Methods for measuring an endocrine substance, such as feline insulin, in a biological sample taken from an animal with high accuracy, rapidity and brevity. The methods involve pre-treating a biological sample by removing an autoantibody bound to an endocrine substance present in a sample and measuring the endocrine substance after the pre-treatment. The methods can be used to measure autoantibody bound to an endocrine substance in the sample. Methods for diagnosis and treatment of diseases associated with endocrine substances are disclosed involving measuring an autoantibody value for an endocrine substance in a biological sample.

For the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, it is required to identify the diseases, for example, by identifying the kind of substances causing the diseases or associated therewith and measuring a quantitative variation in such substances or investigating susceptibility thereto. Among those diseases, metabolic syndromes are becoming a great social issue because they may be caused by a change of life style including a habit of eating food, that is, a habit of eating a high caloric food with a high content of proteins, carbohydrates, and/or fats . . . and, in addition thereto, by a lack of exercise due to a change of life environment. Particularly, diabetes is causing a serious problem because a number of patients with diabetes mellitus as well as potent people with a risk of causing diabetes are increasing rapidly. In order to diagnose and treat human diabetes mellitus, an amount of human insulin, an endocrine substance of diabetes-associated substances, in blood has to be measured, and the measurement of amounts of human insulin is conducted as a routine check-up at hospitals, clinics and so on.
Recently, in addition to the human being, pet animals such as cats, dogs and so on are causing to occur diseases corresponding to metabolic syndromes like the human being, and a number of pet animals with such diseases is also increasing rapidly due to a change in raising circumstances. For example, diabetes mellitus and so on is increasing among pet animals, which may be caused by feeding food with a high content of proteins, carbohydrates, and/or fats . . . and high calories, such as pet food or the like, and by a lack of exercise due to raising in a narrow room space. It is needless to say that an amount of feline insulin in a feline blood analyze has to be measured in order to diagnose and treat feline diabetes mellitus.
Now, one of the issues is, however, that currently there is no practical method for measuring feline insulin itself in a feline blood analyte. Therefore, feline insulin is currently measured in accordance with a method for the measurement of human insulin (see Patent Publication 1 for example). As a matter of course, this human insulin measurement method cannot measure an accurate amount of the feline insulin because feline insulin is not used as a standard substance so that a difference in reactivity with an antibody can be observed due to a difference in the amino acid sequence between feline insulin and human insulin. Moreover, the current human insulin measurement method has the big problem because it uses a radioactive substance so that there is a concern about a pollution of environment due to radioactive contamination and a disposal of the radioactive substances after the use for measurement. In addition, as the feline insulin cannot be measured directly by this current system, the diagnosis of feline diabetes is conducted simply by a close-up of conditions and measurement of a sugar level of blood and urine. In such a current situation, it is practically impossible to diagnose whether the feline diabetes is caused to occur due to a problem witi the function of the organ or a problem with the function of an insulin carrier or an insulin receptor in blood. Therefore, the big problem encountered with the current diagnosis and treatment of feline diabetes is that an appropriate treatment of feline diabetes cannot be carried out because an accurate cause of the feline diabetes cannot be determined. Particularly, in order to appropriately diagnose and treat diseases of animals, the method for directly measuring endocrine substances associated with such diseases has to be determined.
In this description, for brevity of explanation of the subject matter of the present invention, feline is illustrated as an object to be analyzed and feline insulin is illustrated as an endocrine substance in an analyte of the object to be analyzed. It is to be understood, however, that the object to be analyzed and the endocrine substance are not interpreted as being limited to the feline and the feline insulin and it is needless to say that any object to be analyzed and endocrine substance can be applied to the present invention as long as they are appropriate for the subject matter of the present invention.
As the method for detecting an antigenic substance in a body fluid such as blood serum and so on or measuring concentrations of the antigenic substance, an immunological measurement is recently being applied increasingly. These methods are well known to the art, and an antigenic substance to be measured can be detected or a concentration of the antigenic substance can be measured, for instance, by labeling the antigenic substance or an antibody with a radioactive substance, forming a complex between the antigenic substance and the antibody, and measuring the labeled component.
(Patent Publication #1) Japanese Patent Publication No. H11-326,322.

Method for the measurement of endocrine substances in an analyte


Disclosed is a compressed core-wound paper product such as toilet tissue or paper towels. The core-wound paper product comprises a paper product wound about a generally tubular core. The core-wound paper product is compressed, so that the core is flattened to form vertices. By selecting the proper combination of core materials and thickness, to form a core of the proper stiffness; paper product caliper and quantity, to provide hoop forces against the core which are not too great; and total packaging dimensions, so that the core-wound paper product is not too tightly constrained, the core-wound paper product may be made to open to an inside core dimension of about 0.16 centimeters (0.06 inches) to about 1.27 centimeters (0.5 inches). The invention may be utilized with either single roll or multiple roll packages.

Core-wound paper products are in constant use in daily life. Particularly, toilet tissue and paper towels have become a staple in home and industry. Such products comprises a roll of the consumer goods wrapped in a spiral around a hollow center core. The hollow center core has a a volume which is not used until the product is inserted onto a spindle for dispensing by the consumer.
One factor affecting the pricing and usage of core-wound paper products is the costs of transportation, storage and shelving for such products. These costs reflect the size of the core-wound paper product and are increased by the volume of the core. One attempt in the art to reduce the costs associated with the contribution of the package volume to the size of the core-wound paper product is to compress the product, reducing or eliminating the void space of the hollow core.
For example, as early as 1889, U.S. Pat. No. 401,233 issued Apr. 9, 1889 to Wheeler disclosed a flattened roll of toilet paper having a comparatively rigid interior reinforcement. This arrangement is to allow the incisions, which facilitate insertion of a suspensory device, to lie in the same plane. As early as 1911, U.S. No. Pat. 1,005,787 issued Oct. 10, 1911 to Sibley disclosed a corrugated core for packages of wound fabric. The package is compressed into a flattened state to occupy less space during transportation and stocking. U.S. Pat. No. 1,316,041 issued Sep. 16, 1919 to Johnson disclosed a straight flattened roll of toilet tissue having a core of flexible material with overlapped ends. The flat state was used for shipping, then the roll was bent into a kidney shape for application onto a dispensing fixture.
Compressed core-wound paper product was also used in World War II, per government specifications. As described in the May, 1944 edition of Tissue Topics, the Hoberg Paper Mills Company intra-company newsletter, government toilet tissue was collapsed or flattened and packed in 1,000 sheet rolls with 60 rolls per case. This arrangement was said to have conserved enough space to account for nine months of movement of a Liberty class cargo ship.
One problem associated with compressed core-wound paper products is that of rerounding the cores to a generally cylindrical shape having a circular cross section. Rerounding is necessary to allow a spindle to be inserted through the core, so it can be used on an ordinary dispenser. Rerounding is often effected, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,388 issued Mar. 20, 1990 to Watanabe, by applying lateral compressive forces to the sides of the compressed core-wound paper product.
When lateral compressive forces are applied to the product, the opposed sides of the core are expected to pop outwardly and away from each other. Each half of the core is then oriented concave towards the center of the core and the other half. However, frequently both halves of the core will buckle in the same direction, forming a somewhat crescent-shaped cross section. This phenomenon is known as core inversion and occurs when both sides of the core buckle such that the two halves of the core are concave in the same direction.
When core inversion occurs upon rerounding, it is very difficult for the consumer to insert the spindle through the opening in the center of the core. The opening is too small to freely admit the spindle and the opposed halves of the core do not readily expand outwardly to be concave in opposite directions once inversion has occurred.
However, the prior art related to compressed core-wound paper products has done little, if anything, to address this phenomenon. For example, commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,582 teaches away from the present invention by disclosing a method of packaging a compressed core-wound paper product by flattening the rolls, securing the flattened rolls to preclude substantial expansion, then relieving the loading used to flatten the rolls.
Other art teaches away as well. For example U. K. Patent Application 709,363 published May 19, 1954 in the name of Samson teaches diametrically flattening the cores and product. U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,388 issued Mar. 20, 1990 to Watanabe teaches flattening the roll product to one-half its original volume or less and maintaining the roll in a particular flattened shape. This patent further teaches that rerounding occurs due to crepes and embosses in the paper product.
One attempt in the art to promote rerounding is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,762,061 issued Aug. 9, 1988 to Watanabe et al. This patent teaches flattening the paper product through multi-stroke bilateral compression will improve the capability of the core-wound paper product to properly reround.
However, it has been found that rerounding is greatly improved and occurrences of core inversion are obviated if the core is not presented to the consumer in a flattened state--as taught by the aforementioned art. Instead the compressed core-wound paper product should be presented to the consumer with the opposed sides of the core slightly opened and spaced apart from each other as specified below. The size of the opening should not be too small, otherwise the congenital inversion failures noted in the aforementioned prior art will still appear. Conversely, the size of the opening should not be too great, otherwise, in addition to defeating the desired economies of space savings, the core-wound paper product will appear to be product which has been inadvertently damaged, rather than deliberately compressed to a slight degree. Such appearance may evoke a negative consumer reaction without providing an offsetting benefit of economization.
Cores for core-wound paper products having an opening are taught in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 1,005,787 issued Oct. 10, 1911 to Sibley. This patent discloses a corrugated core which is somewhat elastic, yet either flexible or yielding. However, this patent does not teach the relationship between the corrugated core and the material wound thereon necessary to achieve a core opening which minimizes core inversions. Instead this patent simply teaches that the relationship between the core and the material wound thereon should permit the core to be inserted into the packages after the rolls are expanded, so that no difficulty is experienced in changing the roll shape. Clearly the step of inserting the core after expanding the product is an added inconvenience most consumers would find unacceptable.
It is an object of this invention to improve the ability of the consumer to reround, with fewer occurrences of core inversion, the core of a compressed core-wound paper product to a generally cylindrical shape having a circular cross section. It is an object of this invention to produce a compressed core-wound paper product which encounters reduced occurrences of core inversion when the consumer attempts to reround the core to a generally cylindrical shape having a circular cross section.

