A surgical trocar has a cannula assembly including a sleeve having a proximal end, a distal end and a passageway therethrough. A housing having an opening is located at the proximal end of the sleeve and is aligned with the passageway of the sleeve. The trocar also includes an obturator assembly which is insertable in the cannula assembly. The obturator assembly includes a handle and an obturator shaft. The obturator shaft has a proximal end connected to the handle and a distal end opposite the proximal end. A penetrating tip is located at the shaft distal end for penetrating tissue. A protector having a distal end is slidably disposed around the obturator shaft for covering the penetrating tip. The protector has an aperture at its distal end for permitting the penetrating tip to pass therethrough. The protector also includes a flexible proximal end movable against the obturator handle to expose the penetrating tip when a proximal force is asserted against the protector. A seal assembly is located in the housing for sealing against the obturator assembly or surgical instruments passed through the cannula assembly. The seal assembly includes an upper seal arrangement having an aperture. The seal assembly also includes a pressure seal located beneath the upper seal arrangement. The pressure seal includes a pair of side walls. At least one rib is located on the inner surface of each side wall.

The present invention relates in general to endoscopic surgery, and in particular, to trocars having shields or protectors for use in endoscopic surgical procedures.
The use of endoscopic procedures in surgery has become widely accepted. The term endoscopic as used herein is defined to include all types of minimally invasive surgical procedures including laparoscopic and arthroscopic procedures. Accordingly, numerous endoscopic instruments have been developed which allow the surgeon to perform complex surgical procedures with minimal incisions into the skin and tissue surrounding a particular body cavity or anatomical region. In order to introduce the endoscopic instrumentation into the body cavity, it is often necessary to puncture and cannulate the body cavity by using a trocar. Trocars are widely known in the art and typically consist of an obturator and a trocar cannula.
It is common for a sealing arrangement or sealing device to be used in association with the cannula to prevent the escape of fluid or gas during endoscopic procedures. During an endoscopic surgical procedure, the internal gas pressure must be maintained in order to successfully complete the procedure. In order to maintain the internal gas pressure while instruments are passed into and out of the trocars positioned in the abdominal cavity, sealing devices are required for both the instruments and for the trocar assemblies. It is desirable for such sealing devices to seal any opening within the trocar assembly when the obturator is withdrawn after puncturing the abdominal wall. It is also desirable to seal when other surgical instruments are inserted through the trocar cannula throughout the remainder of the surgical procedure. Furthermore, it is desirable that the sealing device maintain gas pressure in the abdominal cavity, despite numerous insertions and withdrawals of surgical instruments through the trocar cannula.
Current sealing devices for endoscopic instruments are typified by particular valve designs such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,952 (Deniega et al.). This design includes a spring loaded valve in combination with a sealing gasket to conform to the cross section of the surgical instrument inserted through the trocar. This two part valve assembly performs adequately as a seal but may be more complex than truly desired. U.S. Pat. No. 5,141,498 (Christian) shows at least three flexible leaflets, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,424,833 (Spector et al.) shows a sponge type valve with three connecting slits. Multiple leaflet and multiple slit valves may seal well when a surgical instrument is not inserted through them but will tend to create gaps around inserted instruments having circular cross sections and will also tend to cause inversion of their sealing surfaces when the instruments are withdrawn. Inversion of the sealing surfaces is likely to cause gaps between the sealing surfaces resulting in gas leakage through the seal. U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,412 (Blake) shows a duck bill valve design applied to a trocar device. This design provides a straight single slit to seal against a surgical instrument. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,475,548 (Muto); 4,809,679 (Shimonaka et al.); and 4,143,853 (Abramson) show single slit designs also. A single slit valve is also subject to a lack of conforming to circular cross-section shapes and to inversion upon withdrawal of surgical instruments.
Variations of the single slit design are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,798,594 (Hillstead); 4,177,814 (Knepshield et al.); and 4,673,393 (Suzuki et al.). The variations shown in these patents encompass three slits radiating from the seal center and possess similar characteristics as the single slit regarding sealing around circular instruments and eversion. Other surgical valves include specialized designs typified by heart valves shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,364,127 (Pierce et al.); 3,861,416 (Wichterle); and 4,222,126 (Boretos et al.). These valves are designed to allow one direction flow of heavy liquids and include at least three flaps. Such valves are not intended to seal around surgical instruments against loss of gas pressure.
A study of these references indicates a need for a simpler one piece assembly for use in trocars to seal against gas pressure during endoscopic surgical procedures. In addition, it is desirable to have a one piece assembly with a simple design which would not require an excessive force to insert an instrument through it and would resist inversion of the sealing edges once the surgical instrument is withdrawn.
One known seal assembly design which has been developed in an attempt to solve the sealing needs outlined above is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,330,437 (Durman) which is incorporated herein by reference. This seal assembly design includes a one piece assembly having a duck bill valve in a S-shaped configuration. Although this particular seal design has proved to be successful in addressing some of the drawbacks found in the other known sealing devices, as will be shown later in this disclosure, this seal design can be improved in order to significantly reduce forces to insert and extract surgical instruments.
Additionally, trocars may have a protective element around the obturator which covers the sharp piercing tip of the obturator prior to and after insertion, and also after removal of the obturator and trocar cannula. The protective element is often referred to as a safety shield or protector.
One type of trocar utilizes a safety shield and is typically inserted by pressing the distal end of the trocar assembly against the outer skin of the patient with sufficient force to cause the piercing end of the obturator to pierce through the skin, underlying fat, muscle and fascia into the body cavity. The trocar is permitted to penetrate into the body cavity because the safety shield is retracted proximally thereby exposing the sharp piercing tip. However, upon completing the penetration, the safety shield automatically returns to its protective position covering the piercing tip. This type of trocar is a fully returnable safety shielded trocar. Once the surgeon has properly positioned the trocar within the body cavity, the obturator together with the safety shield are removed and the trocar cannula is then available as a pathway, e.g., for insertion of endoscopic instrumentation. U.S. Pat. No. 5,387,197 (Smith et al.) describes this type of trocar.
With current fully returnable safety shielded trocars, it may be necessary to remove the cannula handle from the obturator handle to "reload" the shield on the trocar obturator for those instances where the trocar has not completely penetrated into the body cavity. In this fashion, therefore, it is necessary to perform an extra step while the obturator tip is inserted within pneuoperitoneum.
Yet, in some procedures it may be desirable to utilize trocars without a safety shield or to utilize a trocar design wherein the trocar obturator is nonshielded at the time when the trocar obturator is placed within the trocar cannula. Thus, upon coupling of the shielded obturator and the cannula, the shield will be retracted thereby exposing the piercing tip of the obturator. This type of trocar can be referred to as an assembly actuated trocar.
An assembly actuated trocar prevents the shield from returning to its protective position upon placement of the obturator within the cannula. U.S. Pat. No. 5,248,298 (Bedi et al.) describes this type of trocar. In this way, the user is able to slightly withdraw the trocar from the pierced tissue, and then continue penetrating through remaining tissue layers. This prevents what is commonly referred to as "tenting" of pneumoperitoneum. In this fashion, tenting can be reduced while still adequately providing access to the body cavity.
In an effort to eliminate problems with tenting or to reduce cost from surgery, surgeons often utilize trocars that do not employ a safety shield since these types of trocars are generally less expensive than fully returnable safety shielded trocars. However, for those procedures that utilize trocars without a safety shield, there is a possibility that the obturator tip could cut a person handling the trocar or damage the trocar seal assembly or other components of the instrument.
Presently, there is no known trocar that provides a low cost option to the surgeon while maintaining the ability to protect the obturator piercing tip with a shield or protector up until the time when the obturator is coupled to the proximal end of the cannula.
Moreover, there is no known trocar that utilizes a seal assembly that significantly reduces the amount of force required to insert and extract surgical instruments.

Trocar having protector with flexible end and improved seal assembly


When a command packet for an image forming apparatus is received, the image forming apparatus extracts information for specifying a source from the received packet, specifies the user who sends the command from the information, and decides the presence of the right to execute the command. When the user has the right, the command is received. When the user does not have the right, the command is not received. Thereby, an unintentional access from an outsider is rejected so that confidential information can be prevented from leaking.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for adapting an image forming apparatus provided on a network to an environment commonly used by users having various authorities.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a device access to an image forming apparatus such as a printer has been performed by various utility programs executed on a client. Therefore, the client capable of executing the utility program can easily execute the function of the utility with respect to the image forming apparatus by executing the utility program.
More specifically, for example, all the clients for which a queue manager of print job is set executable execute the queue manager program so that the status display or control of the print queue of the image forming apparatus can be performed.
However, since various users may be present on the network, when the control for the image forming apparatus is performed from all the clients for which the utility program is installed, the normal operation of the image forming apparatus may be remarkably threatened. For example, when a user who does not have any knowledge on the network executes the device manager program from the client for which the device manager is installed so as the change the network configuration, the image forming apparatus cannot operate normally so that the normal operation may be stopped.
Further, in recent years, a mobile environment has been enhanced, in some cases the network in a company is temporarily provided to a user outside the company and a print for the image forming apparatus is performed. At this time, if the queue manager is installed in the mobile client of the user, the user outside the company can print or delete the print job remaining in the print queue of the image forming apparatus. This is remarkably dangerous from the viewpoint of confidentiality of business information.

