The linear motion rolling guide unit according to this invention has the casing mounted on the track rail so that it can be moved along the track rail. The end caps formed with the recessed arc surfaces for the direction changing passages are attached to the ends of the casing. To form the direction changing passages, the spacers are disposed so that they face and are spaced from the recessed arc surfaces of the end caps. A number of rollers circulate through the raceways formed between the track rail and the casing and through the direction changing passages. The roller-contacting surfaces of the spacers are formed with oil grooves that extend in the direction of roller movement. The oil grooves act as an escape for grease and also hold grease therein, thus reducing the sliding resistance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a linear motion rolling guide unit which is applied to sliding portions of machining tools and which consists of a track rail with raceway grooves formed longitudinally extending on both side walls thereof, a casing saddling the track rail and having raceway grooves, and a number of rolling elements that roll between the facing raceway grooves.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a conventional linear motion rolling guide unit, a slider that slides on a track rail consists of a casing, end caps fixed to both ends of the casing, end seals attached to the end caps, and an under seal provided to the undersides of the casing and the end caps. The linear motion rolling guide unit further consists of: a number of rolling elements that travel rolling in a raceway formed between the raceway surface on the track rail and the raceway surface on the casing; and a retainer fixed to the casing to hold the rolling elements in the casing.
The linear motion rolling guide unit as described above will be explained by referring to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing one example of a conventional linear motion rolling guide unit. FIG. 6 is a cross section of FIG. 5 taken along the line A--A, and FIG. 7 is a cross section taken along the line B--B of FIG. 6. The linear motion rolling guide unit shown in FIG. 5 is a four-raceway endless linear motion rolling guide unit. It has a track rail 1 with an I-shaped cross section, a slider 2 straddling the track rail 1 in such a way that it can move relative to or slide on the track rail 1, and a number of cylindrical rolls 5 rotatably interposed between the track rail 1 and the slider 2. The track rail 1 is formed with recessed grooves 8 longitudinally extending on both sides thereof, which form raceway surfaces 9. A recessed portion 11 of the casing 4 is formed with a raceway surface 10 (FIG. 7) at a position facing the raceway surface 9 on the track rail 1.
The slider 2 has a casing 4 which is formed with the recessed portion 11 so that the casing can saddle the track rail 1, and end caps 6 attached to both longitudinal ends of the casing 4. To seal the boundary between the track rail 1 and the slider 2 when the slider 2 slides on the track rail 1, the ends of the end caps 6 are each provided with an end seal (not shown) and the underside of the slider 2 with an under seal 25C.
Between the upper and lower raceway surfaces 10 of the casing 4 is formed an engagement groove 15, which engages with an engagement projection 16 formed on the retainer 3. A part of the retainer 3 is loosely fitted in the recessed groove 8 of the track rail 1 and fixed to the casing 4 by bolts 17.
In the above construction of the 4-raceway endless linear motion rolling guide unit, two raceways are formed on each side of the track rail by the upper and lower raceway surfaces 9 on the track rail 1 and the upper and lower raceway surfaces 10 on the casing 4. Hence, a total of four raceways are formed on both sides of the track rail 1. In these loaded roller raceways, a number of cylindrical rollers 5 roll in contact with the facing raceway surfaces 9 and 10. The casing 4 is formed with return passages 13, 14, and the end caps 6 are formed with direction changing passages 12 that connect the loaded roller raceways and the return passages 13, 14. To form the direction changing passage 12, the end cap 6 is formed on its inner side with an recessed arc surface 19, as shown in FIG. 7. A direction changing passage spacer 7 is disposed facing, and spaced from, the recessed arc surface 19 to define the direction changing passage 12. FIG. 7 shows only one of the endless circulating passage.
With the 4-raceway endless linear motion rolling guide unit, the loaded roller raceways, the direction changing passages 12 and the return passages 13, 14 combine to form two endless circulating passages. The endless circulating passages may, for example, have different lengths and be disposed one inside the other. That is, a smaller endless circulating passage may be arranged inside the loop of a larger endless circulating passage and disposed at right angles with each other so that they will not interfere with each other. The larger and smaller endless passages have the same length of the loaded roller raceways. As the slider 2 moves along the track rail 1, the cylindrical rollers 5 circulate through the large and small endless circulating passages. It is also possible to make the endless circulating passages cross each other so that they can be formed in the same length.
Such a four-raceway endless linear motion rolling guide unit is cited, for example, in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 175564/1989, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 63812/1992, and Japanese Patent application No. 166326/1991.
In the conventional four-raceway endless linear motion rolling guide unit, the direction changing passage 12 is defined by interposing the spacer 7 between the casing 4 and the recessed arc surface 19 when the end caps 6 are attached to the casing 4. The direction changing passage 12 is supplied with grease as lubricant to make the rolling of the cylindrical rollers 5 smooth. However, a problem may arise that as a large number of rollers 5 travel through the direction changing passage 12, the grease sealed into the passage 12 may cause large rolling friction, i.e., sliding resistance between the rollers 5 and the spacer 7.


A vehicle, in particular a motorcycle, having an engine with a crankshaft extending transversely to a travel or longitudinal direction of the vehicle, a transmission, and a clutch, which may assume an open state and a closed state. The clutch, which allows a torque transmission from the crankshaft to the transmission in the closed state, is situated coaxially to the crankshaft. The engine and transmission may be arranged such that the vehicle's rearswing arm may be located coaxially with an axis of a transmission output shaft.