Compressed core-wound paper product having a core opening and a process of making the same


Provided is a method for detecting an incipient damage in a bearing including receiving from a plurality of sensors of the bearing a plurality of signals corresponding to a plurality of bursts, each burst being emitted each time an indentation is met during the rotation of the bearing at a contact point between a roller of the bearing and a race of the bearing, analyzing the signals for locating on the bearing the indentations corresponding to the bursts, generating a map of points on a digital model of the bearing corresponding to the indentations on the bearing, the map of points being registered and updated throughout at least an interval of the lifetime of the bearing, identifying an incipient damage in the bearing each time the distribution of the points in the map is not random, and generating an incipient damage warning message.

In the above defined technical field, bearing failures may be caused by particle contamination in the bearing lubricant.
Particles from within the bearing or foreign objects can form several indentations in the bearing raceway, which can ultimately result in a bearing failure. Additionally, the presence of particles in the bearing can be an indication of unfavourable operating conditions, which in turn generates additional particles.
One approach for detecting the presence of particles could be that of analysing samples of the lubricant grease; however these samples can only provide a snapshot of the grease condition and, additionally, this cannot be done remotely, hence it is costly.
A remote monitoring is essential for practical and cost reasons in certain applications, for example in wind turbines.
Another solution is that of continuously monitoring the bearing by measuring the acoustic emission; however continuous monitoring involves also high costs. Further, known algorithms which are normally used in bearing monitoring are not able to distinguish between a particle contamination, which is at least not yet dangerous, and an incipient bearing failure that could be caused by an excess of particle contamination.

Method for detecting an incipient damage in a bearing


A semiconductor device concerning the embodiment includes a semiconductor layer which has a first surface and a second surface which is opposite to the first surface, an interlayer which is provided on the first surface and which consists of only metal whose standard oxidation-reduction potential is not lower than 0 (zero) V in an ionization tendency, and an electrode provided on the interlayer. The semiconductor device further includes an electrical conductive layer which covers an inside of a hole which is formed in the semiconductor layer so as to reach the interlayer the interlayer from the second surface, and which is electrically connected to the electrode via the interlayer which is exposed to a bottom of the hole.

As for a lateral semiconductor device in which current flows in the parallel direction to a surface of a semiconductor layer, an electrode provided on a surface of the semiconductor layer and a back electrode provided on a back surface of the semiconductor layer are electrically connected using a via hole. Thereby, a surface side electrode is grounded and operation of the semiconductor device is stabilized. Since a metal layer which is simultaneously formed with an ohmic electrode is generally used as the surface side electrode, the surface side electrode consists of an alloy layer containing gold germanium (AuGe), nickel (Ni) and gold (Au), and a reaction layer which is formed by reaction of the alloy layer and the semiconductor layer. A hole of the via hole is formed by etching the semiconductor layer selectively using an RIE (Reactive Ion Etching) method, for example. Etching gas contains chlorine, for example.
The surface side electrode may deform with the heat at the time of mounting the semiconductor device on a package or a mounting board, and thereby a contact between the surface side electrode and the back electrode may become unstable.
The embodiment supplies a reliable semiconductor device in which a connection between a surface side electrode and a back electrode through a via hole is stable.

Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing the same


The invention is a tool for installing Hi-Lok-type fasteners consisting of a pin component having a headed end and a threaded end with a hex recess therein, and a collar component having a threaded body and a torque-off nut. The tool has a drive head in which a rotatably driven socket is supported for driving the collar component of the fastener during a fastener installation event. A tubular key holder is coaxial with the socket and rotationally fixed relative to the drive head, supporting a hex key against rotation in an axial keyway, the hex key being engageable in the pin component hex recess to hold the pin component against rotation during a fastener installation event. A retention shaft extends coaxially through the key holder, and its forward end is threadedly connected to the key to retain the key in the holder. The key is forwardly threadedly removable from the holder keyway by rotating the retention shaft in one direction relative to the holder, and another key is threadedly replaceable in the holder keyway by rotating the retention shaft in the other direction relative to the holder. Tooling inventory is minimized by the ability to utilize only a single size key for all socket lengths and drive hex recess sizes, and by the ability to utilize only eight holder sizes to accommodate the conventional eight socket lengths, for all socket hex recess sizes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of aerospace fastener installation tooling, and it relates particularly to such tooling which is adapted for installation of Hi-Lok-type frangible threaded fasteners.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hi-Lok-type aerospace fasteners are currently in widespread use throughout the aerospace industry. This type of fastener was developed by Hi-Shear Corporation of Torrance, Calif., and is manufactured under a variety of names, including Hi-Lok, Hi-Tigue, Hi-Light, Very Light, and others. The Hi-Lok-type frangible fastener is particularly adapted for fastening two or more metal panels or workpieces together where there is only limited access for installation tooling, as for example, in the fastening together of wing spar members.
The Hi-Lok-type frangible fastener includes two basic components, a pin or bolt component which has a head end and a threaded end, and a collar component which has an internally threaded body portion and a torque-off drive nut portion. Generally, a series of regularly spaced holes is bored through the panels which are preclamped in their final assembly relative positions. One of the most important features of this fastener is that it enables the fasteners to be installed with the installation tooling disposed on one side only of the panel assembly. However, the Hi-Lok-type fastener is not a blind fastener.
The pin or bolt component is inserted from the rear (relative to the tooling) of the panel assembly, the body of the collar component of the fastener is then preliminarily threaded a few turns onto the exposed threaded end of the pin or bolt component on the operational side of the panel assembly, and then the tooling is applied over the collar component on the operational side. This tooling includes a rotary socket member which has a forwardly opening hex recess that engages the torque-off drive nut portion of the collar component, and also a rotationally stationary hex key which fits into a broached hex cavity in the threaded end portion of the pin or bolt component of the fastener. The socket member is rotated, usually by an air-powered motor in the tool body, and threadedly runs the collar component of the fastener down onto the pin or bolt component until a design preload on the panels is reached, while at the same time the pin or bolt component of the fastener is held against rotation by the rotationally stationary hex key. At the design preload, the drive nut portion of the collar component is automatically torqued off of the threaded body of the collar component, which then becomes the nut portion of the fastener. Thus, another important advantage of the Hi-Lok-type fastener is that the design preload is always automatically accurately achieved without the need for manual monitoring. Avoidance of over-torquing is thus also automatically achieved. The Hi-Lok-type fastener has other advantages, including sealing applications in "wet wing" structures, and good aerodynamic characteristics.
The basic Hi-Lok fastener is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,940,495, issued Jun. 14, 1960 to George S. Wing, and assigned to Hi-Shear Rivet Tool Company of Torrance, Calif. The only tooling that patent discloses is a conventional Allen wrench and a socket head. No power tooling is disclosed.
Applicant is aware of the following six U.S. patents which disclose tooling suitable for the installation of Hi-Lok-type frangible fasteners. These are Batten U.S. Pat. No. 4,538,483, Batten U.S. Pat. No. 4,617,844, Zils U.S. Pat. No. 4,462,281, Bochman, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 3,027,789, Bosten U.S. Pat. No. 3,584,527, and Bangerter et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,323,394. The two Batten patents disclose essentially the same tooling, with a minor modification in the later one. The two Batten patents are the only ones of which applicant is aware which disclose what purports to be a quick-release and replacement system for removal of a damaged or broken hex key and replacement thereof in the ratchet drive head assembly of the tool. However, there are numerous problems associated with this key release and replacement system, which is a ball detent type of system, that are discussed in detail hereinafter.
The Zils patent discloses a straight drive type of tool wherein the socket and hex key approach the workpieces at right angles relative to the general plane of the workpieces. The Zils tool has the disadvantage that if the key is damaged or broken, disassembly of portions of the head assembly of the tool is required in order to remove and replace the hex key. It also has the disadvantage that the key may be difficult to remove because of sealant fouling, and a twisted hex key may not even be removable for replacement, or may damage the key holder, requiring almost complete disassembly of the tool head for removing the stuck key and its key holder. These disadvantages translate into substantial manual effort and tool down-time.
The Bochman patent discloses a geared L-head-type tool that might be applicable to a Hi-Lok-type frangible fastener, although there is no mention of a frangible fastener in this patent. Replacement of the key would require disassembly of a subhousing which houses an enlarged key head and key spring from the main tool head. This would require substantial manual effort and tool down-time.
The Bosten patent discloses a power tool which, by its nature, could be applied to a Hi-Lok-type frangible fastener, although its stationary key has a Phillips screwdriver-type head. It is a straight, offset drive which would require substantial disassembly, and hence manual effort and tool down-time, to remove and replace the bit or key. The Bangerter et al. patent is a straight drive power tool which is generally similar to the tools disclosed in both Bosten and Zils, but has a torque-limiting clutch associated with the bolt-restraining bar. As with both the Bosten and Zils devices, the Bangerter et al. device would require substantial disassembly to remove and replace a broken bar or key, requiring substantial effort and down-time. The binding problem discussed in connection with Zils would also be equally applicable to Bosten and Bangerter.

