By administering a composition comprising pumpkin seed, safflower, plantain and honeysuckle, subjective symptoms (for example, general malaise and abdominal swelling) of a patient with chronic hepatitis C can be eliminated and, moreover, objective symptoms diagnosed by a medical doctor (for example, liver enlargement and palm erythema) can be relieved or eliminated. From 1 to 3 months after the administration of the composition, a significant decrease in hepatitis C virus RNA level is gradually observed. Therefore, the above composition is useful at least as a composition for treating chronic hepatitis C. In particular, it is advantageous in treating a chronic hepatitis C patient showing a high chronic hepatitis C virus RNA level.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV RNA virus) is the cause of hepatitis C. Infection occurs from body fluids such as the blood.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is classified into several subtypes according to the genetic type. There is a classification system which classifies HCV into types 1-6 and subtypes a, b, and c, which can be written as 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, and so on (for example, Kato N., Hepatitis C Virus, Industrial Publishing & Consulting, Inc., Tokyo, 2000, p 168).
Sixty percents of people infected with HCV develop acute hepatitis after going through a 1-2 month incubation period. However, those infected with hepatitis C exhibit hepatic damage and slight symptoms, wherein the acute hepatitis period is not very clear. Acute hepatitis C advances to chronic hepatitis at a high rate (60-70%). Chronic hepatitis C causes abnormal AST (aspartate aminotransferase (also known as GOT, glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase)) and ALT (alanine aminotransferase (also known as GPT, glutamate pyruvate transaminase)) values. However, after 2-3 years, these values return to normal or close thereto. Since this state continues from several years to 10 years, doctors sometimes diagnose patients with chronic hepatitis C more than 10 years after the patient was infected with HCV After repeated chronic necrotic and inflammatory reactions of the liver cells over a period of 20-30 years, hepatitis is known to progress into cirrhosis, and after a further 10 years, the cirrhosis progresses into liver cancer (Kumagai Naoki., Hepatitis C, Mainichi Life, September 2002 issue, p 23, The Yomiuri Shimbun, 2002).
In chronic hepatitis C patients, subjective symptoms are only recognizable during the active period. Symptoms include general malaise, malaise, poor appetite, nausea, and vomiting. If the disease continues to progress into cirrhosis, the percentage of patients exhibiting subjective symptoms rises to 80%. These patients exhibit additional symptoms such as a bloating sensation and skin pruritus. These patients may also exhibit symptoms such as abdominal pain, hematemesis, and melena. Major objective symptom is hepatic enlargement, and the incidence is estimated to be 60 percents. Other objective symptoms include enlargement of the left hepatic lobe, splenomegaly, swelling, ascites, erythema palmare, jaundice, and the like (Kato N., Hepatitis C Virus, Industrial Publishing & Consulting, Inc., Tokyo, 2000, p 189).
As a general therapeutic strategy for treating hepatitis C, the function of the liver is normalized and hepatitis is calmed for suppression of a disease progression. Based on the idea that the disease progression is suppressed by the calming of hepatitis while the virus exists in the body, a treatment comprising administering ursodeoxycholic acid (component comprising fel ursi), minor Bupleurum (Chinese herbal medicine comprising a decoction of seven crude drugs including Bupleurum root, scutellaria, pinellia tuber, (dried) fresh ginger, ginseng, jujube, and licorice), or a preparation comprising glycyrrhizinate of licorice as major constituents (strong neominophagen-C (SNMC®), in order to improve or reduce symptoms is widely known.
However, a more vigorously pursued method known as interferon (IFN) treatment for HCV viral clearance in the body in order to stop progress of the disease. In IFN treatment, two types of IFNs (α and β) are used for antiviral agents such as nIFNα (natural interferon α), recombinant IFNα (genetic recombination-type interferon α), nIFNβ (natural interferon β), and consensus IFNα [consensus interferon α: interferon alphacon-1 (genetic recombination)]. There have been reported the complete responder from whom the virus is completely removed and the incomplete responder who is remarkably improving the hepatic functions by the use of IFN. IFN has also been acknowledged with the effect of suppression of the progress by decreasing the rate of the production of liver cancer.
In addition to IFN, lactoferrin can be given as a substance possessing an anti-virus effect on HCV. Lactoferrin is a glycoprotein belonging to the iron-binding trans-family having a molecular weight of about 80,000 and is obtained by binding a sugar chain of galactose or mannose to a polypeptide chain. The action mechanism of lactoferrin is believed to be the neutralization of the extracellular virus, thereby preventing infection.
It has been disclosed that when one or more of Cucurbita moschata, Plantago asiatica, and Lonicera japonica are added to feed, diseases, especially natural infections, caused by parasites, bacteria, and viruses are largely prevented, an enhancement of the biophylaxis, and an improvement of the quality of meets or eggs. Furthermore, it has been disclosed that a feed comprising crude drugs of Cucurbita moschata, Plantago asiatica, Lonicera japonica, and Carthamus tinctorius improves the health conditions, survival rates, quality of egg, and has anti-leucocytozoonosis effect in layers, and has an anti-Newcastle disease effect and inhibitory effects of the decreased number of Coccidium and Staphylococci in the intestine of quails (U.S. Pat. No. 5,882,672).
A method for producing an interferon inducer from the plants of the genus Cucurbitaceae such as pumpkin has been disclosed (U.S. Pat. No. 4,421,746). It has been disclosed that a methanol extract of winter squash (Sudan medicinal plant) exhibits an HCV protease inhibitory effect and that the inhibitory activity is 47.4±0.0% (Phytochemistry Research (2000) 14, 510-516). However, in this document, there is neither disclosed nor suggested about the decrease in hepatitis C virus under in vivo study. Also, it has been disclosed that Plantago asiatica (Plantago major L.) is used in the treatment of hepatitis virus (American Journal of Chinese Medicine, (1990) Vol. XVIII, Nos. 1-2, pp 35-43). However, this document reported that the treatment can be used for hepatitis which did not know exactly as hepatitis C, but did not mention or indicate that the treatment is actually effective. The antiviral activity and anti-tumor activity of interferon inducers extracted from the flowers of Carthamus tinctorius has been disclosed (for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,456,597). It has also been disclosed that interferon inducers may be extracted from the flowers of Lonicera japonica, seeds of Plantago asiatica, and the like, and that the extracted interferon inducers are useful for the preventive and curative treatments of viral infections in humans and animals (U.S. Pat. No. 4,469,685). A macrophage activator comprising two crude drugs of Cucurbita moschata and Carthamus tinctorius has also been disclosed (JP-A-11-116498). A neutrophil activator comprising four crude drugs of Cucurbita moschata, Carthamus tinctorius, Plantago asiatica, and Lonicera japonica has also been disclosed (JP-A-2000-281584). However, while these documents disclose the interferon inducing effects, macrophage activating effects, neutrophil activating effects, and the inhibitory action of IgE anti-body production of the crude drugs used as active components in the present invention, none of the references disclose or suggest the hepatitis C antivirus activity of these crude drugs.
The progress of a curing method for "refractory chronic hepatitis C" which corresponds to the case that the patient carries a large amount of the virus in the blood (generally 100 KIU/ml or more) in particular among the chronic hepatitis C, type 1b has been desired (Kumagai Naoki, Hepatitis C, Mainichi Life, September issue, The Yomiuri Shimbun, Tokyo, 2002). Even when using interferon alphacon-1, which has been introduced into the market as a hepatitis C curing agent with the highest complete recovery rate, it is reported that a complete recovery can not be expected if the amount of the virus is not less than 850 KIU/ml. It is known that the lower the amount of the virus, the better the recovery effect of the interferon treatment (1995 report of the Anti-hepatitis A and B Study Group of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Progress of Medicinal Science, separate volume, "Search for the Onset and Progress Mechanism of Liver Disorders", issued on Feb. 5, 1999, Ishiyaku Publishers, Inc. Kan Tan Sui 43, (2), pp 281-288, 2001). Therefore, it is desirable for the amount of the virus to be as low as possible before starting the interferon treatment.


