A primed film comprises a polymeric film substrate layer having an adherent layer comprising a copolymer comprising comonomers (a) 35 to 40 mole % alkyl acrylate, (b) 35 to 40 mole % alkyl methacrylate, (c) 10 to 15 mole % of a monomer containing a free carboxyl group, and (d) 15 to 20 mole % of an aromatic sulphonic acid and/or a salt thereof. The primed film can be used, for example, for producing metallised films, drafting films, photographic films and magnetic cards.

Polymeric films are often used with other materials, for example by coating or laminating polymeric films to form a laminate or composite which exhibits improved properties, compared to the component materials. It is well known in the art that many coating or adhesive compositions do not adhere well to various types of polymeric film. In addition, inks and lacquers do not generally adhere well to polymeric films. The adhesive property of polymeric base films can be improved by applying a primer layer of a coating material which is more receptive to subsequently applied coating layers. Unfortunately, a primer layer will generally only improve the adhesion of a particular type of coating, ink or lacquer, being compatible with a subsequently applied aqueous or organic solvent-based coating medium, but not with both.
The tendency of polymeric films to accumulate detrimental static electrical charges on surfaces thereof is well known. The presence of such charges creates a variety of problems including the attraction of dust and other contaminants to the film surface, the creation of a potential explosion hazard in the presence of organic solvents, difficulties in feeding the films through film handling and treating equipment, blocking, ie the adhesion of the film to itself or to other films, and the risk of fogging subsequently applied light-sensitive coating layers. Antistatic agents can be applied to a polymeric film from a suitable coating or priming composition, but the relatively high concentration at which such agents must be present to provide effective antistatic behavior is usually such as will interfere with the adhesion promoting properties of the primer layer.

Primed film comprising a polymeric substrate with copolymer layer thereon


The present invention relates to soft touch fibers and nonwoven fabrics made from such fibers. The fibers comprise an incompatible polymer system which leads to the soft touch quality. The fibers comprise a mixture of at least two thermoplastic polymers each having different viscosities and wherein the mixture has an interfacial tension from about 0.5 to about 20 mN/m, and wherein the mixture comprises a portion of the fiber surface. The fibers may include from 40-98 percent of a polyolefin continuous phase and from 2 to 60 weight percent of an amorphous thermoplast dispersed phase, such as polystyrene or polyamide.

The present invention relates to soft touch fibers and nonwoven fabrics made from such fibers. The fibers comprise an incompatible polymer system which leads to the soft touch quality.
Polypropylene nonwoven fabrics are used in many medical and hygiene applications. For these purposes, the material must not only meet mechanical requirements, but must also have acceptable feel and appearance. For quite some time, there has been a desire to make polypropylene nonwovens with cloth-like aesthetics, as polypropylene nonwovens are often described as oily and plastic-like. One approach to change the tactile perception of polypropylene nonwovens is to change the surface texture of the fibers.
Incompatible blends have been used to form fibers with an irregular fiber surface. These fibers have a distinctly different feel. However, they have poor mechanical properties and are difficult to spin. It has been discovered that using these blends as the outer layer of a fiber, for example as the sheath component in a bicomponent fiber gives the desired feel while the core can provide the spinnability and mechanical properties.
The present invention involved forming fibers from a series of immiscible blends and quantifying the fiber properties of the resulting fibers. The results provide an understanding of the parameters that affect the fiber morphology, ultimately leading to controlling the fiber surface structure to obtain desired aesthetic properties.

Fibers formed from immiscible polymer blends


A memory module, including a plurality of semiconductor memory devices for writing and reading m-bit parallel data; and a buffer for converting n-bit serial data into the m-bit parallel data to output to the plurality of semiconductor memory devices, converting the m-bit parallel data into the n-bit serial data to output to a first external portion during a normal operation, buffering 2n-bit parallel data to output to the plurality of semiconductor memory devices, and buffering the m-bit parallel data to output to a second external portion during a test operation.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a memory module and, more particularly, to a memory module having memory devices and a method of testing the same.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A typical memory system includes a memory control circuit and a plurality of memory modules. Each of the plurality of memory modules includes a plurality of semiconductor memory devices. The plurality of semiconductor memory devices are connected to a plurality of data lines, which in turn connect to the memory control circuit.
As operating speeds of typical memory systems increase, a memory module has been proposed, which includes a buffer device for transmitting data between the memory control circuit and the plurality of memory modules at high speeds.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional memory system including such a buffer device. The memory system of FIG. 1 includes a memory module 100 and a memory control circuit 200. The memory module 100 includes dynamic random access memories (DRAMs) 20-1–20-8 and a buffer device 10. An operation of the memory system of FIG. 1 will be discussed below.
The memory control circuit 200 transmits differential serial data to the buffer device 10 and receives differential serial data transmitted from the buffer device 10. The buffer device 10 multiplexes the differential serial data transmitted from the memory control circuit 200, converts the differential serial data into single parallel data, and transmits the single parallel data to the DRAMs 20-1–20-8 during a write operation. The buffer device 10 also demultiplexes the single parallel data received from the DRAMs 20-1–20-8, converts the single parallel data into differential serial data, and transmits the differential serial data to the memory control circuit 200 during a read operation. Each of the DRAMs 20-1–20-8 stores the single parallel data transmitted from the buffer device 10 during a write operation and outputs the single parallel data to the buffer device 10 during a read operation.
Differential serial data is data associated with a predetermined bit of parallel data that was serially input to the buffer device 10, and bits of the differential serial data are in pairs having "high" levels and "low" levels. Single parallel data is a predetermined bit of parallel data and bits of the single parallel data have either a "high" level or a "low" level. The differential serial data is smaller in bit number than the single parallel data.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the buffer device 10 of the conventional memory system of FIG. 1. The buffer device 10 includes a multiplexer 11, demultiplexer 12, differential input buffer 15, differential output buffer 16, input buffer 13 and output buffer 14. An operation of the buffer device 10 will be discussed below.
The multiplexer 11 converts n-bits of differential serial data into parallel to generate m-bits of single parallel data. For example, when "n" is 16 and "m" is 8, the multiplexer 11 serially receives differential serial data of 2-bits four times to generate single parallel data having 8-bits. In other words, 2-bit differential serial data is serially input four times to the multiplexer 11 and converted into single parallel data having 8-bits.
The demultiplexer 12 converts m-bits of single parallel data into serial to generate n-bits of differential serial data. For example, when "n" is 16 and "m" is 8, the demultiplexer 12 converts single parallel data having 8-bits into 2-bit serial data, which is then serially output four times. In other words, 8-bit single parallel data is serially converted into 2-bit data that is serially output four times.
The differential input buffer 15 buffers n-bits of differential serial data output from the memory control circuit 200 and outputs buffered differential serial data to the multiplexer 11. The differential output buffer 16 buffers n-bits of differential serial data output from the demultiplexer 12 and outputs the buffered differential serial data to the memory control circuit 200.
The input buffer 13 buffers data having 8 m-bits output from the multiplexer 11 and transmits the buffered data to corresponding DRAMs 20-1–20-8. The output buffer 14 buffers data having 8 m-bits output from corresponding DRAMs 20-1–20-8 and transmits the buffered data to the demultiplexer 12.
As described above, the conventional memory system serially transmits 2-bit data between the memory control circuit 200 and the buffer device 10 and transmits differential serial data in order to reduce a common mode noise during data transmission. Here, a data rate between the buffer device 10 and the DRAMs 20-1–20-8 is higher than a data rate between the memory control circuit 200 and the buffer device 10 when transmitting data at high speed. Thus, as data is serially transmitted between the memory control circuit 200 and the buffer device 10, the number of data lines is reduced, and a data rate is increased to transmit data at high speed.
However, in the conventional memory system it is difficult to test the semiconductor memory devices of the memory module to see if they are operating properly. This occurs, because when the frequency of a clock signal applied by a tester is lower than the frequency of a clock signal used by the memory control circuit, it is difficult to perform a test, and it is difficult to apply a test pattern to the buffer device.

Memory module and method of testing the same


The specification describes a p-channel MOS with self-aligned source and drain, and fabricated by a process that is fully compatible with simultaneously forming complementary self-aligned n-channel MOS devices and complementary IGBT devices.

This application is related to my copending application U.S. patent application Ser. No. 754,607, filed Nov. 20, 1996 which is incorporated herein by reference. In that application, an improved p-channel IGBT device is described which is fully compatible with a generic process for making complementary pairs of MOS devices as well as IGBT devices. In this application I will describe a modification of that generic process to form an improved p-channel MOS device.
In a typical high voltage BiCMOS technology the n-channel high voltage MOS transistors are self-aligned or double diffused (DMOS). The complementary device, the p-channel device, is frequently not self-aligned or double diffused to keep the process complexity, and the cost, down. This results in less than optimum performance for the p-channel devices, e.g. higher on-resistance, and wider variation in manufacturing. In a non-self-aligned process greater margins are typically required for feature alignment and the overall device size is typically greater resulting in a decrease in device packing density and a proportional increase in cost.
As pointed out in my earlier application, device design in BiCMOS fabrication is heavily dependent on processing compatibility so a design improvement that appears advantageous for one type of device is only effective if it can be made within the constraints of the overall IC process. Thus, although it is easy to design a p-MOS device with a self-aligned gate, a way to do so within the constraints of the typical BiCMOS technology has not been available in the prior art.


