered shim stock by hand. Shears, scissors, and hole punches are then used to form the shim according to the etching. This method often results in the loss of the exact relationship between the blind hole locations and the outer contour of the die component which affects the ability of the shims to line up with the die components. If the shims do not exactly line up with the die components, the shims need to be trimmed, reworked, or totally scraped. These deficiencies in the shim producing methods heretofore known substantially increases the time and expense in the shim producing process as well as in the overall die component sharpening process. Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus and method for making custom shims for die components having blind holes which accurately transfers the relationship between the blind holes and outer contour of the die component to the custom shim.

Apparatus or kit for making a custom shim for a die component having blind holes


Methods and systems for operation upon one or more data processors for prioritizing transmission among a plurality of data streams based upon a classification associated with the data packets associated with each of the plurality of data streams, respectively. Systems and methods can operate to allocate bandwidth to priority data streams first and recursively allocate remaining bandwidth to lesser priority data streams based upon the priority associated with those respective lesser priority data streams.

Internet connectivity has become central to many daily activities. For example, millions of people worldwide use the internet for various bill pay and banking functionalities. Countless more people use the internet for shopping, entertainment, to obtain news, and for myriad other purposes. Moreover, many businesses relies on the internet for communicating with suppliers and customers, as well as providing a resource library for their employees.
However, a large amount of traffic that is communicated by the internet is relatively unimportant or not time critical. For example, electronic mail is typically not time sensitive. Thus, whether electronic mail is delivered instantaneously or delayed by an hour often does not make a difference. Such unimportant communication traffic has the potential to delay and/or disrupt more important traffic.


A method for preventing the formation and/or for the removal of body odors, comprising priming the skin with a deodorant composition comprising an oil, for a period of time sufficient to allow binding of skin microorganisms and dissolution of odor into said composition, and thereafter washing off said composition with conventional detergents.

Body odor is formed when fresh perspiration, which is odorless per se, is decomposed by microorganisms. This process takes place principally, though not solely, in the axilla, and a number of microorganisms are involved, each having different activity and leading to body odor of different strength and unpleasantness. The most prominent odor-producing microorganisms include aerobic diphtheroids, primarily Corynebacterium species and coagulase negative cocci such as Micrococcaceae.
The various microorganisms are found in different proportions in different individuals, and this is a reason for the fact that different individuals exhibit different body odors.
The commercial cosmetic deodorants are based on different active principles. The formation of perspiration is suppressed according to the known art by astringents, predominantly aluminum salts such as aluminum hydroxychloride. Apart from the denaturation of the skin proteins, however, the substances used for this purpose clog the pores, interfere drastically with the heat regulation of the axillary region, may cause cancer and other diseases, and should at best be used in exceptional cases. According to another accepted prior art method, the bacterial flora on the skin is reduced by antimicrobial substances. Ideally here, only the odor-causing microorganisms should be destroyed. In practice, however, it turns out that the non-odorous microflora of the skin, which may have a beneficial role, are damaged to the same extent. Finally, body odor can also be concealed by fragrances, which, however, is the least able to meet the aesthetic needs of the consumer, as the mixture of body odor and perfume fragrance smells rather unpleasant.
According to a recent patent on this subject (U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,778), deodorants should fulfill the following conditions:
1) The biological processes of the skin must not be impaired.
2) The deodorants should have no distinct intrinsic odor.
3) They must be harmless in the case of overdosage or other unintended use.
4) They should not concentrate on the skin after repeated use.
It should be possible to incorporate them easily into commercial cosmetic formulations.
Those which are known and usable are both liquid deodorants, for example aerosol sprays, roll-ons and the like and solid preparations, for example deodorant sticks, powders, powder sprays, intimate cleansers etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,778 approaches the problem by employing lantibiotics, which are said to be specific microbiocides which predominantly destroy odor-forming microorganisms.
All the prior art methods suffer from severe drawbacks: they require the masking of body odor which has already formed prior to the application of the deodorant, because the destruction of axillary microorganisms does not remove already formed odor. They require the use of antimicrobial agents which must inhibit the high microbial load and, quite importantly, they very often leave unpleasant stains or halos on the cloths, particularly at and around the axilla. Also the safety of many antiperspirants is dubious, due to the presence of potentially harmful components, and the result is often unpleasant.
It has now been surprisingly found, and this is an object of the invention, that it is possible to obviate all the aforesaid disadvantages of the prior art, in a simple and convenient way.
It is an object of the invention to provide a method for preventing and/or treating body odor, which is simple and convenient to use, and which does not leave a macroscopic residual layer on the skin.
It is another object of the invention to provide such a method, which does not lead to staining or haloing of clothing around the treated area.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide an anti-body odor composition, which is convenient and easy to use, and which does not leave unpleasant left-over results, such as staining or haloing materials.
The invention is, of course, primarily concerned with the prevention of body odors in humans, more particularly where such body odor formation is the most pronounced, i.e., in the axilla. However, the invention is by no means limited to the use in the axilla, and any other body part requiring treatment can be treated according to the invention. Additionally, the invention is suitable for use in subjects other than humans, e.g., in house pets.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

Assif - Science and Technology Projects Development Ltd.


A method and apparatus for providing multiple layer encrypted Internet, Intranet, or e-mail communication device communications. In particular, the process of encrypting Internet, Intranet, or e-mail messages with encryption algorithms embedded in integrated circuits incorporated into the communication device, with access to the encrypting circuit requiring a validation of a randomly generated cypher key and an user defined password.

1. Field of Invention
This present invention relates a method for providing a secure encrypted computer communication channel across the Internet, more particularly, the use of e-mail access software and the addition of an integrated circuit embedded with several encryption algorithms to a communications device, thereby providing encryption/decryption capabilities.
2. Description of Prior Art
Typical communication between two or more parties through the Internet 18 using a computer, 10 and 11 is accomplished through the use of a communications devices, 14 and 16 and communication software as referenced in FIG. 1. A computer with communication capabilities, as reference in FIG. 2 will utilize a communication controller 20 to interface with the Internet 22. The Internet consists of many public domain computers, electronic routers and switches, and computer servers generally accessible by the public. Accessing this network is not controlled by any individual organization and is not limited in any ways other than by protocol definitions (TCP, IP, etc).
Communication on the Internet between two parties can take place using two different methods:    1. Sending data: when one party groups a message and/or data package into a specific formatted sequence, attaches the Internet address, termed an Internet Protocol (IP) Address and then sends the message and IP Address to the Internet. The data is typically packetized using commercially available software and sent from the computer through the communication device onto the Internet.    2. Accessing data: when one party connects to a public or private database across the Internet by connecting to the database's website. Access is typically made by using the communication device to connect to the website's URL Address.
Originally, the security of these communications was not an issue as very few individuals possessed the necessary computer hardware or technical expertise to intercept the messages. However, the arrival of inexpensive personal computers and the explosion in the popularity of the Internet, in particular electronic commerce (e-commerce), prompted the development of computer communication security devices.
The existing method of security that presently exists is computer software programs that encrypt communication data between two users using encryption algorithms, such as the Blowfish algorithm U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,444 relies an cypher key approach for encryption. These methods involve using a key, known by both the sender and receiver, which is used by the encryption algorithm to encode the data into an unrecognizable format. The data is then passed from the sender to the receiver. After successful transmission, the receiver has an encrypted data package. The receiver must then get the key from the sender and use it to re-run the same decryption algorithm to decrypt the message. An example of this software is found in the 1999 PC Guardian Incorporated "Encryption Plus for Email" product datasheet.
The security of these software encryption systems may be compromised as the software (therefore the encryption algorithm) may be subject to computer hacking. Furthermore, the myriad of encryption software has led to incompatibilities. One encryption program is generally incompatible with a competing company's software. Therefore, the sender and the receiver must be using the same program. Lastly, once the encryption algorithm has been compromised, messages encrypted with the algorithm may easily decrypted. A person located external to the communications network may intercept and decrypt the message if the software has been effectively "hacked".
A different security approach has involved the use of computer smart cards. U.S. Pat. No. 5,761,306 provides other improved methods of encryption involving a system of computers to exchange public keys over an insecure network. These systems rely on a combination of nodes that are implemented by a computer, smart card, a stored data card in combination with a publicly accessible node machine. This system, however, will still depend on the effectiveness of the underlying encryption software and require the user to possess a smart card to effectively operate. Additionally, these software encryption systems generally only provide single layer encryption, in that the entire message will be encrypted using one algorithm.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,835,603 describes a home banking system using an encrypted modem as part of its system. This system is similar to all standard encryption techniques, but differs from the present invention in that it does not specify asymmetric and symmetric encryption functions embedded into an integrated circuit. Additionally, it does not utilize an Internet IP Address as part of its encryption system and does not offer any solutions for decryption.
Therefore, it is further desirable to have the encryption algorithm encoded onto a integrated circuit within the communication device. As such, hacking into the encryption chip would require purchasing an encryption chip and reverse engineering the chip to the underlying physical operations. In addition, for a large number of electronic network users, the private keys should be securely transmitted over the network.