In the linear motion rolling guide unit according to this invention, the under seal is made up of a metal core member and a seal member. The metal core member is formed with a through-hole through which to insert a bolt. When the table is mounted on the casings, the bolts can be easily passed through the under seal by cutting a part of the seal member that corresponds in position to the through-hole in the core member. Therefore, in mounting the table to the casings, it is possible to apply a single kind of under seal to both types of structure--the top bolt insertion construction and the bottom bolt insertion construction --thus permitting the common use of components among the two constructions and reducing cost.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a linear motion rolling guide unit which is applied to sliding portions of machining tools and various processing equipment and which consists of a track rail with raceway grooves formed longitudinally extending on both side walls thereof, a casing saddling the track rail and having raceway grooves, and a number of rolling elements that roll between the facing raceway grooves.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a conventional linear motion rolling guide unit, when a slider slides on a track rail, the seal between the slider and the track rail is provided by end seals mounted at both ends of the slider and an under seal mounted to the underside of the slider.
A linear motion rolling guide unit as shown in FIG. 8 has been disclosed. FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing one example of a conventional linear motion rolling guide unit. As shown in the figure, the linear motion rolling guide unit consists mainly of a track rail 1 with raceway surfaces 9 formed longitudinally extending on both side walls thereof and a slider 20 slidably mounted astride the track rail 1. The slider 20 is slidable relative to the track rail 1 and consists of a casing 2 having raceway surfaces 8 formed at positions facing the raceway surfaces 9, a number of rolling elements or balls 4, which are trapped between the opposing raceway surfaces 8, 9 to allow relative motion between the rail and the casing, and end caps 5 attached to the longitudinal ends of the casing 2.
The end cap 5 is fitted with an end seal 19 that provides a seal between the track rail 1 and the slider 20. The end cap 5 also has a grease nipple 18 for supplying lubricant to the sliding surface between the track rail 1 and the slider 20. To prevent the balls 4 from coming off the casing 2, a ball retaining band 17 is fitted into the casing 2 so as to enclose the balls 4. The casing 2 is provided with an under seal 3 to reliably prevent the balls 4 from coming off the casing 2 and to seal the casing 2, the longitudinal side walls 11 of the track rail 1 and the underside of the casing 2.
The slider 20 is mounted astride the rail 1 and is freely slidable on the rail 1 because of a number of balls 4 that circulate along the raceway surfaces 9 of the rail 1. That is, the balls 4 in a loaded region, i.e. those traveling on the raceway surafce 9 of the track rail 1, are led into a direction changing passage formed in the end cap 5 and further into a return passage 21 formed parallel to the raceway surface 8 in the upper part of the casing 2, so that the rolling elements 4 circulate in an endless raceway. As the balls 4 trapped between the raceway surface 8 formed in the slider 20 and the raceway surface 9 formed on the rail 1 roll under load, the slider 20 can freely move relative to the rail 1.
The under seal 3 is simple in shape and thus can be manufactured easily. However, the under seal 3 has the drawback of being easily deformed by external force when there are positioning errors of the casing 2 and the track rail 1 because it is formed of a thin plate. To describe in more detail, when the slider 20 slides on the track rail 1, any temperature variations and swelling by lubricant of the under seal 3 will deform the under seal 3 itself degrading its sealing performance. Further, the balls 4 may make contact with the under seal 3, increasing the sliding resistance.
The linear motion rolling guide unit as mentioned above is disclosed in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 112021/1989. In another example the under seal is made up of a metal core member and a seal member fixed to the core member to keep the original shape of the under seal.
Generally, the linear motion rolling guide unit has a table securely mounted on a plurality of sliders (usually four) so that an equipment may be placed on the table. Example methods of mounting the table on the sliders are shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway view showing one example method of mounting the table on the sliders; and FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway view showing another method of mounting the table on the sliders. In FIGS. 6 and 7 components having the same functions as those in FIG. 8 are given like reference numerals.
FIG. 6 shows one example of a four-raceway endless linear motion rolling guide unit. In this rolling guide unit, the slider 20 is shown to have mounting holes, through which bolts are screwed from under, with the table 6 mounted on the sliders 20. The track rail 1 is secured to the bed 22 by bolts. Normally, a pair of track rails 1 run parallel to each other, secured to the bed 22 by bolts. Two sliders 20 are slidably mounted on each track rail 1 and the table 6 is supported on four sliders 20 mounted on the two track rails 1. The casing 5 of the slider 20 has mounting holes 7, through which bolts are inserted from under. The table 6 is formed with threaded mounting holes 12. With the table 6 placed on the sliders 20, bolts 10 are inserted from under into the mounting holes 7 in the casing 2 and screwed into the threaded mounting holes 12 of the table 6 to fix the table 6 to the sliders 20.
FIG. 7 shows another example of the four-raceway endless linear motion rolling guide unit. In this example, a slider 20 is shown to have mounting holes through which bolts are inserted from above, with the table 6 mounted on the sliders. This example is similar to the one shown in FIG. 6 except for the table mounting method. The casing 2 of the slider 20 is formed with threaded mounting holes 13 on the upper side. The table 6 is formed with mounting holes through which bolts are inserted from above. With the table 6 mounted on the sliders 20, bolts 10 are inserted from above into the mounting holes 14 in the table and screwed into the threaded mounting holes 13 in the casing, thus securing the table 6 to the sliders 20.
Let us consider a case where the under seal 3 is made up of a metal core member and a plastic sealing member fixed to the core member. In the linear motion rolling guide unit of FIG. 6, when the under seal 3 is fixed to the casing 2, it is necessary to form through-holes in the under seal 3 through which to insert the bolts 10 because the casings 2 are secured to the table 6 by bolts 10. On the other hand, in the linear motion rolling guide unit as shown in FIG. 7 where the table 6 is secured to the casings 2 by bolts 10, since the bolts 10 are not passed through the under seal 3, it is not necessary to form the through-holes in the under seal 3 for the bolts 10.
That is, in the linear motion rolling guide unit of FIG. 6, the through-holes for the bolts 10 must be formed in the under seal 3. In the linear motion rolling guide unit of FIG. 7, on the other hand, there is no need to form through-holes in the under seal 3. It should be noted, however, that the under seal 3 is required to seal the gap between the track rail 1 and the slider 20 to prevent ingress of dirt, water and other foreign matters. Hence, it is desired that the under seal 3 is not formed with through-holes. To solve this problem, it is necessary to form two kinds of under seal 3.


A system and method for handicapping a ball game such as tennis or volleyball between opponents of lesser and greater skills, by varying or moving at least one of the parameters of the court on which the game is played, a sufficient amount to balance the disparity in such skills. The parameters described are the net, and court boundary lines which may be defined by electric luminescent tape embedded in, or fastened to, the surface of the court floor in parallel spaced lines which selectively can be lit to define the desired boundary, or, may be defined by projected lines on or adjacent to the floor from narrow beam or laser beam projectors capable of projecting lines at desired locations either from overhead or at floor level.

In games such as tennis, people who have developed a high level of skill in their game will with the passage of time find that their physical abilities begin to diminish so that ultimately it is impossible to maintain the skill level that they had at their peak. If players are not closely matched in skills, an exciting, competitive game cannot be played. Close friends, or married couples, or business associates who would like to enjoy a dynamic, competitive game such as tennis cannot play such a game if their skills do not match. As a result such people will either limit their play to "rallying" or "volleying" or playing against someone of greater skill and physical capacity when they are given a significant point handicap. However, even under the latter arrangement the thrill of a closely played match, where each opponent extends oneself to the limit to win, is missing. Using a point handicap in golf can provide a gratifying contest because in such a game each contestant is really playing primarily against his/her self. But on the ball courts covered by this invention a point handicap can often prove unsatisfactory because the better player is not tested by the handicap to improve his/her game but rather to make up for the deficiency in the score and merely tries to score more quickly until he/she has won.
The lesser skilled player is not tested by such a handicapping system because with points granted under the system the game for that individual will not normally be as long in duration as one would be if the skills of the players could be balanced, thus achieving a more interesting and competitive contest.
It is an object of this invention to adjust at least one characteristic parameter of the playing court, i.e., a rear boundary line or the net location, through the use of readily adjustable mechanical means or by controlling the location of such lines by such defining means as lasers, narrow light beams or electrically luminescent tape, or their equivalents. Such physical adjustments can offer a more competitive environment of play than an adjustment in the scoring.
Patents exist dealing with portable or movable boundaries for games or courts. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,968,968 (Mini-Volleyball Court Layout); U.S. Pat. No. 3,985,359 (Portable Sports Court Bounday); U.S. Pat. No. 4,352,497 (Mobile Goals). However, it is considered that such art does not encompass providing a suitable handicap by modifying a ball court to favor the lesser opponent to the extent necessary to provide an even contest or match between two players, or two contestant groups, of unequal skill.

Adjustable ball court system and method for handicapping a contest


A combination valve assembly, particularly for a secondary air blower in internal combustion engines with controlled three-way catalyzer, the combination valve assembly comprises a valve housing having a valve inlet and a valve outlet, a pneumatically actuated valve arranged in the valve housing and having a valve member for locking and releasing a flow path between the valve inlet and the valve outlet, a return valve arranged in the housing downstream of the by-pass valve as considered in a flow direction and having a closing member formed as a leaf spring, a valve plate provided with openings and a stroke catcher limiting an opening stroke arranged so that the leaf spring located between the valve plate and the stroke catcher, a valve closing spring loading the valve member of the valve in a valve closing direction while a differential pressure between a valve inlet pressure and a surrounding pressure loads the valve member of the valve in a valve opening direction. The leaf spring of the return valve has spiral arms formed in it and is clamped between the valve plate and the stroke catcher.

The present invention relates to a combination valve and particularly for secondary air blower in internal combustion engines with controlled three-way catalyzer.
Such combination valves or combivalves which are provided in a valve housing with a by-pass and return valve serve for switching off of the secondary air stream from the exhaust gas pipe of internal combustion engines with controlled three-way catalyzer. A blower, so-called secondary air blower supplies fresh air to the exhaust gas jet of the internal combustion engine as far as possible before the catalyst, for adjusting a post-burning of the exhaust gas at temperatures of above 600.degree. C. operation. With this post-burning the carbon compounds contained in the exhaust gas as well as the carbon monoxide are reduced. Moreover, by the post burning heat is supplied to the catalyzer, and therefore it is specially important for the cold start.
During the operation of the secondary air blower the by-pass valve is open and the secondary air after flowing through the open return valve is blown into the waste gas pipe of the internal combustion engine. The return valve has the function of reducing a return stream of the exhaust gas through the blower during the pressure increase in the waste gas pipe. The by-pass valve prevents suction of the secondary air caused by the pressure pulsation during stoppages of the secondary air blower.
In a known combivalve of the above mentioned general type the actuation of the by-pass valve is performed by the suction pipe negative pressure in the internal combustion engine and the control is executed by an external magnetic valve. The valve member is held in an open position by a valve spring prestressed in an opening direction, and closes when a predetermined suction pipe negative pressure is reached. The closing member of the return valve is formed as a full leaf spring which is inserted at the side of the edge between a valve plate with openings and a stroke catcher.