In typical motorcycles having a chain or belt drive, the pinion, which drives the chain or the drive belt, is typically situated at least approximately 65 mm offset in relation to the axis to which the rear wheel swing arm is linked. The clutch is commonly situated on the transmission input shaft in typical motorcycles. Seen in a side view of the motorcycle, the clutch thus "overlaps" the transmission output shaft. In the following, the transmission output shaft is understood as the shaft on which the pinion is situated, which drives the chain or the belt, which in turn drives the rear wheel. The transmission output shaft is typically located in front of the swing arm axis.
Typical motorcycle concepts of this type have a whole array of disadvantages. Because of the offset between the chain pinion and the swing arm axis, a certain chain sag is necessary. In particular for off-road motorcycles, which have a spring range of 150 mm or more, a significant chain sag is required. In a motorcycle having a spring range of 300 mm, for example, a chain sag of approximately 70 mm is required.
A greater chain sag results in relatively strong friction losses and requires a special chain guide. Greater chain wear also results with a large chain sag. A further result of the large chain sag may be strong running noises due to "chain whipping." "Encapsulation" of the chain is constructively complex, in particular in the event of large chain sag.
A further problem of typical motorcycle concepts may be seen in that the pinion diameter is limited in relation to the swing arm mounting by the clearance required for a pivot movement of the swing arm. Furthermore, it is problematic that the swing arm spar is situated adjacent to or below the driving strand of the chain, which implies a relatively large gauge of the swing arm spars and, in the case of a single-arm swing arm, makes the construction very complex, because the engine housing and the swing arm mounting must also be housed having an offset in relation to the transmission output shaft between the rear wheel and the output shaft of the transmission. Because in typical motorcycles, the swing arm spars must always lie between the top and bottom chain strands, the bottom spring strut attachment is located at a relatively low level, which in turn has an unfavorable effect on the spring strut progression.
As already noted, the clutch is typically situated on the transmission input shaft in normal motorcycles. Quite high torques occur on the transmission input shaft. To be able to transmit these high torques continuously, the clutch must be relatively large or run in an oil bath. Oil-bath clutches have the disadvantage that they may result in a relatively rapid contamination of the oil.
In normal motorcycles, the frame is also typically designed relatively complexly. The frame connection between the steering head and the swing arm axis lying behind the transmission output shaft must be guided past the clutch basket, which has a relatively large construction. In typical motorcycles, in which the swing arm axis is situated behind the drive pinion, the frame typically has frame tubes which extend below the engine past the clutch housing to the swing arm linkage points. Frame constructions of this type imply an unfavorable force flow and are also relatively heavy and costly to produce. The engine mounting is also relatively difficult with frames of this type, because the engine and the transmission are "embedded" very tightly in the frame.
It was already recognized many decades ago that it would be advantageous if the drive pinion which is provided for driving the chain or the drive belt was situated coaxially to the swing arm axis. Concept approaches are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,755,272 B2, GB 558 387, FR 2370 625, WO 02/094649 A1, or EP 592 655 B1. However, in the motorcycles described therein, the drive pinion is not seated on the transmission output shaft, but rather on a separate shaft which is driven by the transmission output shaft via a chain or belt drive. This is a relatively cumbersome design and has therefore also not been successful.
In the textbook "Motorradtechnik [Motorcycle Technology]," 5th edition, Vieweg-Verlag, ATZ MTZ-Fachbuch, pages 295-298, edited by Jürgen Stoffregen, the basic idea of situating in the chain pinion coaxially to the pivot axis is also described. However, Stoffregen does not provide a concrete description of how the chain pinion may be driven and how the chain pinion is to be situated in relation to the transmission.
FR 1038 140 may also be included in the technical background.
The object of the present invention is to provide a completely novel vehicle concept which may be implemented in a simple design, which allows the problems described at the beginning to be avoided, as well as providing an engine/transmission unit as a basis for such a vehicle.
The starting point of the present invention is the consideration of providing a novel engine/transmission unit, which allows a correspondingly novel vehicle concept, in particular a novel motorcycle concept. Such an engine/transmission unit has an engine having a crankshaft which extends transversely to the travel direction of the vehicle, as well as a transmission and a clutch which may assume an open state and a closed state, the clutch allowing a torque transmission from the crankshaft to the transmission in the closed state. A central feature of this novel engine/transmission unit is that the clutch is situated coaxially to the crankshaft. The rotational axis around which the clutch disks rotate is thus transverse to the travel direction of the vehicle or the motorcycle.
The advantage results due to the coaxial configuration of crankshaft and clutch that the clutch-in contrast to typical vehicle engine/transmission units, in which the clutch is typically situated on the transmission input shaft-operates at higher speeds and lower torques and may thus be implemented more compactly. The clutch may thus have a comparatively small diameter, which in turn has the advantage that it does not extend up into the area of the transmission output shaft. The reason why this is so advantageous in regard to the overall vehicle concept will be explained in greater detail below.
It is expressly noted that the present invention is not restricted to the use of such an engine/transmission unit in motorcycles, but rather is applicable very generally in connection with vehicles. The following description and the claims are also to comprise multiwheel vehicles in addition to motorcycles, such as three-wheeled vehicles or four-wheeled vehicles, in particular so-called "quads."
According to a refinement of the present invention, the vehicle has a frame and a rear wheel swing arm, which is situated so it is pivotable on a swing arm axis in relation to the frame, and a transmission having a transmission housing and a transmission output shaft projecting out of the transmission housing. A "transmission output pinion" is situated on the transmission output shaft, which is coupled to a chain wheel, which drives a rear wheel or rear wheels of the vehicle situated in the rear wheel area of the vehicle via a traction mechanism, such as a chain or a toothed belt.
According to a refinement of the present invention, the transmission output pinion situated on the transmission output shaft is situated coaxially to the swing arm axis. A coaxial configuration of the transmission output pinion, i.e., the pinion which drives the chain or the belt, and the swing arm axis has the advantage that practically no sag of the "traction mechanism," i.e., the drive chain or the drive belt, has to be maintained for the spring compression of the rear wheel swing arm, as is the case for typical motorcycles having a chain or belt drive. The problems connected with a chain sag are thus avoided from the beginning.
According to a refinement of the present invention, the swing arm axis, i.e., the pivot axis around which the rear wheel swing arm pivots, extends through the transmission/engine housing. When "engine/transmission housing" or "transmission housing" or "engine housing" are discussed in the following, these terms are each to be understood broadly. The terms "engine/transmission housing" or "transmission housing" or "engine housing" are to be understood very generally in the following description and in the patent claims as the housing of the transmission and/or the housing of the engine.
The swing arm axis extending through the transmission housing projects out of the transmission housing on opposite sides of the transmission housing. Ends of the swing arm axis may then be mounted in the frame of the vehicles so they are pivotable. The swing arm axis may be mounted in the frame by roller bearings or friction bearings. For example, taper roller bearings may be used for mounting the swing arm axis in the frame. The taper roller bearings may be situated in an O configuration, for example.