Encrypted internet and intranet communication device


A clutch release bearing device including an operating element, a rolling bearing equipped with a non-rotating race and a rotating race secured axially to the operating element, and an annular fixing ring provided with an axial portion mounted in the operating element and with an axially elastic portion bearing axially against the non-rotating race on the axially opposite side to the operating element, the fixing ring being able to hold the non-rotating race axially secured to the operating element while at the same time allowing radial movement.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of clutch release bearings intended to act on the diaphragm of a clutch, particularly for a motor vehicle.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
Clutch release bearings often include a rolling bearing, one of the races of which rotates and the other race of which does not rotate. Between the rotating race and the non-rotating race there are balls uniformly distributed in the circumferential direction by means of a cage, the rotating race being equipped with a substantially radial attacking surface intended to come into contact with the end of the fingers that make up the diaphragm of the clutch. An operating element supports the rolling bearing and, under the action of a control member (that may be mechanical, electrical or hydraulic) axially moves the thrust rolling bearing against the diaphragm of the clutch.
Document WO 02/052163 describes a clutch release bearing for a motor vehicle, the bearing being equipped with a piston able to move axially and a ring caught on the piston using elastic gripping means that have an axial effect. One face of the ring bears against a catching face formed in the piston. The gripping means bear against the opposite face of the ring and another catching face also formed in the piston. The elastic gripping means are in the form of an annular attachment provided with lugs projecting into axial drillings made in the piston which open into radial drillings. The shape of the piston is therefore relatively complicated and this is detrimental in terms of cost. Furthermore, the piston, the attachment, the elastic washer associated with it and the ring need to be fitted simultaneously, and this makes the assembly process more complicated.
The present invention sets out to overcome these disadvantages.


An apparatus for retrieving golf balls and the like includes a number of retrieving sections, each having a frame for one or more receptacle baskets and a retrieving roller with a number of retrieving disks. The frames are connected to a connection rail in side-by-side relationship. The connection rail is readily flexible over its entire length in the vertical plane and is rigid or substantially inflexible in the horizontal plane.

The growing expansion of the game of golf places ever higher demands on the auxiliary aids which are required for the rational operation of, above all, practice courses. These practice courses are moreover utilised to an ever increasing degree because of the fact that reasonable levels of golf playing skill on the golf courses themselves require constant practice, to which few have access other than at specifically designed practice courses, so-called driving ranges. Among other things, efficient golf ball retrievers are needed which display high operational reliability and simple construction. The simpler the construction, the higher the operational reliability. In many cases, a simple design and construction also entail a considerable reduction in costs. Prior art apparatuses suffer from relatively complicated design, which entails frequent operational stoppages, and such apparatuses are relatively inefficient in that they often fail to retrieve golf balls because of unevenness in the terrain. For this reason, a large number of golf balls will generally be left out on the course, and in all likelihood many of these remaining golf balls will be pressed down into the ground and can, as a result, not be retrieved by machine but will, in all probability be lost. Golf balls which remain out on the course may also be damaged by lawn mowers and other equipment and may, moreover, entail damage to the lawn mower and the equipment themselves, which may result in considerable repair costs.


In an optical encoder having a reflection-type scale and a sensor head 1, the sensor head 1 is formed of a resin-molded block 10. The block 10 has a hole 15 opened to be opposed to the scale, and interconnection lines. In the hole 15, a light emitting device 20 is buried so as to irradiate the scale. A device substrate 30, on which a light receiving IC chip 32 is mounted for receiving the reflected light from the scale, is attached to the front surface of the block 10. The interconnection lines 12, to which the light emitting device 20 and the IC chip 32 are connected, are led to external circuits through an FPC substrate 40.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical displacement measuring apparatus, especially relates to a small displacement measuring apparatus having a reflection-type scale and a sensor head on which a light emitting device and a light detecting device are mounted.
2. Prior Art
Optical encoders are classified into a reflection-type encoder that detects reflected light from scale gratings, and a transmission-type encoder that detects transmitted light from scale gratings. In these encoders, the reflection type encoder is more advantageous for miniaturizing and thinning than the transmission-type encoder, because a sensor head can be disposed on one side of the scale so as to include both a light emitting portion and a light detecting portion. However, in practice, the reflection-type encoder has such a complicated structure that the sensor head is constructed by combining a substrate on which a light detecting device is mounted, a light emitting device such as an LED, and a print circuit board to which the devices are connected, on an appropriate frame.
Therefore, the conventional reflection-type encoder is too complicated to be formed so as to be installed in a small X-Y table. Further, not only many steps are necessary for assembling the reflecting-type encoder, but also it is difficult to automatize the assembling process and mass-producing process of the encoder.

Optical displacement measuring apparatus


A voice coding and decoding system 300 and method uses a personal phoneme table (320, 344) associated with a voice signature identifier (348) to permit encoding of true sounding voice by personalizing the phoneme table used for encoding and decoding. A default phoneme table (364) is used for encoding and decoding until a personal phoneme table (320, 344) is constructed. A MIDI decoder (360) is used to create the reconstructed speech from a string of phoneme identifiers transmitted from the sending side (302) to the receiving side (304).

Low-bandwidth speech communication techniques, i.e., those that require only a small number of bits of information to represent a sample of audio data, are used in a variety of applications, such as mobile telephony, voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), recording, audio data storage, and multimedia. In such applications, it is desirable to minimize the required bandwidth while maintaining acceptable quality in the reconstructed (de-coded) sound.
Phoneme based speech communication techniques have been used to accomplish low data rate speech communication. Such techniques satisfy the need to communicate via low bandwidth speech coding, but do not generally produce speech output that can be recognized as the voice of a particular speaker. Accordingly, the output speech from such systems has typically been machine-like, conveying little information about a speaker's emphasis, inflection, accent, etc. that the original speaker might use to convey more information than can be carried in the words themselves.
HVXC (Harmonic Vector eXcitation Coding) and CELP (Code Excited Linear Prediction) are defined as part of the (Moving Picture Experts Group) MPEG-4 audio standard and enable bit rates on the order of 1,500 to 12,000 per second, depending on the quality of the voice recording. As with vocoder (Voice codec) based methods such as defined in the G.722 standard, the HVXC and CELP methods utilize a set of tabulated and indexed human voice samples and identifies an index number of the sample that best matches the current audio waveform. The HVXC and CELP methods, however, separate the spectral portion of the sample from the stochastic portion, which varies with the speaker and the environment. Although they achieve higher compression rates than traditional vocoding, the HVXC and CELP methods requires 5 to 60 times higher bit rates than phoneme-based methods for voice transmission.

Low bandwidth speech communication using default and personal phoneme tables


A lens position adjustment system (10) permits adjustment of the position of a projection lens (5) relative to a projector (100) for making a Scheimpflug adjustment. The projection lens (5) has an optical axis (6). The system (10) comprises: a first support part (20) for fitting to, or forming part of, the projector (100); a second support part (40) for fitting to, or forming part of, the projection lens (5); and a connecting part (30). The connecting part (30) is pivotally connected to the first support part (20) and pivotally connected to the second support part (40) and configured to permit independent adjustment of the second support part (40) relative to the first support part (20) about two axes of rotation (7, 8) which intersect, and are perpendicular to, the optical axis (6) of the projection lens (5). A locking mechanism (28, 29, 51-58) is provided for securing a position of the second support part (40) relative to the first support part (20).

