An endoscope provided with a lighting apparatus. In this lighting apparatus, a tapered fiber is applied between a lamp and a base end face of a light guide. This taper fiber is in a tapered configuration which gradually diminishes in diameter toward an end side. The lamp is a high luminance lamp of a low outgoing angle. The lamp, a battery, and the tapered fiber of the lighting apparatus are arranged unitedly on a grip portion of the endoscope.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to an endoscope.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various kinds of endoscopes have been conventionally used for medical examination and medical treatment. However, in these conventional endoscopes, an endoscope main body and a lighting apparatus for providing light into its light guide are formed separately. The endoscope main body and the lighting apparatus are connected through a cord having a light guide, and the endoscope main body has been operated (used) with said lighting apparatus placed separately.
A conventional lighting apparatus is provided with a lamp of several tens or several hundreds watts (W), and is heavy and large, which causes inconvenience in carrying the lighting apparatus.
In some conventional lighting apparatuses, a battery is used for convenience in carrying, but coupling efficiency between the lamp and the light guide inside the endoscope, i.e. proportion (percentage) of quantity of light which is effectively incident on the light guide among a total luminescence luminous flux of the lamp, is only one percent at most, and this illuminance is insufficient for actual use. It is necessary to use a light source of a big power in order to obtain sufficient illuminance, and consequently, it is necessary to store the power supply system separately in a pocket and use a cooling fan.
In conventional endoscopes, a lighting apparatus is large and heavy, and is separated from a main body of the endoscope. This causes inconvenience in conveying the endoscope, and a large amount of power consumption is required. When a battery is used for the lighting apparatus as described above, the endoscope is also inconvenient because the illuminance is insufficient or it is necessary to store the power supply system separately in a pocket.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an endoscope wherein the endoscope is easily handled and operated, it is possible to carry the endoscope, and it is possible to insert the endoscope into a human body more easily, swiftly, accurately, and safely in medical examination or medical treatment.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an endoscope wherein the power consumption is diminished, usage for long hours is possible, and sufficient illuminance is obtained.

Endoscope including an improved lighting apparatus


Liquid filling apparatus and method of producing a fill or dose of a defined quantity of liquid based upon the mass of the liquid. In one embodiment, a servo motor driven rotary positive displacement pump is used to produce flow through a Coriolis mass flow meter to feed a positive shut-off filling nozzle, wherein mass flow data from the meter is used to control the servo motor-pump-nozzle to produce a precise fill dose of liquid based upon its mass.

Many methods are known and used in liquid filling machines for the purpose of placing a liquid into a container, or package. These include volumetric filling methods which define a liquid dose using a positive displacement pump such as a piston pump or using a rotary pump, or a timed flow of liquid at a defined flow rate.
It is well known that many packaged liquid products vary in density from batch to batch and also over time within a batch. Therefore, a fill dose which is volumetric will vary in its weight as the density of the liquid changes, even when the volumetric quantity of liquid produced by the filling machine does not change. In most liquid filling manufacturing operations, it is necessary to maintain the quantity of product being placed into the package within certain required limits. The quantity of product being placed into the package is almost always measured and monitored by weight, using a scale device. When a volumetric filler is used to fill a liquid which does not change in density, periodically measuring the net weight of the fill dose is a means of tracking the stability and reproducibility of the volumetric fill produced by the filling machine and adjusting it as necessary. When a volumetric filler is used to fill liquid products which change in density, it is necessary to adjust the fill volume to follow the changing fill weights. In either case, if the filler used weight to determine the dose, the problems of tracking and adjustment of liquid fill dose would be solved.
Various means to fill liquids by weight are known. However, each has disadvantages and shortcomings. In one method, a volumetric fill is produced which is separately checked by weight using an electronic scale. The net weight obtained by checking is then used as a feedback signal to the filler to automatically adjust the volumetric dose to maintain a uniform liquid fill weight with varying machine or product conditions. The primary problem with this method is that in order to obtain a liquid weight on a scale with sufficient accuracy to be useful to adjust a filler, generally to better than one half of one percent of the nominal fill weight, requires a period of time that is too long to allow rapid production of filled containers. This is particularly the case because liquids tend to remain in motion within a vessel for a prolonged period, thus perturbing the scale readings. In addition, to determine the net weight of liquid being weighed on the scale, the weight of the container into which it has been filled must be know. This requires a pre-weighing or tare of each container before filling, using the same or a separate scale. This requirement further complicates and slows the process. In addition, in an automated system, two scales are required, one to tare the empty container and one to weigh the filled container, and this leads to very high expense which is rarely justified by the slow output speed of filled containers possible from such an arrangement. It is possible to disregard the container weight. However, it is well known that most containers vary significantly in weight one from the next and many vary to such a great degree as to not allow repeatable liquid filling within the required degree of accuracy.
In another method, liquid filling is done in such a way that the container is placed upon a scale and liquid is dispensed into the container until the desired net weight is reached. This is referred to as filling by weight or net weight filling. The problem with this method is twofold. First, the turbulence and relative motion of the liquid makes getting a precise weight difficult as a function of filling speed (flow rate). Second, electronic scales are limited in the rate at which they can track a dynamically changing weight. This limits the rate at which liquid can flow into containers. Further, before filling can begin, the container must be tared to eliminate its weight. This requires significant time as well.
In some designs, the liquid is introduced at a comparatively high flow rate until nearly all of the fill weight has entered the container, and then the flow rate is reduced to a very low flow rate to approach the desired weight with more precision. This is known as the "bulk and dribble" technique and it has the effect of slowing down the filling process as well.
In automated systems, either method is typically confined to expensive pharmaceutical fillers operating with a dedicated or narrow range of liquid products and fill weights at relatively low speeds, or to expensive rotary net weight fillers which operate at high speeds by virtue of having many scale filling positions, and which typically fill a narrow range of container sizes and weights. Another problem with scale based net weight filling is that scales cannot, in commercially practical terms, provide the dynamic range of weighing capability needed to allow their use in automated filling machines where a very large range of fill sizes must be filled on the same liquid filling machine. For example, a rotary pump volumetric filler could fill 100 mL containers with .+-.0.5% repeatability on the one hand, and then could fill 10,000 mL containers at .+-.0.5% repeatability on the other, without any change in the fitments or features or apparatus of the machine. This range of capability cannot be achieved with a scale based net weight filling machine without the need for substantial changes to the machine. Finally, scales impose very severe restrictions upon the means of construction of the machine itself, particularly where such a machine is to be constructed as an in-line (as opposed to rotary) intermittent motion automatic liquid filler. For example, because each container to be filled must be isolated from any other container, the containers must be properly spaced and separated upon the machine, a task which is completely unnecessary in volumetric machines. Furthermore, each scale must be mechanically isolated from the machine to prevent vibrations from affecting its operation and accuracy. In addition, it is impractical to add scale filling positions to scale based in-line machines as a means of increasing machine capacity.


A biofeedback device for predicting an impending elimination of bodily waste in an incontinent person includes a sensing element in contact with an area of a user so as to detect electrical activity of a sphincter muscle associated therewith and a signaling element operatively connected to the sensing element that provides a signal upon an occurrence of a predetermined electrical activity for the sphincter muscle. The biofeedback device is able to predict an impending elimination of bodily waste for an incontinent person, as well as assist the incontinent person in achieving a contraction of his/her sphincter muscle.

The present invention relates to devices utilized to monitor functions of the human anatomy and, more particularly, to a biofeedback device for an incontinent person which predicts an impending elimination of bodily waste and assists the incontinent person in achieving a contraction of his/her sphincter muscle.
There are many products available to assist incontinent persons from the discomfort and distress associated with such condition, including disposable articles which are used to contain, isolate and dispose of bodily wastes. It will also be noted that some disposable articles even provide a signal after a defecation, urination or discharge event has occurred so that it can be changed promptly. These articles, while satisfactory for their intended purpose, are helpful only after the event has already occurred.
Accordingly, it has become recognized that an ability to predict when such an event is about to occur, in order that the incontinent person or a caregiver thereof can be prepared and take the necessary action before the event has taken place, would be advantageous over the prior products. One such attempt in this regard is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,416,469 to Coiling, where a temperature sensor is imbedded in a diaper and connected to a sampling/recording meter. The meter measures and records the temperature of the sensor at specified time intervals over a predetermined period. In this way, the temperature and time data are able to be plotted on a graph and voiding events are identified. By applying this data over a sufficient time frame, the approximate time for future voiding events is then predicted. While the Colling method is an improvement in the art, it nevertheless still suffers from certain inherent inaccuracies. Not only does the method assume that an incontinent person will void within a calculated range of time, but it is also subject to other intervening actions (e.g., voluntary voiding, significant change in amount or time or intake of food, liquids, or drugs, or significant change in activity).
Therefore, a need exists for a device to more accurately predict and alert an incontinent person and/or their caregiver as to an impending elimination of bodily discharge. Moreover, such a device should optimally be utilized to assist an incontinent person in achieving an intentional, voluntary contraction of his/her sphincter muscle.
In accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention, a biofeedback device is disclosed as including a sensing element in contact with an area of a user so as to detect electrical activity of a sphincter muscle associated therewith and a signaling element operatively connected to the sensing element that provides a signal upon an occurrence of a predetermined electrical activity for the sphincter muscle.
In accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention, a method of predicting an impending elimination of bodily waste in an incontinent person is disclosed as including the following steps: identifying a specified electrical activity for a sphincter muscle of the incontinent person correlating to a contraction thereof, monitoring electrical activity of the sphincter muscle; and, determining whether the specified electrical activity occurs for the sphincter muscle. The method also preferably includes the step of providing a signal upon detection of the specified electrical activity.
In accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention, a method of assisting an incontinent person in achieving a contraction of his/her sphincter muscle is disclosed as including the following steps: identifying a specified electrical activity for the sphincter muscle correlating to an impending elimination of bodily waste; monitoring electrical activity of the sphincter muscle; determining whether the specified electrical activity for the sphincter muscle has occurred; and, providing a signal upon occurrence of the specified electrical activity.
A biofeedback device of the present invention may include any one or more of the above listed functions, and may also alternatively include other functions in addition to those examples given here.
Other features and advantages of the present invention are described with respect to the description of a preferred embodiment of the invention.