It is expressly noted that the swing arm does not necessarily have to be mounted in the frame. The swing arm may also be mounted to or on the transmission output shaft using bearings, e.g., needle bearings, if the transmission output shaft and the engine/transmission housing are implemented as sufficiently stable to support the forces introduced via the swing arm.
The rear wheel swing arm may be permanently connected to the swing arm axis. A simple possibility is to clamp the rear wheel swing arm to the swing arm axis using a clamp connection.
The transmission output shaft on which the transmission output pinion is situated is preferably mounted in the transmission housing by roller bearings.
According to a refinement of the present invention, the transmission output shaft is implemented as a hollow shaft. This has the advantage that the swing arm axis may be inserted very simply through the transmission output shaft, which allows very simple mounting and dismounting of the rear wheel swing arm.
As already noted, the engine/transmission unit may be installed in a vehicle in such a way that the crankshaft of the engine extends in a transverse direction, i.e., parallel to the swing arm axis of the vehicle. In contrast to most normal vehicles and/or motorcycles, in which the clutch is situated on the transmission input shaft, according to the present invention, the clutch is situated coaxially to the crankshaft and preferably on the crankshaft itself. Because higher speeds and smaller torques arise on the crankshaft than on the transmission output shaft, the clutch may be implemented smaller, i.e., having a smaller diameter, than in typical motorcycles.
In typical motorcycles, in which the clutch is situated on the transmission input shaft, the clutch overlaps the transmission output shaft seen in a side view of the vehicle. In typical motorcycles, a coaxial configuration of swing arm axis and transmission output pinion would not be possible at all, because the swing arm axis would penetrate the clutch.
In contrast, a configuration of the clutch on the crankshaft has the advantage that the clutch may be implemented more compactly and, seen in a side view of the vehicle, the clutch does not overlap the transmission output shaft and thus allows "through insertion" of the swing arm axis. Because smaller torques arise on the crankshaft than on the transmission input shaft, different types of clutches may be used, e.g., single-disk clutches, multiple disk clutches, dry clutches, wet clutches, etc.
A "drive element" of the clutch is preferably connected rotationally fixed to the crankshaft. An "output element" of the clutch is situated so it is rotatable in relation to the crankshaft and is connected to a primary pinion which is mounted so it is rotatable on the crankshaft. The output element may be a clutch basket which may be connected in one piece to the primary pinion. Alternatively thereto, the clutch basket and the primary pinion may also be implemented in two pieces. The primary pinion may be mounted on the crankshaft using a roller bearing or a friction bearing. The primary pinion is preferably mounted on the crankshaft using a needle bearing.
The torque may be transmitted from the primary pinion seated on the crankshaft via an intermediate wheel situated on an intermediate shaft to the transmission input shaft. The intermediate wheel or another gearwheel seated on the intermediate shaft engages with a gearwheel of the transmission input shaft, which is situated offset in relation to the intermediate shaft in the direction of the rear wheel swing arm. Multiple shiftable gearwheel stages which are permanently engaged are situated adjacent to one another on the transmission input shaft and on the transmission output shaft, via which the individual gears of the transmission may be engaged.
The basic principle of the present invention described above also allows, in contrast to the prior art, an optimum design of the frame, in particular an optimum design of the motorcycle frame in the case of a motorcycle.
According to a refinement of the present invention, the frame has at least two left and two right frame tubes. The left frame tubes are essentially mirror-identical to the right frame tubes. The frame tubes of each frame side intersect one another. "Intersect" in this context means that they run together and are connected to one another. The frame is preferably designed in such a way that the swing arm axis extends through the "intersection point" of the left frame tubes and through the intersection point of the right frame tubes. The engine and the transmission of the vehicle may be situated in the area between the left and the right frame tubes.
The left and the right frame tubes may each be differentiated by terms into a left and a right bottom frame tube and a left and a right top frame tube. Seen in a side view of the vehicle, the two bottom frame tubes may be essentially linear and extend forward up into an area below handlebars of the vehicle from the swing arm axis and be connected there to a steering head bearing tube. In a top view of the vehicle, the two bottom frame tubes are not necessarily linear, but rather may also be curved.
The two top frame tubes are situated above the bottom frame tubes and extend from an area below the handlebars or from a steering head bearing tube backward down to the pivot axis.
A frame designed in this way has multiple advantages. The engine, the transmission, and a radiator of the motorcycle may be inserted from below as a prefinished assembly into the area between the left and the right frame tubes, which significantly simplifies the mounting and/or dismounting.
While in typical motorcycles having a chain drive the frame tubes extend from the handlebars area below the engine and/or the transmission to the swing arm bearing of the rear wheel swing arm, according to the present invention, the left and the right frame tubes of the frame run laterally past the engine and/or the transmission from the handlebars area diagonally downward to the swing arm axis. This has the advantage in turn that a continuous radiator may be situated in an area below the bottom frame tubes and forward of the engine.
An air filter of the engine may be situated in a very space-saving way which is protected from sprayed water in the area proximal to the handlebars between the top and bottom frame tubes above the engine.
An onboard battery of the motorcycle may be situated in an area proximal to the swing arm axis between the top and bottom frame tubes above the transmission. The center of gravity of the vehicle is preferably located in this area. Situating the relatively heavy onboard battery in the area of the center of gravity of the vehicle very significantly improves the handling of the vehicle.
The frame described above also has significant advantages in regard to the configuration of a spring strut. The spring strut may be situated between the frame and the rear axle swing arm. It has the object of springing and damping movements of the spring strut occurring during travel. A bottom end of the spring strut may be connected in an articulated way to the swing arm. A top end of the spring strut may be connected in an articulated way to the frame. The spring strut extends from bottom rear diagonally to top forward.
In the frame design described above, it is advantageous to situate the spring strut in such a way that, seen in a side view of the motorcycle, it is in an essentially linear extension of the forward sections of the top two frame tubes. In a configuration of this type, the forces exerted by the spring strut on the frame are essentially introduced into the frame in the longitudinal direction of the forward sections of the top frame tubes. The top frame tubes function as "compression bars" and are primarily loaded with pressure and only slightly with bending upon spring compression of the rear wheel swing arm. In contrast to typical motorcycles, the frame thus allows a significantly flatter installation of the spring strut supports, which allows a high progression during spring compression of the spring strut.
The fuel tank may also be situated in a more favorable position closer to the center of gravity in the vehicle concept described above than is the case in most normal vehicles and/or motorcycles. According to a refinement of the present invention, the fuel tank is situated in an area above the spring strut and below the seat of the vehicle. The tank cover of the fuel tank may be situated on the top side of the fuel tank below the seat. The seat then only has to be removed for filling. In comparison to typical motorcycles, in which the fuel tank is situated forward of the seat, a configuration in the area above the spring strut has the advantage that the center of gravity of the vehicle may thus be lowered, which further improves the handling.
Alternatively thereto, an access opening or a "hole" may also be provided in the seat, via which the tank connecting piece of the fuel tank is accessible. Filling is then also possible without removing the seat.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Vehicle in particular a motorcycle and engine/gearbox unit for a vehicle

Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft


A purse for carrying and organizing various articles with compartments, panels, pockets and flaps shaped, sized, located and connected to each other in a manner that allows superior securement of and access to articles of certain shapes (such as drinking bottles, umbrellas, eyeglasses, credit cards and so on), while also including segregated storage spaces to allow additional storage of all kinds of other articles. The purse of the present invention may be implemented as an organizing insert that can be switched between a variety of outer shells, as fashion, weather conditions and whim dictate.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to purses, and pertains more particularly to an improved organizing purse having an improved arrangement of pockets and panels for holding various kinds of personal articles in an organized fashion.
II. The Background Art
People use purses to carry personal articles and effects. Some purses have a very simple construction. For example, some conventional purses consist merely of an outer shell that defines a single storage space compartment and a handle (e.g. shoulder straps).
Some purses, however, do have features that facilitate organization and more secure storage of the articles contained therein. Conventionally, these purses have different arrangements of pockets, compartments, closures and the like to segregate, and thereby organize, articles within the purse, and to better secure articles in the purse by providing multiple segregated spaces within the purse where various articles can be placed in separate groups.
Various small pots of make-up, wallets, small mirrors, combs, pocket knifes, coins, sewing kits, toiletries, credit cards, identification cards, papers bearing notes, writing instruments, check books, keys, combs, small food items (e.g., gum) and small books (e.g. paperback books) serve to illustrate the wide variety of articles that may be found in a purse. Although some purses have more than one compartment or pocket to help organize and secure these wide variety of items, a motley mixture of articles is still conventionally placed loosely in the purse or among a few compartments of the purse. This limits the level of organization and security of the articles, and may leave articles tangled, disorganized or difficult to locate within the purse.
The problem of organization was partly solved in my prior parent applications, which disclosed a purse organizer that solved many of the problems of the prior art. However, I have discovered the need for additional improvements. One improvement disclosed in my prior patent applications is the provision for converting the organizer to an appealing clutchxe2x80x94a small strapless handbagxe2x80x94or shoulder bag for convenient carrying of items separate from other personal articles. Another improvement disclosed in my prior patent applications is a modification to provide a zipper closure around the periphery of the purse organizer.
Now that the previous generations of improvements have been disclosed to the public, I know of no publicly-recognized problems, complaints, suggestions for improvement or the like relating to purses. To the extent that I have discovered shortcomings of currently-available purse products, such discoveries will be addressed below in the Summary of the Invention section, because such discoveries are not prior art, and are therefore inappropriate for discussion in this Background section.
There exists a need for a bag that can mount or hold many different related or unrelated personal articles in a more organized fashion. It would be desirable to have a purse organizer with multiple holding or mounting panels and pockets for holding many different related articles and/or unrelated articles for ease of location and retrieval. There is an ongoing need for a purse that can be quickly converted into a separate vanity bag or clutch.
Furthermore, there is a need for a purse organizer insert that can be selectively used in different kinds of bags, such as a purse organizer insert that can be transferred between purses of different materials or of different colors that can also be transferred to non-purse bags, such as backpacks.
One object of the present invention is to solve the problem of keeping personal articles of different sizes and shapes organized and secure. Another object of the present invention is to provide a purse organizer insert that can be selectively transferred between purse-style bags and various non-purse-style bags (eg, backpacks).
Broadly, the invention provides an organizing purse with multiple pockets and attachment means for holding articles of different sizes secure and readily accessible in an organized arrangement. At least some embodiments of purse organizer inserts according to the present invention can be carried in a purse, a non-purse-style bag (eg backpack), or carried alone as a clutch, or as a small shoulder bag.
More specifically, the following aspects of the present invention may be implemented as an organizing purse: an outer shell structured to define an interior space; an organizing insert detachably mounted to the outer shell at least substantially within the interior space, the organizing insert comprising: an insert front panel made of pliable material; an insert back panel made of pliable material; at least one insert intermediate panel made of pliable material, with the insert front panel, the insert back panel and the at least one insert intermediate panel being structured and located to define at least two organizing compartments; a first multi-card pocket assembly made of pliable material, with the first multi-card pocket assembly comprising a plurality of pockets shaped and sized to secure credit-card-sized objects; a second multi-card pocket assembly made of pliable material, with the first multi-card pocket assembly comprising a plurality of pockets shaped and sized to secure credit-card-sized objects, with the second multi-card pocket assembly being pivotable between a first position adjacent to the first multi-card pocket assembly and a second position spaced away from first multi-card pocket assembly; and a window panel with a window defined therein, with the window panel being connected to the outer shell at a location so that the window is aligned with and thereby exposes at least one of the first multi-card pocket assembly and the second multi-card pocket assembly. Another aspect of the present invention may be implemented as purse comprising: an outer shell made of pliable material, with the outer shell defining an interior space; at least one inner shell made of pliable material and located to define a main compartment within the interior space and to define a main compartment opening on the outer shell; and at least one elongated-object-holder shell made of pliable material and located to define an elongated-object-holder compartment shaped to hold elongated objects within the interior space and to define an elongated-object-holder opening on the outer shell.