Installation tool system for Hi-Lok-type fasteners


A semiconductor package having a metal frame includes a frame-shaped conductive member which has an opening portion, mounted on a substrate, and a semiconductor element disposed within the opening. A ring-shaped wiring pattern is provided on a portion of the substrate outwards from the opening portion of the conductive member. The electrostatic coupling capacity of the ring-shaped wiring pattern and the conductive member is not less than the electrostatic coupling capacity of a semiconductor metal wiring layer and the conductive member. The ring-shaped wiring pattern and the ground wiring of the semiconductor metal wiring layer are electrically connected.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor package used in electronic equipment such as digital multifunction printers digital cameras, and more particularly relates to electromagnetic shielding and capabilities.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cellular telephones and other electronic equipment having wireless communication functions, which perform communication using electromagnetic waves in a frequency band of several hundred MHz to several GHz have come into widespread use in recent years. As such equipment has come into widespread use, there are more instances of using common electronic equipment in close proximity to these equipment. As a result, there is demand for such common electronic devices to have immunity against external electromagnetic waves, so as to operate normally even if subjected to external electromagnetic waves of frequencies in the several hundred MHz to several GHz range.
On the other hand, electronic equipment which acquires images, such as digital copiers and digital cameras, have come to use solid-state imaging elements with higher sensitivity in order to realize higher image quality. Solid-state imaging elements are semiconductor elements of which many parts, such as parts for photoelectric conversion and image signal transmission, are formed of analog circuits. High sensitivity is realized by amplifying very weak electric signals by high gain. Accordingly, the higher the sensitivity is, the weaker the signals handled are. Receiving even very weak external electromagnetic waves, in some cases, may cause interference to occur between the circuit and such very weak external electromagnetic waves, leading to false detection of signals. Thus, such electronic equipment having higher sensitivity requires higher immunity against external electromagnetic waves.
Proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-54643 is a method of improving immunity of electronic equipment against external electromagnetic waves. A frame-shaped conductive member is disposed on the inner side of a lead frame formed of a high magnetic permeability material in an analog circuit (or mixed analog circuit including digital circuits) semiconductor package. This arrangement works by attracting external magnetic fields to the high magnetic permeability material on the outer side, generating an opposite magnetic field to the external magnetic field by an eddy current flowing through the frame-shaped conductive member, and cancelling out the external magnetic field by this magnetic field. This configuration is particularly effective in the frequency range of several kHz to several MHz, where AC magnetic field has high effective permeability.
The frame-shaped conductive member has electromagnetic shielding capabilities at frequency bands lower than a particular frequency corresponding to the dimensional size thereof. However, there is a problem that, in the frequency range that is higher than the aforementioned particular frequency, the electromagnetic shielding capabilities gradually degrade as the frequency increases. The reason is that, in such a high frequency range, the electric field becomes a factor which affects the immunity of the semiconductor package against external electromagnetic waves, in addition to the magnetic field. The particular frequency at which the electromagnetic shielding capabilities begin to drop is dependent on the size of the frame-shaped conductive member, and is around 750 MHz in the case of a conductive member 5 cm square. The frame-shaped conductive member needs to be formed smaller than the conductive member to handle higher frequency bands. However, there is a limit to how far semiconductor elements such as solid-state imaging elements can be miniaturized, and there is a possibility that the method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-54643 cannot ensure sufficient electromagnetic shielding capabilities.
The present invention has been made in light of the above problems, and provides a semiconductor package where a semiconductor element is disposed within an opening portion within a frame-shaped conductive member, which is capable of suppressing degradation that can occur in the frequency range of several hundred MHz to several GHz, thereby improving immunity of the semiconductor circuit against external electromagnetic waves.


A semiconductor device includes semiconductor modules disposed on a support member via a cooling plate; and a metal plate which supports a control board for controlling the semiconductor modules, wherein the metal plate, being supported by the support member, covers the semiconductor modules, and also fixes the control board opposite the installation surfaces of the semiconductor modules.

A semiconductor device having mounted thereon semiconductor modules, such as power modules, is used in an electric or a hybrid car which is driven by an electric motor. A semiconductor device mounted on a vehicle has been required to provide the space efficiency of the vehicle, and electrification has led to an increase in the number of onboard instruments and a decrease in installation space, so that it has been required to miniaturize the semiconductor device itself and to mount it directly on a motor or a transmission. The motor or the transmission generates violent vibration when driven, so that the semiconductor device is required to have a very high vibration resistance.
Semiconductor modules of this kind of semiconductor device mounted on the vehicle include connection terminals connected to wiring electrodes and connection terminals connected to a control board. Generally, signal terminals of the semiconductor modules are connected directly to the control board, establishing electrical connection therebetween by soldering or the like. In order to be connected to the semiconductor modules, the control board is disposed so as to oppose the semiconductor modules and overlaps most or all of the semiconductor modules in the direction perpendicular to the semiconductor modules.
Out of parts configuring the semiconductor device, the control board is of a configuration wherein electronic parts are mounted on a thin base material, so that the control board is low in vibration resistance, and it is required to provide thereon many fixing points for an improvement in the vibration resistance. As for the range opposite the semiconductor modules, however, it is difficult, due to limitations of the process of manufacturing the semiconductor modules, to provide the fixing points on the semiconductor modules themselves, so that the board has to be fixed by using another member.
Also, higher power of an electrified vehicle has also been required in recent years, but it is known that when the semiconductor device is made higher in power, electromagnetic noise generated by the semiconductor modules is bigger, imposing an adverse impact, such as a malfunction, on the control board.
As a measure for an improvement in the vibration resistance, for example, patent literature 1 shows a semiconductor device wherein wiring electrodes connected to semiconductor modules are sealed with a resin and wherein a support portion of a control board is provided in the resin.
Also, patent literature 2 shows a semiconductor device wherein a metal plate fixed with an exterior case is disposed in the semiconductor device and wherein a control board is fixed to the metal plate.


There is disclosed an image processing apparatus which implements an image process suitable for an effect for compositing or switching images, and an image process that allows smooth high-speed playback of even an image in motion. The apparatus has band segmentation means for segmenting an image signal into a plurality of frequency band components, and image composition means for, after the band segmentation means segments input first and second image signals, outputting a third image signal by replacing image data for respective segmented band components. When image data, which are recorded while being segmented into a plurality of frequency band components, are composited for respective band, and the composite image data is output, image data obtained by compositing a plurality of image frequency components is decoded and played back in a high-speed playback mode.