Biofeedback device for an incontinent person


An ultrasonic surgical instrument has a shaft and a probe head, the shaft and the probe head have a lumen or channel and a longitudinal axis and the probe head having a distal end face. The probe head has at least one operative surface engageable with organic tissues for the application of ultrasonic vibratory energy to the tissues. The end face is oriented at least partially transversely to the axis. The lumen or channel has a first outlet opening in the end face and at least one second outlet opening in a lateral surface of either the shaft or the probe head at a position spaced from the end face. The probe head has a plurality of teeth extending laterally from the end face, in two rows on opposing side of the end face.

This invention relates to an ultrasonic surgical instrument. More particularly, this invention relates to a high-efficiency medical treatment probe for use in wound debridement.
Over the past 30 years, several ultrasonic tools have been invented which can be used to ablate or cut tissue in surgery. Such devices are disclosed by Wuchinich et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,223,676 and Idemoto et al in U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,102.
In practice, these surgical devices include a blunt tip hollow probe that vibrates at frequencies between 20 kc and 100 kc, with amplitudes up to 300 microns or more. Such devices ablate tissue by either producing cavitation bubbles which implode and disrupt cells, tissue compression and relaxation stresses (sometimes called the jackhammer effect) or by other forces such as micro streaming of bubbles in the tissue matrix. The effect is that the tissue becomes liquefied and separated. It then becomes emulsified with the irrigant solution. The resulting emulsion is then aspirated from the site. Bulk excision of tissue is possible by applying the energy around and under the target tissue to separate it from the surrounding structure. The surgeon can then lift the tissue out using common tools such as forceps.
The probe or tube is excited by a transducer of either the piezoelectric or magnetostrictive type that transforms an alternating electrical signal within the frequencies indicated into a longitudinal or transverse vibration. When the probe is attached to the transducer, the two become a single element with series and parallel resonances. The designer will try to tailor the mechanical and electrical characteristics of these elements to provide the proper frequency of operation. Most of the time, the elements will have a long axis that is straight and has the tip truncated in a plane perpendicular to the long axis, as shown in FIG. 1. This is done for simplicity and economic considerations. In almost all applications, whether medical or industrial, such an embodiment is practical and useful. However, in applications such as the debridement of burns, wounds, diabetic ulcers or ulcers induced by radiation treatments, the blunt straight probe has been shown to be less effective in removing the hard eschar buildup that occurs when the wound is healing. This eschar buildup must be removed so that the healthy tissue is exposed and allowed to close the wound to provide complete healing with minimal scar tissue formation. Also, the small diameter tip, since it is cannulated, has a small annular area with limits energy transmission into the wound. This extends the length of the procedure and causes operator fatigue and patient discomfort.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,931,611 discloses an ultrasonic wound debrider probe with a central bore coincident with the longitudinal axis. The proximal end of said bore communicates with a bore in the ultrasonic handpiece using methods well known to the art, such as a male/female thread combination. The probe is shaped such as to provide both a resonant frequency of operation in the range for which the electronic generator was designed and an amplitude of vibration at the distal face which is desired for proper tissue ablation. Such amplitudes have generally been shown to be in the range of 30 to 300 microns. Probe heads or ends as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,931,611 incorporate either a substantially symmetrical distal end or a distal end with a pronounced asymmetry. Each end has attributes that increase its effectiveness on varying tissue pathologies. Probe ends may be further modified to improve the liquid flow to the probe/tissue interface such as to reduce the bulk temperature rise of the tissue and prevent clogging of the liquid passageway. Probe ends may also be modified to produce energy directors that impart energy from the sides of the probes instead of only at the distal face of the probe. Such energy directors, when contacting skin or tissue, will increase volume of tissue treated per unit time and thereby reduce the operating time of the procedure. In one specific embodiment of U.S. Pat. No. 7,931,611, an ultrasonic medical probe has an elongate shaft which is formed integrally with a head portion having a distal end face oriented at least partially transversely to a longitudinal axis of the shaft. The shaft is provided with an internal longitudinal channel or bore extending to the end face. The end face is formed with an indentation communicating with the channel or bore at a distal end thereof, whereby liquid is guided over an extended surface of the end face relative to the channel or bore. The head portion may be enlarged in a transverse direction relative to the shaft. In that event, the end face has an elongated shape, while the indentation is elongate and forms a groove in the end face of the head portion. This groove may extend parallel to or in a length dimension of the end face.
A problem that sometimes arises with convention wound debrider and other ultrasonic surgical tools is that the irrigation channel or bore, which may be intermittently connected to a suction source, sometimes becomes clogged with tissue, thus reducing the effectiveness of irrigation and/or aspiration.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Split wedges biased against sloped upper surfaces and the side walls of pockets in the ends of the bolster of a rail car truck are provided with non-metallic wear plates which interface with pocket side walls to reduce or eliminate pocket side wall wear. The wear plates are typically cast polymeric pads selected from the group comprising nylon, Delrin, UHMW and urethane, have a hardness in the range of between about 700° and 900° and a sliding coefficient of friction of about 0.10 to about 0.30. The pads are mounted in recesses within the sidewalls of the wedges and are held in place by means such as threaded fasteners for ease of replacement.

In rail car truck assemblies of the type to which this invention relates, it is known to provide friction wedges housed within pairs of bolster pockets located on opposite sides of the bolster adjacent its ends. The friction wedges are preferably provided in pairs which are biased upwardly by springs urging them against a sloped surface within a pocket of the rail car bolster and a wear surface which defines a side frame column at an end of the side frame opening.
In a rail car truck of the type that this invention is particularly applicable to, the bolster pockets have a sloped back surface and use a wear insert bearing on the sloped surface. This wear insert is a separate part which interfaces with correspondingly sloped surfaces of a pair of split wedges. It is known to provide the sloped pocket surfaces with a laterally extending taper or bevel so that the biasing force exerted on a wedge causes it to bear against a side wall surface of the bolster pocket. The wedge action within the pocket thus produces biasing forces jointly against the sloped surface of the pocket, the side edge of the side frame opening and against the pocket side walls generating damping forces which keep the truck square, thereby counteracting truck hunting and reducing wheel wear.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,298, issued Jan. 13, 1981, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,943,961, issued Aug. 31, 1999, constitute prior art over which the present invention is an improvement. In these patents, wedges are shown which are split into two side-by-side pieces in spaced relationship to one another. According to both of these patents, the two wedges are biased into full-faced engagement with correspondingly sloped sections of the pocket. In both patents, a side of each wedge section is also biased into face-to-face engagement with a side surface of the bolster pocket side wall.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,298, the sloping surfaces of the pocket are integrally formed with the bolster. In practice, this is accomplished either by welding forged inserts into the pocket having the required shape, by casting the pocket with the corresponding shape or by building up the pocket by welding. In the '961 patent, the problems and expense of the required welding operation are eliminated by providing a removable insert having the required shape which is supported within the pocket without any need for welding it in place.
In service, the forces holding the side of a wedge against the side of the pocket, while increasing the capability of the wedges to square the truck, result in wear of the corresponding pocket side wall. Eventually, during the course of normal use of the truck, this wear may be as great as ⅛″ to 3/16″ or even more, requiring a rebuild of the bolster pockets.
Rebuilding a worn pocket is a difficult and time consuming operation at best. One method employed is to build up the pocket with molten material by welding, then grinding to the original pocket dimensions the material added by welding. An alternative method is to weld a small wear pad onto the side wall surfaces of the pocket. However, building up the pocket by either of these methods is a difficult proposition because the interiors of the pockets are relatively inaccessible, being only 5-¾″ to about 7-½″ wide for a typical freight car bolster.