Another aspect of the present invention may be implemented as a purse comprising: an outer shell made of pliable material, the outer shell defining an interior space; a generally planar rigid panel located within the interior space, with the rigid panel having an aperture defined therein; and at least one pocket made of pliable material, with the at least one pocket defining a pocket opening, and with the pocket being located so that the pocket opening is aligned with the aperture.
Another aspect of the present invention may be implemented as a combination of bags and an organizer insert comprising: an organizer insert; a first bag adapted to accommodate the organizer insert; and a second bag adapted to accommodate the organizer insert, with the first bag having a different size and shape than the second bag.
However, the claims alonexe2x80x94not the preceding summaryxe2x80x94define the invention.


The wavefront aberration measuring method includes measuring an intensity distribution of a measuring light transmitted through or reflected by an object to be measured, by using a light-receiving sensor, calculating a first differential wavefront which is a differential wavefront of the measuring light on the light-receiving sensor, and calculating a second differential wavefront by performing a correction process on the first differential wavefront depending on an incident angle of the measuring light to the light-receiving sensor. The method further includes calculating a wavefront aberration of the object by using the second differential wavefront.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a measuring technique to measure a wavefront aberration of an object to be measured, such as an optical element.
Description of the Related Art
As methods of measuring a wavefront of light transmitted through or reflected by an optical element as an object to be measured (hereinafter simply referred to as "an object"), measuring methods using a Talbot interferometer and a Shack-Hartmann sensor are conventionally known. Calculating a difference between a measurement result obtained by one of these measuring methods and a design value of aberration of the optical element enables measuring a wavefront aberration corresponding to the aberration of the optical element.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2010-151578 discloses a method of measuring aberration of an object from a difference (that is, a wavefront aberration) between a measured value of a wavefront measured by the Talbot interferometer or the Shack-Hartmann sensor and a value of a reference wavefront. Moreover, it discloses a method of calculating the reference wavefront by using an optical path length calculated by using a reference object whose shape and refractive index distribution are known.
However, the reference wavefront calculated by using the optical path length has, if the wavefront does not have a planar shape, a difference from the measured value of the wavefront measured by the Talbot interferometer or the Shack-Hartmann sensor. This difference can be easily explained, if the wavefront is a spherical wavefront, by using numerical expressions. For example, an optical path length Ws shown in FIG. 10 from a point light source to a sensor surface which is a planar surface can be expressed by following expression (1) where L represents a distance from the point light source to the sensor surface and r represents a distance (radius) from a center of the sensor surface:
                    Ws        =                                                                              L                  2                                -                                  r                  2                                                      -            L                    ∼                                                    r                2                                            2                                                                                L                                      -                                          r                4                                            8                                                                                L                  3                                                      +                                          r                6                                            16                                                                                L                  5                                                                                (        1        )
On the other hand, when measurements of a wavefront of light from a same object by using the Talbot interferometer and the Shack-Hartmann sensor are made, stripes or bright points at equal intervals are measured in both the measurements. Since a differential wavefront which is a differential value of this measured wavefront is a tilted wavefront, the measured wavefront Wm is expressed by the following quadratic function of r (expression (2)):
                    Wm        =                              r            2                                2                                                                          L                                              (        2        )
The optical path length Ws expressed by expression (1) and the measured wavefront Wm expressed by expression (2) coincide with each other only when the distance L is infinite, that is, light from the object is collimated light, and on the other hand have a difference from each other when the distance L is not infinite.
Such a difference is difficult to be expressed by numerical expressions when the measured wavefront is an aspheric surface, so that the difference cannot be easily corrected. Therefore, when calculating the reference wavefront by using the light path length, there may be a case where an accurate difference between the measured wavefront and the reference wavefront cannot be obtained, which is a problem that measurement accuracy of the wavefront aberration decreases.