When a projection system projects an image onto a screen, the projected image can be out of focus, or partially out of focus, if the screen is not positioned perpendicular to the main optical axis of the projection system. This is a particular problem in systems using facetted or curved projection screens where the screen-forming elements can be angularly offset with respect to the optical axis of the projection system.
It is possible to correct this focus error without the need to reposition the screen and/or projector. The position of the projection lens can be adjusted with respect to the projector. This solution is generally known as the "Scheimpflug principle". The action performed on the projection lens itself is called Scheimpflug adjustment or correction.
One approach to Scheimpflug adjustment in a projection system uses an adjustment system comprising a carrier plate connected to the projection lens and a base plate connected to the projector. The carrier plate can be rotated with respect to the base plate about a horizontal rotation axis positioned above the lens and the carrier plate can be rotated with respect to the base plate about a vertical axis positioned at the side of the lens. Adjustment bolts and compression springs connect the carrier plate and base plate. However, tilting the projection lens also defocuses it strongly. This requires refocusing of the lens by moving the lens carrier plate along the Z-axis by adjusting all three of the bolts by exactly the same amount. The focus (or back focal length) and tilt (or Scheimpflug) adjustments are combined, typically requiring iterative adjustment until a satisfactory combination of Scheimpflug correction and focus is achieved.
Another approach to Scheimpflug adjustment in a projection system uses ball-joint or spherically-shaped joints between a carrier plate connected to the projection lens and a fixed plate connected to the base plate or X-Y position adjustment mechanism. A spherically-shaped carrier plate can rotate within a spherically-shaped base plate. It can be difficult to make a smooth adjustment with this arrangement as it is a friction-based solution with undesirable stick-slip effects. Also, it is difficult to lock the position of the projection lens after adjustment. This solution is also expensive because of the smooth curved surfaces needed. Accordingly, this solution is not suitable for heavy projection lenses.
Another approach to Scheimpflug adjustment in a projection system is described in EP 1 566 677A1. A projection lens is mounted on a base plate. The position of the projection lens can be adjusted by applying horizontal and/or vertical shifts in a plane perpendicular to the optical axis of the projection lens. The projection lens can also be tilted to provide Scheimpflug adjustment.

Position adjustment system for a projection lens


A thermoelectric cooler and warmer which has a unique ventilation system to distribute cool or warm air throughout the unit so that there are no hot or cool spots, a door which is mounted so that it can be easily opened whether the door is facing up or facing front, a lid or door latch which can be easily and reliably operated, and/or a handle configuration which does not unbalance the unit so that it can be advantageously placed with the door up or on an end with the lid or door facing front so that it can be advantageously used as a conventional chest or as a portable mini-refrigerator or warming unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a container, particularly for food and beverages, which can be selectively used as cooler or a warmer. More particularly, the present invention relates to a portable container which can be oriented with its lid or door facing up as a top opening ice chest or which can be stood up on an end as a mini-refrigerator or mini-warming oven with a front opening door and which, in order to accommodate such various orientations and alternate heating or cooling utilities, includes a particularly unique air ducting system, door disposition, lifting handles and/or door closing latch.
2. Description of the Art
Coolers are typically in the form of an insulated container which has walls upstanding from a base to define a top opening to which a removable cover is mounted. Thus, such coolers are typically rectangular with two sidewalls and two end walls, and have a pivotal handle assembly mounted to each end wall for carrying the cooler. As such, conventional coolers are intended to be disposed solely on the bottom or back wall and the lid, whether or not hinged along one edge, is simply interlocked with the container by a friction fit and/or by engagement with pivotally mounted locking carrying handles which selective engage and hold the lid on the container.
Typically coolers of the type described above are used as ice chests. Thus, when the food and/or beverages are to be kept cool, they are placed in the container and ice is added to the container to maintain the food cool. Such ice chests have a number of disadvantages. For example, as the ice melts, water will be present in the base of the container and must be periodically removed. Often, outlet ports are provided in such coolers to allow the melted ice to be drained. Still, for the most part, only hermetically sealed containers can be placed within the container if water damage is to be avoided. Further, to keep the contents cool for an extended period, ice must be repeatedly added.
Furthermore, because ice is required to maintain the food and beverages cool, only a relatively small amount of food can actually be stored within a cooler of a given size and the weight of the cooler is significantly increased by the presence of the ice.
It has recently been proposed to incorporate within a cooler type container a cooling system so that when the container is coupled to a power source, food and beverages within the cooler will be automatically cooled. With such automatic cooling, there is no need for ice and thus the container can hold more food and beverages than conventional ice chests of comparable size. The thermoelectric technology which allows a cooling system to be incorporated in a cooler was developed by NASA and eliminates the need for bulky compressors and piping. Furthermore, as an alternative to cooling, such newly developed systems can be used to warm foods by reversing the insertion of the plug to the system. Because such alternative cooling/heating systems are known a detailed disclosure of the heating/cooling system is omitted herein.
With the advent of positive cooling or warming within a portable container, there has been a desire to provide portable food containers which can be used both in a conventional ice chest orientation with the lid or door on top and in an end up orientation as a "college dorm room", hotel, or office refrigerator/warming oven with a front opening door.
The original portable thermoelectric coolers were introduced in the 1980's. One such unit (application Ser. No. 07/387,891, filed Jul. 31, 1989) included a sink and very small fan that would agitate the air across the aluminum fins of the sink to distribute the air more rapidly than convection alone. By reversing the polarity by reversing the plug on 12 V DC the heat pump would reverse itself, as noted above. That prior heater/cooler had a positive latch which latched the lid to the main body of the container by rotating an element mounted to the main body to engage a protruding element on the lid. The handles provided on that container were U-shaped and were pivotally mounted at the ends of the legs of the U so as to hang freely at either end of the container. A support base was provided for that system so that it could be mounted up on its end without interfering with opening and closing of the lid or door and so that the exteriorly mounted handle would not unbalance the container when so oriented. While the above-described unit has advantages, that is not to say the improvement thereof is not possible.


To provide a crystallization device with a simple structure and high classification performance in crystallization at a center part of an upper part in a vertical container having a classification leg on a bottom portion, rotor blade unit for generating a swirling flow of a raw material liquid of a suspension slurry in the container along an inner circumferential surface of the container is provided, and at a center part on a bottom surface of the container, liquid-flow direction changing unit for causing the raw material liquid to flow upward at the center part of the container is provided, and the liquid-flow direction changing unit is formed of baffles, each being made of a band-shaped plate, provided radially on the bottom surface.

As a prior-art crystallization device, such a device is known in which a draft tube b is provided at a center part in a sealed vertical container a, a stirring blade c is pivotally supported on a lower part in the draft tube b, a baffle e is suspended in a swollen portion d in a lower half part of the vertical container a with an inside in the swollen portion d outside the baffle e being formed as a set ring region f, a classification leg g is provided on a lower part of the vertical container a, a crystal outflow tube h is connected to the classification leg g, a circulation pipeline i is connected between a lower end part of the classification leg g and the swollen portion d with a pump j interposed in the circulation pipeline i, the stirring blade c is rotated so as to circulate a suspension slurry inside and out of the draft tube b, the crystal having grown to a desired size during this circulation goes out of a circulation flow and settles on a bottom part in the vertical container a, the crystal classified in the classification leg g flows out of the outflow tube h, and a part of a solution containing microcrystals in the set ring region f flows to the classification leg g via the circulation pipeline i, while another part thereof is heated, whereby the microcrystals are dissolved, and is returned into the container a (see Non-Patent Literature 1).


An optical disc drive includes a main body, a cover, an extension, and an elastic element. The cover includes a pivoting portion and is pivotably connected to the main body via the pivoting portion. The extension is connected to the pivoting portion. The cover is adapted for pivoting relative to the main body to drive the extension to move along a movement path. The elastic element is disposed on the main body and includes two first limiting portions opposite to each other. The movement path extends through a gap between the two first limiting portions. A distance between the two first limiting portions is smaller than an outer diameter of the extension.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disc drive, and more particularly, to a cover-type optical disc drive.
2. Description of Related Art
With the growing of computer technology, the amount of data that needs to be processed by computers has been significantly increased. The maturer the computer technology is, the more types of data the computers process and the larger amount of data we need to store. Due to the advantages of low price, ease of carrying, large storage, ease of conservation, long term conservation and high security of data against damage, optical discs have gradually replaced the traditional magnetic storage medium to become an indispensable optical storage medium. With the optical discs being widely used, optical disc drives used to reading data on the optical disc have became an indispensable electronics product.
As far as the cover-type optical disc drive is concerned, it includes a main body for accommodating the optical disc and a cover pivotably connected to the main body. In order to prevent the user from opening the cover to cause a dangerous situation when the optical disk is rotating at a high speed or has not been completely stopped, the cover-type optical disc drive may be equipped with an optical disc braking mechanism which causes the disc speed to decrease rapidly, for example, by using friction. In addition, the cover-type optical disc drive may be structurally configured to achieve multi-stage opening of the cover, such that the cover can be fully opened only when the user exerts a small force on the cover as the cover has been opened to a particular angle. In this way, the optical disc drive can be given a sufficient time to decrease the disc speed.