Non-metallic insert for rail car bolster wedge


A steerable dual rear axle system for large vehicles in which the vehicle has a frame, and the axle system includes a forward axle housing, a draft arm having one arm affixed to the forward axle housing and the other pivotally affixed to the vehicle frame, a rearward axle housing spaced from the forward axle housing, an axle extending through both axle housings having wheels and tires thereon, an upper linkage having one end pivotally attached to the upper portion of the forward axle housing and the other end pivotally attached to the upper portion of the rearward axle housing, a lower linkage having one end pivotally attached to the lower portion of the forward axle housing and the other end pivotally attached to the lower portion of the rearward axle housing so that the axle housings are supported in spaced apart relationship with the axle housings being independently free to move in vertical planes, compressible strut members extending between the axle housings and the frame for spring supporting the frame, and a hydraulically actuatable cylinder-piston member extending between the forward and rearward axle housings for steerably pivoting the rearward relative to the forward axle housing.

This invention relates to a dual axle system for large vehicles and in one embodiment in which the system is steerable. The invention is particularly useful for large off-road vehicles, such as trucks used for carrying extremely large loads. These type of trucks are customarily used in surface and open pit mining, earth moving and so forth. Such large off-road trucks are required not only to carry large loads but to move at fairly high speeds and typically over rough ground, that is, they do not typically travel on paved roads. Even in projects where some portions of the vehicle travel is over road surfaces that are maintained, the usual application includes at least some surfaces that are not maintained. In other words, these large off-road trucks must carry heavy loads at fairly high speeds over uneven terrain. For this reason, the axle arrangement and suspension system must be arranged to achieve two basic objectives, that is, support extremely heavy loads and, second, to provide suspension and mounting systems for the axle assemblies that support such heavy loads without transferring to the vehicle frame excessive shock from uneven terrain.
For reference to types of vehicles to which the present disclosure relates, reference may be had to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/650,442, entitled "Steerable Rear Dual Axle System For Large Trucks" now U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,570. Such disclosure describes a dual axle system for large trucks, as does the present disclosure. The dual axle system described in application Ser. No. 07/650,442 is steerable, that is, provision is made for changing the angular relationship between dual rear axles to coordinate with the vehicle front steering system. The present disclosure also provides a system having a forward and a rearward rear axle in which the rearward rear axle is steerable.
It is an object of this disclosure to provide an improved dual rear axle assembly for large vehicles that, in one embodiment, is steerable. More particularly, an object of this invention is to provide a dual rear axle assembly specifically useful for axles that include large cylindrical axle housings designed for mounting therein electric drive systems, with axles extending from the electric drive systems. An important aspect of this disclosure is the provision of a dual rear axle assembly for large trucks including forward and rearward axle housings wherein the axle housings are supported in a manner to permit independent motion in vertical planes of the axles. In a preferred embodiment of the dual axle system one rear axle is steerable relative to the other.

Steerable dual rear axle system for large vehicles


Systems, methods and devices are disclosed for determining and assigning descriptive filenames to digital images based on auxiliary input such as user provided input or input from some reference database.

The present invention relates generally to digital images and more specifically, to systems, methods and devices for determining and assigning descriptive filenames to digital images.
Digital photography has revolutionized picture taking. Digital cameras provide users the flexibility to rapidly view, edit, print and share pictures in ways that are not possible with conventional film based cameras. Digital cameras provide a multitude of benefits which cannot be readily matched by conventional film based cameras. For example, digital cameras provide users with the capability to immediately view pictures taken and thus the user can immediately save desired photographs and discard unwanted ones.
However, one area in which digital cameras provide no clear advantage over film based cameras is in the manner current digital cameras assign filenames to stored pictures. For example, confusing and obscure names such as "DIF1110" and "IMG1101" are currently used. While some camera manufacturers have gone so far as to include some rudimentary information within these naming conventions, such as the date and time the picture was taken, the end result is still that the picture filenames are tough to decipher and are in no way related to the actual content of the photograph. As a result, having a large collection of pictures can be difficult and confusing to manage since the filenames are very nondescript and unhelpful. In current practice, users typically have to manually rename each and every filename of every picture in order to have an easily manageable and searchable directory of photographs to peruse.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a way to easily and automatically assign helpful and descriptive names to digital photographs.

Systems, methods and devices for determining and assigning descriptive filenames to digital images


A motor vehicle transmission actuator for operation of a motor vehicle transmission, including gearsets which form different ratios, whereby the transmission actuator has a threaded shaft with at least one first threaded section, embodied as a right-handed thread and at least one second threaded section, embodied as a left-hand thread with just one electric motor for driving in the selection direction and the switching direction.

Motor vehicle transmission devices are known in various forms. Starting from conventional manual transmissions, automated manual transmissions (AMTs) for example were created, in which shifting processes are controlled (actuated) electronically. Furthermore, transmissions have become known which have parallel-shifted power train branches, for example double clutch transmissions (DCTs) or parallel shift transmissions (PSTs).
With motor vehicle transmission devices, a distinction is often made between the internal gearbox with its internal gear shifting system and an external gear shifting system, which is also often referred to as a transmission actuator—in particular in the case of designs supported by external force or designs with an electric motor.
The internal gearbox with its internal gear shifting system usually has the components that form the different transmission ratios, such as gear wheels, as well as components that are or can be coupled with these components, such as shafts. As a rule, gear clutches or devices of equivalent or similar function are provided here, by means of which linkages can be produced to engage gears and released to disengage gears. An example of this can be that by means of such a gear clutch a rotationally fixed connection can be created or released between a gear wheel of a gear set that produces one gear ratio and a shaft that carries that gear wheel. The internal gear shifting system extends from these gear clutches to the interface to the external gear shifting system. In most cases the latter has a plurality of mechanisms, which extend from a gear clutch in the direction of the external gear shifting system. A variety of designs are known in which in order to transmit power from the external gear shifting system to the internal gear shifting system these aforementioned mechanisms each have a shift gap or the like, which is inserted for example into a shift rail or shift fork or the like. The external gear system here frequently has one or more parts such as selector fingers, which these shift gaps can engage and activate. This is frequently realized in that to make a selection such a selector finger or the like can be moved into a position, out of which it can then be moved in an additional motion whose direction generally differs from the direction of the selecting motion, to perform the shift.
It is also known that in gear shifting processes in classically designed stepped transmission devices—starting from the former gear—the following three steps take place in time sequence: "Disengaging the former gear"- "selecting"- "engaging the destination gear." In addition, motor vehicle transmission designs have become known in which the selecting or selection motions can take place before the former gear is disengaged. Such designs include the provision for example that a main operating element or selecting finger is essentially responsible only for engaging gears, and that additional geometries assume the function of disengaging gears. Here in particular so-called auxiliary operating elements are used for the disengaging function. It is also known that the additional geometries are located for example on the one hand on a central shifting shaft, and on the other hand on shift gaps which are provided on the forenamed mechanisms or final output mechanisms or shift forks or shift rails or the like.
As a rule the disengaging geometries work in tracks in which the selecting finger or some main operating element is not active. Provision may be made so that a firm assignment between selecting finger or main operating element and disengaging geometry simultaneously represents an active gear block. Design implementations of this approach are therefore also known as "active interlock."
Such an "active interlock" generally provides that the main operating element or selecting finger can be moved back into the middle or neutral position even with a gear engaged, without disengaging the gear. The selecting movement becomes possible here before the gear is disengaged.
Examples of such designs are explained for instance in the Applicant's DE 102 06 561 A1.
Where gear changing processes in the designs of the forenamed type are controlled electronically by means of an electric motor, these designs always have two separate electric motors. The first of these electric motors, known as the selector motor, serves to select gears, and the second electric motor, known as the shift motor, serves to shift or engage gears.
In addition, however, a design has become known in which the gear shifting processes can be controlled in principle with only one electric motor. In this design, which is evaluated for example in the descriptive introduction of DE 102 06 561 A1, the operating device of the motor vehicle transmission device has a so-called selector drum, which is situated so that it can rotate and in whose outer jacket there are curtain-like grooves. The internal gear shifting system or final output mechanisms, each having a shift fork, are operated in this design by means of the selector drum. To this end elements coupled with the shift forks engage the curtain-like grooves; as the selector drum rotates they slide into these curtain-like grooves in such a way that their coupling with the shift forks and the latter's coupling with gear clutches brings about gear change processes. In this design the shifting sequence of the gear ratio steps or gears is determined by the design of the grooves.

Motor vehicle transmission actuator for operating a motor vehicle transmission

LuK Lamellen und Kupplungsbau Beteiligungs KG


An apparatus for applying light to a site to be treated on a wall of a vessel in the human or animal body, in particular for laser welding of two vessels to one another, has a light-feeding instrument that guides light generated by an extracorporeal light source to the site and radiates it onto the latter. The light-feeding instrument has an elongated optical conductor that can be inserted into the lumen of the vessel and can be displaced therein in the longitudinal direction of the vessel, and has light-deflecting means that direct the light fed through the optical conductor in a substantially radial fashion onto the site to be treated.