A fuel gauge (15) provided with an inner structural body (27) that is formed of an insulator; an outer structural body (23) that is formed of an insulator and disposed on the outer circumference side of the inner structural body (27) over the entire circumference thereof; an inner electrode (29) that is attached to an outer circumferential surface of the inner structural body (27); and an outer electrode (25) that is attached to an inner circumferential surface of the outer structural body (23). The fuel guage measures the capacitance between the inner electrode and the outer electrode and detects the level of fuel that exists between the inner electrode and the outer electrode. The outer structural body is provided with a plurality of outer through-holes (31) that allow electric charge to move from an outer circumferential surface thereof to the outer electrode.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a capacitive level gauge.
2. Description of the Related Art
In transportation equipment, such as an aircraft or the like, a capacitive level gauge has been widely employed as a fuel gauge that detects the remaining amount of fuel in a fuel tank.
This fuel gauge has two cylindrical electrodes that are disposed so that the fuel can freely enter between them, and detects the remaining amount of fuel by measuring the capacitance between the electrodes.
In the related art, these electrodes are, for example, made of metal and also serve as structural bodies, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2002-31559 (JP 2002-31559).
In recent years, in the field of transportation equipment such as aircraft or the like, composite materials, such as reinforced plastic or the like, are beginning to be used in components of wings and fuselages of the aircraft body for the purpose of achieving weight reduction and for a resultant performance enhancement. As part of this, in order to achieve weight reduction, to enhance environmental resistance, and so forth also for a fuel gauge, the use of a gauge in which two cylindrical structural bodies thereof are formed by using a composite-material plastic and thin electrode layers are formed on opposing circumferential surfaces thereof is becoming more common.


Coherent combining apparatus and methods that do not require training to adapt combining weights. The approach employed in the present invention uses phase-lock loops to demodulate input signals. The phase-lock loops are coupled so that their outputs are phase coherent. The outputs of the phase-lock loops are summed to obtain a coherent combining of the input signals. Exemplary embodiments of the present invention comprise two or more phase-lock loops having signal inputs and I and Q data outputs. A combiner sums the I and Q data output by the two or more phase-lock loops. A common decision circuit feeds back the summed output of the combiner to the two or more phase-lock loops and generates phase coherent output signals.

The present invention relates generally to combiners, and more particularly, to a blind coherent combiner and signal processing method employing coupled phase-lock loops.
The operation of coherently combining of multiple copies of a signal has many applications in communications systems. Beam-forming and diversity combining are two examples. Most adaptive algorithms used to obtain the combining weights require knowledge of the desired signal (i.e., a training sequence). This is discussed by Robert Monzingo and Thomas Miller in xe2x80x9cIntroduction to Adaptive Arraysxe2x80x9d, Wiley Interscience, 1980, for example.
However, in many applications, the use of training sequences is undesirable or impossible. Conventional blind beamforming schemes have been proposed in the literature. This is discussed by Theodore Rappaport, in xe2x80x9cSmart Antennas: Adaptive Arrays, Algorithms, and Wireless Locationxe2x80x9d, IEEE, 1998. Such conventional blind beamforming schemes tend to be computationally involved.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide for a blind coherent combiner and signal processing method employing coupled phase-lock loops that overcomes limitations of conventional blind beamforning schemes.
To accomplish the above and other objectives, the present invention provides for a simple coherent combining scheme that does not require training to adapt the combining weights. The approach employed in the present invention uses phase-lock loops to demodulate input signals. The phase-lock loops are coupled so that their outputs are phase coherent. The outputs of the phase-lock loops are summed to obtain a coherent combining of the input signals. This approach is also advantageous in that it introduces little additional hardware into receivers that may employ it. This combining scheme may be implemented in either an analog or all-digital implementation.
Exemplary apparatus comprises two or more phase-lock loops having signal inputs and I and Q (in-phase and quadrature) data outputs. A combiner sums the I and Q data output by the two or more phase-lock loops. A common decision circuit feeds back the summed output of the combiner to the two or more phase-lock loops and that outputs phase-coherent output signals from the apparatus.
The signal processing method is used to couple two or more phase-lock loops that each output I and Q data to produce a phase coherent output signal. The method comprises the following steps. The I and Q data output by the two or more phase-lock loops are summed. The summed I and Q data are processed using a common decision circuit to generate a phase-coherent output signal. The summed I and Q data are fed back to the two or more phase-lock loops.
The present invention provides for coherent combining of digital communications signals. The approach of the present invention utilizes a novel coupling of phase-lock loops. This approach is simple, requires little additional hardware or processing, and operates without the use of training sequences.

Blind coherent combiner and method using coupled phase-lock loops


At least one of the inner race, the outer race and rolling elements in the improved ball-and-roller bearing is made of an alloy steel that contains 0.1-1.2 wt % of C, 3.0-18.0 wt % of Cr, 0.01-1.5 wt % of Si, 0.3-1.5 wt % of Mn, up to 2.5 wt % of Mo, up to 0.002 wt % of O.sub.2 and up to 0.015 wt % of S and which is subjected to plasma-assisted carburization to such an extent that the relative surface carbon area is at least 15% the surface carbon concentration is in the range of 1.6-3.5 wt % and the amount of surface retained austenite is in the rang of 20 vol %-45 vol %. The bearing can work effectively for a prolonged lifetime even if it is placed under hostile conditions as exemplified by an increased areal pressure of load and entrance of foreign matter into lubricating oils.

This invention relates to a ball-and-roller bearing and, more particularly, to an improvement in the life of ball-and-roller bearings that are to be used in transmissions and engines in automobiles, agricultural machines, construction machines and iron- and steel-making machines.
Various alloy steels are conventionally used in ball-and-roller bearings and dominant among them are low-alloy steels including SUJ 2, or bearing steel type 2 according to the JIS.
The environment of the use of bearings has recently become increasing hostile for various reasons such as the increase in the areal pressure of load due to the downsizing of bearings and the entrance of foreign matter into lubricant oils.
While various methods have been proposed to extend the life of ball-and-roller bearings, the one that is described in Unexamined Published Japanese Patent Application No. 55423/1989 is characterized by increasing the amount of retained austenite in bearing steels so that even if indentations occur on the raceway surfaces or rolling contact surfaces due to the presence of foreign matter in lubricant oils, subsequent rolling contacts will increase the curvature of indentation edges to lessen the concentration of stresses at those edges, thereby improving the life of the ball-and-roller bearings made of those steels.
However, retained austenite which is capable of retarding the occurrence of cracking by lessening stresses that would otherwise develop at indentation edges or around nonmetallic inclusions has the disadvantage of poor fatigue resistance. Thus, in order to further extend the life of bearings, it is essential to improve the fatigue resistance of retained austenite. One method that can be adopted to retain the above-mentioned satisfactory characteristics of retained austenite and yet improve its fatigue resistance is to effect "precipitation hardening" by causing fine carbide crystals to be precipitated in the retained austenite. To this end, steels as base materials of bearings must be made not of low-alloy steels such as SCr 420 which is commonly used today but of high-alloy steels which, in addition to Cr (chromium), contain carbide-forming elements such as Mo (molybdenum); furthermore, it is necessary to carburize those high-alloy steels so that fine carbide crystals will be precipitated.
A method that adopts this approach is described in Unexamined Published Japanese Patent Application No. 55565/1981; a low-carbon high-chromium steel as a cold workable steel is carburized so that fine carbide crystals will be precipitated in retained austenite to improve the moldability of the steel while insuring that it will have wear resistance comparable to or even higher than that of high-carbon chromium steels such as SK 11.
The steel described in Unexamined Published Japanese Patent Application No. 55565/1981 has improved wear resistance but it has not been given any consideration about the requirements to be satisfied before the steel can be used as the base material of ball-and-roller bearings, nor has it been given any consideration about the appropriate range of the content of retained austenite.
A further problem with this prior art steel is that it is subjected to gas carburization in which carbon is mainly diffused inward of comparatively thin grain-boundary areas of the Cr oxide layer in the steel. Therefore, if the Cr content of the steel is increased to 3.0 wt % or more so that a Cr oxide layer will form on the surface of the steel, carbides will be concentrated locally at the grain boundaries of a phase which was initially austenite, thus making it impossible to produce a uniformly fine-grained carbide layer.
Unexamined Published Japanese Patent Application No. 205063/1989 discloses a wear-resistant stainless steel part that has been produced by performing plasma-assisted carburization on a low-carbon high-chromium steel; the part is characterized by the presence of a large amount of fine-grained carbides in the carburized layer, which contributes to higher wear resistance than in the case where gas carburization is effected. However, this prior art still lacks consideration about the requirements to be satisfied for applying the steel to ball-and-roller bearings, nor does it give any consideration about the appropriate range of the quantity of retained austenite or an improvement in the rolling fatigue life.


Embodiments described herein generally relate to textile structures comprising core spun yarns, and associated methods for manufacturing. One example embodiment is a textile structure including one or more layers of warp yarns interwoven with one or more layers of weft yarns, wherein at least one of the one or more layers of warp yarns and one or more layers of weft yarns include one or more core spun yarns.