As a conventional image processing method that composites or switches a plurality of input image signals, a process called "cross-fade" that switches image A to image B by adding baseband signals of two input images at a predetermined ratio, and changing the addition ratio along with the elapse of time, as shown in FIG. 13, is known. Also, an image processing method called "wipe" that switches baseband signals of two input images from image A to image B from the right to left of the screen along with the elapse of time, as shown in FIG. 14, is known. These image processes "cross-fade" and "wipe" are used upon, e.g., switching photographing scenes in a video camera as effects upon photographing (e.g., see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-301268).
As another image processing method that composites a plurality of images, an image processing method that extracts low- and high-frequency components from two input images, composites the high-frequency components of the two images, and composites the composited high-frequency components to the low-frequency components of one image so as to obtain a third image is known. Since the third image generated in this way contains the high-frequency components of the two images, a high-definition composite image can be obtained (e.g., see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-313205).
However, since the conventional image processes such as "cross-face", "wipe", and the like are executed using baseband signals such as luminance signals, color difference signals, and the like as image signals to be composited or replaced, the visual effects are limited.
Also, since the conventional image process that composites the high-frequency components of two images, and then composites the composited high-frequency components to the low-frequency components of one image aims at emphasizing the edge of one image generated by composition, such process is not suited as an effect upon switching seamless images such as a moving image.
Conventionally, a demand has arisen for a playback process faster than an actual recording time for the purpose of searching for desired contents within a short period of time, roughly recognizing the overall flow, and so forth upon playing back time-sequential image data such as moving image data.
An image processing apparatus having such high-speed playback function is available. In general, since a moving image is a set of images for one screen called a frame, a high-speed playback function is implemented by downsampled playback (e.g., by playing back recorded frames at intervals of several frames).
However, when such downsampled playback is made, as the playback speed increases (i.e., as the number of frames to be downsampled increases), a moving image to be played back becomes jerky, and the visual characteristics are not good.
As a high-speed playback method with improved visual characteristics, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-162851 discloses a high-speed playback method which plays back only intra-encoded frames of encoded image data in which one intra-encoded frame and a plurality of inter-encoded frames alternately appear. Also, as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-162851, an intra-encoded frame is broken up into partial images called slices obtained by segmenting that frame in the horizontal direction, and one slice/frame is played back to attain quicker playback.
Furthermore, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-352524 has proposed a method of generating a composite image for one frame from partial images of a plurality of successive frames, and playing back that composite image upon playing back a moving image encoded by MPEG at high speed.
The high-speed playback methods proposed by these references can display visually smooth motion of images even in the high-speed playback mode compared to simple frame downsampling. However, in these proposals, since a plurality of frame images are sliced (segmented) into rectangular patterns and a composite image for one frame is reconstructed by combining slice images of the respective frame images, the composite image includes images photographed at different times together.
For this reason, when a composite image is generated from images for four frames with inter-frame motions, as shown in FIG. 23, a composite image having deviations shown in FIG. 24 is obtained, and the reproduced image is visually not preferable.
In order to attain high-speed playback while generating such composite images, since a plurality of images must be read out, composited, and played back within a normal playback processing time for one frame, the load on the processing of the apparatus becomes heavier, and resources such as memories and the like are required in large quantities. For example, in the method proposed by Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-352524, data must be read out at a double speed in a double-speed playback mode.


A semiconductor memory device processes external commands in parallel using divided clocks, which embodies a high-speed operation of a DRAM in increase of clock frequency. In the semiconductor memory device, command processing blocks are separated into row and column paths in parallel, and the command processing blocks connected in parallel are sequentially latched by clocks obtained by dividing input clocks applied externally, thereby improving the operation speed of the DRAM at high operation and reducing power consumption.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a semiconductor memory device, and more specifically, to a technology of processing external commands in parallel using divided clocks, thereby embodying a high-speed operation of a DRAM in increase of clock frequency.
2. Background of the Prior Art
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a conventional semiconductor memory device.
The conventional semiconductor memory device comprises a clock generator 1, an input buffer 2, a latch unit 3, a command processing block 4, a bank control block 5 and an asynchronous block 6.
The clock generator 1 generates an internal clock CLKP synchronously with respect to a clock CLK applied externally. The input buffer 2 compares a reference voltage Vref with a command signal CMD applied externally, and outputs a signal having a full voltage level to a node ND1.
The latch unit 3 latches an output signal from the node ND1 Synchronously with respect to a first internal clock CLKP applied from the clock generator 1, and outputs the latched output signal to a node ND2. The latch unit 3 Latches data applied to the node ND1 during a pulse width period of the first internal clock CLKP.
The command processing block 4 latches an output signal from the node ND2 synchronously with respect to a second internal clock CLKP, and outputs the latches output signal to a node ND3. The bank control block 5 latches an output signal from the node ND3 synchronously with respect to a third internal clock CLKP, and outputs the latches output signal to the asynchronous block 6. The asynchronous block 6 performs a specific processing by internal sequential asynchronous operation in response to an output signal applied from a node ND4.
The above-described conventional semiconductor memory device uses the externally applied clock CLK or alters the clock CLK to have a predetermined pulse width, thereby controlling internal command processing blocks.
However, if internal command processing blocks use the externally inputted clock CLK as it is when the frequency of the clock CLK increases over 1 GHz at high-speed operation of the conventional semiconductor memory device, the internal command processing blocks do not secure the normal operation.
That is, the data processing time of more than 1 ns is required so that each of the command processing block 4 and the bank control block 5 may perform a normal operation. However, when the frequency of the clock CLK is more than 1 GHz, the data processing time is not sufficient in transmission of a signal latched in the command processing block 4 to the bank control block 5, and the conventional semiconductor memory device do not perform the normal operation.


To improve the vibration resistance of a disk tray of a disk drive for driving an optical disk, accurately keep the clearance between a turntable for rotating the optical disk and the back of a cover chassis, and exclude factors of a read error and a write error, and improve the reliability. A chassis case 10, a disk tray 1 movable between an loading position in the chassis case 10 and an unloading position outside of the chassis case 10 while supporting a discoid recording medium, pressing means set between the chassis case 10 and disk tray 1 to generate a pressing force for pressing the disk tray 1 in the “direction perpendicular to a recording medium” by using the chassis case 10 as a reaction point when loading the disk tray 1 are included in which the pressing means presses the disk tray 1 in the “direction perpendicular to a recording medium” when the disk tray 1 is located at the loading position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk drive for driving an optical disk such as a CD (Compact Disk) or DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) generally used as a recording medium, particularly to a disk drive whose structure, reliability, and operability are improved correspondingly with the adoption of a thin type disk drive.
2. Detailed Description of the Related Art
In general, a disk drive for driving an optical disk is integrally built in the body of a personal computer (hereafter referred to as PC) or the like to record or reproduce information in or from the optical disk (for example, refer to Patent Document 1). FIG. 18 shows the appearance of a notebook PC with the built-in disk drive mentioned above. Usually, in the disk drive, a disk tray 101 pops out by operating a switch or a command from the PC body and then, a user of the PC takes out the disk tray 101 and sets an optical disk D to the disk tray 101.
FIG. 19 shows the appearance of a disk drive frequently used particularly for a notebook PC. As shown in FIG. 19, a turntable 102 fixed to a driving shaft of a spindle motor set just below a disk tray 101 is set to the center of the disk tray 101. A clamping mechanism 102a integrated with the turntable 102 clamps a central hole of an optical disk D so as to transfer a torque. Moreover, a head unit 103 mainly constituted by an optical pickup moves in a slit 101a formed on the disk tray 101 in the radial direction so as to record or reproduce information in or from the optical disk D. The disk tray 101 is thus constituted so that it is housed in a chassis case 105 with the support of a guide rail 104.
FIG. 20 shows a setting structure of a bezel 106 to the front face of the disk tray 101. An earth plate 107 for discharging static electricity is fixed on the back face of the bezel 106 and an open end 107a of the earth plate 107 contacts with an opening 105a of the chassis case 105 when the disk tray 101 is loaded, so that a discharge channel is formed.
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-171604
In recent notebook PCs, to minimize their thickness and weight is desired and is also regarded as an important problem in development of them. However, a disk drive to be built in a notebook PC has an optical disk driving unit, and thus the disk drive is the most difficult part to decrease thickness.
Though the standard thickness of the disk drive is approximately 12.7 mm at present, the thickness of approximately 9.5 mm is further requested. However, to achieve the requested thickness, individual parts become proportionally small and the clearance between movable parts becomes strict, so the design of the disk drive is very difficult. Moreover, in a recent disk drive for driving an optical disk having a very high recording density, it is necessary to further improve a structural accuracy while reducing the thickness of the disk drive, and any structural defect must be prevented to occur.
The present invention is made to solve the above-described problem and has an object to provide an improved technique for a disk drive, including an existing disk drive, whose structural accuracy, reliability and operability are improved even when the thickness of the disk drive is reduced.

Disk drive having means for pressing disk tray by using chassis case as a reaction point


Members of a primary-backup group in a clustered computer system are organized into subgroups to manage primary and backup resources being managed by the group. Group members are placed into subgroups based upon their access to particular resources, such that a primary subgroup may be defined comprised of members having access to a common primary resource, with one or more backup subgroups defined comprised of members having access to a common backup resource. A join protocol is used to determine to which of a plurality of resources managed by the primary-backup group a joining member has access, and to add the joining member to a subgroup for a resource to which the joining member has access.