Coating of components and shapes by cathode sputtering of target material of a first cathode system (6) with concentration of a first discharge space (plasma cloud) in the vicinity of the target surface by a spatially closed magnetic field (plasma trap) opposite the target (12). The field strength is reduced in front of the target surface by an additional magnet associated with a lateral boundary of the target.

A method for coating shapes having a tridimensional surface to be coated, by the cathode sputtering of target material is known (German Patent 31 07 914), to which U.S. Pat. No. 4,426,267 corresponds wherein the shape or shapes are exposed simultaneously, on the side opposite the cathode system, to the sputtering of a second cathode system with the same target material and with concentration of a second discharge space adjacent the target surface by a second magnetic field that is spatially closed with respect to the target. In this method a substrate bias is used, but it has to be within fixed limits considering the degree of ionization of the plasma, so that the substrate bias current per unit area has to be limited to less than 1 mA/cm.sup.2. The substrate bias current can be increased only by increasing the substrate bias voltage. This, however, has a negative influence on the tension in the coatings, so that the applied coatings can easily break off.
For vacuum cathode sputtering processes magnetron cathodes are used so that a sufficient coating rate can be achieved. It is not possible by this method to coat three-dimensional substrates without providing for a complex rotatory movement of the substrates. The solution of this problem is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,426,267 in which a double cathode arrangement of these magnetic sources has been published. The use of this arrangement is limited, however, to a narrow range of dimensions of the substrate, especially because the degree of ionization of the plasma of the two magnetron cathodes cannot be affected by process parameters that have to be adjusted separately.
The degree of ionization is of crucial importance to the quality of the coating, because in most applications the achievement of ionic plating conditions is indispensable. For the double cathode arrangement this signifies that the magnetrons have to be arranged so that their plasma zones overlap and surround the substrate. Only then is it assured that the substrates, when they are given a negative bias, will be bombarded by inert gas ions in a manner similar to the target, in order to have a positive influence on the structures that form as the coating grows. Even under these conditions, however, the ion bombardment is not isotropic, so that differences in quality become visible on the parts being coated. The coating quality could be improved by increasing the bias current per unit area. This, however, can be achieved only within narrow limits in the conventional arrangement. A way of increasing the bias current might consist in increasing the bias applied during the coating. This change will, however, simultaneously increase the energy of the impinging ions, so that consequences must be expected as regards the coating structure and properties. It is known that particularly the internal tensions present in the coatings can be influenced by the bias voltage. Another way of increasing the ionization is to go to higher cathode outputs. This possibility exists because the degree of ionization depends on the intensity of the secondary electron emission in the cathode sputtering process. However, it is not possible for technical reasons to increase the cathode output without limit, especially because the design of the cathode cooling permits only a narrow range. For the reasons described, therefore, there is need for a way to achieve an increase of the bias current per unit area at the lowest possible bias voltage. To improve the all-around coating of substrates and increase the substrate current in cathode sputtering apparatus, especially for hard coatings, different magnetron cathodes have been used----the so-called ZPT cathodes which operate on the principle of the interpole target, in the same arrangement as in Penning cathodes, in a double-cathode arrangement. Especially due to the greater breadth of the cathode and the special configuration of the magnetic field, the result is an increase in the bias current per unit area in comparison to a Penning cathode arrangement by a factor of 5. Also, it is possible to vary the cathode power in greater bandwidths than in Penning magnetrons. This increase is favored especially by the anode effect of the gas sprinkler which is situated in the coating chamber and is at ground potential. The increased degree of ionization is also promoted by the fact that the magnet poles and the baffle box are held at floating potential. At the same time it is important for the plasma to spread out far into the space between the cathodes. The apparently possible way to increase the ionization, by strengthening the magnetic field, cannot achieve its aim because, due to the magnetic field intensification the more intense plasma becomes compressed in front of the target surface. A lower field strength prevails in the area directly around the substrates and consequently a lower ionization.
In the curves a vanishing of the poisoned areas can be achieved by strengthening the magnetic field. The SmCo magnets are replaced by NdFeB magnets.
Despite all these measures, even in the interpole target cathode (ZPT cathode) the bombardment of the substrates by ions decreases in the marginal area more than the coating rate does, so that the quality of the coating is markedly poorer precisely in its indepth action.

Method for coating components or shapes by cathode sputtering


Radiation-curing printing inks which comprise organopolysiloxanes of the general formula ##STR1## in which R.sup.1 =an alkyl radical having 1 to 8 carbon atoms,. R.sup.2 =a group of the formula EQU --CH.sub.2 --CH.sub.2 --C(O)O--R--(OC(O)--CH.dbd.CH.sub.2).sub.x-1 PA1 R.sup.3 =R.sup.1 or R.sup.2, PA1 n=30 to 150, PA1 m=0 to 3, preferably 0, PA1 in quantities of from 0.01 to 3% by weight, based on the ink formulation.. and/or EQU --CH.dbd.CH--C(O)O--R--(OC(O)--CH.dbd.CH.sub.2).sub.x-1. in which x is an integer and is at least 2, and R is a hydrocarbon radical which optionally has alkoxy groups,

Lack of emissions, lower investment costs and a lower energy requirement as a result of short drying units, high production rates by virtue of rapid curing, and in many cases enhanced quality of coating, especially with regard to gloss and abrasion resistance, are the reasons why, in the field of industrial coatings, radiation curing constitutes the application form which is showing the greatest expansion.
Radiation-curing printing inks are known and are described, for example, in "UV & EB curing formulation for printing inks, coatings & paints" (R. Holman, P. Oldring, London 1988).
Their properties are causally linked with the oligomers on which they are based. In this context, the majority of commercially available oligomers in radiation-curing (UV/EB) systems are based on modified acrylates. Principal binders (30 to 95 wt. % based on the ink) are oligoineric acrylic ester compounds based on the polyethers, polyesters, epoxy resins, or polyurethanes. The average molecular weights lie customarily in the range of 200 to 4000 g/mole. Through the addition (0 to 50 wt. %) of low-viscosity mono- or multifunctional monomers, as for example hexanediol acrylate, tripropyleneglicol diacrylate, trimethylolpropane triacrylate, and the like, which serve as reactive diluents, the process viscosity can be adjusted if necessary to the desired level.
The epoxy acrylates which are frequently used in particular for coatings on paper are highly regarded for their rapid curing and the chemical resistance and hardness which can be achieved. For high-grade coatings, urethane acrylates are also employed, giving rise to excellent wetting properties, chemical resistance and hardness.
By using polyether acrylates, in contrast, it is more readily possible to achieve a desired, lower processing viscosity. Admittedly, it is necessary in this case to accept losses in respect of the abovementioned properties.
The curing mechanism presents a radiation-induced free-radical polymerization. In cases of ultraviolet-curing, the polymerization is initiated through the photoreaction of one or more initiators (0-3 to 10 wt. %). Examples of such photoinitiators are acylphosphineoxide-, acetophenone- and benzophenone-derivatives as well as thioxanthone. For acceleration, amine derivatives are occasionally used as synergists. Additional formulation constituents are one or more pigment(s). The pigment content (0.1 to 30 wt. %) depends particularly on the actual pigment type. As further additives, aerating agents as well as dispersing aids are sometimes employed.
An important area of application, in addition to the wood-processing industry, comprises that of printing inks for paper, such inks being used, for example, for the printing of record sleeves, book covers, scenic and fine art postcards and high-grade catalogs. In the course of the industrial manufacture of these printed products, the handling of these articles presents difficulties. For instance, damage to the surface of the stacked units following radiation-induced curing of the ink cannot always be avoided.
In the manufacture of printed packaging materials, moreover, a rapid release action of the printing ink is desirable, so that labels or codes applied shortly after the printing operation can be removed again at a later point in time without damaging the printed image.
Attempts have already been made to improve the handling properties of newly printed articles by adding friction-reducing additives, such as oils or waxes (e.g. polyethylene waxes or polytetrafluoroethylene waxes), to the printing ink or applying them subsequently to the printed surfaces. In many cases this leads to a disruptive loss of gloss. Moreover, the subsequent application of wax to the printed product is not always satisfactory, especially since this additional step in the process raises the manufacturing costs. In addition, it is necessary to use high concentration in order to achieve an enhancement of scratch resistance. A significant release action is not obtained in this way.
As in air-drying systems or those which operate with forced drying (temperature), silicone oils, or else organically modified siloxanes, for example polyether-siloxanes, are nowadays also employed for these purposes. However, these compounds are not incorporated chemically into the film in the course of the radiation-induced crosslinking reaction, and as a result these additives, owing to their incompatibility, rise to the surface over time, and the silicone can, on the one hand, for example in the case of repeated printing processes, reach places where it has a disruptive effect, and, on the other hand, the effect of enhanced scratch resistance is at best temporary. In particular, in the course of stacking operations it is not possible completely to avoid the transfer of the silicone additive to the reverse side of the overlying printed product.
Moreover, in the packaging industry it must be ensured that the addition of additive provides the printed product with a release effect in as short a time as possible, so that adhesive labels or codes which are applied can be removed subsequently without damaging the printed product.
In practice there is therefore a need for crosslinkable, modified silicone additives which, in low concentrations, enhance the handling properties of printed articles, especially those printed in runs, these additives in particular enhancing the scratch resistance of the fresh surfaces, increasing their lubricity, exhibiting a high release action very rapidly after crosslinking and, owing to their crosslinking, remaining in stationary form in the film. Such additives should at the same time be substantially independent of the nature and composition of the printed ink to which they are added to enhance the abovementioned properties and should be capable of universal application. These additives should be effective in minimal quantities arid should not impair the performance properties of the printing ink. In particular, they should not adversely affect the development of the surface film and the curing of the printing ink. They must, furthermore, have no deleterious effect on the stability of the printing ink and must not impair the leveling properties.