Conventional fabrics for use on or against the skin, such as sheets, pillow cases, undershirts, sleeves, gowns, shirts, and the like may be cut and formed from sheeting comprised of warp end yarns and fill pick yarns woven into a web. Selection of yarn for such sheeting often involves a compromise between hand or "feel" and durability. For example, where the yarns are all-natural, 100% cotton, the resultant sheet has a hand that is desirably comfortable and pleasing to the user. However, 100% cotton fabrics do not wear well nor do they readily survive the sometimes harsh laundering procedures to which they may be exposed, especially in commercial or industrial applications such as encountered in connection with hospitals, rest homes, clinics, hotels and the like. In this regard, such fabrics must be able to withstand about 100 to 250 institutional laundry cycles of high temperature or caustic washing, drying, ironing and possibly even steam sterilization.
Similarly, where the web is woven from all synthetic filament yarns, a very durable product is formed, but it suffers from a relatively low hand (i.e., rough feel) that detracts from the web's utility for use on or against the skin.
Various conventional approaches to achieve a balance between durability and hand have been proposed. By way of example, woven sheeting comprised of yarns which are intimately blended spun fibers, which may be all natural or a blend of natural and synthetic, may not have the desired hand or durability and can be limited by the nature of the spun fiber. In some cases, spun fiber strands and filament strands are twisted into yarns to provide greater durability. While the durability is increased, the twisted yarns have some drawbacks including that they may adversely affect the hand of the resultant web. Others have proposed to use separate, alternating adjacent ends or picks of natural yarns of different character, such as cotton and silk (U.S. Pat. No. 776,275) or mohair and silk (U.S. Pat. No. 1,139,705) in a given weave direction. The latter also suggested use of artificial silk, which is believed to have been a reference to rayon or similar cellulosic (i.e., cotton) material, and so was still a natural yarn. These silk-based approaches are not believed to provide a cost-effective and desired balance of hand and durability necessary for fabrics used on or against the skin.
Conventional sheeting fabrics from which fine luxury bed sheets and pillowcases can be produced may be characterized by a plain weave construction of a high thread count of at least about 100 threads per square inch. Formerly, percale sheets were formed from 100 percent cotton fibers, but today nearly all percale sheets are of the permanent press type and formed of a blend of polyester and cotton fibers, with the cotton usually comprising about half but sometimes as little as 35 percent of the weight of the fabric.
The polyester fibers are included in the polyester and cotton blend sheeting fabric to reduce cost and to improve the strength, durability, dimensional stability, and wash and wear performance of the fabric. However, because of the reduced amount of cotton fiber, the polyester and cotton blend sheeting fabrics generally have a less luxurious appearance and feel than all cotton sheeting fabrics, and are less absorbent and consequently less comfortable than all cotton sheeting fabrics.

Textile structures comprising core spun yarns and associated methods for manufacture


A local area interconnect structure comprising one or more electrically conductive interconnects formed from electrically conductive metal compounds is described and a process for forming same. Electrically conductive metal compounds are selectively deposited in one or more trenches which were previously formed in an insulation layer in a configuration conforming to the desired pattern of the electrically conductive interconnects. A seed layer is first selectively formed on surfaces of the trenches and the electrically conductive metal compound is then selectively deposited over the seed layer in the trench, but not on the exposed surfaces of the insulation layer.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the forming of local area interconnects in an integrated circuit structure by selective deposition of conductive material on a patterned seed layer formed over a semiconductor substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
Local area interconnects are used to provide electrical connections or interconnects between active and or passive devices of an integrated circuit structure at a level or levels below the customary metallization levels. Usually such interconnects involve the use of patterned polysilicon which has been doped to increase its conductivity. A doped layer of polysilicon is blanket deposited over the integrated circuit structure (or blanket deposited undoped and then doped), and then patterned, typically by masking and etching, to provide the desired interconnect or wiring structure. This is illustrated in prior art FIGS. 1 and 2, wherein a semiconductor substrate 2 is shown having portions of MOS devices formed therein comprising, for example, a source region 4 of a first MOS device and a source 6 of a second MOS device. An insulation layer 10 is shown formed over substrate 2 with contact openings 14 and 16, respectively, formed in insulation layer 10 to underlying sources 4 and 6. A doped polysilicon layer 20 is blanket deposited over insulation layer 10 and in contact openings 14 and 16. As shown in FIG. 2, polysilicon layer 20 is then patterned, using an appropriate mask and etching, to form conductive interconnect 22 to electrically interconnect sources 4 and 6 of the two MOS devices.
While such polysilicon interconnect structures are useful, extensive electrical interconnection at this level is usually avoided because of the less than satisfactory conductivity of the doped polysilicon, in comparison with upper metallization layers which are usually formed from a more conductive material, i.e., a metal such as aluminum.
Because of the desire to provide electrical interconnections at this level, and the low conductivity of doped polysilicon, attempts have been made to substitute more conductive materials such as metal silicides or metal nitrides for the polysilicon, due to the enhanced conductivity of, for example, titanium silicide in comparison to doped polysilicon. However, such technology has never become popular because of the relative difficulty in patterning such materials, in comparison with either polysilicon or upper metallization layers, when the material is first formed by a blanket deposition, similar to the blanket layer of polysilicon shown in FIG. 1, and then masked and etched to form the desired patterning of the layer of conductive material into interconnects, similar to the patterned polysilicon interconnect shown in FIG. 2.
However, if such problems could be overcome, the use of local area interconnect technology as part of the overall metallization interconnect technology for multiple level interconnects could provide improvements in device packing densities.

Process for making integrated circuit structure comprising local area interconnects formed over semiconductor substrate by selective deposition on seed layer in patterned trench


A shock absorber incorporates a double adjustable valve using a single needle having both a tapered end portion and extended cylindrical portion. The needle is used in a shock that has a correspondingly configured radial rebound orifice and a plurality of compression orifices. With two separate and independent adjustments of the single needle, both rebound and compression characteristics can be tuned. The tapered needle formed in the end of the needle body can simply be raised and lowered in the rebound orifice to adjust rebound stiffness. Similarly, a plurality of radially extending shutter faces and fluid channels or grooves are formed in the extended cylindrical portion of the needle. The shutter faces and fluid channels are configured to cooperate with the plurality of compression orifices throughout the entire range that the needle body can be raised or lowered when adjusting rebound characteristics. The shutter faces and fluid channels are spaced apart around the circumference of the extended cylindrical portion of the needle body, and align with the compression orifices in varying combinations to open none, one, some, or all of the compression orifices when the needle body is rotated. When one of the fluid channels is aligned with one of the compression orifices, the orifice is placed in fluid communication with both upper and lower fluid chambers of the shock. The result is a simple, cost effective, reliable, double-adjustable shock absorber.