"Clustering" generally refers to a computer system organization where multiple computers, or nodes, are networked together to cooperatively perform computer tasks. An important aspect of a computer cluster is that all of the nodes in the cluster present a single system image—that is, from the perspective of a user, the nodes in a cluster appear collectively as a single computer, or entity.
Clustering is often used in relatively large multi-user computer systems where high performance and reliability are of concern. For example, clustering may be used to provide redundancy, or fault tolerance, so that, should any node in a cluster fail, the operations previously performed by that node will be handled by other nodes in the cluster. Clustering is also used to increase overall performance, since multiple nodes can often handle a larger number of tasks in parallel than a single computer otherwise could. Often, load balancing can also be used to ensure that tasks are distributed fairly among nodes to prevent individual nodes from becoming overloaded and therefore maximize overall system performance. One specific application of clustering, for example, is in providing multi-user access to a shared resource such as a database or a storage device, since multiple nodes can handle a comparatively large number of user access requests, and since the shared resource is typically still available to users even upon the failure of any given node in the cluster.
Clusters typically handle computer tasks through the performance of "jobs" or "processes" within individual nodes. In some instances, jobs being performed by different nodes cooperate with one another to handle a computer task. Such cooperative jobs are typically capable of communicating with one another, and are typically managed in a cluster using a logical entity known as a "group." A group is typically assigned some form of identifier, and each job in the group is tagged with that identifier to indicate its membership in the group. Typically, these jobs, which are often referred to as "members", are resident on different nodes in a cluster.
Member jobs in a group typically communicate with one another using an ordered message-based scheme, where the specific ordering of messages sent between group members is maintained so that every member sees messages sent by other members in the same order as every other member, thus ensuring synchronization between nodes. Requests for operations to be performed by the members of a group are often referred to as "protocols," and it is typically through the use of one or more protocols that tasks are cooperatively performed by the members of a group.
Clusters often support changes in group membership through the use of group organizational operations such as membership change protocols, e.g., if a member job needs to be added to or removed from a group. One such change protocol is a join protocol, which is used to add a new member to a group. Among other operations, a join protocol ensures that group state or configuration information is sent to the joining member so that all members of the group have a consistent view of the state.
One type of group is a primary-backup group, in which one group member is designated as the primary, and the other members are backups. Primary-backup groups are often used in a clustered computer system to manage a type of resource, such as a disk, tape or other storage unit, a printer or other imaging device, or another type of switchable hardware component or system.
One particular application of a primary-backup group is for managing switched disks. In such a group, the disk is accessible from either the primary or backup members, but only the primary member actually hosts the disk. Members join the group to provide additional backup members for the switched disk being managed by the group, with the typical join protocol transmitting configuration information for the disk from the primary member to the joining member, as the protocol assumes the joiner is able to access the disk.
In the event of a failure in a primary member in a clustered computer system, management of the resource is automatically switched over to a backup member, typically according to a predetermined backup order. Access to the resource is therefore maintained despite the failure of the primary member.
While the use of the aforementioned primary-backup groups increases the fault tolerance of a clustered computer system due to the ability to automatically switch management responsibility to different members of the group, such groups are not capable of directly addressing failures in the managed resources themselves. For example, failure of a disk can render the disk (and more importantly, the data on that disk) unavailable to the clustered computer system.
Resources such as disks and other storage systems often rely on other techniques for providing fault tolerance, such as mirroring, where data stored on one disk (typically referred to as a primary or production disk) is mirrored or copied to another disk (typically referred to as a backup or copy disk). With mirroring therefore, a failure in the primary disk in such a system typically does not cause a loss of stored data, as the backup disk typically may be accessed in the alternative to supply any requested data.
Should a mirrored resource such as a mirrored disk be utilized in a clustered computer system, it would be desirable to utilize a group structure similar to a conventional primary-backup group to manage the operation of such a resource, preferably in a manner that ensures fault tolerance both from the perspective of the group managing the resource and the underlying resource itself. In a conventional primary-backup group, where a single primary member hosts the primary resource, the use of a mirrored resource would require that the primary, as well as all backup members capable of assuming management duties, have access, and be capable of hosting, both the primary resource and any backup resources.
However, clustered computer systems are increasingly being implemented using more flexible and dispersed environments. For example, some clustered computer systems permit geographically distant computers to participate in the same cluster.
Indeed, from the perspective of fault tolerance of a resource, it is theoretically more reliable for primary and backup resources to reside in different cluster nodes, so that any failures in a particular cluster node only affects a subset of any resources resident in such nodes. Given, however, the possibility that a cluster may be dispersed among many different locations, a requirement that each member in a primary-backup group be capable of accessing and/or hosting both primary and backup resources would be overly constrictive, as oftentimes the management operations that may be performed by a member of a primary-backup group requires in the least proximity between the member and the resource being managed, if not direct connectivity therebetween.
As such, a need exists for a primary-backup group architecture that supports the hosting of primary and backup resources irrespective of the connectivity and dispersion of the group members in a clustered computer system. More specifically, a need exists for a join protocol that supports the creation of such a primary-backup group architecture.

Join protocol for a primary-backup group with backup resources in clustered computer system

International Business Machines Corporation


A system for holding and delivery a plurality of disposable cannula adaptors. A dispenser is provided with a dispensing surface having a series of posts or other means for retaining a plurality of disposable cannula adaptors in a spaced relationship. The posts extend upwardly, and preferably two or more adaptors can be accommodated on each post. A plurality of the dispensers can be employed in a stacked relationship, with the dispensers having the posts extending from one side thereof and one or more post retainers formed on the opposite side and in alignment with a post on the next lower dispenser. In an alternative form, the dispenser has an adhesive dispensing surface, and the cannula adaptors are applied in a spaced relationship to the adhesive surface.

This invention relates to blood sampling apparatus, and more particularly to a system for delivering a plurality of disposable cannula adaptors, each of which is formed to be retained in a holder for engagement of a cannula.
As medical science has advanced, the sampling and analysis of a patient's blood has become an important diagnostic aid. However, blood collection can also pose hazards for the person drawing blood, and therefore various devices have been developed to protect the drawer from contamination as much as possible.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,841,985; 4,984,580 and 5,117,837 are directed to various developments in blood drawing apparatus, and the disclosures of said patents are incorporated herein by reference. In one form of the blood drawing apparatus of such patents, a disposable cannula adaptor is employed in connection with a holder for an evacuated blood collection tube. The cannula adaptor is inserted in one end of the holder and held temporarily in place, and a blood needle is then screwed into the adaptor, with one end extending outwardly for vein puncture, and an opposite end extending inwardly in the holder for piercing a blood collection tube. After use of the holder to collect blood, the cannula adaptor and cannula are released from the holder, and disposed. The holder can be disposed, or cleaned and reused with a new cannula adaptor.
While the cannula adaptor concept of the incorporated patents provides a significant advance in blood drawing apparatus, proper delivery of the cannula adaptors, to prevent contamination and to provide easy access, remains beyond the scope of the patents.


System and method for deriving call routing information utilizing a network control data base system and voice recognition for matching spoken word sound patterns to routing numbers needed to set up calls. Public access is provided to a common database via a common access number or code. Terminating parties sponsor the call and originating parties need not be pre-subscribed to use the service. The common access number is used to initiate or trigger the service. The system advantageously operates under the direction of a service control point, which combines technologies for switching, interactive voice response, and voice recognition with the data base to automate the processes of assisting callers in making calls for which they do not know the phone number. Usage information is gathered on completed calls to each terminating party for billing. Three alternative deployments in the U.S. telephone network are described, and vary based on the location of the service control points or intelligent processors and the degree of intelligence within the network.