Wavefront aberration measuring method, wavefront aberration measuring apparatus and optical element manufacturing method


The present invention refers to an apparatus for raising the spark energy in capacitive ignition systems comprising at least one charge winding (L1) which via a first rectifier device (D1) charges a charge capacitor (C1) connected to the primary winding of an 5 ignition voltage transformer in order to provide said primary winding with energy for generation of a spark characterized in that additionally a second rectifier device (D2) and a switching device (Q2) are arranged in such a way that the switching device periodically can short circuit the charge winding and thereby increase the charge of the charge capacitor at low engine speeds.

The method and the apparatus have special application at small, mobile, manually started internal combustion engine powered devices as e.g. accessories of different types as chainsaws, lawnmowers and outboard motors and the like. Especially at low speed, e.g. at start of such accessories, conventional ignition systems have difficulties to deliver sufficient spark energy in order to ensure a quick and reliable start.
The patent document U.S. Pat. No. 6,701,896 shows a method by means of which the burning time for the spark could be prolonged which gives an increase of the energy. But the method only gives small or no additions of energy at low speed.

Method and apparatus for raising the spark energy in capacitive ignition systems


The invention relates to a switching assembly for glass fiber cables of the telecommunication and data technology field, and in particular to a glass fiber cable partitioning and terminal rack. The rack 1 includes a frame 3 supported by the rack 1. The frame 3 includes a jumper field 29 for glass fiber cable cores 8, 9 and at least one magazine 16 or 17 provided with slide-in openings 18 for splice cassettes 19. In similar prior art switching assemblies of this type, there is poor accessibility to the incoming and outgoing glass fiber cable cores 8, 9, thereby a high risk of breakage occurs during assembly, in particular when splicing. For avoiding these disadvantages, the invention provides that the frame 3 is supported at the rack 1 pivotally about a vertical axis 26, and that at the frame 3, a jumper field 29 with a patch field 6, 7 for the incoming and outgoing glass fiber cable cores 8,9 is accessible from the front 4 and from the back 5 of the frame 3. At least one magazine 16, 17 is provided, and the splice cassette slide-in openings 18 extend substantially parallel to the back 5 of the frame 3 and substantially vertically to the vertical axis 26 thereof on the opposed side of the frame 3.

Similar switching assemblies of the aforementioned species allow the separation, for measurement purposes, of a plug connection between incoming and outgoing glass fiber cable cores. These incoming and outgoing glass fiber cable cores have to be easily accessible and have to be cross-connectable, i.e. connected in any desired manner. The switching assemblies serve, in particular, for the local fiber-glass network (overlay network) of the respective telephone companies.
A similar switching assembly of the aforementioned species is known in the art from "telcom report", vol. 10, March 1987, pages 27 to 32. Such a switching assembly is a glass fiber cable terminal rack has 60 plug connections provided in a central patch field. The glass fiber cable plug connectors are pre-assembled, in the factory, as so-called pigtails (plug connector with glass fiber cable core), which have to welded at the installation site to the glass fiber cable cores. For this purpose, in the lower section of the terminal rack, a magazine provided with slide-in openings for splice cassette is disposed. The magazine is adapted to be flapped out from the frame supported at the rack in a direction towards front, so to remove the splice cassettes. Further, as a switching assembly, a glass fiber cable partitioning rack is known in the art, which comprises three opposed splice fields, i.e. magazines provided with slide-in openings for splice cassettes. In the upper magazine of which are the cores of the interoffice cables, in the central magazine of which are the cores of the internal cables of the exchange office and in the lower magazine of which the cores of the subscribers' cables are supported.
The connections between the various glass fiber cable cores are established by switching wires. In both embodiments, 10 splice cassettes of each splice field are combined to a magazine which is located on a flap-out arm, from which the magazine can be taken out and wired at the work table.
The switching assemblies for glass fiber cables of the telecommunication and data technology described above have the disadvantage that there is relatively poor accessibility to the incoming and outgoing glass fiber cable cores, the risk of breakage, in particular when splicing, being high.