An integrated RF card reader includes an integrated RF transmission unit including a Felica chip and a Felica security unit performing a security function that is needed to process a Felica type RF card where an RF function is removed. Since a variety of types can be embodied through a single RF transmission circuit by using the integrated RF card reader, a manufacturing cost can be reduced.

In RF card readers using existing non-contact cards, in order to read cards of all types of ISO-144434A/B (Mifare), Felica, and NFC (near field communication), at least two RF transmission circuits or a separate analog circuit is needed.
Also, according to the conventional technology, to manufacture an integrated RF card reader, since two or more analog circuits for the ISO-144434A/B (Mifare), Felica, and NFC types are needed, the configuration of the circuits is complicated and interference of several RF signals is generated in an antenna. Practically, due to the above problems, the performance of the integrated RF card reader is deteriorated and the recognition distance of a card is shortened. Thus, when a user uses a card by carrying it in a bag, the card cannot be recognized.


The present invention relates to novel chimeric, humanized or CDR-grafted anti-IL-6 antibodies, including isolated nucleic acids that encode at least one such anti-IL-6 antibody, vectors, host cells, transgenic animals or plants, and methods of making and using thereof, including therapeutic compositions, methods and devices.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to antibodies, including specified portions or variants, specific for at least one Interleukin-6 (IL-6 also known as Interferon β2) protein or fragment thereof, as well as nucleic acids encoding such anti-IL-6 antibodies, complementary nucleic acids, vectors, host cells, and methods of making and using thereof, including therapeutic formulations, administration and devices.
2. Related Art
Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that is produced by many different cell types. In vivo, stimulated monocytes, fibroblasts, and endothelial cells represent the main sources of IL-6. Other cells such as macrophages, T and B lymphocytes, granulocytes, keratinocytes, mast cells, osteoblasts, chrondrocytes, glial cells, and smooth muscle cells also produce IL-6 after stimulation. Several tumor cells also produce IL-6 and IL-6 has been implicated as a prognostic factor for prostate cancer progression. IL-6 production can be regulated by IL-6 itself and depending upon cell type, IL-6 can stimulate or inhibit its own synthesis.
IL-6 can bind to the IL-6 receptor expressed on mitogen-activated B cells, T cells, peripheral monocytes, and certain tumors. The IL-6 receptor has at least two different components and is composed of an alpha chain called gp80 that is responsible for IL-6 binding and a beta chain designated gp130 that is needed for signal transduction. The cytokine family which includes IL-6, LIF, Oncostatin M, IL-11, CNTF, and CT-1 all signal through gp130 after binding to their cognate receptors. In addition, all members of the IL-6 cytokine family can induce hepatic expression of acute phase proteins.
There are at least two major biological functions of IL-6: mediation of acute phase proteins and acting as a differentiation and activation factor. Acute phase proteins are known to regulate immune responses, mediate inflammation, and play a role in tissue remodeling. As a differentiation and activation factor, IL-6 induces B cells to differentiate and secrete antibody, it induces T cells to differentiate into cytotoxic T cells, activates cell signaling factors, and promotes hematopoiesis. IL-6 is prominently involved in many critical bodily functions and processes. As a result, physiological processes including bone metabolism, neoplastic transformation, and immune and inflammatory responses can be enhanced, suppressed, or prevented by manipulation of the biological activity of IL-6 in vivo by means of an antibody.
There is a need to provide high affinity, neutralizing chimeric or human antibodies to IL-6 or fragments thereof for use in preventing, treating, ameliorating, or diagnosing conditions related to the IL-6.


An automotive radar having a high level of azimuth accuracy and a broad detectable range by virtue of preventing leaks of unnecessary waves to receiving antennas is to be provided. A transmitting array antenna 1 and receiving array antennas 2a, 2b are arranged on an antenna plate (grounding conductor plate) 3 which serves to ground the antennas, and radio wave absorbers 4 are arranged on two sides of the edges 15 of the antenna plate 3. The radio wave absorbers 4 may be configured of, for instance, a sponge material containing radio wave absorbing grains.

Automotive radars using millimeter waves are attracting interest as being most suitable for use in the prevention of car collisions and in following another vehicle as they are less susceptible to the interference of rain, fog, snow and other weather factors, dust and noise than ultrasonic radars and laser radars. Millimeter wave radars currently available in the market are mainly intended for use along expressways, and their detectable range and reach are approximately 16 degrees in azimuth angle and about 150 m in distance, respectively.
Automotive radars are further expected to be applied in the near future to a more complex road environment, such as ordinary roads, and this would inevitably necessitate a broader detectable range of 80 degrees or more in azimuth angle.
Techniques available to meet this need include a method widening a receiving angle of antenna on the basis of use of a plurality of receiving antennas and a monopulse system of detecting the azimuth of the obstacle from the amplitude difference or the phase difference among the signals received by the receiving antennas. For instance, non-patent reference 1: 2001 General Conference of the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers, Technical Papers (Engineering Science), Paper No. A-17-10, p. 391 discloses a technique to broaden the detectable range by using a monopulse system for azimuth detection and keeping the number of antenna elements intentionally small. Besides that, for instance, non-patent reference 2: MWE 2001 (Microwave Workshops and Exhibition) held in Yokohama in December, 2001, Workshop Technical Program, Paper No. WS5-1 contains a description of an automotive radar transmitter/receiver apparatus embodied in such a method.
FIG. 11 shows the circuit configuration of a radar transmitter/receiver apparatus described in the non-patent reference 2. For a wide-angle transmitting antenna 1 and receiving antennas 2a and 2b, microstrip-patch planar antennas based on microstrip lines are used. A millimeter wave signal outputted by an oscillator 7 is supplied to the transmitting antenna 1 via a power amplifier 6. The signal transmitted from the transmitting antenna 1 and reflected by an obstacle is received by the receiving antennas 2a and 2b, and supplied to a hybrid circuit (HYB) 5. The hybrid circuit 5 generates a sum signal Σ and a differential signal Δ. The sum signal Σ and the differential signal Δ are respectively processed by receiver circuits 20a and 20b, each mainly consisting of a mixer to detect the azimuth and other factors of the object of detection.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A dynamic light-mixing method of backlight module is disclosed. Through periodically reciprocating a backlight source (11) with single lamp package to compensate for an insufficient light region, each time a reciprocating movement is completed, the light-emitting region (LF) sweeps through all light-emitting surfaces of the backlight module (1) once, and the period of the reciprocating movement is smaller than the time resolution of the human eye, so that the light emitted by the backlight source (11) with single lamp package can achieve an uniform light-mixing effect in the reaction time of the human eye, and meets the requirements for optical uniformity of the entire backlight module (1).