The need to continually improve the efficiency and precision with which telephone callers may specify and be connected to a desired called party is as old as the telephone system itself. It is well known that long before technology was developed for direct dialing and automated switching, telephone lines were connected to a manual exchange, where live operators plugged cords in and out of jacks to make connections at the voice request of the caller. As telephone usage became more widespread, the use of numeric direct dialing technology eventually replaced the need for live operators to make physical connections. A fundamental problem with numeric direct dialing, however, is that the caller has to know, and subsequently remember, the telephone number of the party desired to be called. In fact, one distinct advantage of the antiquated manual exchange system was that all the caller had to do was speak the name of the called party and the operator could make the connection based on no more than that instruction.
Various technologies are known in the art that are directed to assist a caller reaching a called party with reduced reliance on already knowing a specific number. Some of these technologies are described below:
800 and Vanity Numbers
Digit-dialed 800, or INWATS, has been around for several decades. The data base call processing method for the 800 number using out of band signaling has enhanced the functionality of INWATS with flexible band assignment, making it more economical and efficient. It has also made possible a single portable 800 number that could be used by a subscribing entity with multiple locations, and for terminating calls to be distributed based on variables such as their origination point, time of day, day of week, etc. INWATS has been a commercially successful and valuable tool for businesses and other entities who use it to encourage calls from customers, prospects or constituents.
These benefits of the 800 number are nonetheless still subject to the problem of potential customers remembering the 800 number to initiate a call. Vanity numbers (phone numbers that spell a name or phrase) are often used by businesses to facilitate recall of their telephone numbers by customers, and thus are in high demand. By using the alpha characters assigned to each number on a telephone dial or keypad, vanity numbers enable a customer to recall an easily remembered word or phrase rather than a number, which may be more difficult to remember.
Numbers for 800 service are assigned to businesses on a first-come, first-serve basis. Vanity numbers have proven to be very effective in increasing telephone business for their owners. While they are in high demand, however, good vanity numbers are limited in supply. Vanity numbers constrain the subscriber to seven character words or phrases. Due to the common sequence of consonants and vowels needed to create a seven letter word or phrase, very few vanity numbers are left to meet current and future demand. Further, as the universe of available vanity numbers diminishes, they cease to be particularly useful as an aide-memoir as they become less descriptive of the name or the nature of the business owning the number. This lack of vanity number availability also places businesses owning a good vanity number somewhat serendipitously at a considerable competitive advantage over emerging businesses.
Voice Activated Dialing
Prior art voice activated dialing utilizes voice recognition technology to allow the caller to subscribe to a service and then be able to call other parties by speaking a key word or phrase into their receiver such as the called party's name, title or a location (e.g., "call Mike," "call doctor," or "call home.") This can be done as soon as the phone is off hook, but may also be activated via an access or activation number or code. Typically a stand alone voice recognition processor is located in a local central office near the subscriber as an adjunct to the switch. A unique file is set up for each calling subscriber who is at liberty to populate it with key words of the subscriber's choosing. Except for system maintenance, no one but the subscriber has access and control of the calling file in the data base. While most current applications of voice activated dialing involve a data base housed in a local central office, there are also technologies that place this function either in the customer's telephone equipment, or in a central open access network location.
While existing voice dialing inventions are perhaps appealing for their technical novelty, they provide little more utility than the programmable speed dialing keys that may be found on many telephones. Both features merely eliminate the need for the caller to dial the entire number manually when calling within a small personalized universe of frequently-called numbers, most of which the caller usually knows by heart anyway. Both generally reduce the time for manual dialing. In most cases, however, voice activated dialing is more costly than speed dialing to the user. Voice activated dialing does add utility over speed dialing for situations where hands need to be free such as while driving, or where the user may be visually or physically impaired. It may provide access to more numbers than is typical for most phone equipment with speed dialing capabilities. It is expected, however, that the demand for voice activated dialing will be limited to a small number of subscribers willing to pay for the service.
Further, since the originating subscriber defines the words and phrases that will be used to identify called parties, and since use is expected to involve only a small portion of the population, the prior art application of voice activated dialing is of little value to called parties such as businesses interested in increasing telephone traffic by making it easier for prospects to call them.
Moreover, existing voice activated dialing services are generally limited in the number of terminating locations that can be reached, based on the set of names per subscriber. Currently, a typical subscriber data file has a limited capacity of approximately 60 names for initiating voice activated calls. The number of businesses that will benefit from open access network control voice activated dialing exceeds this current 60 name per subscriber capacity within existing technology. In all probability, only a small fraction of a business's market or potential customers will actually be subscribed to voice activated dialing. In fact, most businesses will hope to generate business from customer prospects who, even if they are voice activated dialing subscribers, will most likely not have programmed the business's name into their personal voice dialing file. Businesses will want to be in control of making their name accessible to their entire market. Thus, unless voice activated dialing is made available to all potential customers, it is of little value to businesses trying to attract telephone commerce.
Voice Activated 1+ Information
Voice activated 1+ Information allows a caller to use voice activated dialing to initiate a call to live operator for directory assistance. Once the operator has provided the number, the call can be automatically set up without the caller having to dial the number manually. While providing value in situations where hands need to be free, such as while driving, this service is of no special value to commercial terminating parties wishing to increase telephone traffic. First, the caller must pay for the service, and normally at a price per call greatly in excess of manual dialing because of the cost of live operator intervention. Callers therefore tend to use the service only when there is no other alternative. Second, 1+ Information is generally a localized service, and operators normally require callers to make additional long distance calls to other LATAs when the terminating party is not found in the region covered by their service. This increases the cost to the caller. Third, the caller is often required to know the area code in which the terminating party may be found before either local or long distance 1+ Information operators can help. Clearly, a service in which one number, advantageously toll-free, may be called to enable subsequent connection by voice activated dialing would improve on 1+ Information services.
Universal Number Access
Many commercial organizations and businesses have stores or offices located in multiple geographic locations to be near the customers they serve. It is well known in the art that such businesses often use 800 or similar toll-free numbers to attract calls to a central location, at which point the call is then routed to the business location nearest the caller. The businesses must pay for the costs associated with the initial 800 call that was toll-free to the caller, and then the cost of routing and then connecting to the local location. Further, the toll-free number is susceptible to all the problems of being identified and remembered by the caller as set forth above in the section discussing vanity numbers. It would be clearly advantageous and cost-effective to such businesses to be able to promote a single universal number that could automatically direct calls to the business location nearest the originating point of the call without having to route the call through a central location.

Voice-activated call placement systems and methods


Temperature compensated fiber stretching is accomplished by amplifying with a unique flexure the relative displacement between a rigid frame and a longitudinal spacing element. For passive compensation, relative displacement results from differential thermal expansion between the frame and the longitudinal spacer. For active thermal compensation and/or for wavelength tuning of an embedded fiber Bragg grating, relative displacement results from combining differential thermal expansion with active feedback length control of the longitudinal spacer. The feedback control can stabilize using length feedback from a displacement sensor or actively control length using temperature feedback, including logic elements, for example algorithms or look up tables. In an optical system, combined passive compensation and active control with flexure amplification provide superior thermal wavelength stability and tuning range. In some embodiments, the rigid frame and the flexure are of the same material and can be formed as a single monolithic piece.

Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) are important optical elements widely used in various functional devices for dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) networks, for example FBG-stabilized laser sources and various FBG-based WDMF devices for multiplexers, demultiplexers, and add/drop filters. In these applications of FBGs, a problem arising from changes in the ambient temperature has been observed. Because the spacing of the Bragg grating determines the central wavelength of a reflected optical signal in an optical fiber, have to be carefully designed and accurately manufactured. As with most optical devices, the reflected central wavelength of an FBG varies with the ambient temperature of the device. This is caused only partially by expansion and contraction of the fiber with temperature and consequent change in the period of the refractive index variations in the fiber core. The dominant effect is a variation of the refractive index itself with temperature. These variations, which can be as small as 50 GHz (0.4 nmn), are nevertheless undesirable in view of the narrow channel spacings used in high-performance optical communication systems. Thus, reducing the thermal variability of the FBGs is a key factor to their commercial success in the telecommunication industry.
FBGs can be fabricated by interferometric or phase-mask techniques. However, their packaging is a vital technology in making FBGs suitable for real-world applications. Annealing, laser welding, epoxying, and recoating during fabrication can result in deviation from the desired central wavelength. Thus a packaging device designed with a posttuning mechanism is necessary. To compensate the FBGs thermal wavelength shift, that mechanism must provide both positive and negative correction. One of the methods to achieve this is to include a prestressed element (stretcher) in the packaging device (see S. I. Lin, xe2x80x9cTemperature-compensating device with central-wavelength tuning for optical fiber gratings,xe2x80x9d Opt. Eng. 40(5), 698-702, May 2001). Although stretching a fiber can be done with practically anything, for example a small motorized translation stage, typically more precise stretching is required.
Mechanical strain (stretching) in the fiber also changes the reflected central wavelength of the FBG. The design of stretchers is based on the effects of both strain and temperature on wavelength shift and hence a dispersion shift. The use of strain (stretch) is also the mechanism for tuning dispersion in FBG devices. One effect is used to provide a proportional offset for the other to ideally produce a net zero wavelength shift across a given temperature range. To calculate this proportional offset, the relevant constants are temperature effects on wavelength shift of an unsupported fiber xcex94xcex(T)=+0.01 nm/xc2x0 C.; coefficient of thermal expansion for fused silica =+0.5 xcexcxcex5/xc2x0 C.; and strain effect on wavelength shift xcex94xcex(xcexcxcex5)=+0.001 nm /xcexcxcex5, where the symbol (xcexcxcex5) represents parts per million.
Accordingly, to thermally compensate the fiber, a strain of ≈xe2x88x929.5 xcexcxcex5/xc2x0 C. must be applied to the fiber to produce a near zero wavelength shift. In other words the fiber must be relaxed 9.5 parts per million for every degree C increase of temperature. If a device is constructed that will put tension onto the FBG at low temperatures and relax that tension progressively as the temperature is increased, the two temperature dependent effects can compensate one another. This is commonly done by packaging the fiber with another material that has different thermal expansion characteristics from that of fiber. FIG. 1A is a schematic cross-section depicting a fiber 12 installed in a prior art thermally compensated stretcher 10 (see H. Dutton, xe2x80x9cUnderstanding Optical Communications,xe2x80x9d Prentice Hall, 1998, 275-276). Fiber 12 including a FBG segment 13 is centered inside a hollow fused silica tube 14. Fiber 12 is bonded to reentrant steel end caps 15 typically using epoxy 16. Steel has a much higher coefficient of thermal expansion than the silica of tube 14 or of fiber 12 itself. Fiber 12 is bonded into steel end caps 15 under tension at the lowest temperature at which the device operates. When the temperature rises, the differential expansion of steel end caps 15 causes the tension in fiber 12 to relax. This variation in tension is arranged to cause wavelength variations in the opposite direction from those caused by normal thermal movement of the unsupported fiber. Both effects balance to produce a substantially stable device without active temperature control. However, the simple stretcher of FIG. 1A has no fine adjustment capability and provides coarse adjustment over only a limited range of tension.
The sensitivity of the reflective spectrum center wavelength of intracore Bragg gratings to the strain and thermal environment to which they are subjected has made them popular as sensors and as tuning elements for fiber and diode lasers. Chirped gratings have been shown to compensate for dispersion experienced by short optical pulses traversing a length of optical fiber. A number of methods of fabricating chirped gratings have been devised, but each grating is limited to a fixed narrow range of dispersion compensation.
Sources of optical fibers with FBGs include the following: TeraXion Inc., 20-360 rue Franquet, Sainte-Foy, Quebec, G1P 4N3, Canada; Southampton Photonics (US) Corporate Office, 170 Knowles Drive, Suite 2, Los Gatos, Calif. 95032; and Redfern Photonics Pty Ltd Headquarters, Suite 212, National Innovation Centre, Australian Technology Park, Eveleigh, NSW, 1430, Sydney, Australia.
FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram depicting a prior art stretcher 11 in which a Bragg grating attached to a structural element is strained nonuniformly by means of a set of linear actuator elements (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,694,501, issued Dec. 2, 1997 to Alavie et al.). Fiber 12 is coupled to a segmented piezoelectric stack 17 that can be selectively energized at a number of electrodes 18 along the length of the grating. Strain effects can be fine tuned using voltage control 19. However, piezoelectric stacks are capable of inducing strain over only a limited range, and this arrangement can cause strain discontinuities at the interfaces of the piezo elements that create the stack, causing a detrimental effect on the optical signals being compensated.
The present invention is directed to a system and method which is directed to thermal compensation in a fiber stretcher.
Embodiments of the present invention provide technical advantages not available in the prior art. Temperature compensated fiber stretching is accomplished by amplifying with a unique flexure the relative displacement between a rigid frame and a longitudinal spacing element, both in contact with the flexure. For passive thermal compensation, the relative displacement is provided by differential thermal expansion between the rigid frame and the longitudinal spacing element. For active thermal compensation and/or for wavelength tuning when the fiber contains an embedded fiber Bragg grating, the relative displacement is provided by a combination of differential thermal expansion and active feedback control of the length of the longitudinal spacing element, which is a linear actuator. The feedback control can be configured to stabilize actuator length using length feedback from a displacement sensor and/or to actively control length using feedback from a temperature sensor. The feedback loop can include one or more logic elements, for example algorithms or look up tables. In an optical system, combined passive compensation and active control with flexure amplification provide superior thermal wavelength stability and tuning range.
Embodiments of the present invention are compact, rugged, and easily manufacturable. In some embodiments, the rigid frame and the flexure are fabricated from the same material. In further variations, the rigid frame and the flexure are portions of a single monolithic piece of material.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the invention, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that each of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration and description only and is not intended as a definition of the limits of the present invention.