Image forming apparatus connected to network


A method for producing porous particles of a cross-linked polymer, and porous particles that can be produced according to the method are disclosed. The porous particles of a crosslinked hydroxy- or amino-group-containing polymer have a relatively low swelling factor. A composite material contains the porous particles dispersed in a continuous aqueous phase. The porous particles, or the composite material, are used for purifying organic molecules and for bonding metals from solutions. A filter cartridge contains the porous particles of a cross-linked polymer or the composite material.

The removal and extraction, respectively, or recovery of metal-containing ions, in particular heavy metal-containing ions, from industrial waste water, for example in electroplating plants, from catalyst residues from the petrochemical or pharmaceutical industry, from mine drainage water and seepage water, for example from wines, the renaturation of soil contaminated with heavy metals etc. is a task of increasing importance because heavy metal-containing ions in particular either have an environmentally damaging effect and their recovery is of financial interest as well with a view to rare or economically strategic metals. This means that environmental aspects have priority for the one part, but for the other part, the provision of precious metals whose availability becomes more and more doubtful and whose price goes up, respectively, is also of great interest. Another important field of application of sorbents for the removal and extraction, respectively, or recovery of metal-containing ions and heavy metal-containing ions, respectively, is the separation of these in the scope of drinking water purification and desalination of sea water. The separation of heavy metal-containing ions from concentrated saline solutions such as they are used for chlorine-alkali electrolysis or similar methods is also of great interest.
Phases/sorbents known at present often have no sufficient binding capacity for the binding of the metal-containing ions to be bound to a sufficient extent for the areas of application mentioned, for example from highly concentrated and low-concentrated solutions, respectively, or strongly acidic solutions, in particular also in the presence of alkaline or alkaline earth metal ions. The reason for this is often that there is no sufficient number of binding sites for the metal-containing ions and that the sorbents are only accessible for the metals from one side, respectively. Furthermore, phases known at present often show no stability across the whole range from pH 0 to pH 14. That applies in particular to sorbents based on silica gel. Another disadvantage of many phases known at present is that the respective metal-containing ion can be bound but cannot be recovered easily or at all from the sorbent used. The binding capacity of known sorbents/phases which is not satisfactory in most cases often necessitates a great sorbent/phase volume, as a result of which the binding methods for metal-containing ions are very time-consuming and not cost-efficient. In addition, the mostly small binding capacity of known binding sorbents for metal-containing ions often necessitates a more frequent regeneration of the sorbents.
Something similar also applies to sorbents which are used as chromatographic material for separations. Here, sorbents which are comprised of a porous carrier material and a coating co-deposited on it of a selective binding polymer are often used. The binding capacity of such sorbents is mostly limited because only a certain percentage of the pore volume of the carrier material can be coated with the selective binding polymer in order to maintain the accessibility of the stationary phase. In addition, there are interactions between the carrier material and the coating and the target molecule. These interactions result in a reduced binding capacity and can be very disruptive for certain chromatographic (filter) applications. For that reason, it would be preferable to provide a chromatographic sorbent which does not have the above-mentioned disadvantages, and which has an improved binding capacity. respectively.

Porous polymer material for bonding metal-containing ions or for purifying organic molecules


A squid mounting rig for shaping and securing the body of a dead squid having a squid body tubular portion and squid tentacles for fishing includes a squid body mounting structure for insertion longitudinally into the squid body tubular portion, the mounting structure having lateral extent for laterally filling out the squid body, a fishing hook mounting structure and a fishing line engagement structure, and a fishing hook connected to the fishing hook mounting structure. The hook preferably includes a hook eyelet and the mounting structure preferably includes a plate body having a plate forward end including the fishing line engagement structure in the form of a fishing line-passing port and having a plate rearward end including the hook mounting structure in the form of a hook eyelet-passing port. The plate rearward end is preferably beveled. The plate forward end preferably has tapered shoulder edges terminating in a forwardly extending elongate stem portion including the fishing line-passing port. Tabs may be cut and bent outwardly from the plate body to distend the squid body in a perpendicular direction as well. The plate body may be formed of a dull-surfaced metal or a dull-surfaced plastic. A method of mounting a squid body includes a squid body tubular portion onto the above-described rig, including the steps of inserting the mounting structure longitudinally into the squid body tubular portion, and securing a fishing line to the line engagement structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of fishing equipment and bait securing devices. More specifically the present invention relates to a rig including a mounting structure for fitting within and thereby laterally distending and shaping the tubular portion of the body of a dead squid. The mounting structure preferably includes a strip-shaped plate having a plate body with parallel longitudinal edges and a plate forward end having tapered shoulder edges terminating in a forwardly extending elongate stem portion containing a line-passing port, and a plate rearward end with a V-shaped bevel terminating in a point and having a hook-engaging port fitted with the eyelet of a fishing hook. The plate body, exclusive of the stem portion, is sized to extend substantially the full length of the squid body tubular portion and to laterally spread the squid body to life-like proportions. The plate is made of a non-shiny material such as a dull-surfaced metal or plastic, so that the plate is inconspicuous to game fish.
A method of using the rig is also provided in which the plate is inserted longitudinally into the forward end of the squid body tubular portion, plate forward end first, until the elongate stem portion protrudes through the rearward end of the squid body, filling out the squid body to look life-like. The trailing squid tentacles help conceal the hook from the view of pursuing game fish. A fishing line is looped through the line-passing port and tied. The squid body and plate combination is then towed through the water to attract fish, according to the sport of trolling.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There has long been tackle for attracting and hooking game fish. This equipment includes lures, which are typically rigid structures of chrome-plated steel or of shiny plastic fitted with hooks for drawing the attention of nearby fish. A problem with lures is that their distinctly man-made appearance often makes game fish wary and unwilling to approach. Various bait mounting devices have been provided as well, but these generally either mount only a fragment of a bait fish having no particular shape, or they contain an entire bait fish and have substantial apparatus protruding around the bait fish in plain view.
An example of the latter is that of Garza, U.S. Pat. No. 3,738,049, issued on Jun. 12, 1973, for a fishing hook and live bait harness. Garza discloses a spring wire assembly having an inverted U-shaped band portion for resiliently fitting over and engaging the back and sides of a bait fish, and having wire ends configured as fishing hooks positioned against and resiliently abutting each side of the bait fish. A problem with Garza is that the entire apparatus is readily visible to targeted game fish, and it may alert them to potential danger.
Hicks, U.S. Pat. No. 3,760,526, issued on Sep. 15, 1973, teaches a holder for live shrimp or the like. Hicks includes a generally tubular flexible transparent shell for receiving within it a live bait shrimp. There is a longitudinal slot along the bottom of the shell through which the shrimp legs protrude and a leg-passing fork hatch structure which is removably secured over the slot. The shank of a relatively large hook is fastened to the top of the shell and extends backwardly so that the arc of the hook extends behind the tail of the shrimp, permitting tail movement. At the forward end of the hook shank is an eyelet for fastening the holder to a fishing line. A problem with Hicks is that most of the bait animal is contained and visually distorted within an apparatus shell, and the rearwardly protruding hook is highly conspicuous. Game fish likely would be reluctant to approach such a contraption.
Hicks, U.S. Pat. No. 3,760,529, issued on Sep. 25, 1973, and Hicks, U.S. Pat. No. 3,893,255, issued on Jul.8, 1975, reveal live bait holders. Similar in concept to the above-described Hicks apparatus for holding live shrimp, these devices provide a tubular shell for containing a fish. Openings are provided in the shell for fins to protrude, and the tail is exposed so that the bait fish can swim. The problems identified for the previous Hicks device are again presented.
Robinson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,233,771, issued on Nov. 18, 1980, discloses a bait holder. Robinson includes what is essentially a clip having an annular portion at its forward end for fitting snugly around the head of a bait fish and two opposing and rearwardly directed arm portions which extend along the sides of the fish. A barb or hook extends inwardly from the free end of each arm portion, and the arms resiliently press these barbs against the sides of the bait fish to help secure it within the holder. Fishing line passing ports and structures are provided along one of the arms and a fishing hook is tied to the trailing end of the fishing line, beside the tail of the bait fish. The problems of Hicks are again presented.
Schultz, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,168, issued on Mar. 18, 1997, teaches a fishing lure with teeth and body closure structure. Schultz, et al., includes a bait housing having upper and lower cylindrical half-jaws pivotally interconnected at their forward ends and biased with a spring to close together. Teeth project inwardly from the inside surfaces of the jaws to seize a piece of bait fish which is closed within the housing. Schultz, et al., is not intended and not designed for the mounting and exterior display of whole bait fish or squids, and cannot function in this way.
Correll, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,094,026, issued on Mar. 10, 1992, discloses a trolling squid lure. Correll, et al., is essentially a rubber squid having pivotally interconnected forward and rearward segments and a fishing hook concealed within trailing rubber tentacles. A problem with Correll, et al., is that game fish often recognize the differences between a synthetic animal and the real thing, and they can be spooked by a conspicuous imitation.
Klemkowski, U.S. Pat. No. 3,521,395, issued on Jul. 21, 1970, reveals a squid-primer including a triangular-shaped clamp attachable to a squid and slidably carried on a stainless steel leader having a loop connection at one end and a fishing hook at the other end. The squid is mounted on the leader during use. Problems with Klemkowski are that the triangular clamp is conspicuous to game fish and the apparatus does not fill out the body of the squid.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a fishing rig and method of use for securing the body of a bait squid for trolling, which fits into and distends the bait squid body to life-like proportions.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a rig which is substantially concealed within the bait squid body so that pursuing game fish are not alarmed by the appearance of a man-made contrivance.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such a rig which is connected to a fishing hook, the hook being substantially hidden within the squid tentacles.
It is finally an object of the present invention to provide such a rig which is sturdy, reliable and inexpensive to manufacture.