Radiation-curing printing inks with enhanced scratch resistance and lubricity


A piezoelectric inkjet printhead includes a manifold, a chamber array including a plurality of chambers in connection with the manifold and arranged along at least one side of the manifold, a vibrating plate to cover the plurality of chambers, and a plurality of piezoelectric actuators formed on the vibrating plate to change pressures of corresponding ones of the plurality of chambers by vibrating the vibrating plate. The plurality of chambers includes a plurality of pressure chambers disposed in a center portion of the chamber array and having corresponding ink ejecting nozzles, and at least two dummy chambers, one disposed on each side of the chamber array and having corresponding dummy nozzles that do not eject ink. A plurality of trenches may be formed in the vibrating plate between each of the piezoelectric actuators.

1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to a piezoelectric inkjet printhead, and more particularly, to a piezoelectric inkjet printhead that minimizes deviation of ink ejection performance caused by cross-talk.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, inkjet printheads are devices for printing a color image on a printing medium by ejecting droplets of ink onto a desired region of the printing medium. Depending on an ink ejecting method, inkjet printheads can be classified into two types: a thermal inkjet printhead and a piezoelectric inkjet printhead. The thermal inkjet printhead generates bubbles in ink to be ejected by using heat and ejects the ink utilizing an expansion of the bubbles, and the piezoelectric inkjet printhead ejects ink using a pressure generated by a deformation of a piezoelectric material.
FIG. 1 illustrates a general structure of a conventional piezoelectric inkjet printhead. Referring to FIG. 1, a manifold 2, a plurality of restrictors 3, a plurality of pressure chambers 4, and a plurality of nozzles 5 are formed in a flow channel plate 1 to form an ink flow channel. A piezoelectric actuator 6 is formed on a top area of the flow channel plate 1. The manifold 2 allows an inflow of ink from an ink tank (not illustrated), and the pressure chambers 4 are arranged along one side or both sides of the manifold 2 to store ink to be ejected. Each of the pressure chambers 4 is deformed by an operation of the piezoelectric actuator 6, such that ink can flow into or out of the pressure chamber 4 according to a pressure variation in the pressure chamber 4 caused by the operation of the piezoelectric actuator 6. The plurality of restrictors 3 connects the manifold 2 to corresponding ones of the plurality of pressure chambers 4.
Generally, the flow channel plate 1 is formed by individually manufacturing a silicon substrate and a plurality of thin metal or synthetic resin plates and by stacking the thin plates to form the ink channel portion. The piezoelectric actuator 6 is formed on top of the flow channel plate 1 above the pressure chamber 4 and includes a piezoelectric layer and an electrode stacked on the piezoelectric layer to apply a voltage to the piezoelectric layer. Therefore, a portion of the flow channel plate 1 forming an upper wall of the pressure chamber 4 functions as a vibrating portion 1a that is deformed by the piezoelectric actuator 6.
An operation of the conventional piezoelectric inkjet printhead will now be described. When the vibrating portion 1a (i.e., the portion of the upper wall of the pressure chamber 4 that functions as a vibrating portion 1a) is bent downward by the operation of the piezoelectric actuator 6, a volume of the pressure chamber 4 reduces, which increases a pressure inside the pressure chamber 4. Thus, ink is ejected from the pressure chamber 4 to outside of the printhead through the nozzle 5. When the vibrating plate 1a returns to its original shape according to the operation of the piezoelectric actuator 6, the volume of the pressure chamber 4 increases, which reduces the pressure of the pressure chamber 4. Thus, ink flows into the pressure chamber 4 from the manifold 2 through the restrictor 3.
However, in the conventional piezoelectric inkjet printhead, the pressure variation inside the pressure chamber 4 caused by the piezoelectric actuator 6 is also transmitted to neighboring pressure chambers 4. This phenomenon is called "cross-talk." The cross-talk causes deviations in a speed and volume of ink droplets ejected through the plurality of nozzles 5.
FIG. 2A is a graph illustrating an ink droplet ejecting speed with respect to nozzle position when the plurality of nozzles 5 are simultaneously operated in a conventional piezoelectric inkjet printhead, and FIG. 2B is a graph illustrating an ink droplet ejecting speed with respect to nozzle position when only nozzles disposed in region A of FIG. 2A are simultaneously operated in the conventional piezoelectric inkjet printhead.
For example, in a conventional piezoelectric inkjet printhead for forming a color filter, a plurality of nozzles is operated at the same time. In this case, as illustrates in FIG. 2A, the speed of ink droplets ejected through nozzles disposed at both sides of the printhead is lower than that of ink droplets ejected through nozzles disposed at a center portion of the printhead.
Referring to FIG. 2B, nozzles disposed at the center portion of the printhead (i.e., only the nozzles in the region A of FIG. 2A) are simultaneously operated, whereas the low-speed nozzles disposed at both sides of the printhead are not operated. In this case, the speed of the ink droplets ejected through the nozzles is also lower at both sides of the region A of the printhead than in the center portion of the region A of the printhead.
From the graphs illustrates in FIGS. 2A and 2B, it can be seen that the deviation of the ink ejecting speed is not caused by a non-uniform manufacturing of the nozzles between the center portion and the side portions of the printhead. Specifically, when the side portion nozzles are not operated, a deviation of the ink ejecting speed occurs between the center-most nozzles of the center portion and the outer-most nozzles of the center portion. However, this deviation is minimized or absent when the side portion nozzles are operated along with the center portion nozzles (although a deviation of the ink ejecting speed occurs between the side portion nozzles and the center portion nozzles, as discussed above).
An ink ejecting speed of a conventional piezoelectric inkjet print head can vary with respect to a nozzle position for a various reasons, including the following.
When a pressure of each pressure chamber increases by an operation of the piezoelectric actuator, ink inside the pressure chamber is ejected through a nozzle, and at the same time some of the ink is pushed in a reverse direction to the manifold through the restrictor. The reverse flow of the ink via the manifold influences neighboring pressure chambers, thereby increasing a pressure of the neighboring pressure chambers. In this case, pressure chambers disposed in a center portion of the printhead are affected by the reverse flow of the ink in pressure chambers on both sides thereof. However, the pressure chambers disposed at both sides of the printhead are affected by the reverse flow of the ink from one side thereof. Therefore, an ink ejecting pressure of the pressure chambers at both sides of the printhead is lower than that of the pressure chambers at the center portion of the printhead.
In the conventional inkjet printhead, a vibrating portion of pressure chambers is formed in one piece (i.e., there is no separate vibrating plate attached to the pressure chambers). Therefore, when one piezoelectric actuators vibrates, neighboring pressure chambers are affected by the vibration of the piezoelectric actuator through the vibrating portion. In this case, pressure chambers disposed in the center portion of the printhead are affected by vibrations from both sides thereof, and pressure chambers disposed at both sides of the printhead are affected by vibrations from one side thereof. Therefore, the ink ejecting pressure of the pressure chambers is lower at both sides of the printhead than at the center portion of the printhead.
As described above, in the conventional piezoelectric inkjet printhead, an ink ejecting performance of a plurality of nozzles varies due to cross-talk, thereby changing the speed and volume of ejecting ink droplets.


After cruise control is restored by an accelerating operation, the driver set speed is changed according to the displacement of the accelerator pedal. It becomes possible to reduce the driver set speed due to release of the accelerator pedal, that is, the vehicle can be decelerated by the engine. Even if the cruise control is restored, the cruise control is not conducted and the vehicle can be decelerated by the engine if the driver wants to decelerate the vehicle by the release of the accelerator pedal.

The present invention relates to a cruise control system for a vehicle.
There exists an adaptive cruise control system for a vehicle to mitigate the driving load on the driver of a car, for example, on a superhighway. To operate such an adaptive cruise control system of a car, the driver must manually push a button arranged on the handle of the car to start adaptive cruise control. In an ordinary fixed-speed control state in which the car follows a target or preceding car or in which the car is running straight, the driver needs to push only once the button to start adaptive cruise control. However, when the road is congested or when the road has many turns, the setting of adaptive cruise control is canceled each time the driver applies the brake. This leads to a problem of operation and safety that the driver must push the button to start adaptive cruise control each time the driver applies the brake. To overcome this problem, some methods are known. For example, JP-A-2000-142169 describes a method in which after the adaptive cruise control of a car is released, the adaptive cruise control is started again when the vehicle speed of the car reaches a predetermined speed to start adaptive cruise control by increasing the vehicle speed through operation of the accelerator pedal or accelerator.