The invention relates to an apparatus for applying light to a site to be treated on a wall of a vessel in the human or animal body, in particular for laser welding of two vessels to one another, having a light-feeding instrument that guides light generated by an extracorporeal light source to the site and radiates it onto the latter.
A general case of application of such an apparatus consists in the application of light to a site to be treated on a wall of a vessel, in order to heal a pathological state, for example a tissue change or a rupture in the vessel wall, at this site.
A special case of application of the apparatus mentioned at the outset to which the following description relates without being restricted thereto is the application of such an apparatus for laser welding of two vessels to one another in order to join the latter to one another end to end or else end to side such that a T-shaped join is produced. Vessels are to be understood as blood vessels such as veins or arteries, or else in the wider sense generally as hollow organs. Such a join of two vessels to one another is required, for example, when a vessel has been ripped open because of injury or because of a surgical resection, or in order to join two vessels opening into one another so as to create a new vessel path or to reconstitute an original one.
In the case of conventional methods for joining two vascular stumps to one another end to end, which is also denoted as anastomosis, the two vascular stumps have been joined to one another by means of conventional suture methods. Such suture methods are, however, time-consuming surgical methods that require experience and skill on the part of the surgeon. Furthermore, when sewing together two vascular stumps there is the risk that an aneurysm, that is to say a weakening of the vessel wall with attendant outward sagging of the vessel wall, will develop at the suture site, or that foreign-body reactions will occur because of the suture material. Moreover, suture joins can frequently only be produced in the case of vessels in open, that is to say invasive operations.
The development of laser surgery has now rendered it possible to replace suture joins by laser welding. It has emerged that laser light of suitable wavelength and suitable power can also be used to "fuse together" tissue of vessels. Successful experiments have already been carried out in vitro for the purpose of welding two vascular stumps end to end. The advantage of the laser treatment as against the conventional suture techniques consists in a lower time outlay and in the avoidance of foreign-body reactions owing to suture material. Moreover, laser welding techniques can also be carried out endoscopically by means of small incisions, that is to say in a minimally invasive fashion.
Although the mechanisms of the laser welding process are not yet completely understood in the case of vascular tissue, it is surmised that the laser light that heats the tissue locally leads to a coagulation of proteins and thus to an anastomotic joining of vascular stumps. However, vessels welded with laser light frequently exhibit insufficient stability of the join that can lead to leaks under the strain of the blood pulsating in the vessel, or even to a complete rupture of the join.
It has therefore been proposed to apply to the junction in advance of the welding a biological solder such as fibrin or albumin in liquid or solid form which penetrates into the tissue to be welded and acts as adhesive during welding. In addition, these are mixed with a chromophore, as absorber, the absorption maximum of which is at the wavelength of the laser light used, in order to launch the laser light optimally into the solder and to release the laser energy there.
A problem is posed, however, by the application of the light in vivo to the site to be treated on the wall of the vessel. When applying the light from the outside of the wall of the vessel, it proves to be difficult to treat such a site on the wall of the vessel that is situated on the side of the vessel averted from the incision. Particularly in the case of laser-aided anastomosis, in which two separated vessels are to be welded to one another, the light-feeding instrument would need to have on the light-exit side an end that can be guided over an entire circumference around the outside of the wall of the vessel. This could be performed, for example, by forceps whose distal end has a cylindrical gripper that can be spread and with the aid of which the vessel is embraced as by forceps, and in which case the light exits circumferentially on the inside of the grippers. However, there is the risk in this case of the vessels collapsing during welding, with the result that the vessel is no longer open for the passage of blood after production of the welded join. Moreover, introducing such an apparatus into the body may require an open invasive operation.
It is therefore the object of the invention to create an apparatus of the type mentioned at the beginning with the aid of which the light can be applied in a minimally invasive way to the site to be treated on the wall of the vessel, and with the aid of which collapse of the vessel upon application of the light is avoided.

Apparatus for applying light to a vessel wall


The reading of data from a memory tag to another device, using a memory tag reader, is described. The other device has an active portion which can detect the presence and position of the memory tag reader when brought adjacent to it. The memory tag reader is brought adjacent to the memory tag and data uploaded into the memory tag reader. The memory tag reader is moved adjacent to the active portion of the other device into a position which identifies the location to which the data is to be transferred. The data is then downloaded into that location in the other device. A similar process is described for downloading data from the other device to the memory tag. Apparatus appropriate to carry out each stage of these processes is described.