FBG stretching mechanism with integrated thermal compensation


A solid electrolyte battery using a solid electrolyte capable of realizing high conductivity, and a process for producing a solid electrolyte battery are provided. The solid electrolyte battery is structured as a laminate of a positive electrode collector layer, a positive electrode active material layer, a solid electrolyte layer, a negative electrode active material layer, and a negative electrode collector layer formed in order on a substrate. The solid electrolyte layer is a thin film formed of a compound of the formula Li3 M04 (M =V, Nb, Ta, or Db).

This invention relates to solid electrolyte batteries and processes for producing solid electrolyte batteries. More specifically, the invention relates to solid electrolyte batteries that include a thin film-shaped all-solid electrolyte formed between a positive electrode and a negative electrode, and processes for producing such solid electrolyte batteries.
The recent rapid development of portable electronics has made portable electronic devices such as cellular phones and laptop personal computers to be recognized as the fundamental technology representing the basis of the sophisticated information society.
Further, the active research and development directed to improving the functions of these devices has lead to a proportional increase in the power consumption of the portable electronic devices. Because these electronic devices are also required to run long hours, the secondary battery, a driving power supply, is expected to have higher energy density.
Considering factors such as the occupied volume and the weight of the battery installed in portable electronic devices, the battery energy density should desirably be as high as possible. Lithium ion secondary batteries using doping and undoping of lithium ions have excellent energy density, and have been widely used in portable electronic devices.
For safety and reliability issues, the research and development of lithium ion secondary batteries are particularly active in all-solid lithium ion secondary batteries in which a solid electrolyte containing no organic electrolytic solution is used as the electrolyte. The characteristics of the solid electrolyte are very important in all-solid lithium ion secondary batteries. Accordingly, there have been active studies of inorganic solid electrolytes such as Li3PO4, and Li3VO4.
For example, X. Son et al., Journal of Materials Processing Technology 120 (2002) 21-25 describes a sintered body obtained by sintering a Li3VO4 powder. The conductivity of this sintered body is reported to be 10−8 S/cm to 10−9 S/cm at room temperature.

Solid electrolyte battery and process for producing solid electrolyte battery


This invention relates to methods of treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, and especially to treatment of this condition with cyclic peptidic and peptidomimetic compounds which have the ability to modulate the activity of G protein-coupled receptors. The compounds preferably act as antagonists of the C5a receptor, and are active against C5a receptors on polymorphonuclear leukocytes and macrophages. Particularly preferred compounds for use in the methods of the invention are disclosed.

All references, including any patents or patent applications, cited in this specification are hereby incorporated by reference. No admission is made that any reference constitutes prior art. The discussion of the references states what their authors assert, and the applicants reserve the right to challenge the accuracy and pertinency of the cited documents. It will be clearly understood that, although a number of prior art publications are referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that any of these documents forms part of the common general knowledge in the art, in Australia or in any other country.
G protein-coupled receptors are prevalent throughout the human body, comprising approximately 60% of known cellular receptor types, and mediate signal transduction across the cell membrane for a very wide range of endogenous ligands. They participate in a diverse array of physiological and pathophysiological processes, including, but not limited to those associated with cardiovascular, central and peripheral nervous system, reproductive, metabolic, digestive, immunological, inflammatory, and growth disorders, as well as other cell-regulatory and proliferative disorders. Agents which selectively modulate functions of G protein-coupled receptors have important therapeutic applications. These receptors are becoming increasingly recognised as important drug targets, due to their crucial roles in signal transduction (G protein-coupled Receptors, IBC Biomedical Library Series, 1996).
One of the most intensively studied G protein-coupled receptors is the receptor for C5a. C5a is one of the most potent chemotactic agents known, and recruits neutrophils and macrophages to sites of injury, alters their morphology; induces degranulation; increases calcium mobilisation, vascular permeability (oedema) and neutrophil adhesiveness; contracts smooth muscle; stimulates release of inflammatory mediators, including histamine, TNF-α, IL-1, IL-6, IL-8, prostaglandins, and leukotrienes, and of lysosomal enzymes; promotes formation of oxygen radicals; and enhances antibody production (Gerard and Gerard, 1994).
Agents which limit the pro-inflammatory actions of C5a have potential for inhibiting chronic inflammation, and its accompanying pain and tissue damage. For these reasons, molecules which prevent C5a from binding to its receptors are useful for treating chronic inflammatory disorders driven by complement activation. Because such compounds act upstream from the various inflammatory mediators referred to above, and inhibit the formation of many of these compounds, they may have a more powerful effect in alleviating or preventing inflammatory symptoms.
In our previous application No. PCT/AU98/00490, we described the three-dimensional structure of some analogues of the C-terminus of human C5a, and used this information to design novel compounds which bind to the human C5a receptor (C5aR), behaving as either agonists or antagonists of C5a. It had previously been thought that a putative antagonist might require both a C-terminal arginine and a C-terminal carboxylate for receptor binding and antagonist activity (Konteatis et al, 1994). We showed that in fact a terminal carboxylate group is not generally required either for high affinity binding to C5aR or for antagonist activity. Instead we found that a hitherto unrecognised structural feature, a turn conformation, was the key recognition feature for high affinity binding to the human C5a receptor on neutrophils. As described in our international patent application No. PCT/AU02/01427, filed on 17th Oct. 2002, we used further refinements of these findings to design more tightly constrained structural templates which enable hydrophobic groups to be assembled into a hydrophobic array for interaction with a C5a receptor. We have subsequently found that a preferred compound of this class is able to inhibit cardiac and pulmonary fibrosis, and this is described in our international patent application No. PCT/AU03/00415, filed on 7th Apr. 2003. The entire disclosures of these specifications are incorporated herein by this reference.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of serious, chronic relapsing inflammatory diseases affecting both the small and large intestine, which remains relatively resistant to current treatments. IBD is characterized by spontaneously occurring, chronic relapsing inflammation of unknown origin, in which current treatment options are inadequate (reviewed by van Deventer, 2002). Despite extensive research into the disease in both humans and experimental animals, the precise mechanisms of pathology remain to be elucidated. A host of immune and inflammatory mediators are thought to be involved, including biogenic amines, kinins, arachidonic acid metabolites, free radicals, nitric oxide, various proinflammatory cytokines, and complement proteins (Nielsen et al, 1996). Recent advances in drug development for IBD have involved the use of monoclonal antibodies to inhibit pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukins, interferons and tumour necrosis factor α (TNF-α). In particular, the anti-TNF-α antibodies CDP571 and infliximab have been used clinically to treat Crohn's disease with some success. However, these new protein therapies suffer from major drawbacks, such as the costs of production, instability, poor bioavailability, limited routes of administration, and immunogenicity.
Several major forms of IBD are known, and Crohn's disease (regional bowel disease) and ulcerative colitis are the most common of these disorders. Because of the nature of their pathology, there are a number of autoimmune and immune-mediated diseases of the small and large bowel which are likely to benefit from treatment with these C5a antagonists. These include lymphocytic-plasmocytic enteritis, coeliac disease, collagenous colitis, lymphocytic colitis and eosinophilic enterocolitis. Other less common forms of IBD include indeterminate colitis, infectious colitis (viral, bacterial or protozoan, e.g. amoebic colitis), pseudomembranous colitis (necrotizing colitis), and ischemic inflammatory bowel disease. These conditions have been diagnosed in humans and in a number of animal species.
In 1999, approximately 1.7 million people in the United States alone were diagnosed with this debilitating disease. Satisfactory treatment of IBD is an unmet medical need, as existing therapeutic agents have not been successful in curtailing the disease and avoiding the need for surgery. Up to 40% of all ulcerative colitis patients undergo surgery, which typically includes either the removal of part of the large intestine or a full colostomy. While surgery is not curative for Crohn's disease, 75% of all patients will undergo at least one surgery in their lifetime, and up to 90% of these patients require additional surgeries. A therapeutic agent which can successfully treat inflammatory bowel disease can enormously improve a patient's quality of life, while potentially saving the healthcare system millions of dollars in costs associated with invasive surgical procedures.
In these conditions, chronic inflammation, caused by a number of inflammatory mediators, has been implicated in pathogenesis. The complement system has been acknowledged as one of these inflammatory mediators, since increased levels of complement products are found in the colons of patients with IBD (Neilsen et al. 1996). Ulcerative colitis, also known as idiopathic colitis, is characterized by inflammation of the colon and rectum, which become inflamed and ulcerated; its cause is unclear, although antibodies to colonic epithelium and E. coli strain 0119 B14 are often present. Its severity varies, and the patients suffer frequent relapses. Crohn's disease, also called regional enteritis or regional ileitis, is characterized by inflammation, thickening and ulceration of the bowel wall, usually in the terminal part of the ileum, with oedematous mucosa or thickened soft tissue, mesenteric infiltration, thickened bowel wall, and often inflammatory masses, abscesses, or distended fluid-filled loops. Complications include fistulae, intramural sinus tracts, abscesses, perforations, toxic megacolon, obstruction of the bowel, or hydronephrosis, and there is an increased risk of adenocarcinoma in the ileum or colon.
In both these conditions extensive bed rest is often required, and in severe case the affected part of the bowel may be surgically removed, necessitating the use of an ostomy bag. The only therapeutic agents which are available are corticosteroids such as prednisolone, monoclonal antibodies directed against tumour necrosis factor, such as Remicade (infliximab), immunosuppressive agents such as methotrexate, azathioprine, cyclosporine, tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil, or other anti-inflammatory agents such as sulphasalazine. These agents, especially the steroids, may be of limited effectiveness, and may have serious side effects. A variety of other agents, including corticosteroid derivatives such as budesonide, antagonists and agonists of cytokines such as interleukin-10 and interleukin-11, and a nicotinic receptor agonist, are in various stages of clinical trial. To our knowledge none of these approved or experimental agents, and in particular no small molecule agent, targets the C5a receptor.
Therefore there is a great need in the art for effective, non-toxic agents which do not require administration by injection, and which can be produced at reasonable cost.