The invention is directed to an accessory which is fabricated and shaped to cover the bosom area of body. It is particularly useful when applied to a brassiere showing a cleavage of a human body at a center thereof. The accessory, when applied to a brassiere will cover the cleavage area of a wearer to simulate an undergarment. The inventive accessory can be removed from the brassiere when the person is in a different social setting. The accessory can be fabricated from different materials but it is preferred to be stretchable so that it can be applied to differently sized brassieres and the accessory, additionally, can move with the movements of the wearer. It is preferred that the fabric of the accessory be doubled over so that most of the fastening elements do not touch the skin of the wearer which adds to the comfort of wearing the accessory.

The present invention is directed to an accessory which is fabricated and shaped to cover the exposed bosom area of the body. Work environments as well as other environments, dress code restrictions apply to the revealing of the cleavage of the women's bosom area. In certain situations and environments the extent of opposed cleavage area makes the woman uncomfortable. Numerous garments are designed to show off the cleavage area, thus the garments restricts the user from wearing a certain garment whenever they chose to.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,846 illustrates a brassiere whereby an exposed cleavage on a woman's body may be adjusted by a band in the center of the brassiere which is instrumental in ruffling the fabric of the center to show more or less of a cleavage.
Published application No. 2007/0281585 illustrates a triangular piece of fabric representing a partial undergarment that is designed to cover an exposed cleavage of a woman's body.


A chimney reinforcement device to be secured to a damaged or sound chimney comprising two front corner brackets and two rear corner brackets, which are bolted together to reinforce the upper portion of the chimney. Two wall mounting members are connected between the front corner brackets and the building so as to allow the front corner brackets to be firmly anchored to the building structural materials adjacent the chimney just below the roof line. The chimney reinforcement device further comprises two inclined arm member connected between the rear corner brackets and the roof such that the corner brackets are firmly anchored to the roof structure adjacent to the chimney. When the chimney reinforcement device is properly secured to a chimney, the chimney reinforcement device adds strength to the existing framework of the chimney and thereby prevents severe cracking or falling thereof during an earthquake.

This invention relates to a chimney reinforcement device. More particularly, the invention relates to a device which may be secured to a damaged or sound chimney for strengthening the existing framework of the chimney.
Various references uncovered in the prior art provide devices for reducing the chance of a brick chimney toppling during an earthquake. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,952 to Jackson discloses a chimney reinforcing device comprising four angle iron extending on the exterior corners of the chimney that are tied together by one or more cables for increasing the resistance thereof to destruction during an earthquake. Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 3,602,468 to Stone discloses a roof support assembly for securing a prefabricated metal chimney to a sloped roof.
Despite all these chimney reinforcing devices, there is still a further need to provide an improved chimney reinforcement device. Such a chimney reinforcement device should be capable of being adjusted to accommodate chimneys of various sizes. Moreover, such a chimney reinforcement device should be capable of sufficiently strengthening the existing framework of a damaged or old chimney by securing rigid brackets thereabout and subsequently anchoring them to the building structural materials underneath the roof covering.
While these units mentioned above may be suitable for the particular purpose employed, or for general use, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as disclosed hereafter.


Disclosed is an organic light emitting device and a method of manufacturing the same, wherein the organic light emitting device is decreased in its thickness, and also decreased in its radius of curvature so as to realize the flexible device, and the organic light emitting device comprising a first component including a first plurality of layers, the first plurality of layers including a thin film transistor layer deposited on a surface of a first substrate, an emitting component layer deposited on the thin film transistor layer, and a passivation layer deposited on the emitting component layer; a second component including a second plurality of layers that are deposited on a surface of a second substrate without using an adhesive; and an adhesion layer between the first component and the second component, the adhesion layer coupling together the first component and the second component.

Field of the Disclosure
The embodiments herein relate to an organic light emitting device, and more particularly, to an organic light emitting device with a touch sensor.
Discussion of the Related Art
Among various flat display devices, a liquid crystal display (LCD) device has been widely used up to now. However, the LCD device inevitably requires a backlight unit, and also shows limitation in brightness and contrast ratio. In contrast to the LCD device, an organic light emitting device can emit light in itself, that is, the organic light emitting device needs no additional backlight unit, and obtains relatively better brightness and contrast ratio. Thus, there is an increasing interest for the organic light emitting device.
The organic light emitting device may include a cathode for injecting an electron, an anode for injecting a hole, and a light emitting layer provided between the cathode and the anode. In this case, the electron generated in the cathode and the hole generated in the anode are injected into the inside of the light emitting layer, and the injected electron and hole combine to generate an exciton. When the generated exciton falls from an excited state to a ground state, a light emitting state occurs, whereby an image is displayed on the organic light emitting device.
Generally, the organic light emitting device uses an input means such as mouse or key board. However, when the organic light emitting device is applied to products such as navigation, mobile phone or PDA, a touch sensor is widely used, which allows a user to input information by directly touching a screen with a finger, a pen or the like.
Hereinafter, a related art organic light emitting device with a touch sensor will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view illustrating a related art organic light emitting device.
As shown in FIG. 1, the related art organic light emitting device may include a lower substrate 10, a component layer 20, a barrier layer 30, a polarizing film 40, a touch sensor 50, an upper substrate 60, and an adhesive layer 70.
The lower substrate 10 is generally formed of glass. However, in order to realize a flexible organic light emitting device, which is capable of being bent or curved, the lower substrate 10 may be formed of transparent plastic material.
The component layer 20 is formed on the lower substrate 10, wherein the component layer 20 corresponds to a layer for performing a main function of the organic light emitting device for displaying an image. The component layer 20 may include a thin film transistor and an emitting component.
The barrier layer 30 is formed on the component layer 20, wherein the barrier layer 30 prevents external water or moisture from being permeated into the component layer 20.
The polarizing film 40 is formed on the barrier layer 30, wherein the polarizing film 40 prevents a reflection of external light. That is, when the external light is incident on the upper substrate 60, and is then provided to the inside of the organic light emitting device, the light may be reflected on a plurality of electrodes or lines formed inside the component layer 20, which might cause a viewer's inconvenience for watching a displayed image. According as the polarizing film 40 is applied to the organic light emitting device, it is possible to prevent the reflection of external light. The polarizing film 40 performing this function may be generally formed of a circular polarizing plate.
The touch sensor 50 is formed on the polarizing film 40. The touch sensor 50 may include a first touch sensor 50a for sensing a touch position in the X-axis direction, and a second touch sensor 50b for sensing a touch position in the Y-axis direction. Each of the first touch sensor 50a and the second touch sensor 50b includes a touch electrode provided with a predetermined pattern on a base film.
The upper substrate 60, which is provided in the uppermost surface of the organic light emitting device, protects the organic light emitting device.
The adhesive layer 70 may include a first adhesive layer 70a, a second adhesive layer 70b, a third adhesive layer 70c, and a fourth adhesive layer 70d. First, the polarizing film 40 adheres to the barrier layer 30 by the use of first adhesive layer 70a, the first touch sensor 50a adheres to the polarizing film 40 by the use of second adhesive layer 70b, the second touch sensor 50b adheres to the first touch sensor 50a by the use of third adhesive layer 70c, and the upper substrate 60 adheres to the second touch sensor 50b by the use of fourth adhesive layer 70d. That is, since the polarizing film 40, the first touch sensor 50a, the second touch sensor 50b, and the upper substrate 60 are manufactured in a separate unit, it inevitably requires the adhering process for combining the above separately-manufactured components together by the use of additional adhesive.
However, the related art organic light emitting device has the following disadvantages.
As mentioned above, the related art organic light emitting device includes the plurality of separately-manufactured components, and thus it also needs the plurality of adhesive layers such as the first adhesive layer 70a, the second adhesive layer 70b, the third adhesive layer 70c, and the fourth adhesive layer 70d.
According as the number of adhesive layers is increased, a thickness of the organic light emitting device is also increased so that it is difficult to realize the organic light emitting device with a thin profile. Due to the increased thickness of the organic light emitting device, a radius of curvature is increased in the organic light emitting device, whereby it is difficult to realize the flexible organic light emitting device which is capable of being bent or curved with easiness.