An ultrasonic tip for minimally invasive crown lengthening, the tip includes a distal end having an external side having a serrated and/or a diamond and/or a rough surface or edge, which extends outward to a cutting edge, and an internal side having a polished area ending in a soft angle with the cutting edge; and a proximal end, which is adapted for mechanical coupling to a surgical handpiece that generates ultrasonic vibrations.

Dental crown extension or lengthening is an osseous remodeling, used in restorative dentistry to recreate the biologic width and/or to correct the proportions of teeth and gums. Typically, the conventional method or procedure involves a scalloped incision to recreate the proposed gingival height, a gingival flap and approximately two millimeters (2 mm) of bone remodeling, measured from the new gingival margin to preserve the biological width. Bone removal can be carried out with a sharp manual instrument, with a conventional rotating drill or an electric piezosurgery unit.
However, this procedure is by nature, invasive and complex to execute, making the aesthetic results often unpredictable, since repositioning of the gingival flap requires the ability to maintain the planned proposed gingival margin when suturing it to the palate gum. Furthermore, measurements are difficult and inaccurate since the gingival margin is loose the reference points are mobile and there is a permanent risk of tooth damage by using the conventional instruments.
It can be appreciated that the techniques currently in use are effective, but they have not been embraced widely by the dental community, since they require extensive gingival flap elevation associated to postoperative discomfort and high risk of complications, as loss of interproximal papilla, regrowth, swelling, pain, bruising, root sensitivity, root resorption and irreversible root damage. The period of convalescence typically starts from one week, but definitive restoration of the teeth often can only be performed after approximately six months. All of these reasons lead to low acceptance for the patient.
The conventional method cannot be carried out without a gingival flap, because with a blind flapless technique, the required control of the bone depth remodeling does not exist. The instruments or piezoelectric tips used for these operations do not have the dimensions to introduce it under the attached gum without flap elevation nor the option to make the precise removal of 2-3 millimeters of bone tissue from the gingival margin. Moreover, rotating drills or piezoelectric tips act indistinctively on both bone and teeth, such that it is possible to damage the delicate structures of the teeth that the method is intended to enhance.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have an ultrasonic tip, which can be used with a minimally invasive surgical method for crown lengthening, and which avoids teeth injuries, sutures, and postoperative convalescence periods.

Ultrasonic tip for minimally invasive crown lengthening


In networks carrying existing optical traffic on one wavelength band in combination with wavelength division multiplexed traffic carried on a second wavelength band, there is a need to enable processing of the two systems without subjecting the WDM channels to unacceptable losses. The invention meets the above need by the provision of a node in an optical communications network that has a first set of add/drop filter elements for extracting and combining optical signals carried on wavelength division multiplexed channels in a first wavelength band and an extraction element and combining element for dropping and adding, respectively, a service channel associated with the wavelength division multiplexed channels. The extraction element is arranged upstream of the add/drop filter elements relative to the direction of traffic flow and the combining element is arranged downstream of the add/drop filter elements. The extraction and combining elements are additionally adapted to drop and add, respectively, at least one further wavelength band carrying at least one optical traffic data channel.

Optical communication systems employing wavelength division mulitiplexing (WDM) use a single fibre to carry multiple traffic channels within a predetermined wavelength band. WDM systems are being deployed increasingly to optimise the transmission capacity of existing networks. Conventional WDM systems typically operate in a wavelength window centred around 1550 nm. They also typically use at least one service channel for carrying system information, for example network control information and control signals. This channel is often carried on the same optical fibre as the traffic information, but outside the traffic carrying bandwidth. For example, a service channel commonly used with the 1550 waveband is carried on the 1510 nm wavelength.
Many optical systems in use today operate in the 1300 nm window. An example is the SONET/SDH. While WDM systems have obvious advantages, their introduction involves considerable investment as new equipment must be installed and maintained even in existing networks. The process is therefore a gradual one. When introducing WDM traffic to existing networks, operators are often obliged to maintain the previous service, at least for a time. The simultaneous operation of a WDM system operating in the 1550 nm window with other services centred round the 1300 nm waveband on the same network, and within the same nodes, requires certain measures to prevent interference between the two services. This includes the installation of filter components, which may comprise simple fused couplers or thin film filters for separating the 1300 nm waveband from the 1550 nm waveband. In non-amplified WDM systems, filter components are necessary for separating out the service channel at each node. However, each filter component causes a basic power loss to channels passively relayed through the filter. The additional 1550 nm/1300 nm couplers along any single link will naturally increase the total link loss, in some cases to a level that exceeds the allowable link loss, such that the WDM system cannot be utilised over the whole network.
There is consequently a need for an arrangement that can allow WDM systems operating in a first wavelength band to be used on existing optical networks at the same time as optical systems operating in a second, different wavelength band.


An arm rest cover is slipped over an arm rest within a vehicle in order to aesthetically cover the arm rest with a desired design. An elongate cover member has a closed first end and a second end with an opening, the opening located either on a longitudinal axis of the cover member or radially offset from the longitudinal axis. The arm rest passes through the opening and the cover member is slipped over the arm rest until it is in substantially covering relationship with the arm rest. The cover member may be made from an elastic material such as a nylon-spandex mix.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an arm rest cover for aesthetically covering the arm rest of a vehicle.
2. Background of the Prior Art
Sports fans everywhere love to show team spirit especially on game day. Shirts, hats, and other clothing, flags flying from houses, and facial painting are but a few of the examples of how many fans show team pride. One area for fan pride that gets particular treatment is a person's vehicle. Window flags, bumper and window stickers, as well as vanity license plates are a few ways that fans root for the home team. Some fans go to even greater lengths and have elaborate decorations and paint jobs on their vehicle in order to let others on the road know who the vehicle's owner thinks is the best team, the only limiting factor being the creativity of the designers. While a fan can get the outside of a vehicle pretty dressed up for the big game, the inside of the vehicle has been given far less attention in showing team pride. The interior of a vehicle lends itself less to team spirit makeup and currently fans are mainly limited to playing a team's fight song and to adhere an appropriate team sticker to a desired surface of the vehicle. The problems with the available approaches are that the driver and passengers may want to hear their team's game or a pregame analysis of the game, or may want to hear a rival's game on the radio precluding the playing of the fight song on the sound system. Additionally, adhering a sticker to many inside surfaces of a vehicle may cause damage to the surface, and at the very least will leave a gluey residue upon removal, which residue is difficult to remove. Furthermore, a sticker is semi-permanent and poses problems for the fan that has many favorite teams, both college and professional (and not to forget high school and other teams) throughout the year.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for a device that allows a person to dress up the interior of a vehicle in order to show team spirit, which device addresses the above-stated problems found in the art. Specifically, such a decorative device must not rely on the use of the vehicle's sound system in order to allow the vehicle's occupants to be able to listen to the radio or other audio sources. Such a device must not be so permanent so that its removal is relatively difficult and potentially injurious to the vehicle's interior. Ideally, such a device will be of simple design and construction so that it is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and acquire. The device should be simple to install and to remove so that different teams can be supported without undue difficulty.


The present invention relates to a baby carrier consisting of shoulder straps, a main panel, and side panels with adjustable height. The lower aspect of the main panel consists of a seat component with a belt around the waist to secure the baby in place. The purpose of the adjustable positioning system is to change the angle of the seat component in order to accommodate for the increase downward movement of the solid seat component caused by heavy weight.

A baby seat carrier (U.S. Pat. No. 9,314,112) consists of a main carrier, shoulder straps, waistband and seat compartment formed together to accomplish its usability. The purpose of the seat compartment is to fit a seat insert (i.e. solid seat) to support the child's weight when being carried in the carrier, promoting better support and alignment of the pelvis and spine. However, as the child grows heavier, due to the weight asserted on the seat insert, the lower part of baby seat carrier (i.e. seat compartment and waistband) begins to sag. The centralized pressure creates a downward stress towards the lower abdomen of user by the seat insert.
This invention introduces a method to improve the weight distribution in between the waist belt and the seat compartment as the baby weight increases over time. The improvement would allow the user to reduce the abnormal strain of the waist belt and the sagging of the seat component, thereby be able to wear the baby carrier with better comfort.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The disclosed embodiments provide a system that facilitates electronic communication among users. During operation, the system obtains financial data as a set of financial transactions. Upon receiving a request to transmit a message, the system obtains one or more recipient attributes from the request. Next, the system uses the financial transactions to identify a set of recipients that matches the one or more recipient attributes. The system then transmits the message to the set of recipients without revealing the PII for the set of recipients to a creator of the message.

The disclosed embodiments relate to techniques for facilitating electronic communication. More specifically, the disclosed embodiments relate to techniques for performing ad hoc electronic messaging using financial transaction data.
Electronic messaging has greatly improved the speed and ease of modern communication. For example, users may use emails, text messages, instant messages, voicemails, online forums, social media posts, and/or other forms of digital communications to reach one another independently of geographic distance or location.
However, existing electronic communications mechanisms are limited in the ability to target users with messages based on arbitrary attributes of the users. On one hand, transmission of messages to specific sets of users may require knowledge of or access to personally identifiable information (PII) for the users, such as the users' names, email addresses, email list memberships, phone numbers, postal addresses, digital identities, and/or online usernames. On the other hand, messages that are publicly posted on social media, online forums, and/or question-and-answer (Q&A) systems may be delivered to large numbers of users but fail to reach users to whom the messages are the most relevant.
Consequently, electronic communications may be improved by transmitting messages to users based on the relevance of the messages to the users.