An ink jet recording apparatus includes a slide member slidably supported at a cartridge holder and a lock claw member rotatably supported at the cartridge holder. The slide member slides along an insertion direction of an ink cartridge with respect to the cartridge holder between a first slide position and a second slide position. When the slide member is located at the second slide position, the lock claw member is located at a first rotation position. At this time, the ink cartridge is incapable of being removed from the cartridge holder. When the slide member moves to the first slide position from the second slide position, the lock claw member is located at the second rotation position. At this time, the ink cartridge is removable from the cartridge holder.

A conventional ink jet recording apparatus as a liquid ejection apparatus includes a carriage, a recording head loaded on the carriage, and an ink cartridge as a liquid cartridge for storing ink to be supplied to the recording head. In the ink jet recording apparatus, printing is performed for a recording medium by ejecting ink from a nozzle provided at the recording head while relatively moving the carriage and the recording medium.
Ink jet recording apparatuses include a so-called off carriage type which is the type without an ink cartridge loaded on a carriage in order to reduce load on the carriage and to make the apparatus compact and thin. In the off carriage type ink jet recording apparatus, the ink cartridge usually includes an ink pack for housing ink and a case for housing the ink pack. The ink inside the ink pack is supplied to the recording head by supplying air pressurized by a pressure pump into a space between the ink pack and the case and crushing the ink pack, or by gravity by locating the ink cartridge above the carriage.
In the off carriage type ink jet recording apparatus, the ink cartridge is detachably attached to a cartridge holder provided at the recording apparatus. When the ink in the ink pack is used up, the old ink cartridge is removed from the cartridge holder, and a new ink cartridge is attached to the cartridge holder.
There are proposed various ink jet recording apparatuses which are improved to attach and detach the ink cartridge easily to and from the cartridge holder. For example, the ink jet recording apparatus disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-200749 includes a cover member which is opened when the ink cartridge is operated to be attached and detached, and an operation lever rotatably provided inside the cover member. The ink cartridge is attached and detached to and from the cartridge holder by rotating the operation lever.
In the recording apparatus disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-200749, fixation of the ink cartridge to the cartridge holder is mainly performed by means of the cover member. However, in the state in which the ink cartridge is attached to the cartridge holder, a gap occurs between the cover member and the ink cartridge. Therefore, the ink cartridge swings in the cartridge holder due to vibrations and drop during transportation and printing. As a result, there arises fear that an ink lead-in tube of the ink pack and an ink lead-out portion of the cartridge holder will become disconnected and an air lead-out tube of the ink cartridge and an air lead-in portion of the cartridge holder will become disconnected. Incomplete connection between the ink lead-in tube and the ink lead-out portion causes leakage of the ink, and incomplete connection between the air lead-out tube and the air lead-in portion makes it difficult to supply the pressurized air to the ink cartridge with high accuracy.
Therefore, in order to suppress swing of the ink cartridge in the cartridge holder, the cartridge holder and the ink cartridge are respectively provided with projections for positioning which are engaged with each other. However, when the ink cartridge is removed from the cartridge holder, it is not necessarily easy for users unaccustomed to replacement of the ink cartridges to pull the ink cartridge with strong force to release engagement of the projections.


A polarized lightwave reflectometry method including the steps of sending at least two polarized light signals into the optical fiber to be tested, the signals presenting a determined angular offset relative to each other so that the polarization mode dispersion coefficient remains independent of any rotation of polarization in the optical fiber under test; extracting a scalar parameter of the relative noise type for each trace obtained by back-scattering of the light signal; and estimating the polarization mode dispersion coefficient by a function having a single scalar input, which function is of the type based on exponentials and has the form exp (a+bP+cP−1).

The invention relates to the field of polarized lightwave reflectometry methods, also known as polarization optical time domain reflectometry (POTDR). Polarized lightwave reflectometry or POTDR makes it possible to obtain at least a qualitative estimate of the polarization mode dispersion (PMD) of optical fibers having a high degree of mode coupling, with dispersion being expressed in picoseconds per root kilometer (ps/km1/2). POTDR makes it possible to verify uniformity of PMD along optical fibers. This makes it possible to identify and select good segments of an optical fiber (i.e. segments presenting a low PMD coefficient). Since PMD in an optical fiber is due to birefringence in said optical fiber, analyzing a polarized lightwave that has passed along an optical function makes it possible, qualitatively, to evaluate the birefringence of said optical fiber, and consequently to derive a qualitative estimate of its PMD. PMD can be evaluated either locally, i.e. over a portion of the optical fiber to be tested, said optical fiber portion preferably being at least 1 kilometer (km) long, or else overall, i.e. over the entire length of the optical fiber to be tested. Since POTDR involves a signal that has been back-scattered, it suffices to have access to one end only of the optical fiber to be tested or of the cable containing the optical fiber to be tested. It is advantageous for the PMD of an optical fiber to be uniform, known, and low.
In the prior art, e.g. as described in the article "Distributed PMD measurement with a polarization-OTDR in optical fibers" written by B. Huttener and published Mar. 10, 1999 in the "Journal of Lightwave Technology", 17, pp 1843–1948, 1999, or else in the article "Single-end polarization dispersion measurement by back-reflected spectra through a linear polarizer" written by Andrea Galtarossa and published on Oct. 10, 1999 in "Journal of Lightwave Technology", polarized lightwave reflectometry methods are known. Nevertheless, those methods are based on sending a single linearly polarized light signal from which one or more parameters are extracted, such as degree of polarization (DOP) or differential group delay (DGD) for example, from which the mode dispersion of the polarization is evaluated. The methods proposed can be described as being semi-quantitative insofar as firstly by giving a value for the polarization mode dispersion coefficient they represent a significant improvement over purely qualitative methods, and secondly their accuracy is limited and not sufficient for certain applications.

Polarized lightwave reflectometry method (POTDR)