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) has many advantages such as thin body, power saving, no radiation, etc., so that the LCD has been widely applied in devices such as: LCD TV, mobile phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), digital camera, computer screen or laptop screens, etc.
Most of the liquid crystal displays on the market are backlight type liquid crystal display devices, which include a case, a liquid crystal panel disposed in the case and a backlight module disposed in the case.
The structure of the liquid crystal panel is formed by a color filter substrate (CF), a thin film transistor array substrate (TFT Array Substrate), and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the two substrates. The liquid crystal panel does not emit light itself, and the working principle of the liquid crystal panel is to control the rotation of the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer by applying a driving voltage on the two glass substrates, and refract the light of the backlight module to generate a picture.
The backlight module is divided into a side-light backlight module and a direct-light backlight module according to different incident positions of the backlight source. The direct-light type backlight module is provided with a backlight source such as a cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) or a light emitting diode (LED) light bar, which is disposed behind the liquid crystal panel to directly form a surface light source and providing to the LCD panel. The side-light backlight module is provided with a backlight LED strip disposed at an edge of a back plate behind the liquid crystal panel, and the light emitted by the LED strip enters a light-incident surface of the light guide plate (LGP). After being reflected and diffused, the light is emitted from the light-emitting surface of the light guide plate, passes through the optical film group, and finally forms a surface light source to be supplied to the liquid crystal panel.
With the popularity of large-size LCD TV, users have gradually increased the demand for light-weight and simplified structure of a backlight module. However, most of the current direct-light backlight module is assembled using a plurality of light bars, and the assembly and wire insertion and cable management processes are complicated; the side-light backlight module has an overall weight increase of the backlight module due to the need to provide a light guide plate. Accordingly, a single LED package (ONE LED Package) backlight is provided to simplify the assembly process of the backlight module and reduce the weight of the backlight module.
In the prior art, there is a significant problem in the backlight source with single LED package: as shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 to FIG. 6, the light mixing distance OD of the backlight module 100 is low (the thinner the LCD module, the lower the OD value), it is difficult to achieve optical uniformity of the backlight: if the backlight source 101 with single LED package is symmetrical, as shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, since the light-emitting region LF of the backlight source 101 with single LED package is limited, the short edge direction of the backlight module 100 can meet the requirement of optical uniformity, and in the long edge direction of the backlight module 100, only the backlight in a portion of the region (the portion indicated by the double-dash line frame in FIG. 1) can be made uniform, so that the optical uniformity of the entire backlight module cannot be satisfied, and the more complex structures or auxiliary optics can improve optical uniformity.
If the backlight source 101 with single LED package is asymmetric, as shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. 6, since the light emitting region LF of the backlight source 101 with single LED package is limited, only the upper right part of the backlight module 100, similar to the fan-like region (the part indicated by the double-dash line frame in FIG. 4), is uniform, so that the optical uniformity of the entire backlight module cannot be satisfied, and a relatively complicated structure or auxiliary optics is required to improve the optical uniformity.

Dynamic light-mixing method of backlight module

HUIZHOU CHINA STAR OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


In an antenna system, an antenna feeding substrate is connected by its conductor structures via field coupling to planar antenna radiating elements. A mounting part, able to be fixed in position against the antenna feeding substrate, is provided for the antenna radiating elements. The mounting part itself or a housing part able to be joined to it with form locking is used for the HF shielding of the antenna feeding substrate. The mounting part and/or housing part are structured in such a way that, viewed from the planar antenna radiating elements in the radiation direction, a wave guidance is achieved.

These patches are fed either directly via contacted lines, e.g., microstrip lines at the edge, or through the substrate via feedthroughs into the patch area or within the multilayer substrate having a suitable layout via field coupling. Additional elements like a "superstrate" (planar dielectric plate at a certain distance to the patches) or a "polyrod" are used to attain a narrower antenna lobe characteristic.
The antennas are covered with a radome as mechanical protection against the environment (rain, snow, dirt, rockfall, . . . ). In special cases, the function of the superstrate is integrated into the radome by suitable geometry and material selection.
Complementary systems are also familiar, in which in the layout, the patches are metal-free, and the surrounding area is conductive.

Antenna system, particularly for radar applications in motor vehicles


When a plurality of toner containers mounted on a developing rotary unit are simultaneously determined as toner-absent toner containers, toner container replacement may not be efficient because toner containers are replaced at a replacement position. Therefore, when the toner containers mounted on the developing rotary unit are simultaneously determined as toner-absent toner containers, a toner container to be preferentially replaced is selected so as to be able to be placed at a replacement position by considering the usability of the toner containers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic system or electrostatic recording system, particularly to an image forming apparatus for a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, or a complex machine having the functions of these devices.
2. Related Background Art
A full-color-image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic system is hitherto proposed which makes it possible to sequentially execute developing operations by selectively rotating a desired developing apparatus to a developing position by a developing rotary unit mounting a plurality of corresponding toner cartridges (toner containers) together with a plurality of developing apparatuses.
The above image forming apparatus is constituted so as to remove a toner cartridge with no toner among a plurality of toner cartridges from the developing rotary unit and replace it with a new one.
However, when a plurality of toner cartridges runs short of toner or decreases in toner at the same time, a technique is needed which allows a user to replace toner cartridges without confusion of the user by considering the replaceability or usability of the a toner container.


An RSSI measurement method, a network device, and a terminal device are disclosed. The method includes receiving, by a terminal device, an RSSI measurement configuration message, where the measurement configuration message includes indication information of a time resource for RSSI measurement, and the time resource includes first downlink symbols and second downlink symbols in a timeslot in which a synchronization signal block is located, and measuring a received signal power on the first downlink symbols and the second downlink symbols, where the first downlink symbols include downlink symbols in which the synchronization signal block is located, and where the second downlink symbols include at least one downlink symbol other than the first downlink symbols.

A multi-beam transmission technology is used in a new radio (NR) communications system. To support a multi-beam feature of the NR, a synchronization signal burst set (SS block burst set) is defined in the NR. The synchronization signal burst set includes one or more synchronization signal blocks (SS block), and a network device may separately send these synchronization signal blocks by using different beams, thereby implementing beam scanning. In different frequency ranges, a maximum quantity L of synchronization signal blocks that can be included in the synchronization signal burst set varies. Specifically, when a frequency does not exceed 3 GHz, L=4; when a frequency is between 3 GHz and 6 GHz, L=8; or when a frequency is between 6 GHz and 52.6 GHz, L=64.
The network device periodically sends the synchronization signal block, and a maximum of L synchronization signal blocks included in the synchronization signal burst set (a quantity of actually sent synchronization signal blocks may be less than L) need to be sent in a 5 millisecond time window.
Reference signal received quality (RSRQ) is a value reflecting reference signal received quality of a terminal device. The terminal device obtains a reference signal received power (RSRP) and an RSSI through measurement, to obtain the RSRQ. Therefore, RSSI measurement is very important for obtaining the RSRQ.
In the prior art, the terminal device obtains the RSSI by measuring all symbols in the 5 millisecond time window including the synchronization signal burst set. This causes relatively high measurement complexity and power overheads particularly when a synchronization signal block sending period is relatively small.
Therefore, a current problem of relatively high complexity and power overheads of RSSI measurement needs to be resolved urgently.

RSSI measurement method, network device, and terminal device


The present invention relates to biodegradable polymer compositions comprising poly(lactic acid) and co-polyester polymer with adipic acid mixed with organic peroxide and mineral particles. In addition, the present invention relates to products made on the basis of such compositions, such as molded and extruded articles.

Packaging material and disposable beakers, cups and cutlery are used nowadays widely and allow that food material may be sold and/or consumed under hygienic conditions. Such disposable materials and objects are highly estimated by the consumers and the retailers, since they may be simply disposed after use and do not have to be washed and cleaned like conventional dishes, glasses or cutlery.
Yet, the widespread and even growing use of such materials result in a mounting amount of litter produced each day. Currently, the plastic waste is either provided to garbage incinerators or accumulates in refuse dumps, with both of the above-mentioned solutions for waste disposal being associated with problems for the environment.
Thus, there is a need in the art to obviate the above problem and to provide materials, which combine the advantages of currently used plastics material and do not add to environmental pollution.
For preparing the above mentioned items several biodegradable polymers are already known in the state of the art and comprise materials on the basis of e.g. poly(glycolic acid), poly(epsilon-caprolactone), poly(lactic acid), and polydioxanone. The production of these polymers is, however, rather cumbersome and expensive, so that the use thereof is presently mainly restricted to high value medical applications requiring bioabsorbable materials. A few biodegradable resins have been used in applications such as described above but cost has made them un-affordable by the consumers.
An object of the present invention is thus to provide a composition, which composition is degraded in a natural environment in a time period which is significantly shorter as compared to the time period required for the degradation of conventional plastic materials, such as e.g. polyethylene. In a controlled environment such as a composting site the composition will allow biodegradation in period of time not to exceed 180 days, one of the time requirements set by the US specification set by ASTM (ASTM 6400 D99). Moreover, such a composition should also enable production of bags, bottles or cutlery, exhibiting desired properties for the respective purpose.
These and other objects which will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the present invention, which provides a composition, which comprises between 40 and 97% by weight of poly(lactic acid) polymer, between 0.5 and 35% by weight of co-polyester polymer with adipic acid, and between 2% and 20% magnesium silicate, each on the basis of the total weight of the biodegradable composition.