Organic light emitting device and method of manufacturing the same


An electric motor for a motor-driven compressor is provided. The electric motor includes a stator and a rotor. The stator is fixed to a housing. The rotor is arranged outward of the stator. The rotor is mounted on a rotary shaft to rotate integrally with the rotary shaft. The stator includes slots and a stator coil wound about the slots. The rotor includes a rotary support and a magnet. The rotary support is fixed to the rotary shaft to rotate integrally with the rotary shaft. The magnet is supported by the rotary support. The arrangement of the magnetic poles of the magnet in the circumferential direction is a Halbach array.

This invention relates to an electric motor for a motor-driven compressor. The present invention further pertains to a motor-driven compressor.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2006-180576 discloses a hermetic compressor including an electric motor section, which is a permanent magnet electric motor, located in a hermetic case, and a rotary compression section, which is rotated by the permanent magnet electric motor via a crankshaft. The permanent magnet electric motor includes a stator on which magnetic pole teeth for coils are formed, and a permanent magnet rotor arranged outward of the stator. The permanent magnet rotor includes a rotor core located on the outer circumference, and a resin bonded permanent magnet mounted on the inner circumferential portion of the rotor core by injection molding. The crankshaft is fixed to the rotor core. Thus, the stator and the rotor of the permanent magnet electric motor are respectively arranged inward and outward of each other. Also, the hermetic compressor is a motor-driven compressor that integrally includes the compression section and the electric motor section.
When the coil of the stator is energized, current flows across a magnetic flux formed by the permanent magnet located on the inner circumference of the rotor core. Then, the permanent magnet rotor and the crankshaft fixed to the permanent magnet rotor are rotated. As the crankshaft rotates, a refrigerant gas drawn in through a suction pipe provided in the hermetic case is compressed in the compression section and discharged to the outside of the hermetic case through a discharge pipe.
According to the technique disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2006-180576, permanent magnets are provided on the inner circumferential portion of the rotor core, and the permanent magnets are arranged such that the north poles and the south poles of the permanent magnets are alternately arranged in the circumferential direction of the rotor. For example, as shown in FIG. 12 of the present application, permanent magnets 71 have a magnet arrangement of a radial orientation. According to this magnet arrangement, first magnets 71a, the inner circumferential surface of each of which is magnetized to the north pole and the outer circumferential surface of each of which is magnetized to the south pole, and second magnets 71b, the inner circumferential surface of each of which is magnetized to the south pole and the outer circumferential surface of each of which is magnetized to the north pole, are arranged alternately in the circumferential direction. In this case, the magnetic flux exerted from each north pole located on the inner circumference passes inside the stator core 73 arranged inward of the permanent magnets 71 with a gap formed in between. The magnetic flux that has passed inside the stator core 73 forms flow of magnetic flux, or magnetic lines of force toward the south poles adjacent to the north pole. In the permanent magnets 71, the flow of magnetic flux from the south poles located on the inner circumference of the second magnets 71b toward the north poles located on the outer circumference, and the flow of magnetic flux from the south poles located on the outer circumference of the first magnets 71a toward the north poles located on the inner circumference are formed. In the rotor core 72, the flow of magnetic flux from the north poles to the south poles is formed. In this manner, a loop of the magnetic flux, or a magnetic circuit, is formed as the magnetic flux passes inside the rotor core 72. Thus, for example, in a case in which the rotor core 72 is not formed of a ferromagnetic body such as an iron material, motor characteristics, for example, the torque characteristics might deteriorate as the magnetic characteristics of the permanent magnet electric motor change.
In the motor-driven compressor, in which the compression section and the electric motor section are integrated, a balancing weight is provided on, for example, the rotary shaft to cope with the load fluctuation in the compression section. However, in the case in which the balancing weight is provided, a space for providing the balancing weight is required. Therefore, the size of the motor-driven compressor is increased, which might reduce ease of mounting the motor-driven compressor to, for example, a vehicle.
To limit the increase in the size of the motor-driven compressor, there have been attempts to obtain the rotational balance of the motor-driven compressor by changing the shape of the rotor core in the electric motor section. However, when the shape of the rotor core 72 is changed, the following deficiency might occur. That is, in a case in which the shape of the rotor core 72 is changed by forming holes in the rotor core 72, magnetic flux flow is not formed in the holes, and the magnetic characteristics of the permanent magnet electric motor undesirably change. Thus, the required torque is not obtained. In a case in which the thickness of the rotor core is partly changed, the magnetic characteristics undesirably change, and the same problem occurs.
Accordingly, it is an objective of the present invention to provide an electric motor for a motor-driven compressor that is capable of adjusting the rotational balance in the electric motor while inhibiting increase in the size of the motor-driven compressor.

Electric motor for a motor-driven compressor and said motor-driven compressor


Described herein are fluororesin compositions of melt processible fluororesin and wholly aromatic polyamide fibers. The wholly aromatic polyamide fibers have an average fiber diameter of 10-20 μm and an average fiber length of 100-1,000 μm. The compositions are melt processible and can be melt molded into sliding members having low wear when used with sliding counterparts made of metals such as aluminum, copper, zinc or nickel.

Polytetrafluoroethylene (alternately referred to herein as PTFE) has a low friction coefficient and excellent heat and chemical resistance. However, fillers often need to be used with PTFE to prepare a PTFE composition with adequate wear resistance or creep resistance for a given use. Fillers for PTFE known in the art include inorganic fillers such as glass fibers, carbon fibers, graphite, molybdenum disulfide, and bronze powder, and organic fillers such as aromatic polyester, polyimide, polyphenylene sulfide, and aromatic polyamides. PTFE molding powder and filler compositions are not melt processible but can be molded into sliding members or seal members of commercial utility by processes such as compression molding.
However, the number of commercial manufacturing processes for sliding members such as seal rings is large, and the commercial mass production of such sliding members from PTFE compositions is not easy due to the fact that PTFE is not melt processible. As a results, processes for the manufacture of PTFE sliding members often result in significant waste and accompanying undesirable costs.
In order to overcome such productivity problems, the literature reports attempts to mix the aforementioned fillers with melt processible fluororesins such as tetrafluoroethylene-perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether copolymer resin (alternately referred to herein as PFA), tetrafluoroethylene-hexafluoropropylene copolymer (alternately referred to herein as FEP), and tetrafluoroethylene-ethylene copolymer (alternately referred to herein as ETFE), each of which are melt processible and have excellent moldability, though their friction characteristic is inferior to that of PTFE, and make the moldability and the frictional wear characteristic compatible to obtain sliding members or seal members. For example, a composition in which graphite, polyphenylene sulfide or aromatic polyamide fibers, etc., are mixed into a melt processible fluororesin, which can be melt-processed by injection molding, etc., are proposed in the literature.
In addition, lightness, miniaturization and environmental measures have recently been advanced in various kinds of hydraulic apparatuses or sliding machines, increasing opportunities to use lightweight soft metals such as aluminum alloys.
In the case where the sliding counterpart member is a lightweight soft metal such as aluminum alloy, since the counterpart metallic material is apt to be worn and damaged by a sliding member or seal member molded of a conventional resin composition containing inorganic fillers, members to which organic fillers (particles or fibers) such as polyimide resin or wholly aromatic polyamide resin, which have high strength and are softer than inorganic fillers, are added have frequently been used. See for example such disclosures in: Japanese Kokai Patent Application No. Hei 2 [1990]-163147: Japanese Kokai Patent Application No. Hei 6 [1994]-122887; and Japanese Kokai Patent Application No. 2006-225433.
As mentioned above, to overcome the productivity problem due to the non-melt processibility of PTFE, attempts have been made to obtain sliding members or seal members from melt processible fluororesins such as PFA, FEP, or ETFE with excellent moldability, although the friction characteristic of these resins is inferior to that of PTFE. However, since the melt processible fluororesins such as PFA are inferior in friction characteristic compared with PTFE, use of a filler is essential. However, since the addition of the filler could also deteriorate the moldability of the melt processible fluororesin, it was difficult to develop a composition that raises the frictional wear characteristic while maintaining good moldability as an advantage of the melt processible fluororesins and meets performances required for sliding members. In addition, as fillers that do not damage the counterpart member, the utilization of organic fillers has recently been reviewed. However, thermoplastic resin fillers were melted during kneading with a fluororesin, and as a result being unable to exert an effect as fillers. Moreover, in case fibrous fillers were used, sufficient melt-mixing was impossible because of the entanglement of the additive fillers, causing segregation, thus being unable to exert a stable frictional wear characteristic.

Fluororesin and polyamide fiber composition, and sliding member made therefrom


A system includes a medical device that regulates delivery of medication to a user, a sleep detection system configured to generate user status data that indicates sleeping status of the user, and configured to communicate the user status data, and at least one controller that controls alerts associated with operation of the medical device. The at least one controller receives the user status data generated by the sleep detection system, determines, from the user status data, that the user is sleeping, activates a sleep mode alerting scheme of the medical device when it determines that the user is sleeping, and, after activating the sleep mode alerting scheme, controls generation and outputting of alerts associated with operation of the medical device in accordance with the sleep mode alerting scheme.