Switching assembly for glass fiber cables of the telecommunication and data technology


A voltage supply circuit for providing an internal supply voltage in an integrated circuit is provided. The voltage supply circuit comprises a supply source for setting the internal supply voltage on a supply voltage line and a control circuit which is connected to the supply source for switching on and off the supply source. The control circuit can itself be switched off and regularly switched on again, wherein the control circuit includes a control unit in order to switch the supply source on and off in such a way that the internal supply voltage on the supply voltage line differs essentially by no more than a limit value as a result of capacitive charge storage.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a voltage supply circuit for provision of an internal supply voltage in an integrated circuit. The invention also relates to an integrated dynamic random access memory (DRAM) circuit having a voltage supply circuit. In addition, the invention relates to a method for controlling a supply source, in particular for an integrated circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Internal supply sources which apply defined supply potentials to internal supply lines are provided for operation of integrated circuits, in particular semiconductor memory modules. The supply sources are normally operated actively both during normal operation and when the integrated circuit is in a standby mode, in order to make it possible to provide the supply currents which are required in the respective operating mode to the internal supply lines.
Particularly for mobile applications, it is desirable to reduce the current drawn by an integrated circuit, in particular the current drawn in the standby mode. This is generally achieved by a reduction of leakage currents and by improved circuit design.
The supply current during the standby mode depends on a large number of factors, which make it difficult to determine the magnitude of the supply current in advance. By way of example, the supply currents in the standby mode for an integrated DRAM memory circuit are governed by the refreshing of the contents of the memory cells, the leakage currents and the analog components which are activated in the standby mode.
Supply sources for generating an internal supply voltage, in particular for the standby mode of integrated circuits, are thus designed such that they can supply the necessary supply current in any operating mode. The efficiency of such supply sources is accordingly governed by the maximum supply current which they can provide on the internal supply line and the overall current draw which the supply source has for this purpose. A voltage supply circuit which is designed to provide a supply current for normal operation generally has poorer efficiency when providing a smaller standby current since a constant operating current, which is essentially independent of the supply current, is required for operation of the supply source when there is no load current on the internal supply line. Such a voltage supply circuit is thus generally overdesigned in the standby mode. As a result, the current draw of the integrated circuit in the standby mode is greater than it need be for optimum matching of the supply source to the current that is required in the standby mode.

Voltage supply circuit, in particular for a DRAM memory circuit, as well as a method for controlling a supply source


A conferencing system may include a data input port and an ingest system to receive signals through the data input port from a separate conference data source. The ingest system may include a notification subsystem to: identify an error state with respect to the signals received through the data input port; and output a human interface device (HID) notification to a conferencing application, wherein the HID notification includes the identified error state.

Conferencing systems, such as videoconferencing systems, facilitate sharing of data across multiple platforms and potentially multiple locations. In some conferencing systems, those sharing data are within a single conference room. In other conferencing systems, those sharing data are located at multiple different locations, where such data is shared across a network.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements. The figures are not necessarily to scale, and the size of some parts may be exaggerated to more clearly illustrate the example shown. Moreover, the drawings provide examples and/or implementations consistent with the description; however, the description is not limited to the examples and/or implementations provided in the drawings.

Conferencing with error state HID notification

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A spindle motor includes a base portion, a stationary portion, and a circuit substrate disposed in the base portion. The base portion includes a flat plate portion positioned below the rotary portion and a through-hole extending from an upper surface to a lower surface of the flat plate portion. The flat plate portion includes a first surface positioned between the upper surface and the lower surface of the flat plate portion and disposed within the through-hole. The circuit substrate includes a land portion to which a lead wire extending from a plurality of coils is electrically connected. The land portion is disposed on the first surface. The lead wire is connected to the land portion by solder within the through-hole.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a spindle motor, a disk drive apparatus including the spindle motor, and an electronic device including the spindle motor.
2. Description of the Related Art
A spindle motor for rotating a disk or an impeller is mounted to a hard disk apparatus, an optical disk apparatus, or a fan. The spindle motor includes a stationary portion fixed to a housing of an apparatus and a rotary portion which rotates while supporting a disk or an impeller. The spindle motor generates a torque about a center axis using a magnetic flux generated between the stationary portion and the rotary portion, thereby rotating the rotary portion with respect to the stationary portion.
A conventional spindle motor is disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-210787 (JP 2005-210787A). The spindle motor of JP 2005-210787A includes a rotating body to which a driving magnet is fixed, a stator disposed in an opposing relationship with the rotating body and provided with coils, a base to which the stator is fixed, an insulation sheet provided in at least a portion between the stator and the base, and a wiring substrate provided in the base at the outside of the motor. Mutually communicating holes are provided in the base, the insulation sheet, and the wiring substrate. End portions of lead wires of the plurality of coils are drawn out to the outside of the motor through the holes.
In this spindle motor, the end portions of the lead wires of the plurality of coils are connected to the wiring substrate by solder at the outside of the motor. As shown in FIG. 5 of JP 2005-210787A, it is necessary to reduce the thickness of the portion of the base where solder is disposed. Particularly, in recent years, a spindle motor is becoming smaller in thickness. Along with the reduction in the thickness of the spindle motor, there is a need to sufficiently secure the rigidity of the base. In order to increase the rigidity of the base, it is desirable to increase the thickness of the base. However, lead wires which constitute the plurality of coils need to be connected to a circuit substrate through the use of solder. In the related art, solder is disposed on a lower surface or an upper surface of a base. In order to limit the height of the solder to fall within the height of the motor, it is required to reduce the thickness of the base. If the thickness of the base is reduced in order to limit the height of the solder to fall within the height of the motor, there is a possibility that the rigidity of the base is impaired. Thus, a demand has existed for the arrangement of solder which secures the desired thickness of the base.