The purpose and operation of a basic shock absorber is well known. See Crouse & Anglin, Automotive Mechanics (10th Ed.), McGraw-Hill (1993), at Chapter 49, and Haney & Braun, Inside Racing Technology, TV Motorsports (1995), at Chapter 5, both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
In general, the suspension springs support the weight of the vehicle and its load, and absorb road shocks. The shock absorbers help control or dampen spring action to avoid spring oscillation and assist in maintaining control of the vehicle, and as a result, are often referred to as "dampers." When a car moves over a bump in the road, the wheel moves up with the bump and back down on the other side of the bump. The spring and damper compress as the wheel moves up, in a mode referred to as "compression." After passing the bump, a correctly designed spring and damper system goes through a small degree of oscillation in return to its steady state condition, in a mode referred to as "rebound." Ideally, the damper will not only control oscillation, but also prevent the spring from achieving either full compression or full extension. Full compression would indicate that the vehicle's suspension system is "bottomed out." Full extension would mean that the vehicle's suspension system is "floating," and no longer in contact with the road. Thus, a well designed spring/damper system allows the vehicle chassis to remain relatively steady, and keeps the tires in contact with the ground despite bumps or holes in the road and forces caused by cornering or changes in the vehicle's speed.
In high performance applications, such as in automotive racing, the springs and dampers are considered one of the more important tunable systems on the vehicle, and one that can greatly affect the vehicle's handling characteristics. Indeed, adjusting the damper characteristics can dramatically improve the way a vehicle performs when turning around a comer, under acceleration and during braking.
More specifically, most modern dampers include an oil-filled cylinder or tube in which a piston moves up and down in response to movement of the wheel relative to the vehicle chassis. The piston typically divides the cylinder into upper and lower fluid chambers. The movement of the piston forces oil or hydraulic fluid in the cylinder to flow through small fluid passages or orifices in the piston. The orifices in the piston are typically restricted by spring-loaded check valves or disks that deflect under pressure. The resulting fluid friction limits both compression and rebound. The more easily the fluid flows through the holes, the softer the ride. In contrast, smaller holes and stiffer check valves or deflection disks, have greater restriction and provide a stiffer ride. Thus, varying the size of the orifices, or the stiffness of the valves or deflection disks, alters the rebound and compression characteristics of the spring/damper system, and changes the ride characteristics of the vehicle. For high performance applications, such adjustability is greatly desired, particularly if the rebound and compression settings can be independently and easily changed.
Many different techniques are known for adjusting damper settings. For example, it is known to change performance characteristics of a damper by removing the damper from the vehicle and disassembling it to: change the number, diameter, order and thickness of the deflection disks; substitute a piston with different size, shape and number of orifices; substitute check-valves with different loading; etc. However, removing a damper from the vehicle and disassembling it to change its internal components is both complicated and time consuming, and therefore, is undesirable. Thus, dampers were developed having external adjustments that move internal parts to change the flow restrictions in the piston or some other metering orifice, or the preload on check valves or deflecting disks. Examples of such adjustable dampers can be found in the identified texts incorporated above, and in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,220,228, 4,313,529, 4,337,850, 4,463,839, 4,476,967, 4,800,894, 4,880,086, 4,958,706, 5,133,434, 5,402,867, 5,409,090, 5,542,509, each of which is also incorporated herein by reference.
As variously disclosed in the above references, most externally adjustable shock absorbers are complex and expensive to manufacture and maintain, and in addition, require the separate adjustment of multiple orifices, valves or deflection disks.
For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,402,867, a guide member is provided with separate rebound and compression guide ports, and a cooperating shutter is provided with separate rebound and compression shutter ports. By rotating the shutter within the guide member, the degree that the guide and shutter ports are "opened" or "closed" is changed, thereby altering the resistance to the flow of oil as the piston moves. However, in the '867 Patent, the rebound and compression strokes are not independently controlled. Instead, as the "rebound" ports are closed, the "compression" ports are opened. Likewise, as the "rebound` ports are opened, the "compression" ports are closed. Thus, the user can not independently set rebound and compression, thereby limiting the degree of adjustment to the damping characteristics. See also U.S. Pat. No. 5,409,090, which is similarly limited in adjustment of the rebound and compression characteristics.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,994, purports to provide a damper in which the rebound and compression characteristics can be set independently from each other. However, as with the '867 patent, a shutter and guide cooperate to provide three settings that simultaneously adjust the rebound and compression. Thus, it is again not possible to adjust rebound settings without also affecting the compression settings, and vice-versa.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,337,850, still another shutter and guide arrangement is shown, with a plurality of settings between a fully closed and fully open position. An adjusting knob incorporating a spring-loaded check ball maintains the selected alignment between the shutter and guide. The adjusting knob includes markings to visually indicate the selected setting. However, once again, the compression and rebound settings cannot be set or adjusted independently, without simultaneously affecting each other. See also U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,228 which shows a similar system, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,313,529, which shows an electronic adjustment control for a shutter and guide type of system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,476,967 discloses a damper including a bore formed in the piston rod, and having an orifice and cooperating tapered needle member in its lower end forming a passage between the upper and lower oil chambers. The oil flow through the passage during movement of the piston can be adjusted by axially displacing an adjustment rod to move the tapered needle relative to the orifice. By axially lowering the tapered needle relative to the orifice, the flow of oil is reduced, and conversely, by axially raising the tapered needle, the flow of oil is increased. The mechanism for adjusting the flow characteristics includes axially extending ridges that cooperate with a spring-loaded check ball to provide "click stops" for axially adjusting the needle. A visual indicator or scale is provided on the outer circumference of a dial member for visually indicating the adjusted position of the needle in the orifice. However, as with the shutter and guide arrangements discussed above, the '967 Patent fails to provide any mechanism to independently adjust the rebound and compression settings. See also, the text Inside Racing Technology, identified above, which discusses at page 168 a double-adjustable Penske shock that uses an adjustable needle valve to vary rebound settings. However, there is no discussion regarding how the compression settings of the Penske shock are adjusted.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,706 purports to disclose an adjustable damper incorporating separately adjustable rebound and compression settings. The damper is described as including two separate manual rebound adjusters, one each for low speed and high speed characteristics. The high speed rebound adjustment is supposedly made by rotating a knob to lower or raise an adjustment rod to limit the amount a bypass valve can open. The low speed rebound adjustment is purportedly achieved by rotating a second knob to rotate the adjustment rod to change the bias on the bypass valve. The compression characteristics of the damper are also said to be adjustable by a separate manual adjuster, preferably on a separate reservoir. Two alternate embodiments are also briefly described in which one knob is said to be used to achieve linear displacement of the adjusting rod in the tubular piston rod to adjust compression, and the second knob is used to adjust either the high speed or low speed rebound characteristics. In the latter embodiments, a cup-shaped valving member has a tapered valving surface which cooperates with an annular manifold in the piston. The degree to which the tapered valving surface of the cup-shaped member extend into the annular manifold controls the compression rate characteristics of the damper. The adjustments are all made manually by turning knobs. However, the devices of the '706 Patent are both complex and expensive to manufacture, and correspondingly difficult to maintain and use reliably.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,434 shows a damper that is independently adjustable in rebound in compression. A first adjustment knob is used to rotate an actuating rod to turn a spring seat and thereby adjust the bias on a rebound disk valve. A second adjustment knob is used to rotate an adjustment rod to align orifices of different size to vary the rate of flow to the compression valve. A second embodiment is also shown in which both the compression and rebound characteristics are adjusted by rotating separate rebound and compression rods to vary the path area in corresponding throttling orifices in the rebound and compression valves. However, the system of the '434 Patent relies on a complex and expensive arrangement of radial paths, grooves and throttling ports.
Thus, the need exists for a high-performance damper or shock that is easily and independently adjusted in both rebound and compression, that is effective and reliable, and that is easily and economically manufactured.


An air conditioning system for a nautical vehicle includes a main body including an assembly, and a blower including an inlet and an outlet, the inlet being in air communication with the main body, the blower further including blades rotating therewithin about a first axis, the assembly for adjusting the blower with respect to the main body about a second axis so as to alter an orientation of the outlet. The assembly includes a guiding cover and a cylindrical duct element for maintaining the main body and the blower in air communication with one another. The duct element has a first base and a second base, and is coupled to the blower at the second base. The first base of the duct element is dimensioned to correspondingly fit the guiding cover, and the duct element is rotatably adjustable around the guiding cover about the second axis at the first base.

The installation of an air conditioning system in a nautical vehicle must make use of the limited space available in the vehicle. Generally, the installation location will be determined based on factors, such as plumbing or ductwork surrounding the system, and the manner in which the system is installed such as orientation and room for placement. An air conditioning system equipped with features that allow for easy installation is necessary for situations where it must be installed in limited space obstructed by surrounding objects.


A driving wheel assembly and a robot cleaner having the same includes a main body and a driving wheel assembly including a driving wheel, a housing, a driving motor, a rotary member with rotation around a rotation shaft of the driving motor, where the rotary member includes a first unit and a second unit disposed at a position opposite to the driving wheel with respect to the rotation shaft of the driving motor, and a compression coil spring disposed between the housing and the second unit to apply pressure to the second unit, where a distance between a contact point where the compression coil spring and the second unit contact and the rotation shaft of the driving motor is shorter than a distance between a rotation shaft of the driving wheel and a rotation shaft of the driving motor.

1. Field
The following description relates to a driving wheel assembly which drives a robot cleaner, and a robot cleaner having the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a robot cleaner is an apparatus which intakes foreign substances, such as dust, from a floor surface to clean a region to be cleaned while autonomously travelling about the region to be cleaned without manipulation by a user.
Such a robot cleaner includes driving wheels to drive a robot cleaner main body, and the driving wheels drive the robot cleaner main body using frictional force generated between the driving wheels and the floor surface contacting the driving wheels.
In order for the robot cleaner to have consistent traveling performance in various floor conditions, such as a hard floor, or a carpet, for example, frictional force generated between the driving wheels and the floor surface contacting the driving wheels needs to be consistently maintained regardless of the state or condition of the floor surface. For this purpose, applying pressure to the driving wheels in a direction towards the floor surface is required.
Conventionally, a tension coil spring is used to apply pressure to the driving wheel in the direction towards the floor surface. However, the tension coil spring may cause a wide range of applied pressure to the driving wheel according to a displacement of the driving wheel. Furthermore, in order to reduce such range of applied pressure, the length of the tension coil spring is increased. Consequently, an installation space for installing the tension coil spring is increased.

Driving wheel assembly and robot cleaner having the same


[Object] To prevent a fastening member such as a bolt from being exposed from a bottom plate when a heater is fixed to the bottom plate using a heater fixture.

In a heat pump type air-conditioning apparatus, during a heating operation, frost may occur on an outdoor heat exchanger which serves as an evaporator. Heat exchange is inhibited by the frost. Thus, when frost is detected, a defrost operation is performed for removing the frost. When the defrost operation is performed, the frost formed on the outdoor heat exchanger is melted, dropped as drain water onto a base of an outdoor unit, and then discharged through a drain discharge hole to the outside. In some cases, in a cold climate area, frost easily occurs, and drain water dropped on a bottom plate of an outdoor unit refreezes at a low outside air temperature before discharged from the drain discharge hole. Thus, there are some outdoor units in which a heater for removing frozen drain water is provided at a bottom plate.
There is a method of fixing the heater to the bottom plate of the outdoor unit by fastening the heater thereto using a heater fixture through bolts (e.g., see Patent Literature 1). Specifically, in Patent Literature 1, a heater fixture has, at one end side thereof, a recess surrounding an outer peripheral surface of the heater from above, and has, at the other end side, a flat surface fixed to the bottom plate. The flat surface of the heater fixture is fixed to the bottom plate using fastening members such as bolts, whereby the heater is fixed to the bottom plate.