Biodegradable compounds including poly(lactic acid) polymer compositions and products


Electromotor driven tensioning and winding device for lashing straps (7) in integral construction, preferably including a tactile three-point measurement sensor (2) in direct contact with a flat side (40) of the lashing strap (7). For this purpose, the measurement sensor (2) includes a sensor bar (30) which is mounted against a compression spring element (31) and has a contact pin (34) which is movable together with the sensor bar (30) and can be pressed against a contact plate (37) fastened to the rear wall (32) of the measurement sensor housing (27).. If the desired tension of the lashing strap is reached, the contact pin (34) lies against the contact plate (37). If the contact between the contact plate (37) and the contact pin (34) is interrupted, the drive motor (3) receives a signal to tighten the lashing strap (7) by further winding it onto the wind-up spindle (6). The desired lashing tension of the lashing strap (7) is thus regulated continuously.

The present invention relates to a motor-driven tensioning and winding device for lashing straps.
Such devices have been known for a long time, for example, as tensioning winches and ratchet spanners for tying down loads when movable goods are transported. It is also known to obtain a sufficiently secure tie-down of the load by charging or pre-loading the lashing strap with the highest possible lashing tension. If the term lashing strap is employed in this connection, this refers to a specially preferred embodiment of a lashing means in textile form. However, other lashing means, such as chains, ropes, cables and the like made of a variety of materials are also suitable for tying down loads. The conventional tensioning and winding devices produce the required lashing tension either manually or by motor, with the lashing strap always being charged with different, undefined lashing tensions. For the secure transport of lashed goods, however, a defined lashing tension is required which can be precisely determined from the weight of the load, the lashing angles, the consistency of the base of the load-carrying surface, particularly the friction effective between the load and the load-carrying surface, and the acceleration forces expected to occur during transport. Therefore, lashing tension measuring aids are known that are integrated in the tensioned strap to indicate to the operator the lashing tension exhibited in the tensioned strap during the tensioning process.
The drawback of such lashing tension measuring aids is that a drop in tension occurring during transport, for example due to settling of the load, generally remains unnoticed by the operator. If the lashing tension drops in this way to below a minimum value required to secure the load, parts of the load or, in the worst case, the entire load may drop from the load-carrying surface.
In order to prevent a drop in the effective lashing tension to below the critical minimum value, a tensioning winch is known which is driven by a compressed-air motor and can be mounted on or at the load-carrying surface of a truck and which is equipped with a control valve that charges the compressed-air motor with a desired pressure. This desired pressure can be set manually at the control valve. The compressed-air motor itself drives, by way of a drive assembly, a wind-up spindle for the lashing strap, thus winding the lashing strap around the rotating wind-up spindle. In this way, the tensioned strap is charged with an increasing lashing tension. A possible drop of the lashing tension effective in the tensioned strap is connected with a simultaneous drop in the actual pressure in the system. The compressed-air motor continues to rotate the wind-up spindle in the winding direction and the lashing strap continues to be wound up until the desired pressure set at the control valve is reached again. The particular drawback here is the exclusive control of the tensioning force by way of the desired pressure set at the control valve since this desired pressure is a function of the torque exerted by the tensioned strap on the wind-up spindle and on the drive assembly, respectively. However, the torque acting on the wind-up spindle is decisively influenced by the diameter of the strap coil on the wind-up spindle. This inevitably results in the drawback that, due to the increasingly larger coil diameter, the desired, defined lashing tension is no longer reached if re-tightening is effected by means of the originally set desired pressure. Consequently, the return signal in the form of the torque acting on the wind-up spindle for the described control circuit in the prior art tensioning winch is being measured only indirectly.

Motor-driven tensioning and winding device for lashing straps including an integrated control of the lashing tension


A nacelle for an aircraft bypass turbojet engine includes downstream, an internal stationary structure surrounding part of the bypass turbojet engine, and an external structure surrounding the internal stationary structure, defining an annular flow path along which an air flow circulates. The external structure includes a mobile flap disposed at the downstream end of the external structure and positioned facing the annular flow path. Each mobile flap can rotate such as to move into a position that increases or reduces the height of the cross-section of the annular flow path in relation to an idle position, in response to the pressure exerted on the mobile flap by the air flow circulating through the facing annular flow path. The mobile flap can return from the cross-section-increasing or -reducing position to another position under the effect of an elastic return means.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
An aircraft is moved by several turbojet engines each housed in a nacelle also housing a set of related actuating devices connected to its operation and performing various functions when the turbojet engine is running or stopped. These related actuating devices in particular comprise a mechanical thrust reverser actuating system.
A nacelle generally has a tubular structure along a longitudinal axis comprising an air inlet upstream from the turbojet engine, a midsection intended to surround a fan of the turbojet engine, and a downstream section housing the thrust reverser means and intended to surround the combustion chamber of the turbojet engine. The tubular structure generally ends with a jet nozzle, the outlet of which is situated downstream from the turbojet engine.
Modern nacelles are intended to house a bypass turbojet engine capable of generating, by means of the rotating fan blades, a hot air flow (also called "primary flow") coming from the combustion chamber of the turbojet engine, and a cold air flow ("secondary flow"), that circulates outside the turbojet engine through an annular passage, also called "annular flow path".
The term "downstream" here refers to the direction corresponding to the direction of the cold air flow penetrating the turbojet engine. The term "upstream" designates the opposite direction.
The annular flow path is formed in a downstream section by an outer structure, called outer fixed structure (OFS), and a concentric inner structure, called inner fixed structure (IFS), surrounding the structure of the engine strictly speaking downstream from the fan. The inner and outer structures are part of the downstream section. The outer structure may include one or more cowls sliding along the longitudinal axis of the nacelle between a position allowing the reversed airflow to escape and a position preventing such an escape.
A variable-section nozzle at the outlet of the annular flow path is formed by movable elements configured so as to allow a decrease or increase in the discharge section of the air flow at the outlet of the annular flow path so as to optimize the section of the latter based on the flight phase of the aircraft.
However, the devices for actuating said movable elements are cumbersome and make the nacelle heavier.

Nacelle for an aircraft bypass turbojet engine


According to an aspect, an inflatable penile prosthesis having an inflatable member; a reservoir configured to hold fluid; and a pump assembly configured to facilitate a transfer of the fluid from the reservoir to the inflatable member when the prosthesis is in an inflation mode, and facilitate a transfer of the fluid from the inflatable member to the reservoir when the prosthesis is in a deflation mode, the pump assembly including a valve housing and a reinforced pump bulb member.

One treatment for male erectile dysfunction is the implantation of a penile prosthesis that mechanically erects the penis. Some existing penile prostheses include inflatable cylinders or members that can be inflated or deflated using a pump mechanism. In some existing devices, the pump mechanism can be too rigid or otherwise require too much effort to squeeze or activate it. Additionally, in some existing devices, the pump mechanism may be inefficient or require many sequential squeezes or activations to inflate the cylinders or members.
Accordingly, it would be useful to provide a bodily implant, such as a penile prosthesis that includes an improved pump mechanism.

Inflatable penile prosthesis with pump bulb


Methods are provided for purifying marine collagen and for processing the collagen into porous sponges. Products produced with these methods and the use of the products are also provided.

The present invention relates to a method for purifying marine collagen, especially for enhancing the smell and appearance of marine collagen.
The invention further relates to a method for the production of porous sponges of marine collagen which are suitable in particular for medical purposes.
Collagen is a biodegradable as well as biocompatible protein which is used as a starting material for manifold applications in the food industry, in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries as well as in medicine.
"Marine collagen" is understood to mean collagen isolated from marine organisms, that is, organisms living in the sea, especially from members of the Porifera strain, preferably from Chondrosia reniformis.
A large number of collagen products are known and being utilized in medicine. Such products include, for example, sponges, fibers or membranes.
The vast majority of these products is manufactured from collagen which is produced from the connective tissue, the skin, the bones, or the tendons of mammals, for example from cattle, horses or pigs. The essential disadvantages of these products are to be seen in the facts that:
in most cases, a young animal has to be used as the source for the collagen in order to obtain a sufficient yield of collagen;
the collagen obtained is in most cases soluble both in acid media as well as in basic media, which necessitates an additional crosslinking reaction (physically, by heat treatment, or chemically, by using bifunctional substances) in order to enhance the mechanical properties of the collagen and its stability in liquid media;
there is a risk of contamination with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
As an alternative to producing collagen from mammals, International patent application publication WO 01/64046 describes a method for isolating collagen from marine sponges of the genus Chondrosia reniformis (Porifera, Demospongiae).
In this method, fresh sponge starting material is imbibed in alcohol and then washed with water, and an extracting agent is added thereto, preferably at a pH of 7-12. The resultant collagen extract is processed by increasing the pH of the suspension to a value of 8-11, stirring, centrifuging, subsequently lowering the pH value of the supernatant, as well as centrifuging and isolating the precipitate.
The sponge collagen obtainable by this method does, however, have disadvantages consisting essentially in that:
the collagen solution has a dirty appearance;
the collagen is microbiologically impure; and
products from this sponge collagen have an unpleasant smell.