Medical therapy delivery systems, such as fluid infusion devices, are relatively well known in the medical arts, for use in delivering or dispensing an agent, such as insulin or another prescribed medication, to a patient. A typical insulin infusion device includes a fluid pump mechanism and an associated drive system that actuates a plunger or piston of a fluid reservoir to deliver fluid medication from the reservoir to the body of a patient via a fluid delivery conduit between the reservoir and the body of a patient. Use of infusion pump therapy has been increasing, especially for delivering insulin to diabetic patients.
Medical devices, including insulin infusion devices, can be controlled and operated to generate and output (or control the generation and outputting) of various alerts, alarms, messages, and notifications, in different contexts and for different reasons. Some alerts may be merely informative in nature, while other alerts may be more important. For example, alerts related to patient safety, operating health of the medical device, and patient health status may be categorized as high priority, while alerts related to battery charge status, patient reminders or recommendations, and non-critical device status may be categorized as low priority.
Control schemes have been developed to allow insulin infusion devices to monitor and regulate a patient's blood glucose level in a substantially continuous and autonomous manner. An insulin infusion device can be operated in an automatic mode wherein basal insulin is delivered at a rate that is automatically adjusted for the user. While controlling the delivery of basal insulin in this manner, the infusion device can also control the delivery of correction boluses to account for rising glucose trends, a sudden spike or drop in detected blood glucose, etc. Ideally, the amount of a correction bolus should be accurately calculated and administered to maintain the user's blood glucose within the desired range. In particular, an automatically generated and delivered correction bolus should safely manage the user's blood glucose level and keep it above a defined threshold level. To this end, an insulin infusion device operating in an automatic mode uses continuous glucose sensor data and control algorithms to regulate the user's blood glucose, based on a target glucose setpoint setting.

Controlling medical device operation and features based on detected patient sleeping status


An apparatus and a method for detecting the energy of a tone signal. A pre-process unit takes absolute values of transmitted samples and outputs the values to a delay unit for delaying the transmitted samples according to a predetermined delay interval. An operation unit subtracts the value calculated by multiplying the magnitudes of the samples transmitted before and after the burst detection from the square value of the magnitude of the sample at the time of burst detection among the delayed transmitted samples. A detection unit detects the burst by confirming whether peaks corresponding to the number of the samples transmitted before the sample of the burst detection are detected by a signal of an value input from the operation unit. Therefore, the present invention can reduce a probability of a false alarm caused by an impulse error and burst errors and thus perform stable burst detection.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for detecting energy of a tone signal, and more particularly, to an apparatus and a method for detecting energy of a tone signal by using a nonlinear tracer. The present application is based on Korean Patent Application No. 2001-69657, filed Nov. 9, 2001, which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
A burst detector has a very important role in a frame transmission system using a preamble. Basically, the burst detector performs a function of detecting the exact time that a frame transmitted to a receiver is received. A detection result of the burst detector generally can be used for two aspects in the receiver.
First of all, unnecessary signal processing and power consumption can be reduced by deciding an appropriate time for the operation of a synchronizer of the receiver. Most receivers define an operation mode and a stand-by mode to prevent power consumption due to unnecessary operation of the receiver when there are no incoming frames. The result of the burst detection is used to decide the mode of operation of the receiver.
Second, the synchronizer of the receiver of the system using a preamble can be operated by a data-aided (DA) method. The method uses a certain preamble pattern decided by the transmitter and receiver, and thus the exact receiving time of the frame is detected and a correlation between a received signal and the preamble is used for a synchronous algorithm.
Generally, burst detection is the same as a process of detecting energy of a signal. As a generally used energy detection algorithm, there are several methods using an absolute value detector (AVD), a root mean square detector (RMSD), and a square law detector (SLD). Energy detection is realized as an absolute value, a square root, and a square being accumulated for a predetermined interval.
While these methods can be used for adjusting the operation mode of the synchronizer, they are not suitable for use with a synchronizer operating according to the DA method since the probability of exactly detecting the burst start symbol detection is low. In other words, when there are many samples, it is hard to detect the exact position (tone element) of the first symbol of the burst. On the contrary, when there are few samples, the number of samples which can be used for observation is also scanty. Thus detection of the energy is unstable and the probability of burst detection success is lower as well. Accordingly, a tone energy detector is appropriate as a burst detector used for adjusting the operation mode of the synchronizer of the receiver and demodulating of the DA method.
Therefore, conventionally, a method using a teager energy operator (TEO) is usually used to detect the symbol of the exact receiving time of the burst. The TEO algorithm is used for detecting a tone signal element of a communication system or a system relating to electroencephalograms used in the medical field. The result of the burst detection by the TEO algorithm is input into the synchronizer of the receiver to decide the operation time and provides a synchronous environment in a receiver using the DA method.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a structure of the apparatus for detecting the energy of the tone signal using a conventional TEO method. FIG. 2 is a view showing the principle of operation of the conventional TEO method.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the apparatus for detecting the energy of the tone signal using the conventional TEO method has a delay unit 100, a square multiplier 110, a multiplier 120, and a subtractor 130.
Delay unit 100 outputs a sample stream after delaying a transmitted sample stream by a unit of one sample. The square multiplier 110 squares a center sample, where the time the center sample is received is the reference time, for detecting the existence of the tone element, among three samples consecutively transmitted. The multiplier 120 outputs a value after multiplying samples before and after the center sample. The subtractor 130 subtracts a value input by the multiplier 120 from a value input by the square multiplier 110 and outputs the value resulting from the subtraction.
On the other hand, FIG. 2 shows an input and an output of each of the elements shown in FIG. 1. The sample stream input to the delay unit 100 consists of a series of samples obtained by taking one sample per symbol. A signal s(k) input into the square multiplier 110 is a sample transmitted kth, and signals input into the multiplier 120 are samples s(k−1) and s(k+1) that are before and after the signal s(k). Moreover, the output T[s(k)] of the subtractor 130, that is, the final value yielded by the TEO algorithm, is expressed by the following mathematical expression.T[s(k)]=s2(k)−s(k−1)s(k+1)  [Mathematical expression 1]
Here, s(k) is a sample transmitted kth, and T[s(k)] is an output of the TEO algorithm of the kth sample. The TEO algorithm can be performed from the mathematical expression 1 by using the transmitted sample. The total number of samples are three: a center sample of the time for detecting the existence of the tone element, and samples before and after the center sample.
Yet, the TEO algorithm has a high probability of providing a false alarm due to an impulse error and a burst error generated on a channel and has a low probability of success of the burst detection due to a signal attenuation generated at the kth sample for detecting the existence of the burst. Therefore, the TEO algorithm has a high probability of a frame error.

Apparatus and method for detecting energy of tone signal


An optical device for effectively adjusting the F-number of an elliptical lamp is provided, the elliptical lamp for producing a focused light beam at a given focal point having a given cone angle. The optical device comprises a light interaction portion for optically interacting with the focused light beam when the light interaction portion is in general longitudinal alignment with a light emitting aperture of the elliptical lamp, the light interaction portion for triggering optical adjustment of a cone angle of at least a high cone angle portion of the focused light beam to a smaller cone angle. The optical device further comprises a light egress portion, coupled to the light interaction portion, for enabling exit of the focused light beam from the optical device with an effective cone angle smaller than the given cone angle, after the cone angle of the at least the high cone angle portion of the focused light beam has been adjusted to the smaller cone angle.

In a projector, for example a digital projector, there are two main optical paths—illumination and projection paths. The illumination path generally comprises a light source such as an elliptical lamp (e.g. an elliptical Hg lamp), an integrator for generating a more uniform beam of light from the light source (i.e. an integrator rod), and illumination relay optics for conveying light from the integrator to the projection path (including the image generation light modulators, such as a digital multi-mirror device (DMD)). The elliptical lamp generally consists of a light source, such as a burner arc, and an elliptical reflector.
However, there is a general problem of mismatch in F-number between the elliptical lamp, the illumination relay optics and the light modulator apparatus. For example, the F-number of commercially available elliptical lamps is generally 0.8 to 1.0, and the F-number of commercially available light modulators is generally about 2.5 (e.g. in a 3-chip projector). Regardless of the F-number chosen for the illumination relay optics, then, light will be lost as it travels from the elliptical lamp to the integrator, and through the illumination relay optics to the light modulator due to the loss in high cone angle light from the low F-number elliptical lamp as it tries to enter the high F-number light modulator.
One approach to this problem has been to match the input F-number of the illumination relay optics to the elliptical lamp, and provide the illumination relay optics with a magnification factor of 2.5/0.8=3.125, such that the output F-number matches the F-number of the light modulator. However, such a large magnification factor requires that the cross section of the integrator be very small, and hence lowers the light collection efficiency of the system due to the overfilling of the large focal spot from the elliptical lamp on the integrator. A partial solution to the problem may be to increase the input F-number of the illumination relay optics such that a larger illumination rod can be used. For example, if the input F-number is 1.3 and the output F-number is 2.5, the magnification factor of the illumination relay optics will be only 1.923 instead of 3.125, as above. However, the F-number of the elliptical lamp remains small, light with high incident angle will be lost due to the F-number mismatch at the input face of the integrator, again reducing the overall light collection efficiency of the system.