Outdoor unit of air-conditioning apparatus

Abstract: [Solution] An outdoor unit 100 of an air-conditioning apparatus includes a bottom plate 4, a heat exchanger 10 mounted on the bottom plate 4, and a fan 11 sending air to the heat exchanger 10. The outdoor unit 100 includes a heater 12 provided on the bottom plate 4; a fan retaining portion 20, mounted on the bottom plate 4, for retaining the fan 11; and a heater fixture 40, mounted on the fan retaining portion 20, for fixing the heater 12 by pressing the heater 12 against the bottom plate 4 from above.


This invention relates to a new starch branching enzyme, and to the gene encoding the enzyme. In particular, the invention provides a new starch branching enzyme type II from wheat, the nucleic acid encoding the enzyme, and constructs comprising the nucleic acid. The invention also relates to a novel method for identification of branching enzyme type II proteins, which is useful for screening wheat germplasm for null or altered alleles of wheat branching enzyme IIb. The novel gene, protein and methods of the invention are useful in production of plants which produce grain with novel properties for food and industrial applications, for example wheat grain containing high amylose or low amylopectin starch.

In plants, two classes of genes encode starch branching enzymes, known respectively as BEI, and BEII. In the monocotyledonous cereals, there is strong evidence demonstrating that the BEII class contains two independent types of genes, known in maize as BEIIa and BEIIb (Gao et al., 1996; Fisher et al., 1996). In barley, two types of genes have been reported, and shown to be differentially expressed (Sun et al., 1998), An additional class of branching enzyme (50/51 kD) from barley has also been described (Sun et al., 1996).
In dicotyledonous plants, loss of BEII activity through either mutation (Bhattacharyya et al., 1990) or gene suppression technologies gives rise to starches containing high amylose levels (Safford, 1998, Jobling 1999).
In monocotyledonous plants, mutations giving rise to high amylose contents are known in maize, rice and barley. In neither rice (Mizuno et al., 1993) nor barley (Schondelmaier et al., 1992) have the known high amylose phenotypes been associated with the BEIIa or BEIIb mutations respectively. However, in maize it is firmly established that the high amylose phenotype is associated with down regulation of the BEIIb gene (Boyer et al., 1980; Boyer and Preiss, 1981, Fisher et al, 1996).
The impact of down-regulation of BEI has been investigated through antisense inhibition in potato tuber; the down-regulation has been found to alter the properties of the starch, but not its gross structural features, such as the amylose content (Filpse et al., 1996). In wheat, antisense down-regulation of BEI activity has small but significant effects on starch structure (Baga et al, 1999). The branching enzyme I gene from maize has been cloned (Kim et al., 1998), but mutants affecting branching enzyme I activity in maize are not known.
No mutations specifically reducing BEIIa activity have been reported, and no gene suppression experiments in plants have succeeded in reducing BEIIa activity, although the du1 mutation in maize is known to reduce the expression of both BEIIa and starch synthase III. However, the du1 mutation is now known to be due to mutation of the structural gene for starch synthase III (Gao 1998, Cao 1999).
In our previous patent application No. PCT/AU98/00743 (WO99/14314), we have described the structure of a BEII gene from wheat, which we have subsequently designated the BEIIa gene.
In the present application we describe the isolation of a second BEII gene from wheat, which we have designated the BEIIb gene, and discuss the uses to which this gene sequence can be applied. We have surprisingly found that in wheat the expression level of the various branching enzymes is very different to that in maize and barley. In this specification we show that BEIIb in wheat is expressed at low levels in the soluble fraction of the wheat endosperm, and is predominantly found within the starch granule. This indicates that there are important differences in the regulation of gene expression in wheat compared to other cereals, suggesting that the manipulation of the amylose to amylopectin ratio in wheat will involve the manipulation of more than just the BEIIb gene.
We have also surprisingly found that the BEIIa and BEIIb gene structures are highly conserved with respect to exon size and position, allowing us to prepare DNA-based diagnostics which they can distinguish not only the BEIIa and BEIIb classes of genes, but also the forms of these genes encoded on the A, B and D genomes of wheat, and to identify the BEIIb proteins expressed by the wheat A, B and D genomes, providing an essential tool for the screening of wheat germplasm for null or altered alleles of wheat branching enzyme IIa.

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation


Devices and methods are provided for forming and securing a tissue plication. More particularly, the devices and methods of the present invention can be used to create multiple tissue folds on an anterior and posterior wall of a stomach cavity to reduce the volume thereof. In one aspect, a method of gastric volume reduction is disclosed that includes advancing a tissue acquisition and fixation device endoscopically into a stomach, manipulating the device to form a first fold of tissue on an interior surface of an anterior wall of the stomach, and manipulating the device to form a second fold of tissue on an interior surface of a posterior wall of the stomach, where the second fold is not attached to the first fold.

Metabolic disease is a serious medical condition that affects more than 30% of the U.S. population and can contribute significantly to morbidity and mortality. Complications associated with metabolic disease include obesity, hypertension, diabetes, coronary artery disease, stroke, congestive heart failure, multiple orthopedic problems, pulmonary insufficiency, sleep apnea, infertility, and markedly decreased life expectancy. Additionally, the complications or co-morbidities associated with metabolic disease, such as obesity, often affect an individual's quality of life. Accordingly, the monetary, physical, and psychological costs associated with metabolic disease can be substantial. For example, it is estimated that costs related to obesity alone exceed more than 100 billion dollars annually.
A variety of bariatric surgical procedures have been developed to treat complications of metabolic disease, such as obesity. The most common of these is the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB). In a RYGB procedure, a small stomach pouch is separated from the remainder of the gastric cavity and attached to a resectioned portion of the small intestine. However, because this complex procedure requires a great deal of operative time, as well as extended and often painful post-operative recovery, the RYGB procedure is generally only utilized to treat people with morbid obesity.
In view of the highly invasive nature of the RYGB procedure, other less invasive bariatric procedures have been developed such as the Fobi pouch, bilio-pancreatic diversion, gastroplasty ("stomach stapling"), vertical sleeve gastrectomy, and gastric banding. In addition, implantable devices are known which limit the passage of food through the stomach. Gastric banding procedures, for example, involve the placement of a small band around the stomach near the junction of the stomach and the esophagus to restrict the passage from one part of the digestive tract to another, thereby affecting a patient's feeling of satiety.
While the above-described bariatric procedures are commonly used for the treatment of morbid obesity (i.e., greater than 100 pounds over one's ideal body weight), the risks of these procedures often outweigh the potential benefits for the growing segment of the population that is considered overweight. The additional weight carried around by these persons can still result in significant health complications, but does not justify more invasive treatment options. However, because conservative treatment with diet and exercise alone may be ineffective for reducing excess body weight, there is a need for treatment options that are less invasive and lower cost than the procedures discussed above.
It is known to create cavity wall plications through both laparoscopic and endoscopic procedures. Laparoscopic plication techniques can be complicated and complex, however, as one or more surgical entry ports must be employed to gain access to the surgical site. Furthermore, laparoscopically approaching the stomach often requires separating the surrounding omentum prior to plication formation. In endoscopic procedures, plication depth has traditionally suffered due to the size restrictions of the endoscopic lumen. For example, the rigid length and diameter of a surgical device are limited based on what sizes can be reliably and safely passed trans-orally into the stomach. Furthermore, access and visibility within the gastric and peritoneal cavities is progressively limited in an endoscopic procedure as the extent of the reduction increases because the volume of the gastric cavity is reduced.
In addition, prior art devices for forming endoluminal plications often utilize opposing jaws and a grasper element to draw tissue between the jaws. The prior art devices approach the cavity wall such that a longitudinal axis of the device is perpendicular to the cavity wall. The grasper element can then be advanced from the center of the open jaws, and used to draw tissue between the jaws to create the fold. However, the geometry of these devices limits the size of the plication that can be formed to approximately the length of the jaws, as the grasper can only draw the cavity wall tissue to the center of the jaws and no farther. Moreover, in order to secure a plication with a plurality of fasteners, prior art devices must release the tissue and be repositioned anew to apply each fastener.
With the foregoing in mind, it is desirable to have methods and devices for forming tissue folds, such as serosa-to-serosa tissue folds within the gastric lumen, that overcome any of the aforementioned problems.

Devices and methods for endoluminal plication


The present invention is to provide a device for holding and fastening a light-emitting member, comprising a fastening assembly including a first space for receiving and clamping an object; and a secureness assembly provided on the fastening assembly and having a second space for receiving and fastening a portion of the light-emitting member, enabling both the light-emitting member and the device to be easily carried after the light-emitting member being detaching from the secureness assembly and the fastening assembly being disengaged from an object.