Method for purifying marine collagen and the processing thereof into porous sponges


A fluid discharge pump comprises: an outer cover connected to an upper portion of the fluid-storing portion; a nozzle head provided with a fluid discharge nozzle; a bellows member disposed between the fluid-storing portion and the nozzle head; a first valve mechanism for inflow coupled with a lower end of the bellows member; a second valve mechanism for outflow coupled with an upper end of the bellows member; and a third valve mechanism for anti-leakage disposed between the nozzle and the second valve mechanism inside the nozzle head.

The invention relates generally to a fluid discharge pump for discharging a fluid stored inside a fluid-storing portion from a nozzle head disposed on the upper side of the fluid-storing portion by pressing the nozzle head. Further, the present invention relates to a fluid container for letting a fluid stored inside a fluid-storing portion flow out from a nozzle head disposed on the upper side of the fluid-storing portion by pressing the nozzle head.
As the above type of fluid discharge pump, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2001-213465 discloses a fluid discharge pump. However, in the fluid discharge pump, a fluid having flowed into a nozzle head may leak out even after removing pressure applied to the nozzle head. This type of phenomenon is a problem particularly when a resinous valve mechanism is used to reduce fluid discharge pump costs.

Fluid discharge pump and fluid container


A method and system for performing power control in a mobile communication network comprising at least one base station and a network element connected to the base station, wherein a reliability information is transmitted from the at least one base station to the network element, the reliability information defining a quality of a radio transmission between the at least one base station and a mobile terminal. Based on the transmitted reliability information, the network element determines a variation of a target setpoint for power control and transmits a power control command defining the variation of the target setpoint to the at least one base station. Thereby, a bearer specific controlling procedure can be performed and the signaling of the procedure can be done via the user plane. This implementation provides an outer loop power control having the necessary flexibility to adapt its parameters to the bearer characteristic of an actual connection.

The present invention relates to a method and system for performing power control in a mobile communication network such as a radio access network of a WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) system like the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System).
In a mobile radio network, the transmitting power of a mobile station is adjusted by a closed loop power control in order to keep the received uplink Signal-to-Interference Ratio (SIR) at a given SIR target. Therefore, a base station controlling the mobile station performs an estimation of the total uplink received interference in the current frequency band. Based on the estimation, the base station generates power control commands which are transmitted to the mobile station.
Upon reception of a power control command, the mobile station adjusts the transmit power in a given direction with a predetermined step. The step size is a parameter which may differ between different radio cells.
Additionally, an outer loop power control is performed in order to adjust the SIR target used by the closed loop power control. The SIR target is independently adjusted for each connection based on an estimated quality of the connection In addition, the power offset between uplink channels may be adjusted. The quality estimate is derived based on different service combinations. Typically, a combination of an estimated bit-error rate and frame-error rate is used.
In a radio access network of a WCDMA system, packet- and circuit-switched services can be freely mixed, with variable bandwidths, and delivered simultaneously to the same user, with specific quality levels. Moreover, bandwidths requirements for a user can be changed during a session. Therefore, a flexible power control is required in such a radio access network of the WCDMA system.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method and system for performing a flexible power control.
This object is achieved by a method for performing power control in a mobile communication network, comprising the steps of:
transmitting a reliability information from at least one base station to a network element of the mobile communication network, said reliability information defining a quality of a radio transmission between the at least one base station and a mobile terminal or vice versa;
determining a variation of a target setpoint for power control, based on the transmitted reliability information;
transmitting a power control command defining the variation of the target setpoint from the network element to the at least one base station.
Additionally, the above object is achieved by a system for performing power control in a mobile communication network comprising a base station and a network element connected to the base station,
wherein the base station comprises generating means for generating a reliability information defining a quality of a radio transmission between the base station and a mobile terminal or vice versa, and a transmitting means for transmitting the reliability information to the network element; and
wherein the network element comprises a receiving means for receiving the reliability information, a determination means for determining a variation of a target setpoint for power control, based on the received reliability information, a generating means for generating a power control command defining a variation of the target setpoint, and a transmitting means for transmitting the power control command to the base station.
Accordingly, the outer loop power control is performed in a network element using a reliability information set by the base station such that a bearer specific controlling procedure can be performed, wherein the signaling of the procedure can be done via the user plane. Thereby, an outer loop power control with the necessary flexibility can be implemented so as to adapt the power control parameters to the bearer characteristics such as bit rate, required quality, bit error rate, coding and interleaving, and the like.
The power control may be performed on the basis of a reliability information transmitted from a plurality of base stations connected to the network element, wherein the variation of the target setpoint for power control is performed on the basis of a consideration of each respective reliability information transmitted from the plurality of base stations to the network element, and wherein the power control command is transmitted to each of the plurality of base stations. Thereby, the improved power control also can be performed in soft handover cases, where two or more base stations simultaneously communicate with one mobile terminal.
The determination of the variation of the target setpoint for power control can be performed on the basis of a selection of the best reliability information or, alternatively, on the basis of a predetermined combination of the received reliability informations.
The target setpoint may be a target energy per bit to noise power density ratio.
Preferably, the network element is a radio network controller in which the required parameters of the bearer characteristics are available.
The reliability information may be inserted as a control information into an uplink data packet such as a packet data unit (PDU) of the User Plane Transport Protocol (UPTP) The format and/or coding of the control information may be bearer dependent. Thereby, the overhead of the PDUs can be adapted to the bearer and thus minimized. Preferably, the format and/or coding of the control information is defined in a channel setup phase.
The reliability information may comprise a result of a redundancy code check performed by the base station, and/or a channel specific parameter In case different uplink branches are combined, one resulting reliability information is defined. Thereby, an improved power control also can be performed in softer handover cases, where a plurality of radio cells belonging to the same base station are involved in the communication with the mobile terminal.
The power control command generated in the network element may be inserted as a control information into a downlink data packet which may also be a PDU of the UPTP. In case a power control command is required while no downlink data packet is being transmitted, an empty downlink data packet containing only the power control command may be transmitted.
The coding of the power control command may be bearer dependent to thereby minimized the overhead of the downlink data packets. In particular, the coding of the power control command may be defined in a channel setup phase.
Preferably, the power control command defines a variation of the energy per bit to noise power density ratio Eb/No. In particular, the power control command may have a length of one bit so as to define an incrementation or decrementation of the Eb/No. Alternatively, the power control command may have a length of a plurality of bits so as to define a change value of the Eb/No.
In case a downlink data splitting is performed in a network element, the power control command may be duplicated in all branches.
If a dedicated channel activity is performed, an absolute value of the target setpoint may be set by the base station in all branches. in this case, a step size for the variation of the target setpoint may be redefined during the dedicated channel activity using a layer 3 signaling.
The base station may comprise a checking means for checking a redundancy code received from the mobile station, wherein a generating means of the base station generates the reliability information on the basis of the checking result of the checking means and/or a channel decoder specific parameter.
Furthermore, the base station may comprise a target setting means for changing the target setpoint for power control in accordance with the variation defined by the received power control command. The target setting means may be controllable so as to set an absolute value of the target setpoint. Moreover, the target setting means may be controllable so as to redefine a step size for the variation of the target setpoint, based on a layer 3 signaling.
The determination means of the network element may be arranged to determine the variation of the target setpoint for power control on the basis of each reliability information received from a plurality of base stations, wherein the power control command is transmitted by the transmitting means of said network element to each of the plurality of base stations. In this case, the determination means can be arranged to determine the variation of the target setpoint for power control on the basis of a selection of the worst reliability information received from the plurality of base stations, or on the basis of a predetermined combination of the received reliability information.
Moreover, the generating means of the at least one base station may be arranged to determine a resultant reliability information on the basis of a plurality of reliability informations generated for a plurality of uplink branches. In this case, the generating means of the at least one base station may be arranged to determine the resultant reliability information on the basis of the worst reliability information of the plurality of uplink branches, or on the basis of a predetermined combination of the generated reliability informations.