Optical device for adjusting the F-number of an elliptical lamp


A battery installation for an at least partially electrically operated motor vehicle and to a motor vehicle having such a battery installation. The battery installation includes a receptacle installation for providing a receptacle space for at least one battery module having at least one battery cell. The receptacle installation includes an upper part-structure which delimits the receptacle space in an upward and/or a lateral manner, and a lower part-structure which delimits the receptacle space in a downward manner. The lower part-structure herein includes an upper component that is configured so as to be planar, and a lower component that is configured so as to be planar, and at least one reinforcement component that is disposed between the upper component and the lower component and is configured as a hollow profile.

The batteries of electric vehicles or hybrid vehicles, respectively, often have battery cells which are assembled in groups to form battery modules. The battery modules typically are interconnected and accommodated in a receptacle installation often also referred to as a battery housing. The receptacle installation is often disposed in the floor region of the vehicle.
The constructive design embodiment of the receptacle installation herein typically has a particular significance. The battery modules are to be received in a reliable and operationally secure manner, on the one hand. This relates to the loads to be expected in the driving operation as well as in extraordinary events such as, for example, driving over objects or a crash. Moreover, a cost-effective assembly without complexity should also be possible. The receptacle installation should furthermore not unfavorably influence the weight of the battery.

Battery installation for an at least partially electrically operated motor vehicle


Drive plates of a hydraulic torque wrench cartridge are thickened for extended surface contact with three pawls and a direct contact with the piston rod. The drive plates are held together and are additionally stiffened by dowel pins and shoulder screws. Snap pins are axially slide able and spring loaded connecting the piston rod with the drive plates in an easily disengage able fashion. Three pawls are arrayed in a pitch adjusted with respect to the ratchet teeth pitch in correspondence with an elastic deformation of the drive plates for a balanced force transfer across them. The pawl-tooth interfaces are also in an outward opening angle preventing them from snapping free under load.

Hydraulic torque wrenches are well known power tools for tightening and loosening nuts and bolts. A hydraulic pump commonly pressurizes a hydraulic fluid that is circulated to and from the hydraulic torque wrench via hoses. The hydraulic torque wrench itself commonly features a piston that transforms the fluid pressure into a piston force, which in turn is transferred via a piston rod onto drive plates, and via one or two pawls onto a ratchet wheel that is sandwiched between the drive plates. The ratchet wheel commonly connects to a nut or itself has an internal cutout that matches the nut or bolt head to be tightened or loosened.
Since nuts and bolts are commonly tightly assembled, it is desirable to have a hydraulic torque wrench as compact as possible while at the same time providing a maximum torque and reliable and lasting functionality. The weakest link in the force transmission path from the hydraulic piston to the ratchet wheel is/are commonly the pawl(s) that has/have to reliably engage with a corresponding tooth of the ratchet wheel. Ratchet wheel and pawl(s) are assembled in a cartridge between two lateral plates as is well known in the art. During return travel of the hydraulic piston, the pawl(s) has/have to disengage with the ratchet wheel. Since the pawl(s) is/are much closer positioned to the torque transfer axis than the commonly more peripheral piston rod—drive plate interface, the actual force transmitted across the pawl(s) is in accordance with the well known lever principle substantially higher than the actually produced piston force. Excessive wear commonly occurs in the plate-pawl and pawl-tooth interfaces. Therefore, there exists a need for improved plate-pawl and pawl-tooth interfaces. The present invention addresses this need.
Two cartridge pawls have been employed in the prior art to divide the force to be transmitted onto the ratchet wheel. Nevertheless, it has been discovered by the Applicant that deformation during power strokes causes displacement of the pawls resulting in uneven loads and contact pressures. The present invention addresses this discovery for balanced load and contact pressures in all plate-pawl and pawl-tooth interfaces providing for up to three cartridge pawls to be employed simultaneously.
Ratchet cartridges need to be conveniently replaced especially in cases where the ratchet wheel itself connects to the nut and/or bolt head to be tightened and loosened. Nevertheless, in the prior art commonly the piston rod had to be taken apart in order to remove the ratchet cartridge from the overall torque wrench housing. Therefore, there exists a need for a simple and reliable connection between ratchet cartridge and piston rod that can be fast and easily disconnected and reconnected. The present invention addresses also this need.

Compact hydraulic torque wrench cartridge


Cushioning device to cushion a backrest with respect to the seat of a chair or suchlike. The device comprises a first supporting element connected to the backrest, a second supporting element connected to the seat and pinned to the first supporting element, and a spring connected both to the first supporting element and to the second supporting element, to allow a reciprocal elastic oscillation, of a determined amplitude, between the backrest, which can oscillate, and the seat, which remain still. In a wall of the first supporting element a lodging seat is provided to lodge, at least partially, the spring in such a manner that the longitudinal axis of the spring is substantially aligned with respect to the first supporting element.

It is known that in chairs, especially those for offices, or more generally for places of work, in order to cushion the backrest with respect to the seat, cushioning devices are used provided with one or more springs. In the simplest devices a single torsion spring is normally used, mounted coaxial to a pin which rotatably connects a metal upright of the backrest with a metal base of the seat. To be more exact, such torsion springs have one end attached to the upright of the backrest and another end attached to the base of the seat.
Such known cushioning devices have the disadvantage, however, that they do not support a large number of stresses, or actuation cycles, or bending of the backrest with respect to the seat. Torsion springs, in fact, do not exceed the stresses required by safety regulations, such as the European norm EN 1335-3, which lays down that devices mounted on chairs must resist up to at least 120,000 cycles before breaking.
It is clear therefore that these known devices do not meet the required characteristics, and thus make the chairs on which they are applied not very reliable, unsafe and poor quality.
From U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,575 it is known a frame assembly for a chair which includes a base member, a seat support member and a backrest member. The front end of the seat support member is pivotally mounted on the front end of the base member and a seat suspension spring is provided for the purposes of urging the seat support member to its elevated position, while allowing the inclination both of the seat and of the backrest. The seat suspension spring is a compression spring mounted rearward of and extending longitudinally of the backrest member. In particular the compression spring is compressed between an end of the base member and an external wing of the backrest member. Because the compression spring is disposed completely outside with respect to the backrest member, the same compression spring is not only totally visible, with negative impact to the aesthetics of the chair, but also subject to knocks and damages.
One purpose of the present invention is to achieve a cushioning device for a backrest of a chair that will resist a very high number of actuation cycles, more than the 120,000 laid down by the legislation in force.
Another purpose of the present invention is to achieve a cushioning device which is simple and economical to make, and which can be replaced or repaired easily in the event of malfunctions or breakage, without necessarily requiring the replacement of the whole device or of the chair.
In accordance with these purposes, the Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention, to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art, and to obtain other purposes and advantages.

Cushioning device to cushion the backrest of a chair, an armchair, an office chair or similar


A semiconductor chip package capable of detecting an open and a short is disclosed, comprising: a first pad group comprising a plurality of first substrate pad sub groups, formed on a substrate, each composed of first substrate pads electrically connected, and insulated from each other, and a plurality of first element pad sub groups formed on an element and composed of first element pads electrically connected such that each first substrate pad sub group is electrically connected through the first element pads corresponding to the first substrate pads; a second pad group electrically insulated from the first pad group when the element is connected to the substrate, and comprising a plurality of second substrate pad sub groups formed on the substrate, composed of second substrate pads electrically connected, and insulated from each other, and a plurality of second element pad sub groups formed on the element, and composed of second element pads electrically connected such that each second substrate pad sub group is electrically connected through the second element pads corresponding to the second substrate pads; a plurality of first measuring pads electrically connected with the first pad group; and a plurality of second measuring pads electrically connected with the second pad group, wherein an open between the pads is detected by checking a connected state between the first or second measuring pads, and a short between the pads by checking a connected state between the first and second measuring pads.

1. Technical Field
The present invention provides a pattern for testing a connected state of a semiconductor device, in particular, to a semiconductor chip package capable of detecting an open and a short.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional method for connecting a semiconductor chip to a substrate includes a wire bonding method and a flip chip bonding method. The wire bonding method adheres a chip to a lead frame, connects a pad of the chip to a terminal with a bonding wire, and seals them with a resin. Meanwhile, the flip chip bonding method adheres a chip to an epoxy or ceramic substrate, and forms a flip chip ball grid array package (FCB, hereinafter referred to as "flip chip package") by using a solder ball as a terminal. In such a flip chip bonding method, an element (or a chip) is assembled in face down orientation onto a substrate. This flip chip bonding method has a high space efficiency, and is strong against electromagnetic interference even in a high frequency wave, because it uses thick and short connecting wires. Furthermore, performing a batch processing, the flip chip bonding method incurs less manufacturing cost than the wire bonding method. Even with all those merits, the flip chip bonding method is currently applied only in a micro processor operating at a gigahertz level, and a high speed logic IC for networks devices, since solder balls and pads, etc. are expensive. However, with increasing demands on a noise control, the flip chip bonding method is steadily substituting for the wire bonding method.
A semiconductor chip package using the wire bonding or flip chip bonding method needs a number of dispositions, solderings, and other processes. Accordingly, to improve the qualities of the semiconductor chip package, testing and inspection are necessary. Malfunctioning of the semiconductor chip package is mainly caused by its component chips, and bare boards during component-injecting processes or soldering processes. Examples of such malfunctions are wrong values or labels, poor circuit performances, open circuits, short circuits, wrong positioning of the components, physical damage, improper soldering, damaged or open lands, and out of tolerance condition. The descriptions below will focus on a forming method of a semiconductor chip package using the flip chip bonding method.
FIG. 1 shows a pattern for testing a connected state of a flip chip by using a daisy chain, in a flip chip connection testing semiconductor chip package according to a prior art. In FIG. 1 are illustrated a substrate 110, an array of substrate bumps 120, an array of element pads 130, and four measuring pads 140 formed around corners of the substrate 110.
The substrate 110 is a typical printed circuit board, and has a wiring formed according to a particular pattern. On the substrate 110 is formed an array of the substrate bumps 120. The substrate bump 120 is electrically connected with the element pad 130 formed in a semiconductor element. For convenience, the body of the semiconductor element is omitted in FIG. 1.
Here, in order to detect an open area between the substrate bump 120 and the element pad 130, the element pads 130 are electrically connected in pairs, and the substrate bumps 120 are electrically connected in pairs such that the pairs of the element pads 130 that are not electrically connected are now electrically connected with each other through the electrical connection of the pairs of the substrate bumps 120. With this, when the substrate bump 120 and the element pad 130 are normally connected with each other, an open can be detected by measuring a resistance between the measuring pads 140.
However, such a test pattern cannot detect a short. With advances in substrate technologies, more fine pitches are required, and thus the semiconductor chip package is more likely to have a short. Consequently, there has been a need for a test pattern detecting the short.