A conventional flashlight 1 is shown in FIG. 1 and comprises a case 10, a rotating joint 11 pivotably provided at a front end of the case 10, the rotating joint 11 being adapted to rotate about a longitudinal axis of the case 10, two opposite conductive arms 12 and 13 provided on a head assembly, a bulb carrier assembly 14 pivotably provided in the head assembly between the arms 12 and 13, the bulb carrier assembly 14 being adapted to rotate about a longitudinal axis thereof between the arms 12 and 13, and at least one battery (two are shown) 15 provided in the case 10 for supplying power to a bulb 141 of the bulb carrier compartment 14 for emitting light. The emitted light is adapted to change its projecting direction by rotating both the rotating joint 11 and the bulb carrier compartment 14.
Also, an on/off switch 16 is provided on an outer surface of the case 10. The switch 16 has one end extended into an inner surface of the case 10. Moreover, a circuit 17 is formed in the flashlight 1 and is extended from a positive terminal of a lower battery 15 to one end of the switch 16 along the inner surface of the case 10. From the switch 16, the circuit 17 further extends to the arm 12, the bulb 141 of the bulb carrier compartment 14, the other arm 13, and a negative terminal of an upper battery 15. The switch 16 is operative to enable or disable the circuit 17. In the enabled state of the circuit 17, electric power of the batteries 15 is supplied to the bulb 141 of the bulb carrier compartment, 14 for emitting light directed to an object.
For example, a worker has to hold the case 10 and direct light emitted from the bulb 141 of the bulb carrier compartment 14 with one hand and use the other hand to repair a malfunctioned device on a machine table being illuminated by the flashlight. This is inconvenient.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a clamp for holding and fastening a lamp or flashlight so as to facilitate repairing of a malfunctioned device on a machine table being illuminated by the lamp or flashlight because both hands of a worker are free.


A multi-channel rotary joint comprising-elastic seal rings each having an annular groove that are used to form a low-pressure channel space and a high-pressure channel space between the opposing peripheral surfaces of a joint housing and a rotator that rotates inside the joint housing. Seal rings that seal the low-pressure channel space which forms part of a vacuum suction route are engaged with and supported by one of the opposing peripheral surfaces such that annular grooves are disposed symmetrically and opening into spaces adjacent to the low-pressure channel space. The seal rings that seal the high-pressure channel space which forms part of a pressurized fluid supply route are engaged with and supported by one of the opposing peripheral surfaces such that the annular grooves are disposed symmetrically and opening into this high-pressure channel space.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-channel rotary joint that is mounted, for example, at the arm joint of an industrial robot used as a wafer conveyance means in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, where the rotary joint is used to allow a plurality of fluids of different pressure (such as a positive pressure fluid and a negative pressure fluid) to flow along separate routes between two relative rotational members that constitute an arm joint or the like.
2. Prior Art
In an industrial robot used as a wafer conveyance means in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, for example, a rotary joint is necessary for allowing a plurality of fluids of different pressure to flow between two relative rotational members that make up an arm joint (a working arm member and a power source arm member that rotatably supports the working arm member).
More specifically, the working arm member is provided with a plurality of rotary fluid passages connected to a vacuum chucking device for holding a workpiece (such as a silicon wafer), a fluid device for controlling the position of the working component, or the like, while the power source arm member is provided with a plurality of stationary fluid passages connected to a vacuum pump, a compressor, or another such power generation device for operating manipulation and control devices, and a rotary joint having a plurality of fluid routes is necessary for rotatably and independently linking these rotary fluid passages and stationary fluid passages.
One such rotary joint that has been proposed is designed such that the relative rotational portions of the channels formed between a joint housing and a rotator rotatably supported around the inner periphery of the joint housing are sealed with mechanical seals or elastic seal rings between the opposing peripheral surfaces of the joint housing and the rotator.
However, with a mechanical seal, a seal ring provided for the joint housing and a seal ring provided for the rotator are pressed into contact with each other by springs, creating a seal through the relative rotational sliding action of the two seal rings, and this construction took up a large installation space. Therefore, with a rotary joint that makes use of mechanical seals, if many channels are to be formed between the joint housing and the rotator, then the rotary joint must be made larger than necessary in order to leave enough space for the installation of the mechanical seals, and this hinders efforts to make the robot more compact.
Also, since the seal rings of the mechanical seals are powerfully pressed into contact with each other, if there are many channels (i.e., mechanical seals) installed, then there is high rotational resistance between the joint housing and the rotator, the load and resistance with respect to the movement of the robot arm increases, and there may be an adverse effect on the robot performance.
In contrast, the above problems are not encountered with a rotary joint that makes use of elastic seal rings such as O-rings as its sealing means. However, in this rotary joint, the sealing force is obtained via the elastic contact force of the seal rings that applies against the opposing peripheral surfaces of the joint housing and the rotator. Accordingly, stable sealing cannot be obtained for high-pressure fluids or negative pressure fluids, and such a rotary joint cannot comply adequately with fluctuations in fluid pressure.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-channel rotary joint in which the advantages to use elastic seal rings (such as compact sizing of the joint) is maintained without any drawbacks (for instance, a poor sealing performance).
It is another object of the present invention to provide a multi-channel rotary joint that allows a plurality of fluids of different pressure (such as fluids of positive and negative pressure) to flow under control as desired in separated routes between relative rotational members without mixing the fluids.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a practical multi-channel rotary joint that is used, to advantage, in arm joints and so forth of industrial robots such as a wafer conveyance robot.
The above objects are accomplished by a unique structure for a multi-channel rotary joint that comprises:
a joint housing;
a rotator rotatably installed in the joint housing;
a plurality of elastic seal rings disposed in a row in an axial direction of the rotator so as to be between opposing peripheral surfaces of the joint housing and the rotator, wherein each of the elastic seal rings is comprised of an annular main body and cylindrical inner and outer peripheral lips that protrude axially from the annular main body and are brought into an elastically pressing contact with the opposing peripheral surfaces;
a low-pressure channel space and a high-pressure channel space formed between the opposing peripheral surfaces and sealed by two opposing elastic seal rings, wherein two elastic seal rings that seal the low-pressure channel space being engaged with and supported by one of the opposing peripheral surfaces such that annular grooves between inner and outer peripheral lips of the elastic seal rings are disposed symmetrically and open into spaces adjacent to the low-pressure channel space, and two elastic seal rings that seal the high-pressure channel space being engaged with and supported by one of the opposing peripheral surfaces such that annular grooves between inner and outer peripheral lips of the elastic seal rings are disposed symmetrically and open into the high-pressure channel space; and
a low-pressure channel and a high-pressure channel provided between the joint housing and the rotator, wherein a fluid lower in pressure than a space adjacent to the low-pressure channel space is allowed to flow into the low-pressure channel that communicates with the low-pressure channel space, and a fluid higher in pressure than a space adjacent to the high-pressure channel space is allowed to flow into the high-pressure channel that communicates with through the high-pressure channel space.
With the above structure, the low-pressure channel is used as a vacuum suction route through which a negative pressure fluid flows, and the high-pressure channel is used as a pressurized fluid supply route through which a positive pressure fluid flows. At least one low-pressure channel space can be provided adjacent to a high-pressure channel space; and in this case, the elastic seal ring that seals the low-pressure channel space can be used also as an elastic seal ring that seals the high-pressure channel space. Also, an electrical wire passage hole can be formed along the axial line of the rotator so as to penetrate through the joint housing and the rotator. It is preferable to install a rotary connector that connects electrical wiring at the end of the electrical wire passage hole.


A method of developing fault codes for complex systems based on historical data that in one aspect is a software program arranged to be installed and to operate on a processor to process the historical data in order to facilitate development of the fault codes, the software program resulting in the processor performing the method including: grouping the historical data into a plurality of observations and a plurality of repairs; analyzing the plurality of repairs to determine associated observation signatures, each of the observation signatures being one or more of the observations; and assigning a fault code to each observation signature.

Complex systems comprising tens or hundreds of inter-related and inter-operating systems and subsystems, many which may be complex in there own right, present unique maintenance and service challenges. Examples of such complex systems include factories, major buildings, ocean going vessels, power generation plants, and aircraft to name a few. Complex systems and the inter-related and inter-operational nature of the systems and subsystems thereof often require equally complex and disciplined maintenance and service programs. These programs usually include documentation or records of observed or indicated irregularities or discrepancies and actions taken or services performed pursuant to resolution or prevention of such irregularities and discrepancies. This documentation is usually filled out, completed, or recorded by the service and maintenance personnel.
In the aircraft industry fault codes have more recently come to be used to provide a mechanism to summarize the set of symptoms or syndrome that is reported for each distinct aircraft fault condition. A fault code typically corresponds to a fault condition in a single system on the aircraft and can be used as the basis of fault isolation, material planning and deferral/criticality analysis. Fault Codes are a critical element of a "Fault Model" for an aircraft that can be used to support an automated diagnostic and maintenance support system.
For example Honeywell International Inc. builds an automated expert system called "AMOSS" (Aircraft Maintenance and Operations Support System) that uses fault codes as a standard element in structuring the maintenance activities for an airline and aircraft within that airline. For aircraft designed after the middle of the 1980's, the maintenance documents developed by the manufacturer include Fault Codes. However, aircraft designed prior to the middle of the 1980's (a large percentage of aircraft presently flying) did not include the Fault Code as a part of their maintenance documentation.
For those aircraft and other complex systems that have not employed fault codes or some similar standardization technique, the ability to modify or standardize maintenance and service programs based on historical data is limited since different service technicians are likely to describe similar observations and actions in different terms thus limiting the usefulness of historical information. The airlines have attempted to overcome this limitation through training to instruct their maintenance and service personnel to use various fault classification and reporting strategies for older aircraft. This adds complexity to the maintenance and service procedures, increases costs, and reduces the precision of planning and cost analysis activities. Clearly a need exists for methods and apparatus for developing standard fault codes based on historical data.