Memory tags may most generally be considered as memory devices that are not self-powered but which provide input and or output when powered (rather than only when placed in an appropriate drive, such as a CD). Such memory tags may thus be used in situ in any physical environment where they can be powered.
Existing memory tags typically comprise a transponder (an electrical device designed to receive a specific signal and automatically transmit a specific reply)—Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags are one such form of tag. RFID tags come in many forms but all comprise an integrated circuit including a memory, in which in use information can be stored, and a coil which enables the circuit to be interrogated by a reader which also powers it by means of an inductive (wireless) link. Until recently RFID tags have been quite large, due to the frequency they operate at (13.56 MHz) and the size of coil they thus require, and have had very small storage capacities. Such RFID tags have tended to be used in quite simple applications, such as for file tracking within offices or in place of or in addition to bar codes for product identification and supply chain management.
Much smaller RFID tags have also been developed, operating at various frequencies. For example Hitachi-Maxell have developed "coil-on-chip" technology in which the coil required for the inductive link is on the chip rather than attached to it This results in a memory tag in the form of a chip of 2.5 mm square, which operates at 13.56 MHz. This chip is capable of both being read and being written to. In addition Hitachi has developed a memory tag they call a "mu-chip" which is a chip of 0.4 mm square and operates at 2.45 GHz. This chip is written with data during the manufacturing process in Read-Only-Memory (ROM), but is small enough to be embedded in paper.
Many uses of memory tags are already known, as indicated above. However, as the storage capacity of the memory tags increases their uses are becoming more to do with data storage rather than simply as a convenient place to store a single number or very limited data. For example Eastman Kodak Company has proposed a range of applications relating to images, presumably intended for use with photographic images, whereby data relating to the images is stored in RFID tags connected to the substrate on which the photographs are printed, e.g. as disclosed in EP 1 076 316 A2 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,363,239 B1.
Many forms of readers and reader/writers for communication with memory tags are also known. Some are wireless and hand held but simply display the limited information read from the tag on a small screen, such as those used to read the tags implanted into pet animals. Others, such as those manufactured by TEK Industries, Inc. and apparently intended for use in supply chain management, are wireless and hand held and store the information from a number of memory tags in internal memory before being downloaded to computer using a cradle or alternative connection technique using additional apparatus. Other readers, also available from TEK Industries, Inc. and capable of writing as well as reading, couple to a personal digital assistant (PDA) to form a single hand held unit and communicate (for example the TEK Stationary Reader) immediately with the PDA. Yet other forms of readers and reader/writers are known which are integral with large fixed equipment such as printers, or are simply hardwired to a computer.
The invention provides assistance in making practical use of the developments in RFID technology, and indeed in any other memory tag technologies, in relation to the ease with which data stored in the memory tags may be read and transferred elsewhere.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A silicon layer having semispherical protrusions of about 100 nm is formed as a lower electrode of a capacitor by low pressure vapor deposition method. A silicon oxide film is formed by oxidizing the surface of this silicon layer. The intervals between the rough portions of the silicon layer are increased by removing this silicon oxide film. Thereafter, a dielectric layer and an upper electrode are formed. In other methods, after the formation of the silicon layer having the roughness, thermal treatment is continuously carried out in oxygen-free atmosphere to increase radius of curvature of the roughness of the silicon layer. Thereafter, the dielectric layer and the upper electrode are formed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a capacitor for increasing an effective capacitance region of a stacked type capacitor.
2. Description of the Background Art
A DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) capable of random input/output of a stored information is one of the semiconductor memory devices. DRAM is constituted by a memory cell array serving as a memory region for storing multiple pieces of information, and peripheral circuits for carrying out a prescribed input/output operation to and from this memory cell array. The memory cell array additionally includes a plurality of memory cells each corresponding to a minimum storage unit. A memory cell is basically constituted by one capacitor and one transfer gate transistor connected thereto. In operation, the memory cell determines whether a prescribed electric charge is stored in the capacitor or not, which corresponds to data "0" and "1", whereby stored information is processed.
FIG. 24 is a cross section of a conventional DRAM. This DRAM is shown, for example, in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 64-42161. The memory cell of DRAM shown in FIG. 24 has a so-called one transistor one capacitor type cell structure. A transfer gate transistor 10 includes a pair of n.sup.+ impurity regions 3a and 3b formed on a surface of a p type silicon substrate 1, and a gate electrode 5a with a thin gate insulating film 4 thereunder on the surface of silicon substrate 1 placed between these n.sup.+ impurity regions 3a and 3b. Gate electrode 5a is constituted by a part of a word line. A first interlayer insulating layer 30 covers around gate electrode 5a. Furthermore, a capacitor 20 includes a lower electrode (storage node) 21 connected to one n.sup.+ impurity region 3a, a dielectric layer 22 covering a surface of this lower electrode 21, and an upper electrode (cell plate) 23 covering a surface of dielectric layer 22. A bit line 7 is connected to n.sup.+ impurity region 3b through a contact hole formed in a second interlayer insulating layer 31.
Recently, as the degree of integration of a semiconductor device improves, in this type of DRAM, it becomes necessary to miniaturize each individual element. As a result, such memory cell shown in FIG. 24 is compelled to decrease a plane occupation area of capacitor 20. Therefore, mainly two methods are taken for obtaining a prescribed electrostatic capacity required for the operation of the capacitor of the memory cell.
A first method is to increase electrostatic capacity by making thin the dielectric layer 22 forming capacitor 20. For example, in a DRAM having 1M bit integration level, dielectric layer 22 is made as thin as 10 nm level in the film thickness of silicon oxide film conversion. Therefore, it is difficult to make the layer thin when its integration level further increases.
A second method is to obtain the electrostatic capacity by increasing opposing areas between electrodes 21 and 23 opposing each other with dielectric layer 22 in between. The capacitor designed by this method is referred to as a so-called stacked type capacitor. That is, it is made of a structure forming a polycrystal silicon layer having a conductivity on a surface of a diffusion layer in the semiconductor substrate, and thereafter stacking the dielectric layer and the second electrode layer on a surface of the polycrystal silicon layer. Various types of the stacked type capacitors were designed. For instance, a form of the electrode layer constituted by the polycrystal silicon was changed to a fin form, or to a cylindrically projected form.
Furthermore, as another aspect of the second method, a method of forming a roughness on the surface of the lower electrode to increase the opposing areas of the capacitor was designed. The memory cell shown in FIG. 24 has a capacitor including lower electrode 21 having such rough surface.
FIGS. 25 to 27 are cross sections showing in order, manufacturing steps (first to third steps) of the memory cell in such DRAM. Manufacturing method is described in the following in conjunction with these views.
Firstly, referring to FIG. 25, a field oxide film 2 constituted by a thick silicon oxide film is formed in a prescribed region on a surface of a p type silicon substrate 1 in accordance with LOCOS method. Thereafter, a gate oxide film 4 is formed on the surface of p type silicon substrate 1 by thermal oxidation. After depositing a polycrystal silicon layer in the whole region by CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) method, it is patterned to form a gate electrode 5a. A silicon oxide film is deposited in the whole region by low pressure CVD method, and thereafter a first interlayer insulating layer 30 is formed on a surface and on sides of gate electrode 5a in accordance with lithography and dry etching technologies as well known in the art. Furthermore, n.sup.+ impurity regions 3a and 3b are formed by ion implantation of impurities in p type silicon substrate by utilizing gate electrode 5a covered by interlayer insulating layer 30 as a mask.
Secondly, referring to FIG. 26, a polycrystal silicon layer 210 having the film thickness of 0.4 .mu.m is formed in accordance with low pressure CVD method utilizing a monosilane gas diluted to 20% by helium. Pressure is set at 0.8 Torr and temperature is set at 680.degree. C. The roughness in the level of 0.07 .mu.m is formed on the surface of polycrystalline silicon layer 210 manufactured by this step. Thereafter, phosphorus (P) is introduced in polycrystal silicon layer 210 by thermal diffusion method using an oxine phosphorus chloride (POCl.sub.3) as a material under the condition of the temperature of 875.degree. C. for 30 minutes. After a phosphorus glass formed in the thermal diffusion, on the surface of polycrystal silicon layer 210 is removed, thermal treatment is carried out in a nitride atmosphere at the temperature of 900.degree. C. for 20 minutes. As a result, the roughness of the surface of polycrystal silicon layer 210 expands to 0.11 .mu.m.
Referring to FIG. 27, a lower electrode 21 of a capacitor is formed by patterning polycrystal silicon layer 210 in accordance with photolithography and etching method. A thermal nitride film is formed on a surface of lower electrode 21. A silicon nitride film is formed on a surface of the thermal nitride film in accordance with CVD method. Moreover, an oxide film is formed on a surface of the silicon nitride film by thermal oxidation method. As a result, a dielectric layer 22 constituted by three layers of thermal nitride film/CVD silicon nitride film/silicon oxide film is formed.
Referring to FIG. 24, a polycrystalline silicon layer is formed on the whole region of a surface of a p type silicon substrate. It is patterned into a prescribed form, so that an upper electrode 23 of a capacitor 20 is formed. Thereafter, a second interlayer insulating layer 31 constituted by a thick oxide film is formed on the whole region. A contact hole is formed on a prescribed region of interlayer insulating layer 31, and a bit line 7 is formed in the contact hole.
The memory cell of DRAM is completed in accordance with the steps mentioned above.
Many projected parts are formed on the surface of lower electrode 21 of the capacitor formed in accordance with conventional method. FIG. 28 is an enlarged partial cross section showing the surface form of lower electrode 21. As shown in FIG. 28, there are partially narrowed regions generated in the intervals between the projected parts. When gate dielectric layer 22 is formed with the small intervals between the projections, the gap between the projections is filled up by the gate dielectric layer, resulting in not uniform film thickness of dielectric layer 22. As a result, parts which cannot provide a sufficient capacitance are generated. Under such conditions, a problem is caused. That is, an effect of increasing the capacity by increasing the opposing areas between the electrodes of the capacitors by the formation of the roughness on the surface of lower electrode 21 cannot be achieved.
As mentioned above, the gate dielectric layer is formed to have thin film thickness in order to increase capacitance of the capacitor. Therefore, when a radius of curvature of the rough parts on the surface of lower electrode 21 is small as compared with the film thickness of the gate dielectric layer, an electric field concentration is likely to be produced near such rough parts. As a result, reliability of the capacitor is decreased, because of a decrease of a breakdown voltage of the gate dielectric layer.