Ad hoc electronic messaging using financial transaction data


Provided herein, generally, are pharmaceutical formulations, e.g., injectable pharmaceutical formulations with improved stability, comprising morphine sulfate or a hydrate thereof, and methods of producing and using the same. Also provided herein are kits comprising the formulations, e.g., injectable morphine formulations.

Morphine is a narcotic pain reliever widely used to treat moderate to severe pain. It is generally thought that morphine acts as an agonist at the μ-opioid receptor primarily and also the κ- and δ-opioid receptors of the central nervous system. By acting on one or more of these receptors, morphine can cause analgesia and anesthesia as a result of a receptor-mediated central action on pain perception. In addition to analgesia and anesthesia, morphine can provide widely diverse effects including alterations in mood, euphoria and/or feelings of relaxation, dysphoria, drowsiness, decreased gastrointestinal motility, respiratory depression, nausea, vomiting and alterations of the endocrine and autonomic nervous system.
Morphine has been used for a variety of clinical indications. Some examples of such indications include analgesia for treatment of acute and chronic pain due to, for example, cancer or post-operative surgery, anesthesia during surgery and to allay anxiety during acute pulmonary edema. Several delivery routes have been utilized for administering morphine. These routes include oral, rectal, parenteral (injectable) and buccal administration.


In a multiplier unit having a preprocessor stage, a multiplier stage, and a summation stage, the multiplier stage includes a shift register, a gate component for controllably transmitting the multiplicand A in a manner determined by a bit signal of multiplier B applied to the gate component control terminal. Partial products are grouped by multiplicand digits and each digit is applied, through delay components determined by the order of the digit, to first terminals of an associated adder components. Output signals from each adder component is transmitted through a plurality of delay components and applied to second input terminals of the same adder component. In this manner, partial products A.sub.p *B.sub.q are assembled and the partial products (A.sub.0 + . . . A.sub.M)*B.sub.q =A*B.sub.q can be applied to the summation unit in a single period. When the multiplier is an integer multiple of the multiplicand, the implementation is particularly convenient.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to components of a data processing system and, more particularly, to data processing system multiplier components. The data processing system multiplier components multiply a multiplicand represented by data bits by a multiplier represented by data bits.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art, multiplier units, such as the booth multiplier unit or the parallel multiplier unit, typically have a low utilization of components. This low utilization is the result of the time for data to ripple through the multiplier unit. In both of the cited multiplier configurations, the ripple time results from the time for the data to be processed by the summation stage of the multiplier unit. In the past, in order to reduce the ripple time, carry look-ahead circuits have been implemented. However, the implementation of carry look-ahead circuits provides a significant increase in the complexity and number of components needed for the multiplier unit.
Referring to FIG. 1, the multiplier unit for the multiplication of a binary multiplicand A by a binary multiplier B unit can typically be divided into three stages. The first stage is a preprocessing of multiplicand A stored in register 10 by preprocessor stage 11 to simplify the apparatus used to implement the multiplication procedure. The digit generator component 13 next provides the i.sup.th digit of the multiplier B stored in register 20, i.e., B.sub.i. The product A*B.sub.i is generated in the second stage or the multiplier stage 12. In the third stage or the summation stage 14, the sum of A*B.sub.i is generated, this partial product being shifted by S.sub.i, i.e., the position of the multiplier bit B.sub.i in the multiplier register 20. The operation of these three stages generate the desired result because B=SUM(i){B.sub.i 2.sup.Si }. For example, in a simple shift and add multiplier unit, the preprocessor stage 11 is inactive. The multiplier stage 12 multiplies A by either 1 or 0, this binary bit being the i.sup.th digit of B. The summation stage 14 shifts the products by S.sub.i and adds all the results together.
In this example, most of the complexity is in the third or summation stage. The second or multiplier stage is relatively simple because the "digits" of the multiplier are either 1 or 0. The utilization of the adder components is low because in third or summation stage 14, the additions take place serially and are added to a single running sum. However, in many instances of multiplier units, a longer time for performing the multiplication function can be tolerated when fewer components are needed to perform the multiplication operation.
A need has therefore been felt for apparatus and a related method to provide for a higher utilization of the components of the multiplier unit. The higher component utilization results in a greater number of processing cycles to implement a multiplication procedure. In addition, it is further desirable that much of the addition of partial products be performed in the second or multiplier stage resulting in relatively little carry-ripple activity in the third or summation stage.

Apparatus and method for a multiplier unit with high component utilization


Disclosed are an electrical connection assembly for a data storage device and a method of fabricating the electrical connection between a transducer termination pad formed on a slider and a suspension having a conductive lead structure. A compliant cantilevered conductive pad is formed at the end of the conductive lead structure. A solder bump is formed on the transducer termination pad, and may be formed subsequent to dicing the sliders. The slider is placed in mechanical contact with the suspension for mechanical support such that the solder bump contacts the cantilevered conductive pad, which cantilevered conductive pad complies with the solder bump to absorb positional errors. Then, the solder bump is heated, preferably by a laser, so as to reflow the solder bump to make an approximately right angle solder fillet joint electrical connection with the cantilevered conductive pad.

Data storage disk files typically utilize one or more rotatable disks having a magnetic recording surface on each side of each of the disks and transducers mounted on sliders for reading and/or writing data on the magnetic recording surfaces. Each slider is mechanically supported on a suspension to maintain the slider in a close transducing relationship with respect to the corresponding magnetic recording surface. The suspension is attached to an actuator for moving the transducer radially over the disk to a desired track and maintaining the transducer over the track centerline during read or write operations.
The suspension typically loads, or provides a force against the slider, to counter the force of the air bearing between the slider and the magnetic recording surface of the rotating disk. The force is typically provided by a load beam which is mounted on an arm of the actuator and provides a spring action which biases the slider toward the surface of the disk. A flexure and gimbal is typically attached to the distal end of the load beam, and supports the slider, which is mechanically supported by epoxy bonding. The flexure and gimbal provide controlled flexibility in pitch and roll motion of the slider relative to its direction of motion on the rotating disk recording surface and provide resistance to yaw.
One type of suspension is an integrated lead suspension which incorporates a laminated conductive lead structure for connecting the transducer and the disk drive read/write electronics. An example of a laminated structure and the method of attaching the conductive leads to the transducer is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,699. The laminated structure comprises a structural layer of stainless steel, an insulating layer of polyimide formed on the structural layer, and a patterned conductive layer of etched copper alloy formed on the insulating layer. The described process for attaching the conductive layer electrical leads to the transducer is complicated and requires both passivation of the conductive layer, followed by the creation of vias through the passivation, and, most importantly, requires that it be heated in a furnace with the slider and transducer in order to reflow solder bumps. The alignment of the pads is difficult to accomplish and the heat of the furnace must be controlled precisely so as to not affect the transducer. The temperature control is possible with an inductive transducer, but is critical when an MR (magnetoresistive) read transducer is utilized and it is easy to destroy the MR transducer.
An alternative approach is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,604, which forms solder bumps on both the transducer termination pads and the conductive leads of the patterned conductive layer of the laminated suspension. One or both of the solder bumps are then flattened and the slider is then attached to the suspension. A laser is used to heat the solder bumps so that they expand back into a spherical shape from the flattened shape upon reflow such that they make contact with each other. There are three drawbacks to this approach. First, the two sets of solder bumps must be closely aligned in order to insure a robust, reliable reflow process. Second, the solder must be applied to the transducer termination pads at the wafer level and the wafer processed through the slider fabrication without damage to the solder, a task that is difficult to achieve. Third, the flattening of the solder bumps requires considerable force, which force is difficult to accomplish when applied to the transducer termination pads.
What is needed is the provision for substantial tolerance in the alignment of the transducer termination pads and the leads of the patterned conductive layer and still make a reliable connection.

Electrical connection for slider/suspension assembly

International Business Machines Corporation


A rotary encoder for determining the rotation of an object to be measured includes a shaft that is coupled to the rotation of the object to be measured, as well as at least one bearing in which the shaft is rotationally mounted. The rotary encoder also has a rotary-transducer base member having a bearing fixation region at which the bearing is fixed in position, at least one depression area being formed continuously with a defined depth on the rotary-transducer base member along the periphery of the bearing fixation region such that it surrounds at least half the periphery of the bearing fixation region.