Method and apparatus for developing fault codes for complex systems based on historical data


This invention relates, at least in part, to compositions comprising synthetic nanocarriers and immunosuppressants that result in immune suppressive effects. Such compositions can further comprise antigen and provide antigen-specific tolerogenic immune responses.

Conventional strategies for generating immunosuppression associated with an undesired immune response are based on broad-acting immunosuppressive drugs. Additionally, in order to maintain immunosuppression, immunosuppressant drug therapy is generally a life-long proposition. Unfortunately, the use of broad-acting immunosuppressants are associated with a risk of severe side effects, such as tumors, infections, nephrotoxicity and metabolic disorders. Accordingly, new immunosuppressant therapies would be beneficial.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


There is provided an image processing apparatus including a left eye image input unit configured to input a left eye image (L image) which is a left eye image signal applied to three-dimensional image display, a right eye image input unit configured to input a right eye image (R image) which is a right eye image signal applied to three-dimensional image display, a parallax information generating unit configured to generate parallax information from the left eye image (L image) and the right eye image (R image), and a virtual view point image generating unit configured to receive the left eye image (L image), the right eye image (R image), and the parallax information, and generate virtual view point images including a view point image other than view points of the received LR images.

The present disclosure relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and a program, and more particularly, to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and a program for generating a multi-view point image which is applied to three-dimensional (3D) image display.
A naked eye-type 3D display apparatus has been put into practice. The naked eye-type 3D display apparatus allows a user to perceive a stereoscopic image without wearing glasses in three-dimensional (3D) image display processing. The naked eye 3D display apparatus includes, for example, a lenticular sheet or a parallax barrier (parallax barrier) on a display surface, which controls images entering into the left eye and the right eye in accordance with a viewing/listening position.
With such method, however, a correct stereoscopic vision can be obtained only at a limited viewing/listening position with respect to a display. Therefore, when a user's observation position is located at a position different from a specified position, reversed vision and crosstalk occurs. In the reversed vision, a right eye image enters into the left eye, and a left eye image enters into the right eye. In the crosstalk, a left eye image and a right eye image are mixed.
In order to solve this problem, a configuration has been suggested to generate and display not only a standard left eye image and a standard right eye image corresponding to a regular observation position but also an image from a new view point which is configured not to produce any crosstalk when observed from other observation positions.
Not only an original set of a left eye image and a right eye image but also images of other virtual view points are generated as multi-view point images, and an appropriate set of a left eye image and a right eye image according to a user's observation position is selectable from these multi-view point images, in accordance with the observation position, whereby images are displayed while reducing the reversed vision and the crosstalk.
In other words, this allows a user to observe a different pair of a left eye image and a right eye image in accordance with the user's observation position, so that even when the user's observation position is changed, this allows the left eye and the right eye of the observer to observe a left eye image and a right eye image according to each observation position.
More specifically, based on the original images for two view points which are input to a display apparatus or an image processing apparatus, i.e., two view point images including a left eye image (L image) and a right eye image (R image) for 3D image display, view point images for virtual view points are generated in addition to these two view points. For example, multi-view point images for ten different view points including the original LR images are generated.
A user observes a combination of appropriate two images among the generated multi-view point images in accordance with a user's observation position with respect to the display, whereby 3D images can be displayed and can be observed while reducing crosstalk in which a left eye image and a right eye image are mixed, at various observation positions.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-115198 discloses a method for inputting an original left eye image (L image) and an original right eye image (R image), executing parallax detection from these two images, and generating images for multiple virtual view points, on the basis of the detected parallax information. More specifically, parallax is detected from the two received original 3D images including the left eye image (L image) and the right eye image (R image), and determining virtual view point positions different from the received LR images, on the basis of the amount of crosstalk and the fusional parallax range.
In the processing described in this Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-115198, however, the quality of the generated virtual view point images is not taken into consideration, and the processing described in this Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-115198 is configured to determine the virtual view point positions using the center of the left eye image and the right eye image as a reference. Therefore, the quality of the generated virtual view point images is reduced, and an image which can be hardly observed may be displayed.
There is a close relationship between the virtual view point position and the image quality.
For example, where the view point position of the received L image is 0.0, and the view point position of the received R image is 1.0, the relationship between an image for a newly generated virtual view point and its image quality has the following features.
(Feature 1) At a virtual view point position between 0.0 and 1.0, i.e., between the L image (0.0) and the R image (1.0), a virtual view point image of 0.5 which is the central position of the LR images has the lowest image quality as compared with other virtual view point positions.
(Feature 2) At a virtual view point position which is equal to or less than 0.0 and equal to or more than 1.0 at the left side of the L image or at the right side of the R image, the farther the position is away from the L image or the R image, the lower the quality of video becomes.
Such relationship between the virtual view point position and the image quality results from, for example, the precision of the parallax detection and the amount of occlusion region included in the image.
It should be noted that when the view point position of 0.0, the original received left eye image can be used as it is, and at the view point position of 1.0, the original received right eye image can be used as it is. Therefore, at these positions, the image quality becomes the highest.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-115198 suggests a method for detecting the maximum amount of parallax from 3D images of an original received left eye image (L image) and an original received right eye image (R image) and determining virtual view point positions so that the maximum parallax is accommodated within the amount of crosstalk and the fusional parallax range. In other words, this discloses a method for determining a view point interval of virtual view point image generated according to the maximum amount of parallax of the received LR images.
However, when the maximum parallax is detected from the original LR images, an image in an image region having the maximum parallax and likelihood an image region attracts attention are not taken into consideration. Therefore, for example, the following problems occur.                During the maximum parallax detection, the size of area of the image region having the maximum parallax is not taken into consideration. Therefore, when an object having a small size of area has the maximum parallax, the virtual view point interval may be reduced more than necessary, in accordance with the existence of the maximum parallax image region that hardly affects the visual appearance.        In addition, the likelihood of getting attraction to the image region having the maximum parallax is not taken into consideration during the maximum parallax detection. Therefore, when an image region that hardly attracts attention in terms of visual appearance has the maximum parallax, the virtual view point interval may be reduced or increased more than necessary, in accordance with the maximum parallax information of the image region that hardly affects the visual appearance.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H9-121370 discloses a method using an original received left eye image (L image) and an original received right eye image (R image) to maintain parallax within a fusional range by moving these images in parallel (shifting).
By generating virtual view point images by means of shift processing disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H9-121370, the offset of the parallax distribution can be adjusted, i.e., the offset adjustment can be done to move an too-deep image to the viewer's side as a whole. However, since the extension of the parallax distribution may not be adjusted, the following glitches may occur: the entire image may shift too much to the viewer's side or may move too much to the deeper side as a result of the offset adjustment.

Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and program for generating multi-view point image


An object of the invention is to suppress an influence of a wavefront aberration which is generated at the time of correcting a third-order spherical aberration, and realize satisfactory information recording and/or reproducing. A collimator lens 4 corrects a third-order spherical aberration which is generated depending on the thickness of a light transmissive layer from a surface of a first optical information recording medium 30, corresponding to an optimal substrate thickness of a first objective lens 6, to an intended information recording surface, assuming that the light transmissive layer thickness of the first optical information recording medium 30 which minimizes a residual third-order spherical aberration at the time of incidence of parallel light into the first objective lens 6 is defined as the optimal substrate thickness of the first objective lens 6. The optimal substrate thickness of the first objective lens 6 is defined in such a manner that a variation of a wavefront aberration which is generated on the information recording surface of the first optical information recording medium 30 farthest from the first objective lens 6 at the time of correcting the third-order spherical aberration, and a variation of a wavefront aberration which is generated on the information recording surface of the first optical information recording medium 30 closest to the first objective lens 6 at the time of correcting the third-order spherical aberration are set equal to each other.