Method for manufacturing a capacitor having a rough electrode surface


Data sets and blocks are stored in a set of independent, functionally equivalent chunks. These chunks are placed on different elements of a distributed network to achieve pre-defined level of fault tolerance. Terms of fault tolerance are defined in terms of amount of unavailable sites in the network allowing receipt and access to the data block. Maximal and minimal number of chunks available are variable method parameters. The minimal amount of data chunks K needed to restore a data block is defined. The size of each chunk is approximately 1/K of the original block size. The maximal amounts of chunks are defined during distribution operation and depend upon a requested fault tolerance level. Redundancy in data storage is minimized and varies dynamically by changing the total amount of chunks available. Significant increase in data transfer rate is possible because all block chunks could be transferred in parallel and independently.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of data preparation for storing in a distributed data storage system, more particularly, the present invention relates to the method and controller for splitting of data for storage and retrieval of data with controllable redundancy for fault tolerant distributed data storage.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the growth of the use of the Internet, the need for data storage systems with the capability to manage large amounts of information has grown dramatically. Such data storage or information management systems must provide reliable service to millions of computer users.
In conventional data storage networks, large files are broken into smaller pieces and transmitted using a store-and-forward mechanism.
Anyone deploying a data storage or information management system must deal with insufficient communication channel bandwidth and the inability of computer hardware components to handle the data storage load.
One conventional approach to solving the problems of insufficient bandwidth and the inability of computer hardware to store sufficient amounts of data has been to build a distributed network data storage system. In a typical distributed network data storage system, data is stored on a network of computers that consists of a mesh of data transmission links, switching nodes, and end nodes. The data pieces are transmitted on a series of links that connect the source of the information and the actual destination nodes for the stored information. The data pieces are then reassembled at the destination node. The nodes along the path between the source of the information and its destination are primarily responsible for making sure that each data piece received is transmitted on the correct outgoing link so that the data properly reaches its destination.
To properly meet user demands for information, a distributed network data storage system must provide high-availability of stored data to the computers needing the stored data. Specifically, a distributed network data storage system should be able to stay on-line with consistent availability of uncorrupted data, even if some hardware portion of the distributed network data storage system has crashed or becomes inaccessible because of an inability to transmit data. This is shown in FIG. 1, where chunks 7 and 8 have become inaccessible due to a hardware 102 failure and a data transmission line 104 break, respectively.
To address the requirement for high-availability of stored data, one or more variations of a data mirroring technique have been used in prior art data storage systems. In the execution of a data mirroring technique, crucial data is simply duplicated in its entirety at several locations in the distributed data storage system. Special care must be taken to keep the data consistent across all locations where it is stored. However, full mirroring of all data is costly both in hardware and in physical transfer time, particularly for large systems. One solution has been to keep the stored data consistent across all nodes, especially when the stored data could be changed on-line at several nodes simultaneously. This problem of keeping stored data consistent across all nodes in a data storage network is far from trivial.
There is little doubt that providing high-availability features in a distributed data storage system requires maintaining at least some level of redundancy of stored information. Historically, the problems associated with redundant data storage were addressed by the use of Redundant Arrays of Independent Disks (RAID) technology. The main concept behind RAID data storage technology is to divide the input data into units and then write/read several units of data simultaneously to several hard disk data storage systems. Several of the most commonly used configurations, or levels, of RAID arrays are described below.
The RAID Level 0 configuration implements a striped disk array for storing data. In a RAID Level 0 configuration, the data is broken down into blocks and each block is written to a separate data storage disk. The input/output performance of each disk drive is greatly improved by spreading the input/output load across many channels and disk drives. Reconstruction of the data set is accomplished by obtaining data blocks from each separate data storage disk.
The best data storage performance is achieved when the data to be stored is striped across multiple disk drives with each single disk drive attached to a single controller. No parity calculation overhead is involved, and there are no fault tolerance capabilities in the RAID Level 0 configuration. There is no fault tolerance in the RAID Level 0 configuration because a single disk drive is connected to a single controller. Accordingly, the failure of just one disk drive will result in corruption of the stored data.
The RAID Level 1 configuration implements what is known as "disc mirroring." Disc mirroring is done to assure the reliability of stored data and a high degree of fault tolerance. A RAID Level 1 configuration also enhances data read performance, but the improved data read performance and fault tolerance come at the expense of available capacity in the disk drives used to store data. Specifically, the data to be stored is copied and then stored on multiple disk drives (or "mirrored"). The storage of data on multiple disk drives assures that, should one disk drive fail, the data is available from another disk drive on which the same data has been stored. The data read performance gain of a RAID Level 1 configuration can be realized if the redundant data is distributed evenly on all of the disk drives of a mirrored set within the subsystem. In a RAID Level 1 configuration, the number of data read requests and total wait state times both drop significantly. These drops are inversely proportional to the number of hard drives used in a RAID Level 1 configuration.
A RAID Level 5 configuration data storage algorithm represents a data storage methodology between a RAID Level 1 configuration and a RAID Level 0 configuration. The RAID Level 5 configuration is the last of the most common RAID data storage arrays in use, and is probably the most frequently implemented.
A RAID Level 5 configuration is really an adaptation of the RAID Level 0 configuration that sacrifices some data storage capacity for the same number of disk drives. However, the RAID Level 5 configuration gains a high level of data integrity or fault tolerance. The RAID Level 5 configuration takes advantage of RAID Level 0's data striping methods, except that data is striped with parity across all of the disk drives in the array. The stripes of parity information are calculated using the "Exclusive OR" function. By using the Exclusive OR function with a series of data stripes in the RAID Level 5 configuration, any lost data can easily be recovered. Should any one disk drive in the array fail, the missing information can be determined in a manner similar to solving for a single variable in an equation (for example, solving for x in the equation, 4+x=7). In an Exclusive OR operation, the equation would be similar to 1−x=1. Thanks to the use of the Exclusive OR operation, there is always only one possible solution (in this case, 0), which provides a complete error recovery algorithm in a minimum amount of storage space.
A RAID Level 5 configuration achieves very high data transfer performance by reading data from or writing data to all of the disk drives simultaneously in parallel while retaining the means to reconstruct data if a given disk drive fails, thus maintaining data integrity for the data storage system.
A RAID Level 5 configuration minimizes the data write bottlenecks by distributing parity stripes over a series of hard drives. In doing so, a RAID Level 5 configuration provides relief to the concentration of data write activity on a single disk drive, in turn enhancing overall system performance.
The disadvantages of RAID-like implementation for distributed data storage systems are clear. First, it is impossible to dynamically control redundancy (classic RAID algorithms work in the case of failure of only one disk drive; if two or more disk drives go off line simultaneously, there is no way to recover data). Second, RAID technology does not scale for more than about ten disks, mainly due to the input/output intensive fault-recovery procedures that make the RAID technology unsuitable for systems where the unavailability of one or more nodes is common.
A similar data recovery problem arises when solving the problem of reliability of information transmission via communication channels. In this case algorithms of the Hamming error correction code (ECC)/error detection code (ECD) are usually used. In general, there are two approaches to solving the problem of reliability of information transmission. Selecting a particular approach to solving this problem usually depends on requirements associated with the information transmission process. Both of the requirements associated with the information transmission process require transmitting redundant information to recover data in case of error. The first approach, called error-correction code (ECC), introduces redundancy into the stored information in the form of extra bits transmitted together with a data block so that it is possible to recover erroneous bits using received block and error-correction bits. The second approach, called error-detection code (ECD), differs from the first approach in that one can only determine whether or not the data block contains errors without knowing which bits are incorrect.
One major drawback of both the error correction code and error detection code algorithms is that they are intended for data streaming recovery. Accordingly, these two algorithms carry a significant overhead in performance and amount of redundancy data. Even in case of errorless data transfer, one has to process a significantly larger amount of data than is necessary. Also, these two algorithms rely on the low probability of a channel error. In other words, these two algorithms work correctly only if the total number of errors in the received block of data does not exceed some predetermined number.
Accordingly, there still remains a need in the art for a system which permits the storage of large amounts of data across a distributed arbitrarily-connected network of storage elements with high reliability and fault tolerance.

Fault tolerant distributed storage method and controller using (N,K) algorithms


A terminal including a wireless communication unit configured to perform data communication with at least one other terminal, a display configured to display a screen for selecting a communication application for executing the data communication and a screen for selectively selecting a communication quality of service corresponding to the communication application, and a controller configured to apply the selected communication quality of service to the communication application for executing the data communication.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a terminal and corresponding method for selectively setting a service for data communication therein.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Mobile terminals now provide many additional services beside the basic call service. For example, user's can now access the Internet, play games, watch videos, listen to music, capture images and videos, record audio files, etc. Mobile terminals also now provide broadcasting programs such that user can watch television shows, sporting programs, videos etc. However, the user has no input on what type of a quality of service is used with data communication performed by the mobile terminal.

Terminal and method of setting service for data communication therein


Water-in-oil emulsions comprising at least one cationic polymer, at least one surface active substance and a content of water and optional water-soluble substances totalling at least 80% based on the total weight of the emulsions.

The human skin is man's largest organ and performs a number of vital functions. Having an average area of about 2 m2 in adults, human skin plays a prominent role as a protective and sensory organ. The purpose of this organ is to transmit and avert mechanical, thermal, actinic, chemical and biological stimuli. In addition, human skin plays an important role as a regulatory and target organ in human metabolism.
The main objective of skin care in the cosmetics sense is to strengthen or rebuild the skin's natural function as a barrier against environmental influences (e.g. dirt, chemicals, microorganisms) and against the loss of endogenous substances (e.g. water, natural fats, electrolytes), and also to assist the horny layer of the skin in its natural regeneration ability where damage has occurred.
If the barrier properties of the skin are impaired, increased resorption of toxic or allergenic substances or infection by microorganisms may result, leading to toxic or allergic skin reactions.
Another aim of skin care is to compensate for the loss by the skin of sebum and water caused by daily washing. This is particularly important if the natural regeneration ability of the skin is inadequate. Furthermore, skin care products should protect the skin against environmental influences, in particular against the effects of sun and wind, and delay skin ageing.
Medicinal topical compositions usually comprise one or more medicaments in an effective concentration. For the sake of simplicity, in order to clearly distinguish between cosmetic and medicinal use and corresponding products, reference is made to the legal provisions in the Federal Republic of Germany (e.g. Cosmetics Directive, Foods and Drugs Act).
Emulsions are generally understood to be heterogeneous systems which consist of two liquids which are immiscible with one another or which are miscible with one another only to a limited extent, and which are usually referred to as phases. In an emulsion, one of the two liquids is dispersed in the form of very fine droplets in the other liquid.
If the two liquids are water and oil and oil droplets are very finely dispersed in water, this is an oil-in-water emulsion (O/W emulsion, e.g. milk). The basic character of an O/W emulsion is determined by the water. In the case of a water-in-oil emulsion (W/O emulsion, e.g. butter), the principle is reversed, the basic structure being determined here by the oil.
The person skilled in the art is of course aware of a large number of ways to formulate stable W/O preparations for cosmetic or dermatological use, for example in the form of creams and ointments which can be spread in the temperature range of from room temperature to skin temperature, or as lotions and milks, which are more likely flowable in this temperature range. However, the prior art recognizes only a few formulations which are of such low viscosity that they would, for example, be sprayable.
In addition, low-viscosity preparations of the prior art often have the disadvantage that they are unstable and are limited to a narrow range of application or to a restricted choice of starting materials. Low-viscosity products in which, for example, strong polar oils—such as the vegetable oils frequently used in commercially available products—are sufficiently stabilized cannot therefore be currently found on the market.
W/O emulsions with a high water content and a low viscosity, which moreover have a storage stability which is required for marketable products can only be formulated according to the prior art in a very complex manner. Accordingly, the supply of such formulations is extremely low. Nevertheless, such formulations could offer the consumer cosmetic effects which are hitherto unknown.
The object of the present invention was to provide water-in-oil emulsion based preparations which have very low viscosity and which do not have the disadvantages of the prior art.
A further object of the present invention was to provide preparations which can be loaded with a high content of water-soluble and/or water-miscible substances having cosmetic or dermatological effectiveness, without impairing the galenical quality or other properties of the preparations.
According to K. J. Lissant: The Geometry of High-Internal-Phase-Ratio Emulsions; Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 22, 462–468 (1966), "high internal phase emulsions" are defined as emulsions with an internal phase of >70%.
In particular, the preparation of stable, flowable water-in-oil emulsions having a water content of more than 70% has proven to be very difficult. In particular, "high internal phase" W/O emulsions with a very high water content of more than 85% ("very high internal phase" W/O emulsions) are not accessible.
The preparation of stable, solid to flowable "high internal phase water-in-oil emulsions", in particular those with a water content higher than 80% by weight ("very high internal phase water-in-oil emulsions") and nevertheless with very good sensory properties is an unsolved problem. As a result of the very high water content in the emulsions, the latter "crack" on the skin particularly rapidly (sensorially unpleasant) into their main constituents (hydrophilic and lipophilic components). Furthermore, the lipophilic components also separate into their individual constituents, meaning that the lipids "slide away" from one another on the skin (sensorially unpleasant).
the technique of varying the phase/volume ratio (i.e. of incorporating higher amounts of liquid lipids), which is usually used for water-in-oil emulsions, can, because of the low lipid content, be used only to a limited extent in the case of "high internal phase" W/O emulsions, and not at all in the case of "very high internal phase" W/O emulsions. It is therefore only possible to obtain water-in-oil emulsions with a solid to semi-solid consistency. Even the use of polar lipids, which are usually used to obtain water-in-oil emulsions of lower viscosity, does not lead to the desired success.