Semi-conductor chip package capable of detecting open and short


Compositions and methods for supporting health, especially renal health, comprising ketonic agents that recapitulate beneficial effects of ketosis by exogenously administered agents. The agents include BHB, analogs thereof, and GPR109A agonists. The agents may further include crystal precipitation inhibitors which synergistically improve treatment of certain renal conditions. The agents may be used in dietary supplements and therapeutic compositions for the treatment of cystic kidney diseases such as polycystic kidney disease, ciliopathies, and other conditions.

Renal disease is a major health issue. Among the various renal conditions that afflict people, renal cysts are present in numerous pathologies of the kidney. Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is an especially serious condition with high morbidity and mortality. Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is considered the most common life-threatening monogenic disease. The PKD disease state is characterized by the growth of fluid-filled cysts in the kidneys which progressively enlarge, leading to destruction of normal renal tissue and function. Renal cyst growth in PKD is driven by several growth factors, hormones and cytokines that are present in the cyst fluid and which stimulate the cyst-lining epithelial cells. In the United States, the only FDA-approved therapeutic for ADPKD is the vasopressin receptor 2 antagonist tolvaptan. Its use is complicated due to significant side effects and potential toxicities, poor cost-effectiveness and questions potentially limited efficacy. Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for effective ways of preventing and treating renal conditions, including cystic renal conditions such as polycystic kidney disease.
Polycystic kidney disease is one of several pathological conditions classified as a ciliopathy. Cilia are microtubule-containing structures that protrude from the surface of most cells types. Cilia, especially immotile primary cilia, act as a "cellular antenna" with various functions including sensory and cell-to-cell communication roles. Many pathological conditions are associated with mutations that result in abnormal cilial formation or function. There are over 35 known ciliopathies, and for many of these conditions, effective treatments are not available. Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for novel ways of preventing and ameliorating ciliopathies.
Meanwhile, the metabolic state of ketosis is a growing area of study. Ketosis is characterized by elevated abundance of ketone bodies in blood and other compartments. Ketosis is a metabolic pathway induced by low glucose conditions, for example, being induced by low-carbohydrate diet or fasting. Numerous health benefits appear to be associated with dietary ketosis, including weight loss and appetite control, improved cholesterol status, and stabilization of blood glucose and insulin. The use of ketogenic diets has been applied to control epilepsy in children and blood glucose in Type 2 diabetics. It is thought that ketogenic diets may be of benefit in addressing many other conditions, for example, in the context of kidney injury in surgical subjects, caloric restriction was found to have protective effect on renal function, as described in Grundmann et al., Preoperative Short-Term Calorie Restriction for Prevention of Acute Kidney Injury After Cardiac Surgery: A Randomized, Controlled. Open-Label. Pilot Trial. J Am Heart Assoc 7, (2018.) However, the mechanisms by which ketosis acts on pathological processes and conditions is not well understood, and previously recognized dietary benefits have not been translated to practical applications and interventions. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved understanding of the molecular signaling mechanisms or other physiological effects by which ketosis achieves health benefits. Furthermore, long-term adherence to ketogenic diets is difficult and compliance is poor for many, if not most, subjects. Accordingly, there is further need in the art for novel therapies that harness the beneficial effects of ketosis while being readily administered or applied.

Methods and compositions for supporting renal health

The Regents of the University of California


A supervisory system in which a plurality of supervisory points (1) to (N) are monitored one after another by a monitor camera. The supervisory points are switched at random based on random numbers. A period of monitoring each supervisory point is set at random based on the random numbers. When random monitoring is carried out, it is controlled in order not to select the same supervisory point in succession.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a supervisory camera system which is installed in various facilities, such as public facilities, stores and banking facilities, for the purpose of preventing crimes.
2. Description of the Related Art
A supervisory camera system is a system which monitors a supervisory area using a monitor camera. The system is generally installed in facilities of every kind which particularly require crime prevention, for example banks. Among conventional systems, there is a system in which an individual monitor camera is installed at every supervisory point. There is also another system in which a single monitor camera monitors a plurality of supervisory points in consideration of a reduction in system costs and limitation of the installation space.
In the latter system, a plurality of supervisory points previously set are monitored one by one in a prescribed order by a single monitor camera. Whenever a supervisory point is switched to another, a control function of the system is activated to change a posture of the monitor camera, a zooming extent, or the like.
However, in the conventional systems described above, there is a possibility that a person who attempts to commit a crime will learn the switching order of the supervisory points and the monitoring cycle if he or she observes the cyclic operation of the monitor camera for a while. Therefore, there is a fear of his or her conducting criminal activities during the intervals of supervision.
More specifically, in the conventional systems, the monitor camera operates in a regular manner and therefore future movements of the monitor camera can be easily predicted. Under such circumstances, there is a great need for a supervisory camera system which is very effective during preventing crimes.
In the Official Gazette of Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 6-6644, a system related to household portable cameras is disclosed. In this conventional system, a portable video camera is mounted in a mechanism which holds the camera in such a manner that the camera is capable of rotating and going up and down. The constitution is such that the directions of image pickup and zooming extent of the camera can be easily adjusted by a remote control operation. Also in this system, a random number generator for generating random numbers every prescribed number of seconds is installed. Based on the random numbers generated, the directions of image pickup and zooming extent of the camera are automatically varied. However, the object of using these random numbers in this conventional system is to produce eye-catching video products. In this conventional system, images are picked up from random directions and changeovers of image pickup directions are performed at fixed intervals. Therefore, this conventional system is not suitable for supervisory purposes.


A self-service terminal has a wireless communication port for communicating with a user's portable electronic device. The self-service terminal loads an executable transaction application program via the wireless communication port to a user's portable electronic device when the user's portable electronic device moves into the vicinity of the wireless communication port. The self-service terminal receives transactional data from a user's portable electronic device when an executable transaction application program which has been loaded to the user's portable electronic device is executed.

The present invention relates to self-service transactions, and is particularly directed to a self-service system and a method of loading an executable transaction application program from a self-service terminal to a portable electronic device.
In a known advertisement system, advertisement information is loadable from a base terminal to portable electronic devices which are located in the vicinity of the base terminal. The advertisement information is loaded from the base terminal to a portable electronic device when a detector associated with the base terminal detects that the portable electronic device has moved within a predetermined distance from the detector. The loaded advertisement information is viewable by a user carrying the portable electronic device. Although the advertisement system provides useful information, the advertisement system is clearly not a self-service system in which users of portable electronic devices can carry out self-service transactions.
In a known self-service system, a self-service terminal user is able to carry out a self-service transaction at a self-service terminal, such as an automated teller machine (ATM), by using a portable electronic device, such as a cellular phone. The portable electronic device needs to be preloaded with the required executable transaction application program before the user can use the portable electronic device to carry out the desired transaction at the self-service terminal. If the portable electronic device has not been preloaded with the required executable transaction application program, then the user is unable to carry out the transaction at the self-service terminal.
The fact that the required executable transaction application program needs to be preloaded onto the portable electronic device places a burden upon the user of the portable electronic device to insure that the executable transaction application program is properly and timely preloaded. This burden increases substantially if the user has to insure that a number of different executable transaction application programs need to be preloaded before the user can carry out transactions at different types of self-service terminals. It would desirable to be able eliminate or at least reduce the burden upon the user to make sure that all required executable transaction application programs are properly preloaded onto his/her portable electronic device.

Self-service system and method of loading an executable transaction application program from a self-service terminal to a portable electronic device


A method and apparatus for growing silicon carbide crystals is provided. The apparatus includes a sublimation chamber with a plurality of spaced apart dividers that can direct the direction of silicon carbide crystal growth into passages between the dividers to form a plurality of silicon carbide crystal plates. The silicon carbide crystal plates can be used as seed crystals in subsequent sublimation steps in a manner that promotes the growth of silicon carbide crystals in different crystallographic directions to thereby terminate defect formation.