Power control method and system in mobile communication networks


A magneto-optic recording system employing near-field optics which includes a read/write head having a stylus comprising a pair of crossed tapered prisms made of a material having a high index of refraction closely adjacent to the recording medium to provide light coupling between slits at the ends of the prisms and the recording medium. The length of the prism slits being greater than one-half the effective wavelength inside the material filling the prism of the light transmitted by the prisms to transmit all light entering the waveguide to the tapered end and the width being a fraction of a wavelength of the light.

In magneto-optic recording systems, digital information is stored in a thin magnetic storage medium by locally magnetized regions or domains. The regions are magnetized to represent either ones or zeros. The information is written into the magnetic storage medium by raising the temperature of localized small regions of the magnetic medium to the Curie point temperature of the medium at the localized regions. This lowers the coercivity to a point which enables orientation of the magnetic domain by an external magnetic field. The size of the regions or domains determine the density of the digital information. The size of the localized region is usually limited by diffraction and is marginally improved by use of shorter wavelengths of light and higher numerical aperture lens.
Stored information is read by Kerr or Faraday rotation of a polarized light beam incident on the magnetic medium by the magnetic fields at the magnetized regions or domains. The shift in polarization is in the order of one degree. This shift is employed to detect ones and zeros. Systems for reading out these small rotational changes are well established in the optical storage industry. Optical recording and the design of conventional read/write heads is described in the book entitled "Optical Recording" authored by Alan B. Marchant, Addison-Wesley Publishing, 1990.
In co-pending application Ser. No. 08/696,168 filed Aug. 13, 1996, incorporated herein in its entirety by reference, there is described a magneto-optic recording system employing near-field optics which includes a read/write head having a pair of crossed tapered optical waveguides terminating in slits supported closely adjacent to the recording medium to provide light coupling between the slit ends of the waveguides and the recording medium. The tapered waveguides are formed by etching a silicon wafer and filling the etched space with a transparent material. In one embodiment the tapered waveguides are filled with a material having a high index of refraction. The length of the waveguides and slits is greater than one-half the wavelength of the light transmitted by the waveguides wherein all light entering the waveguide is transmitted to the slits at the tapered end. The width of the slits at the tapered ends is a fraction of a wavelength of the light.

Magneto-optic recording system and method

The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University


A computer implemented availability checking system and method is provided for use with a service provider configured to communicate with one or more client devices and with a content provider. The system includes a computer storage device operative to store an availability data store comprising a list of a plurality of potential endpoints of the service provider and a corresponding plurality of availability information for the plurality of potential endpoints. The plurality of potential endpoints is distributed across a plurality of resource cache components. The system further includes an availability query component operative to transmit a plurality of queries to the plurality of potential endpoints and to receive a plurality of responses from the plurality of potential endpoints. The system further includes an availability analysis component operative to analyze the plurality of responses, to generate the plurality of availability information, and to update the availability data store.

Generally described, computing devices and communication networks can be utilized to exchange information. In a common application, a device can request content from another device via the communication network. For example, a user at a personal computing device can utilize a software browser application to request a Web page from a server device via the Internet. For another example, a user of a content providing service can utilize a display device (e.g., television, computer, mobile device, smartphone, tablet) to request content (e.g., an audio presentation, video presentation, audiovisual presentation, movie, television show, video, podcast) to be streamed from a server device via the Internet to the display device. In such embodiments, the user computing device or display device can be referred to as a client device and the server device can be referred to as a content provider.
Content providers are generally motivated to provide requested content to client devices often with consideration of efficient transmission of the requested content to the client device and/or consideration of a cost associated with the transmission of the content. For larger scale implementations, a content provider may receive content requests from a high volume of client devices which can place a strain on the content provider's computing resources. Additionally, the content requested by the client devices may have a number of components, which can further place additional strain on the content provider's computing resources.
With reference to an illustrative example, content to be streamed to the display device to be presented to the user may be identified by one or more embedded resource identifiers, such as uniform resource locators ("URLs"). In turn, software on the client devices typically processes embedded resource identifiers to generate requests for the content. Often, the resource identifiers reference a computing device associated with the content provider such that the client device would transmit the request for the content to the referenced content provider computing device. Accordingly, in order to satisfy a content request, the content provider would provide client devices data associated with the content.
Some content providers attempt to facilitate the delivery of requested content through the utilization of a content delivery network ("CDN") service provider. A CDN server provider typically maintains a number of computing devices in a communication network that can maintain content from various content providers. In turn, content providers can instruct, or otherwise suggest to, client devices to request some, or all, of the content provider's content from the CDN service provider's computing devices.
With reference to the previous illustrative example, the content provider can leverage a CDN service provider with the modification or substitution of resource identifiers associated with the embedded resources. Specifically, the resource identifiers can reference a computing device associated with the CDN service provider such that the client device would transmit the request for the additional resources to the referenced CDN service provider computing device. Typically, the content provider facilitates the utilization of a CDN provider by including CDN-provider specific resources identifiers in requested content. This approach generally corresponds to an "offline" process implemented by the content provider in advance of receipt of a request for the original content from the client devices. Accordingly, modifications to resource identifiers, such as to provide alternative resources identifiers for the same CDN service provider, to provide additional information utilized by CDN service providers in processing the request for content or to identify alternative CDN service providers, can become inefficient as they typically require implementation of the offline process of the content provider.

Monitoring availability of content delivery networks


In one embodiment, an echo canceller configured to cancel echo in a wideband voice conference is provided. A double-talk condition may be when a plurality of users are speaking substantially simultaneously. When a double-talk condition is detected in the wideband conference, a high-frequency process is enabled and used to process signals in the high band to reduce echo. Accordingly, echo in the high band may not be produced by end devices being used by the users' speaking. Also, the users speaking have the echo cancelled in the low band and substantial echo does not result. This results in the users speaking experiencing the conference in the narrowband. The other users that are not speaking, however, continue to receive wideband signals. The users not speaking also continue to have echo cancellation performed for the high band and low band because these users are not speaking and thus attenuation of their voices is not a consideration.

Voice telephony has been designed and implemented using narrowband technology. Narrowband technology transmits voice in the frequency spectrum substantially around the range 0 to 4000 hertz (Hz). User demand and efficient wideband coding technology make it possible to double the frequency range to 0-8000 Hz. A wideband coder/decoder (codec) may be used to encode and decode signals and may use different methodology in encoding and decoding signals in the low band (0-4000 Hz) and the high band (4000-8000 Hz) frequencies.
Echo may result when users are participating in a communication session. Echo cancellers are provided to cancel echo that may result when one or more parties are speaking. For example, when a first parry is in a point-to-point connection and is talking at the time, an echo canceller oriented, toward the second party end device cancels any talker echo that is reflected from the second party's end device. The echo canceller may be able to cancel signals that arc linear and time invariant (LTI) using an adaptively updated convolution processor. The convolution processor may estimate the echo signal and inject an inverse of the echo signal to cancel it. Codecs and other non-linear elements in the transmission path may introduce distortion, which causes signals to be non-linear and time-variant in the low band. Further, in a wideband communication session, even when the signals in the low band are linear and time invariant, signals in the high band may be non-linear and time-variant resulting in high band echo that is non-linear and time-variant. The convolution processor may not be able to cancel the non-linear and time-variant signals. Accordingly, a non-linear processor (NLP) may be used to further reduce or eliminate echo signals that are non-linear and time-variant. While the convolution processor analyzes the signals to inject the inverse removing the echo, the non-linear processor, which may act as a center clipper, attenuates any signals within a certain range when it is enabled. Any signals that are not canceled by the convolution processor may be attenuated by the non-linear processor when it is enabled.
A doubletalk condition occurs when multiple users speak at the same time. In this case, the echo cancellers experiencing the double-talk condition operate differently. For example, during double-talk, the non-linear processor experiencing double-talk is disabled from the transmission path. The non-linear processor is disabled because it otherwise would attenuate all signals. If the first and second users in a conference with many users are causing the double-talk condition, and the non-linear processors experiencing the double-talk are not disabled, the non-linear processors would attenuate the speech of the two users so neither could he heard by the other users. The non-linear processor is disabled for this case. The convolution processor may still remove echo in the low band; however, the echo in the high band may not be attenuated and thus users in the conference may hear any high band echo generated.

Controlling echo in a wideband voice conference