Preparations of the W/O emulsion type with an increased water content, and comprising cationic polymers


In accordance with the teachings described herein, systems and methods are provided for battery capacity estimation. A profile table may be used that relates a plurality of battery profile values with a plurality of operating parameter values. The profile table may be accessed to translate one or more measured operating parameters into one or more corresponding battery profile values. One or more of the battery profile values may be adjusted by a correction factor to generate a corrected battery profile value. The available capacity of the battery may be calculated using the corrected battery profile value. The correction factor may then be automatically calibrated by using an estimated battery profile value calculated from the one or more measured operating parameter.

Mobile communication devices, such as cellular telephones, two-way pagers and others typically rely on power from batteries. It is, therefore, advantageous for a mobile communication device to monitor the amount of time remaining before the device loses power due to a drained battery. For example, a mobile communication device may issue a warning signal during a call to avoid an imminent shut-off when the battery output drops below a particular threshold. Typical cellular service provides a three to five minute low-battery warning period during a call and similar warnings when the device is idle.
Mobile communication devices typically measure battery capacity in units of current multiplied by time, such as milliamp hours (mAh). However, direct current measurement may not be available in certain devices. In addition, the variation of battery parameters, such as temperature, equivalent series resistance (ESR), and aging, often make it difficult for a device to perform an accurate prediction. The multi-mode operations available in some devices (e.g., sleep, wake-up, access, traffic) may make this estimation even more difficult.

System and method of battery capacity estimation


The quality of comfort noise generated by a speech decoder during non-speech periods is improved by modifying comfort noise parameter values normally used to generate the comfort noise. The comfort noise parameter values are modified in response to variability information associated with a background noise parameter. The modified comfort noise parameter values are then used to generate the comfort noise.

Speech coders and decoders are conventionally provided in radio transmitters and radio receivers, respectively, and are cooperable to permit speech communications between a given transmitter and receiver over a radio link. The combination of a speech coder and a speech decoder is often referred to as a speech codec. A mobile radiotelephone (e.g., a cellular telephone) is an example of a conventional communication device that typically includes a radio transmitter having a speech coder, and a radio receiver having a speech decoder.
In conventional block-based speech coders the incoming speech signal is divided into blocks called frames. For common 4 kHz telephony bandwidth applications typical framelengths are 20 ms or 160 samples. The frames are further divided into subframes, typically of length 5 ms or 40 samples.
Conventional linear predictive analysis-by-synthesis (LPAS) coders use speech production related models. From the input speech signal, model parameters describing the vocal tract, pitch etc. are extracted. Parameters that vary slowly are typically computed for every frame. Examples of such parameters include the STP (short term prediction) parameters that describe the vocal tract in the apparatus that produced the speech. One example of STP parameters is linear prediction coefficients (LPC) that represent the spectral shape of the input speech signal. Examples of parameters that vary more rapidly include the pitch and innovation shape/gain parameters, which are typically computed every subframe.
The extracted parameters are quantized using suitable well-known scalar and vector quantization techniques. The STP parameters, for example linear prediction coefficients, are often transformed to a representation more suited for quantization such as Line Spectral Frequencies (LSFs). After quantization, the parameters are transmitted over the communication channel to the decoder.
In a conventional LPAS decoder, generally the opposite of the above is done, and the speech signal is synthesized. Postfiltering techniques are usually applied to the synthesized speech signal to enhance the perceived quality.
For many common background noise types a much lower bit rate than is needed for speech provides a good enough model of the signal. Existing mobile systems make use of this fact by adjusting the transmitted bit rate accordingly during background noise. In conventional systems using continuous transmission techniques, a variable rate (VR) speech coder may use its lowest bit rate. In conventional Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) schemes, the transmitter stops sending coded speech frames when the speaker is inactive. At regular or irregular intervals (typically every 500 ms), the transmitter sends speech parameters suitable for generation of comfort noise in the decoder. These parameters for comfort noise generation (CNG) are conventionally coded into what is sometimes called Silence Descriptor (SID) frames. At the receiver, the decoder uses the comfort noise parameters received in the SID frames to synthesize artificial noise by means of a conventional comfort noise injection (CNI) algorithm.
When comfort noise is generated in the decoder in a conventional DTX system, the noise is often perceived as being very static and much different from the background noise generated in active (non-DTX) mode. The reason for this perception is that DTX SID frames are not sent to the receiver as often as normal speech frames. In LPAS codecs having a DTX mode, the spectrum and energy of the background noise are typically estimated (for example, averaged) over several frames, and the estimated parameters are then quantized and transmitted over the channel to the decoder. FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary prior art comfort noise encoder that produces the aforementioned estimated background noise (comfort noise) parameters. The quantized comfort noise parameters are typically sent every 100 to 500 ms.
The benefit of sending SID frames with a low update rate instead of sending regular speech frames is twofold. The battery life in, for example, a mobile radio transceiver, is extended due to lower power consumption, and the interference created by the transmitter is lowered thereby providing higher system capacity.
In a conventional decoder, the comfort noise parameters can be received and decoded as shown in FIG. 2. Because the decoder does not receive new comfort noise parameters as often as it normally receives speech parameters, the comfort noise parameters which are received in the SID frames are typically interpolated at 23 to provide a smooth evolution of the parameters in the comfort noise synthesis. In the synthesis operation, shown generally at 25, the decoder inputs to the synthesis filter 27 a gain scaled random noise (e.g., white noise) excitation and the interpolated spectrum parameters. As a result, the generated comfort noise sc(n), will be perceived as highly stationary ("static"), regardless of whether the background noise s(n) at the encoder end (see FIG. 1) is changing in character. This problem is more pronounced in backgrounds with strong variability, such as street noise and babble (e.g., restaurant noise), but is also present in car noise situations.
One conventional approach to solving this "static" comfort noise problem is simply to increase the update rate of DTX comfort noise parameters (e.g., use a higher SID frame rate). Exemplary problems with this solution are that battery consumption (e.g., in a mobile transceiver) will increase because the transmitter must be operated more often, and system capacity will decrease because of the increased SID frame rate. Thus, it is common in conventional systems to accept the static background noise.
It is therefore desirable to avoid the aforementioned disadvantages associated with conventional comfort noise generation.
According to the invention, conventionally generated comfort noise parameters are modified based on properties of actual background noise experienced at the encoder. Comfort noise generated from the modified parameters is perceived as less static than conventionally generated comfort noise, and more similar to the actual background noise experienced at the encoder.

Speech coding with comfort noise variability feature for increased fidelity


A disc drive assembly includes a housing, a disc, an actuator, a ramp and a slider. The ramp is positioned along an edge of the disc to engage a portion of the actuator when the actuator is in a parked position. The slider is supported over the disc by the actuator and includes first and second elongated rails. Each rail has a leading bearing surface, a trailing bearing surface, and a recessed area extending between the leading and trailing bearing surfaces. First and second convergent channels are recessed within the trailing bearing surfaces of the first and second rails, respectively. Each channel includes a leading channel end open to fluid flow from the respective recessed area, non-divergent channel side walls and a trailing channel end closed to the fluid flow and forward of a localized region of the respective trailing bearing surface.