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a desired material for use in the manufacture of semiconductor devices. Silicon carbide has a variety of properties useful in such devices, including a wide bandgap, a high thermal coefficient, a low dielectric constant and high temperature stability. As a result, silicon carbide materials can provide excellent semiconducting properties, and electronic devices made from silicon carbide can perform at higher temperatures as compared to devices made from other materials currently used in the industry.
Traditionally, two broad categories of techniques have been used for forming crystalline silicon carbide for semiconductor applications. The first of these techniques is known as chemical vapor deposition ("CVD") in which reactant gases are introduced into a system to form silicon carbide crystals, typically in epitaxial layers, upon an appropriate substrate.
The second main technique is generally referred to as sublimation. In this technique, a silicon carbide source material (typically a powder) is used as a starting material. The silicon carbide starting material is heated in a crucible until it sublimes or vaporizes, and the vaporized material is encouraged to condense to produce the desired crystals. This can be accomplished by introducing a silicon carbide seed crystal into the crucible and heating it to a temperature less than the temperature at which silicon carbide sublimes. A pioneering patent that describes methods for forming crystalline silicon carbide for semiconductor applications using such seeded sublimation techniques is U.S. Pat. No. 4,866,005 to Davis et al., issued Sep. 12, 1989, which was reissued as U.S. Pat. No. Re. 34,861, issued Feb. 14, 1995, which patents are incorporated herein by reference as if set forth in their entirety.
Many semiconductor applications require a single crystal material with very low levels of defects in the crystal lattice and/or low levels of unwanted impurities. Even in a pure material, a defective lattice structure can prevent the material from being useful for electrical devices, and the impurities in any such crystal are preferably controlled to give certain desired electrical characteristics (such as an n or p character). For example, crystal imperfections in the SiC single crystal, including micropipe defects, screw dislocations, edge dislocations, stacking faults, and the like, can result in current leakage and reduced breakdown voltage in a SiC device.
One approach to improve SiC quality focuses on seed crystal orientation within the crucible. SiC single crystals include a {0001} plane (also referred to in the art as the c-plane) as the main plane orientation. SiC single crystals also include a {1-100} plane and a {11-20} plane (the a-planes), which are perpendicular to the {0001} plane. Conventionally, sublimation processes such as those described above use the c-plane {0001} of a silicon carbide seed crystal as the growth surface to grow bulk silicon carbide single crystals in the <0001> growth direction.
SiC single crystals grown on a c-plane, i.e., grown in a <0001> direction using a {0001} plane as a seed crystal surface, include micropipe defects, typically at a density up to 103 cm−2. Such SiC crystals can have other defects as well, such as screw dislocations, typically at a density of 103 to 104 cm−2, and edge dislocations, typically at a density of 104 to 105 cm−2, in a direction substantially parallel to the <0001> direction. The defects and dislocations are carried over into devices produced using the SiC single crystal, for example, devices fabricated in an epitaxial layer which is grown onto the SiC crystal. Accordingly, the defects and dislocations will also exist in the epitaxial layer at substantially the same density as in the SiC single crystal wafer and will undesirably affect device characteristics as well.
Growing bulk SiC single crystals on a seed crystal with the a-plane as the growth surface can reduce micropipe and dislocation concentrations in the {0001} plane. The resultant crystal, however, can include other undesired defects, primarily stacking faults located on {0001} planes at a density as high as 102 to 104 cm−1 in a direction substantially parallel to the direction of the crystal growth. Such defects are also carried over into downstream products incorporating the SiC crystal as a component. SiC power devices manufactured from such a SiC wafer can in turn have a relatively high on resistance and a relatively large current leakage in the reverse direction, thereby undesirably affecting performance of the device.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2003/007611 is directed to a process of manufacturing SiC single crystals using a series of seed crystals having different growth planes. In the '611 application, a first SiC crystal grows in a <1-100> or <11-20> direction (or in an "a-plane" direction) on a first seed crystal having a first growth surface, typically a plane having an inclination of 20 degrees or smaller from a {1-100} or {11-20} plane. The resultant silicon carbide crystal is processed (wafered) to make a second seed crystal having a second growth surface with an inclination of 45 to 90 degrees from a {0001} plane of the first grown crystal. Subsequently, another silicon carbide crystal is grown on the second seed crystal, from which is formed a final seed crystal having a growth surface with a plane having an inclination of 20 degrees or less from a {0001} plane of the second grown crystal.
The '611 application reports that the process reduces edge dislocations and stacking faults. The process, however, suffers various drawbacks. The SiC crystals produced in each sequential step must be processed, i.e., the silicon carbide boule must be wafered, or sliced, polished and ground (to remove polycrystalline growth), to form a seed crystal suitable for use in the next step of the process. Each such step can be time consuming and labor intensive. In addition, the requisite slicing of each subsequently grown SiC crystal boule can result in substantial loss of material, resulting in an overall low yield.
Therefore, a need exists for methods of producing SiC crystalline material useful as silicon carbide seed crystals having reduced defects, in a cost effective and time efficient manner, to facilitate large scale production of semiconductor devices including such materials.

Method and apparatus for the production of silicon carbide crystals


A pedal with a shaft fixed to the pedal body instead of a spindle that turns relative to the pedal body. The shaft is fixed relative to the pedal body. The pedal shaft rotates relative to the crank arm instead. A sealed cartridge ball bearing is mounted to the end of a crank arm and held in position by a retainer. The shaft is fitted through the sealed cartridge ball bearing of the crank arm and a screw secures the shaft in position. This changes the pedal to crank interface. The pedal does not require bearings or bushings or seals as with prior art pedals, because the shaft rotates within the sealed cartridge bearing held within the crank arm. The shaft and pedal body can be combined to create an even simpler pedal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of bicycles and more particularly to an improved bicycle pedal and crank assembly.
2. Background Art
A number of pedal and crank designs have been made commercially available. Pedal designs include basic pedals and a variety of clipless versions for clamping shoes to pedals. Something that all pedals have in common is that they employ a spindle that is fixedly mounted to the crank arm, a pedal body that rotates about the spindle, and bearings or bushings between the pedal body and the spindle. The pedal spindle is always rigidly connected to the crank arm, usually by threading the spindle directly into the crank arm. The pedal spindle never turns relative to the crank arm.
Cranks typically have a threaded hole at the end of each crank arm for attaching the pedal spindle. Most cranks connect to a bottom bracket axle on the end of each arm opposite the pedal. The bottom bracket connects to the bottom bracket housing of the bicycle frame, and normally includes two or more bearings for the bottom bracket axle to turn. That way, the crank arms rotate smoothly relative to the bicycle frame. Some cranks have integrated the bottom bracket so that the bottom bracket axle is permanently connected to at least one of the crank arms. In some designs, this allows the bottom bracket axle to be made larger and the bearings to be moved outboard, stiffening the system, and/or reducing the system weight. In no cases is there a bearing incorporated into the pedal end of crank arms.
In bicycling, weight is extremely important because the power that a human produces is relatively small. Even small savings in weight can be extremely beneficial to racers and people who cycle long distances.
Pedals typically contain from 10 to 50 components. For example, a typical double side entry prior art clipless pedal, U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,229, has 39 components not including the cleat. Generally, clipless pedals contain more components than basic pedals because the mechanism for clamping onto a cleat usually adds parts. Generally, more components leads to higher costs and poorer performance in adverse environmental conditions.
Pedals are often used in extreme conditions. This is especially true because pedals are low to the ground and interface with the rider's shoe. Pedals are exposed to dirt, rain, mud, snow, and varying temperatures. Because of these factors, sealing the bearings and bushings from contamination is extremely important. Currently, because the seals are located on the pedal, they are in direct contact with the rider's shoes, which are often contaminated with dirt, mud, sand, etc.
For many pedals on the market, rebuilding the bearings and bushings is difficult or impossible for most consumers. Oftentimes, it is very difficult to access the bearings or bushing, and once accessed, it is often difficult to remove them. For pedals that use loose ball bearings rather than cartridge bearings or bushings, it is easy to lose the balls during disassembly, and nearly impossible to reassemble the balls and properly adjust the bearings. Most pedals that use loose ball bearings are realistically disposable rather than rebuildable.
Stack height is the distance between the bottom of the rider's shoe and the centerline of the spindles of their pedals. In order to lower the rider's center of gravity for better stability, it is preferable to have the lowest stack height possible. Currently, all pedals have at minimum a spindle, some form of bearings, and a body. The stack height is determined by adding these layers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,080,017 discloses one way to reduce stack height in a bicycle pedal, but at the expense of increasing Q-factor.
Q-factor is the distance between the center of the pedal body to the centerline of the bicycle. Essentially, Q-factor is a measure of how far the rider's feet are apart from each other. Q-factor is determined by a combination of the bottom bracket spindle length, the crank offset, and length of the pedal. Many bicyclists have a strong preference for the Q-factor depending on their leg length and their particular physiology. Most commonly, bicyclists can suffer from knee pain and damage if the Q-factor is too large.