There has been known an optical information recording medium called as a DVD or a BD (a Blu-ray disc) among the commercially available high-density and large-capacity optical information recording media. In recent years, the optical information recording medium has been rapidly spread as a recording medium for recording images, music, and computer-processed data.
As the capacity of an optical information recording medium has been increased, a short-wavelength light source and an objective lens having a large NA to be used in an optical head device have been developed. As the NA is increased, however, a change in a spherical aberration resulting from a change in thickness of a light transmissive layer of an optical information recording medium is increased. For instance, in the case where a light source for emitting light of 650 nm wavelength, and an objective lens having an NA of 0.6 are used in information recording and/or reproducing with respect to a DVD, a spherical aberration of about 10 mλ is generated with respect to a change in light transmissive layer thickness of 10 μm. In the case where a light source for emitting light of 400 nm wavelength, and an objective lens having an NA of 0.85 are used in information recording and/or reproducing with respect to a BD as a next-generation optical information recording medium, a spherical aberration of about 100 mλ is generated with respect to a change in light transmissive layer thickness of 10 μm. Thus, a spherical aberration of about ten times of a spherical aberration in a DVD is generated in a BD. In view of this, a measure for correcting spherical aberration is necessary in the aforementioned optical head device.
For instance, patent literature 1 proposes an approach, wherein a collimator lens disposed between a light source and an objective lens is mounted on a collimator lens actuator, and the collimator lens is moved in such a direction as to cancel a spherical aberration resulting from a thickness error of a light transmissive layer. The approach is described in detail referring to FIG. 8.
FIG. 8 is a schematic construction diagram of a conventional optical head device. Referring to FIG. 8, the optical head device 120 includes a light source 101, a beam splitter 102, a quarter wavelength plate 103, a collimator lens 104, an objective lens 106, a multi lens 107, a photodetector 108, a two-axis actuator 109 for driving the objective lens 106, and a collimator lens actuator for driving the collimator lens 104.
Laser light emitted from the light source 101 is transmitted through the beam splitter 102, and incident into the collimator lens 104. The laser light incident into the collimator lens 104 is collimated into parallel light by the collimator lens 104, if the thickness of a light transmissive layer 131 of an optical information recording medium 130 is set to a defined value. The collimator lens 104 is mounted on the collimator lens actuator 110, and is movable in forward or backward direction along an optical axis of laser light by the collimator lens actuator 110.
The laser light transmitted through the collimator lens 104 is turned into circularly polarized light while being transmitted through the quarter wavelength plate 103, and incident into the objective lens 106. The laser light collected by the objective lens 106 and incident into an information recording surface of the optical information recording medium 130 is turned into return light by reflection on the information recording surface. After the return light is transmitted through the objective lens 106 along an incoming optical path, the return light is incident into the quarter wavelength plate 103. The return light is then turned into linearly polarized light, which is rotated by 90 degrees with respect to the polarization direction of the incoming path, by transmission through the quarter wavelength plate 103. Thereafter, the return light is turned into convergent light by the collimator lens 104, and then reflected on the beam splitter 102. The return light reflected on the beam splitter 102 is incident into the photodetector 108 through the multi lens 107, and detected by the photodetector 108.
In the case where information recording/reproducing is performed by collecting light on the information recording surface of the optical information recording medium 130, using the optical head device 120, there are generated mainly two kinds of spherical aberrations resulting from a thickness error of the light transmissive layer 131 of the optical information recording medium 130, i.e., aberration due to defocus, and spherical aberration. The aberration due to defocus is corrected by focus servo control. Specifically, the aberration due to defocus is corrected by moving the objective lens 106 in the optical axis direction by the two-axis actuator 109, based on a focus servo signal from the photodetector 108, whereby the laser light is focused on the information recording surface.
On the other hand, the spherical aberration is corrected by turning laser light to be incident into the objective lens 106 into divergent light or convergent light, and generating a spherical aberration having a polarity opposite to the polarity of a spherical aberration which is generated depending on the thickness of the light transmissive layer 131. Specifically, laser light to be incident into the objective lens 106 is turned into divergent light or convergent light by moving the collimator lens 104 in forward or backward direction along the optical axis direction by the collimator lens actuator 109 to generate a spherical aberration having an opposite polarity by the objective lens 106, whereby a spherical aberration resulting from a thickness error of the light transmissive layer 131 is cancelled. In this way, in the conventional optical head device 120, a spherical aberration is cancelled when laser light is focused on the information recording surface through the objective lens 106.
There is proposed an idea of forming a multilayer structure of information recording surfaces to further increase the capacity of an optical information recording medium. In the case where a multilayer structure of information recording surfaces is formed, information recording and/or reproducing is performed with respect to plural information recording surfaces. However, since the distance from the objective lens 106 differs with respect to the information recording surfaces, a spherical aberration is generated on an information recording surface displaced from an optical transmissive layer thickness of an optical information recording medium, which minimizes a residual aberration at the time of parallel light incidence, in other words, an optimal substrate thickness of the objective lens 106, depending on a light transmissive layer thickness Δd from an optimal position which minimizes a residual aberration to an intended information recording surface. A third-order spherical aberration W is expressed by the following formula (1), where Δd is a light transmissive layer thickness from an optimal position which minimizes a residual aberration to an intended information recording surface, n is a refractive index of a light transmissive layer, and NA is a numerical aperture of an objective lens (see e.g. non-patent literature 1).
                    W        =                                                            n                2                            -              1                                      8                                            n                3                                                                                (              NA              )                        4                              Δ                                                              d                                    (        1        )
As described in the above formula (1), the third-order spherical aberration W is increased in proportion to the light transmissive layer thickness Δd from an optimal position which minimizes a residual aberration to an intended information recording surface. In other words, in the case where a multilayer structure is formed of information recording surfaces, as the light transmissive layer thickness is greatly changed, a spherical aberration amount to be corrected is also increased. As a result, in the conventional optical head device 120, the moving range of the collimator lens 104 is exceedingly increased. As the moving range of the collimator lens 104 is increased, and a degree of convergence/divergence of laser light to be incident into the objective lens 106 is increased, a fifth-order spherical aberration is generated in the objective lens 106.
For instance, let it be assumed that the wavelength λ of a light source is 405 nm, the NA of an objective lens is 0.85, the focal length of the objective lens is 1.3 mm, the focal length of a collimator lens is 19.0 mm, and the optimal substrate thickness of the objective lens (corresponding to a light transmissive layer thickness of an optical information recording medium which minimizes a residual aberration at the time of parallel light incidence) is 87.5 μm. FIG. 9 shows the amount of fifth-order spherical aberration which is generated at the time of correcting a third-order spherical aberration resulting from a change in the light transmissive layer thickness by moving the collimator lens in the above arrangement. As shown in FIG. 9, in an optical information recording medium whose light transmissive layer thickness is changed from 25 μm to 100 μm, even if the third-order spherical aberration is corrected, the amount of fifth-order spherical aberration as a residual aberration becomes maximally 40 mλ. Thus, an influence of a fifth-order spherical aberration in information recording and/or reproducing is not negligible.
Patent literature 1: JP Hei 11-259906A
Non-patent literature 1: "Optical Disk Technology" by Noboru Murayama, Kazusa Yamada, Hiroshi Koide, and Makoto Kunikane, published by Radio Technology Publications Inc., January 1989, p. 60

Optical head device, and recording and/or reproducing device


Disclosed are a class of compounds as a caspase inhibitor, and in particular the compound as shown in formula (I) or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, and the use of the compound in treating caspase-related diseases.

The control of the number of mammalian cells depends on the balance between reproduction and death of the cells to some extent. Necrotic cell death is one of the forms of cell death, characterized by pathological cell death caused by trauma or cell damage. Necrotic cell death is harmful to tissues, such as, by leading to inflammation. In contrast, another physiological form of cell death occurs in an orderly, controlled manner. This orderly, controlled form of cell death is called as apoptotic cell death (Barr, et al., Bio/Technology, 12: 487-497, 1994; Steller, et al., 267: 1445-1449, 1995). Through this programmed manner of apoptotic cell death, organisms eliminate unwanted cells (activity and presence of the cells that are no longer needed) without damaging other tissues. Therefore, apoptotic cell death is an extremely important physiological process to maintain the normal development and dynamic equilibrium of an organism.
There are many factors that can cause apoptotic cell death. Among them, the most important factor is a class of proteases called caspase (cysteine aspartate-specific protease, 14 caspase proteases are known). Capase is a type of cysteine protease, and many important proteins in cells are its substrate. The process of apoptotic cell death includes decomposing cells by action of caspase enzymes to form cell debris, and absorbing the cell debris by other cells or eliminating them by macrophages and the like, without inflammation, etc.

Caspase inhibitor and pharmaceutical composition, use and therapeutic method thereof

Chia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd.


Disclosed herein is a method that relates to resetting and firing a powder actuated setting tool. The method includes resetting the tool by torsionally urging a portion of a firing pin into axial alignment with a finger of a barrel of the tool and compressing the barrel of the tool toward a housing of the tool. The resetting further includes the finger urging the portion of the firing pin to a ready position in response to the compression of the barrel. The method further includes firing the tool by rotating a rotator and the firing pin to a position where the portion of the firing pin is unsupported by the finger.

In the construction and industrial industries, people are familiar with powder actuated setting tools. These are tools designed to forcefully expel a fastener into a workpiece by using an explosive powder charge to accelerate a piston which ultimately expels the fastener through physical contact therewith. In general, the tools resemble guns, having a barrel, housing, trigger, firing mechanism, charge and load (fastener). Such tools have been in existence for some time and are well disclosed in the patent literature. As powder actuated tools utilize a firing pin to ignite the powder charge, it is necessary to cycle the firing pin to a position where it is ready to fire. This has been done in the prior art by forcing a pin or a carrier for the pin into a ready to fire position against the action of a pair of coil springs. The linear compression force required to overcome the two coil springs, while certainly possible, and indeed operable, is relatively high. Such property causes the operator of the setting tool to need to bear down on the tool with considerably more force than might be desirable to place the setting tool in a position to dispense a fastener to the workpiece.
As will be appreciated by readers hereof, rapid completion of tasks is key in most endeavors whether they be private matters or commercial matters. High compression requirements as discussed above effectively slow the effort from both the time to compression standpoint and the operator fatigue standpoint. It is therefore understandable that high compression requirements to use a setting tool are not desirable as they negatively impact production. Since production must stay high, setting tools having lower compression requirements would be of benefit to the art.

Firing pin actuation and reset mechanism for a powder actuated setting tool and method