The present invention relates to disc drive data storage systems and, more particularly, to a disc drive data storage system having a slider with an increased bearing stiffness for ramp load-unload applications.
Disc drives of the xe2x80x9cWinchesterxe2x80x9d and optical types are well known in the industry. Such drives use rigid discs, which are coated with a magnetizable medium for storage of digital information in a plurality of circular, concentric data tracks. The discs are mounted on a spindle motor, which causes the discs to spin and the surfaces of the discs to pass under respective hydrodynamic (e.g. air) bearing disc head sliders. The sliders carry transducers, which write information to and read information from the disc surfaces.
An actuator mechanism moves the sliders from track-to-track across the surfaces of the discs under control of electronic circuitry. The actuator mechanism includes a track accessing arm and a suspension for each head gimbal assembly. The suspension includes a load beam and a gimbal. The load beam provides a load force which forces the slider toward the disc surface. The gimbal is positioned between the slider and the load beam, or is integrated in the load beam, to provide a resilient connection that allows the slider to pitch and roll while following the topography of the disc.
The slider includes a bearing surface, which faces the disc surface. As the disc rotates, the disc drags air under the slider and along the bearing surface in a direction approximately parallel to the tangential velocity of the disc. As the air passes beneath the bearing surface, air compression along the air flow path causes the air pressure between the disc and the bearing surface to increase, which creates a hydrodynamic lifting force that counteracts the load force and causes the slider fly above or in close proximity to the disc surface.
In ramp load-unload applications, the disc drive further includes a ramp positioned at an outer diameter of the disc for engaging the suspension. When the disc drive is powered down, the actuator mechanism moves the head gimbal assembly radially outward until the suspension engages the ramp, causing the slider to lift off of the disc surface. During power-up, the disc is accelerated to its normal operating velocity and then the actuator mechanism moves the head gimbal assembly radially inward such that the suspension disengages the ramp allowing the slider to become loaded on to the disc surface.
Using a ramp to load and unload the head gimbal assembly to and from the disc surface has been regarded as an attractive alternative to xe2x80x9ccontact start/stopxe2x80x9d technology in which the slider lands and takes-off from a dedicated zone on the disc surface. The ramp load-unload technique can be used for solving tribological problems associated with lower fly heights and for meeting severe requirements of non-operational shock performance. However, this technique introduces an array of other challenges, such as possible severe head-media impact during loading and unloading operations.
Under nominal conditions, advanced air bearings (AABs) can be designed to avoid head-media contact during load and unload. Manufacturing of actual parts, however, introduces deviation from nominal conditions, which can result in larger susceptibility of impact during load-unload operations. Among the numerous dimensions and geometrical features to be controlled during manufacturing, pitch static angle (PSA) and roll static angle (RSA) are the most critical parameters for load-unload applications. PSA is the angle formed between the slider and the suspension in a direction parallel to the suspension""s axis of symmetry when no air bearing is formed (i.e., in a xe2x80x9cstaticxe2x80x9d state). RSA is the angle formed between the slider and the suspension in a direction perpendicular to the suspension""s axis of symmetry. Since PSA and RSA have an influence on the pitch and roll attitude of the slider during flight, a non-optimal PSA or RSA results in the slider tilting with respect to the radial motion of the suspension during loading and unloading operations. Under these conditions, it is possible that edges or comers of the slider can become close enough to the media to induce light contact or severe impact. This can cause damage to stored data and can cause permanent physical damage to the media.
A slider is desired, which increases the load-unload robustness by preventing or reducing head-media contact over an acceptable range of manufacturing deviations in RSA and PSA from nominal RSA and PSA values.
One aspect of the present invention relates to a disc drive assembly, which includes a housing, a disc, an actuator, a ramp and a slider. The disc is rotatable about a central axis within the housing. The actuator is mounted within the housing and has a parked position along an edge of the disc. The ramp is positioned along the edge of the disc to engage a portion of the actuator when the actuator is in the parked position. The slider is supported over the disc by the actuator and includes first and second elongated rails disposed about a first recessed area on the slider. Each of the rails has a rail width measured from an inner rail edge to an outer rail edge, a leading bearing surface, a trailing bearing surface, and a second recessed area extending between the leading and trailing bearing surfaces, which is recessed from the bearing surfaces and raised from the first recessed area, across the rail width. First and second convergent channels are recessed within the trailing bearing surfaces of the first and second rails, respectively. Each channel includes a leading channel end open to fluid flow from the respective second recessed area, non-divergent channel side walls and a trailing channel end closed to the fluid flow and forward of a localized region of the respective trailing bearing surface.
Another aspect of the present invention relates to a disc drive assembly having a disc rotatable about a central axis, a ramp load-unload suspension and a slider supported over the disc by the suspension. The slider has elongated rails with convergent channels and recessed waist areas for generating pressure peaks between the slider and the disc as the disc rotates beneath the slider about the central axis so as to increase roll stiffness of the slider during ramp load and unload operations of the suspension.

Disc drive assembly having side rail-channeled air bearing for ramp load-unload applications


An image forming apparatus having an image bearing member having a substrate and a photosensitive layer having a charge generating layer and a charge transport layer, a charging device for uniformly charging the surface of the image bearing member, an irradiating device having a light source for irradiating the image bearing member to form a latent electrostatic image thereon, a developing device for developing the latent electrostatic image, a transfer device for transferring the developed image to a recording medium and a cleaning device for cleaning the surface of the image bearing member, wherein the charge transport layer contains a charge transport material represented by the following chemical formula, the light source emits light having a wavelength not less than 600 nm and the image bearing member is not irradiated with light having a wavelength less than 600 nm,

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.
2. Discussion of the Background
As an image bearing member for use in an image forming apparatus applied to a photocopier and a laser printer, inorganic image bearing members formed of, for example, selenium, zinc oxide and cadmium sulfide, used to be widely used. However, in terms of the reduction of burden on environment, cost reduction and design latitudes, organic image bearing member (e.g., organic photoconductors (OPC)) have been diffusing now.
This organic image bearing member can be classified by layer structure. For example, organic image bearing members can be typified into (1) uniform single layer type, in which photoconductive resin (e.g., polyvinyl carbazol (PVK)) or charge transfer complex ((e.g., PVK-TNF (2,4,7-trinitrofluorenone)) is provided on an electroconductive substrate, (2) dispersion single layer type, in which a dispersion where a pigment (e.g., phthalocyanine and perylene) is dispersed in a resin is provided on an electroconductive substrate, and (3) layer accumulation type, in which a photosensitive layer provided on an electroconductive substrate is functionally separated into a charge generation layer (CGL) containing a charge generating material and a charge transport layer (CTL) containing a charge transport material.
The layer accumulation type is advantageous in terms of high sensitivity and has a high design latitude for high sensitivity and high durability. Thus, currently, most of the organic image bearing members adopts this layer structure.
The characteristics of these organic image bearing members are highly dependent on materials, especially charge transfer materials. The charge transfer materials are typified into positive hole transfer materials having a function of transferring positive holes, and electron transfer materials having a function of transporting electrons. Among these, electron transfer materials are demanded because the above-mentioned structure is positively charged, meaning generation of ozone and non-uniformity of charging are little in comparison with negative charging.
However, it is extremely difficult to find excellent electron transfer materials as materials for an image bearing member. For example, there are materials having excellent electron transfer properties with a problem about safety, for example, mutagenic property. Such materials are not suitable for practical use.
In addition, there are electron transfer materials which have no problem about safety but about stability after formation of a layer. To be specific, charging property and potential maintaining property in a dark place and quick light attenuation characteristics during irradiation are gradually lost. Such a material is dissolved over time so that the characteristics thereof deteriorate. This leads to degradation of image quality due to extreme deterioration of electric characteristics over repetitive use.
The issue is that the quality of images is initially good but deteriorates over a long period of time. Therefore, for example, unexamined published Japanese patent application No. (hereinafter referred to as JOP) describes a technology in which various kinds of additives are added in layers of an image bearing member.
However, such additives inhibit electron transfer property inherently seen in an electron transfer material. This causes a side effect, for example, deterioration of sensitivity characteristics. When the addition amount of such an additive increases, a binder resin becomes brittle. This reduction in strength leads to deterioration of anti-abrasion property. Consequently, there is no image forming apparatus which produces quality images for a long-time repetitive use.

Abstract: wherein R1 and R2 independently denote a hydrogen atom, a substituted or non-substituted alkyl group, a substituted or non-substituted cycloalkyl group, a substituted or non-substituted aralkyl group, R3, R4, R5, R6, R7, R8, R9 and R10 independently denote a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, cyano group, nitro group, amino group, hydroxyl group, a substituted or non-substituted alkyl group, a substituted or non-substituted cycloalkyl group, a substituted or non-substituted aralkyl group.