Conventional rotary encoders are constructed as shown, for example, in FIGS. 8 and 9. FIG. 8 is a front view with the configuration of the rotary-transducer base member and the bearing area, and FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 8, the view of FIG. 8 having been supplemented with further components of the rotary encoder. To make it easier to understand the arrangement, base-plate supports 1a, which are not actually located at this position in the cross-sectional view, are also indicated in FIG. 9.
The rotary encoder has a rotary-transducer base member 1, bearings 2 disposed on rotary-transducer base member 1, and a hollow shaft 3 rotatably supported by these bearings 2. The shaft of an object to be measured is inserted into the hollow region of the end of shaft 3 to the left in FIG. 9, making it possible to couple shaft 3 of the rotary encoder to the rotation of the object to be measured. At the right end of shaft 3, a code disk 4 is mounted which rotates coupled with the rotation of the shaft. Because of the rotation, the annular measuring graduation on code disk 4 rotates, which is made up of alternating slots and opaque areas.
Mounted on supports 1a of rotary-transducer base member 1 is a base plate 5 or board, which corresponds to the shape of rotary-transducer base member 1. At a specific location of base plate 5, a detector element 6 is disposed, which is provided with a fixed scanning graduation 7 situated in front of it. In addition, further electronic components and circuits for processing the electrical signals from detector element 6 are formed and arranged on the base plate. A light source 8 is disposed in a recess or opening 1b formed on rotary-transducer base member 1, the respective positions being coordinated such that light source 8 is opposite detector element 6, with code disk 4 interposing. The light from light source 8 passes through the transparent slots formed on code disk 4 and strikes detector element 6, before which fixed scanning graduation 7 is situated. By detecting the light which passes through the measuring graduation of the code disk, it is possible to determine the rotational position of code disk 4, that is, the rotational position of the object to be measured.
FIGS. 10 and 11 show the construction of another conventional rotary encoder, FIG. 10 being a front view of the configuration of the rotary-transducer base member and the bearing area. FIG. 11 a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A from FIG. 10, in which the view of FIG. 10 is supplemented with further components of the rotary encoder. In this example, for reasons of weight, a thin region 1d is formed between periphery 1g of rotary-transducer base member 1 and a bearing fixation region 1e, and a rib 1c is formed for reinforcement between supports 1a and bearing fixation region 1e. The further components correspond to those of FIGS. 8 and 9, which is why identical components are provided with identical reference numerals, and their explanation is omitted.
The following problems exist in connection with conventional rotary encoders constructed in this manner. As mentioned above, shaft 3 is disposed via bearings 2 on rotary-transducer base member 1. While rotary-transducer base member 1 is normally made of a metal that is light and easy to work such as aluminum or something similar, iron is often selected as material for bearings 3. Therefore, if there is a change of temperature in the rotary-transducer surroundings, an unwanted mechanical stress or load of the rotary encoder results because of the different coefficients of thermal expansion owing to the different properties of the two materials. Due to the stress on the part of rotary-transducer base member 1, bearings 2 can deform, which may result in rotational irregularities or torque fluctuations of shaft 3.
This may even have an effect on the object to be measured. Therefore, the danger exists of disadvantageously influencing the exact measurement of the rotational speed and the rotational position, i.e., disadvantageously influencing the positioning accuracy. If the connection to the object to be measured is accomplished via a belt or something similar, the belt will slip and measuring errors will occur.
Optical rotary encoders having a design of this kind are described, for instance, in Japanese Published Patent Application No. 2001-27551. However, the problem mentioned in connection with the influence of different coefficients of thermal expansion of the rotary-transducer base member and of the bearings is not mentioned.

Rotary encoder having at least one depression area formed continuously with a defined depth along the periphery of a bearing fixation region


A method of transmitting uplink control information of a user equipment is provided. The method includes: generating the uplink control information repeatedly as many as uplink data transmission layers; modulating the uplink control information to generate a plurality of repeated modulation symbol; applying a precoding matrix to the plurality of repeated modulation symbols to generate a plurality of first precoded symbol; and transmitting the plurality of first precoded symbols respectively through a plurality of antennas in an uplink subframe comprising a plurality of single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbols in a time domain and a plurality of subcarriers in a frequency domain.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wireless communications, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for transmitting uplink control information by a user equipment to a base station.
2. Related Art
Standardization works of international mobile telecommunication (IMT)-advanced which is a next generation (i.e., post 3rd generation) mobile communication system are carried out in the international telecommunication union radio communication sector (ITU-R). The IMT-advanced aims at support of an Internet protocol (IP)-based multimedia service with a data transfer rate of 1 Gbps in a stationary or slowly moving state or 100 Mbps in a fast moving state.
3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) is a system standard satisfying requirements of the IMT-advanced, and prepares long term evolution (LTE)-advanced which is an improved version of LTE based on orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA)/single carrier-frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) transmission. The LTE-advanced is one of promising candidates for the IMT-advanced.
A downlink denotes a link through which a base station (BS) transmits a signal to a user equipment (UE). An uplink denotes a link through which the UE transmits a signal to the BS. The LTE supports the use of 4 transmit (Tx) antennas in the downlink and supports the use of only one Tx antenna in the uplink. This is because the UE uses one power amplifier (AMP). As such, since the number of available Tx antennas is different between the downlink and the uplink, a peak/average system throughput is asymmetrical between the downlink and the uplink. This is one of major demerits of the LTE.
In the LTE-A, transmission of an uplink signal by using a plurality of Tx antennas (e.g., 4 Tx antennas) in the uplink is taken into account to improve an uplink throughput. When the UE transmits the uplink signal to the BS by using the 4 Tx antennas, uplink control information may be transmitted in a piggyback manner in a data transfer region. Accordingly, there is a need for a method and apparatus for reliably transmitting the uplink control signal by the UE in multiple-antenna transmission.

Method and apparatus for transmitting uplink control information


A Raman microscope and a Raman spectrometric measuring method achieve measurements with high wavenumber resolution. The Raman microscope includes a pump light source for emitting pump light as continuous light; a relaxation light source for emitting relaxation light to induce stimulated emission in a sample; a dichroic mirror for irradiating the relaxation light and the pump light to the sample; a spectrograph for spectrally separating Raman scattered light generated in the sample; and a detector for detecting the Raman scattered light spectrally separated in the spectrograph.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a Raman microscope and a Raman spectrometric measuring method, and in particular, more specifically, it relates to a Raman microscope and a Raman spectrometric measuring method, in which Raman scattered light from a sample is spectrally separated.
2. Background Art
Raman spectroscopy, particularly Raman spectroscopy making use of Raman scattering as a linear optical process, has hitherto been used. In the Raman spectroscopy, monochromic light such as laser light is irradiated to a sample, and scattered light is spectrally separated by a spectrograph or the like. The spectrally separated light is then observed with an imaging device such as a CCD to obtain a Raman spectrum. Raman image has also widely been obtained by Focusing laser light and scanning the relative position between the sample and the laser spot.

Raman microscope and Raman spectrometric measuring method


Methods and structures within a SAS expander for testing SAS devices and other SAS expanders in the SAS domain. Testing devices and expanders in the domain by operations performed within a SAS expander in the domain relieves the burden of such processing in attached host systems and adds flexibility for scheduling processing for test operation of devices and expanders in the domain. In one aspect hereof, the testing may be performed by a master SAS expander configured in the domain. The SAS expander may initiate testing of devices following completion of the SAS discovery process. Testing may also be initiated in response to events in the SAS domain not typically detected by attached host systems.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to serial attached SCSI ("SAS") domains and more specifically to methods and structures for more easily detecting that devices in the SAS domain are properly functioning as they are discovered or otherwise detected in the SAS domain.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Small Computer Systems Interface ("SCSI") is a set of American National Standards Institute ("ANSI") standard electronic interface specification that allow, for example, computers to communicate with peripheral hardware. Common SCSI compatible peripheral devices may include: disk drives, tape drives, CD drives ("CD-ROM", "CD-RW", etc), DVD drives, printers and scanners. SCSI as originally created included both a command/response data structure specification and an interface and protocol standard for a parallel bus structure for attachment of devices. SCSI has evolved from exclusively parallel interfaces to include both parallel and serial interfaces. "SCSI" is now generally understood as referring either to the communication transport media (parallel bus structures and various serial transports) or to a plurality of primary commands common to most devices and command sets to meet the needs of specific device types as well as a variety of interface standards and protocols.
The collection of primary commands and other command sets may be used with SCSI parallel interfaces as well as with serial interfaces. The serial interface transport media standards that support SCSI command processing include: Fibre Channel, Serial Bus Protocol (used with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 1394 FireWire physical protocol; "IEEE 1394") and the Serial Storage Protocol (SSP).
SCSI interface transports and commands are also used to interconnect networks of storage devices with processing devices. For example, serial SCSI transport media and protocols such as Serial Attached SCSI ("SAS") and Serial Advanced Technology Attachment ("SATA") may be used in such networks. These applications are often referred to as storage networks. Those skilled in the art are familiar with SAS and SATA standards as well as other SCSI related specifications and standards. Information about such interfaces and commands is generally obtainable at the website http://www.t10.org.
Such SCSI storage networks are often used in large storage systems having a plurality of disk drives to store data for organizations and/or businesses. The network architecture allows storage devices to be physically dispersed in an enterprise while continuing to directly support SCSI commands directly. This architecture allows for distribution of the storage components in an enterprise without the need for added overhead in converting storage requests from SCSI commands into other network commands and then back into lower level SCSI storage related commands.
A SAS network typically comprises one or more SAS initiators coupled to one or more SAS targets often via one or more SAS expanders. In general, as is common in all SCSI communications, SAS initiators initiate communications with SAS targets. The expanders expand the number of ports of a SAS network domain used to interconnect SAS initiators and SAS targets (collectively referred to as SAS devices or SAS device controllers).
In general, a SAS initiator directs information to a SAS target device through ports of one or more SAS expanders in the SAS domain. A "port" in SAS terminology is a logical concept. A port may comprise one or more physical links in a SAS domain. Such physical links are often referred to as PHYs in the terminology of SAS domains. A port may use a single PHY or, if the port is configured as a wide port, may use multiple PHYs logically grouped to provide higher bandwidth.
When a SAS domain starts up, one or more initiator devices perform a "discovery" process in accordance with the SAS specifications so that each SAS component may generate information indicative of the SAS domain topology. In other words, the discovery process specified by the SAS specifications permits each SAS device and each SAS expander in the domain to discover information about immediate neighbors coupled to its ports as well as information about other devices and expanders coupled to ports of neighboring components. Thus, each SAS device and SAS expander in a SAS domain may acquire information regarding the overall geometry or topology of the SAS domain.
The discovery process specified by the SAS specifications does not necessarily assure that each discovered device is properly functioning. Rather, the discovery process as specified in the SAS specifications calls for only detecting presence of the SAS component—regardless of whether it is functioning properly in other respects. Thus the discovery process could discover a device that is functional enough to respond to the exchanges associated with the discovery process but not fully functional to perform user/system generated requests. For example, a disk drive may respond adequately to messages associated with the discovery process but may be incapable or reading information from the disk drive recording media.
Some present techniques perform a test sequence after the discovery process is completed. As presently practiced, a host system application or system process is launched that tests the discovered devices to assure that each device appears to operate properly to process I/O requests. Such a host system process consumes valuable resources in the host system. When launched from a host system, the process may be started at host system power up or host system reset. However, there may be other events in the operation of the SAS domain not readily known to the host system that could require similar testing. For example, replacement of devices in the domain, receipt of broadcast change primitives, sensing a link being temporarily down and then restored to normal operation, etc. Host systems are not necessarily informed of these events in any manner that would allow re-launching the test process.
It is therefore evident from the above discussion that a need exists for improved solutions in a SAS domain to rapidly identify whether devices associated with a SAS domain are properly operable without imposing significant burden on resources of the attached host systems.

Methods and structure for verifying domain functionality


A heat energy recovery system for cooling an internal combustion engine is characterized by separate oil and water circuits. The oil circuit is used to lubricate and cool the engine. A heat exchanger between the oil and water circuits cools the oil and produces steam from the water. The steam is used to power a steam engine in the water circuit which in turn is used to drive accessories normally driven by the engine. The recovery of heat from the cooling oil and the generation of energy via the steam engine reduces the load on the engine, decreasing its fuel consumption and increasing its net output to drive a vehicle.

The present invention relates to an improved cooling system for internal combustion engines which utilizes a heat energy recovery system to improve the efficiency of the engine. This is accomplished using the principles of an external combustion steam engine.
The improved cooling system of the invention can be applied directly to an air-cooled engine or to the more modern air-oil cooled engine which uses oil both for lubrication and for cooling. Such engines include gasoline and diesel fueled engines, with or without a turbocharger. One problem, however, with air-oil cooled engines is the inability to effectively cool the oil for recirculation into the engine. Accordingly, many manufacturers have abandoned oil as a cooling substance in favor of more conventional water-cooled engines.
A major drawback of water-cooled engines is the inevitable leakage of water into the engine, effectively ruining it. One cause of water leakage is the expansion of water during freezing. Accordingly, antifreeze is normally added to the water to prevent freezing. Yet the use of antifreeze creates other problems, not the least of which is the inadvertent poisoning of children and animals who mistakenly drink spilled or improperly disposed antifreeze. Moreover, the antifreeze can also irreparably damage an engine should it leak into the engine cylinders or the oil owing to a malfunction of the engine.

Cooling system for internal combustion engines


The subject invention pertains to a method and apparatus for providing a trailer jack mount. The subject invention also pertains to a method and apparatus for providing a trailer jack mount for use with towable trailers. The subject invention is advantageous for use with trailers, such as utility trailers, which are frequently moved between various locations. The subject apparatus can also enable the mounting of a trailer jack to a trailer such that the trailer jack can quickly transition up or down relative to the trailer. In a specific embodiment, the subject invention includes a first piece mountable to a trailer and a second piece to which a trailer jack can be secured. In this embodiment, the subject apparatus also includes means for securely attaching the second piece to the first piece and allowing the second piece to pivot relative to the first piece. Advantageously, the subject invention can either be retrofitted to an existing trailer with jack, or installed at original manufacture. In another specific embodiment, the second piece is slidably attached to the first piece to allow an individual to adjust the height of the trailer jack.

Towed trailers, such as utility trailers or camper trailers, are in wide spread use in this country and worldwide. Individuals who use these types of trailers often move them from location to location on a frequent basis. Towed trailers typically have wheels and a hitch mechanism to allow them to be attached to a towing vehicle and moved easily. The hitch mechanism normally will employ a tongue coupler to engage a vehicle's hitch and a stabilizer, or trailer jack, which allows the trailer to be supported while disengaged from the towing vehicle.
Towed trailers are typically purchased with a trailer jack installed at the point of manufacture. The trailers jacks typically have a flange, or a mounting bracket integrated with the jack which allows the jack to be mounted to the trailer. The height of the trailer jack is normally adjustable by means of a hand crank. The adjustable trailer jack allows an individual to adapt the jack to differing terrain and use conditions. For example, in typical operation, an individual with a utility trailer will tow the trailer to the desired site. In order to release the towing vehicle, the individual will then crank the trailer jack until the jack meets the ground and raises the trailer's tongue coupler free from the towing vehicle's hitch. The individual is then free to drive the towing vehicle away and the trailer is supported by the trailer jack. In order to tow the trailer again, the process is reversed, requiring the individual to crank the jack such as to lower the trailer's tongue coupler onto the vehicle's hitch and continue cranking the jack until the lowest portion of the jack is high enough off the ground to prevent the jack from hitting the ground during transport.
Thus, as can be see by the typical mode of operation of trailer jacks, a significant amount of time and energy can be expended by the individual in cranking the jack from the up, or travel, position to the down, or supporting, position and vice versa. Additionally, it is important that when the jack is in the up position the jack is sufficiently high enough off the ground, to avoid damage during travel.
Accordingly, there is a need for a trailer jack apparatus and method which allows an individual to quickly and easily transition a jack from the up position to the down position and vice versa. Also, as there are many existing trailers in use which currently have jacks, there is a need for an apparatus and method which can allow existing jacks to be retrofitted with an apparatus allowing the jacks to quickly be transitioned from the up position to the down position and vice versa.

Method and apparatus for trailer jack mount


A method for automatically generating an electronic circuit layout with placed circuit elements includes receiving a user provided schematic, the user provided schematic comprising a plurality of circuit elements, each circuit element comprising general parameters. The method associates a plurality of first placement parameters with each of the plurality of circuit elements. The method retrieves, from a design library, design parameters associated with at least one of the plurality of circuit elements. The method selects a subset of circuit elements and receives placement inputs. The method generates a first placed layout configuration comprising adjusted placement parameters, based on the received placement inputs, the first placement parameters, and the design parameters. The method assigns absolute placement coordinates for each of the plurality of circuit elements based on the first placed layout configuration. The method generates an electronic circuit layout with placed circuit elements based on the absolute placement coordinates.

Modern electronic systems frequently include complex electronic circuits. Some complex electronic circuits, especially very large scale integration (VSLI) integrated circuits, require CAD tools to design. Generally, in custom VLSI circuit design, the design engineer orchestrates the specific circuit placement in the layout after completing the overall schematic. That is, the functional design implementation (the schematic) precedes the placed circuit layout.
Many engineers use graphical tools or a unique placement routine for each design. In common graphical approaches, it usually takes the design engineer some effort to make the placement ground rule correct. Moreover, if there is any change in either the device size or topology in the schematic, the engineer must manually modify the placement in the layout. In graphical approaches, the design engineer estimates the area, size, and form factor of the design based on the floor plan, total device width in the schematic, and projected wiring tracks required to route the design.
In non-graphical approaches, some systems allow a placement routine implemented in a specialized programming language, such as SKILL. Common SKILL code driven placement requires customized functions and hard-coded instance names, which requires distinct coding efforts for each placed sub-circuit. Accordingly, typical SKILL code approaches offer only limited scalability and extensibility. Most SKILL code approaches therefore suffer from the same drawback as typical graphical approaches, namely, re-placing circuit elements based on engineering changes is difficult and cumbersome. Moreover, both approaches require significant involvement of the design engineer.
Therefore, there is a need for a system and/or method for improved placement in custom VLSI circuit design that addresses at least some of the problems and disadvantages associated with conventional systems and methods.

System and method for automated placement in custom VLSI circuit design with schematic-driven placement

International Business Machines Corporation


A secure document comprises a pliable fabric comprising human-readable information. The secure document further comprises a memory attached to the pliable fabric in which machine-readable information about the secure document is stored. The secure document further comprises an interface attached to the pliable fabric and coupled to the memory that, when a reader device reads the secure document, transmits at least a portion of the machine-readable information stored in the memory to the reader device.

The increasing availability of low-cost, full-color imaging devices such as laser and inkjet printers and off-the-shelf imaging software has lead to an increase in counterfeiting of paper-based currency. The treasury departments of governments across the world in conjunction with imaging product manufacturers have taken steps to reduce counterfeiting.
One approach is to identify the imaging devices used to make counterfeit currency. For example, color copiers and printers typically print an invisible watermark that includes a serial number associated with that particular copier or printer. When a copy or print is made with such a copier or printer, the invisible watermark can be decoded in order to read the serial number. Such an approach, however, typically only helps in identifying the imaging device used to make that copy or print.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.