Spindle motor, disk drive apparatus, and electronic device


A container filling apparatus includes a fill nozzle for directing a liquid product into a container and an adaptor including a nozzle interface to engage the fill nozzle for a cleaning operation. An expandable member is configured to expand into a gap between the adaptor and the fill nozzle to form a seal between the nozzle interface and the fill nozzle.

Filling machines for use in filling a container with a liquid food product are often provided with a cleaning system for use in cleaning fill nozzles of the machine. Clean-in-place (CIP) devices have been proposed for use in periodically cleaning components, such as the fill nozzles, which contact the food product. Such CIP devices typically pump a cleaning solution through the fill nozzles to dislodge remaining food product and then a sanitizing solution is also pumped through the fill nozzles to limit microorganism growth and avoid product contamination. Use of CIP devices can reduce disassembly and cleaning of the machine components by hand through facilitating cleaning of the components on the machine.
Often times, cleaning solution is recycled through the machine during a cleaning operation. Fluid recovery manifolds have been developed for this purpose. The fluid recovery manifold can be positioned at the discharge outlets of the fill nozzles to capture the cleaning solution sent therethough and to direct the cleaning solution back toward a CIP pump which forces the cleaning solution again through the machine until the cleaning operation is complete. Since the fill nozzles are normally positioned at a container fill path for filling containers, the recovery manifold may be moveable into and out of position with respect to the fill nozzles.

Container filling apparatus including cleaning system


A pharmaceutical composition comprising a capped oligonucleotide capable of binding to a PB2 protein of an influenza virus RNA polymerase, and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or dilute, said capped oligonucleotide having a structure of the formula (I):

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pharmaceutical composition for treating or preventing influenza, and a novel capped oligonucleotide.
2. Description of the Related Art
Influenza is extremely prevalent, repeatedly on a worldwide scale. Most people are infected by airborne germs. The influenza virus is highly infectious, and therefore, when a new subtype of the virus is generated, the prevailing scale thereof is enlarged beyond comparison with the infection of those suffering from the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).
The influenza virus belongs to orthomyxoviridae, and has a minus strand, i.e. a single strand RNA virus. The gene of the influenza virus is composed of eight segments. Among proteins encoded by the eight segmentation genes are hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA), which are two spikes on a surface of a virus particle and project from an envelope. There is also a segmentation gene encoding M2, one of the membrane proteins. On the surface of the virus particle exist two glycoproteins in the form of spikes embedded in a lipid bilayer (envelope) stemming from a host. Furthermore, there is another membrane protein, M1. The segmentation gene encoding M2 is also contained in the virus gene, A ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex is located at the center of the virus, and composed of the gene RNA, three RNA polymerase subunits (PB1, PB2, and PA), and a nucleoprotein (NP). The segments encoding the proteins, PB1, PB2, PA, and NP, are also contained in the virus gene. A non-structural protein is synthesized from the 8th segmentation gene.
The influenza viruses are classified into three types, A, B, and C, on the basis of the differences in serotypes of the nucleoprotein (NP) and the membrane protein M2. The above three proteins PB1, PB2, and PA in the influenza virus are subunits which constitute an RNA polymerase. Amino acid sequences of the RNA polymerase are conserved in the influenza A, B, C or a mutant thereof. The RNA polymerase catalyzes a synthesizing reaction of RNA, an addition reaction of poly A, a restriction reaction of a cap, or the like. In particular, PB1 participates in the synthesizing reaction of RNA, and PB2 recognizes an mRNA cap structure of a host cell, and cleaves mRNA. PA has a role in transcription and elongation reactions. NP is a polynucleotide-binding protein non-specific to a base sequence. An RNA in an NP-RNA complex forms a double strand or a helix, and is important for a transcriptional reaction of a virus. Further, PB2, PB1, PA, NP, and NS are synthesized in an initial stage of the infection, respectively.
Of the influenza viruses, the influenza A virus undergoes a substantial change in antigenecity, and prevails above all others. In view of an acute infectivity thereof, the influenza A virus is most malignant. As an antiviral agent for the influenza A virus, amantadine or rimantadine are known, but these cannot cope with mutants and have strong side effects. Thus, a medicament exhibiting a satisfactorily antiviral activity has not been developed. Further, a treatment with an inactivated vaccine has been attempted, but there is a difference between the inactivated vaccine and an antibody generated by a natural infection, and thus there are fewer people to whom the vaccine is administered. Further, the vaccine does not have a sufficient effect in a sustainability of producing antibodies, and thus cannot completely prevent the spread of infection. The effect of the inactivated vaccine can not be sustained for a long period, and thus the development of an attenuated vaccine is still desired. Therefore, there exists no vaccine that can be put to practical use. A difficult problem is the substantial changes in viral antigenecity, and this is one of causes of the delay in the development of the vaccine.
Recently, the development of a gene-analyzing technique has made it possible to easily determine a mutant gene sequence. As an antiviral agent for the influenza viruses encountering considerable mutations, it would be suitable to use a method wherein a gene is a target, e.g., an antisense oligonucleotide method, such as an antisense DNA method.
In the antisense oligonucleotide method, an oligonucleotide having a base sequence complementary to that of a target gene is used to inhibit a transcription, splicing, or translation of the target gene, at an mRNA level. This technique can specifically prevent the expression of viral proteins, in a mechanism different from a medicament [S. T. Crooke, Therapeutic Applications of Oligonucleotides, Springer-Verlag, (1995)].
However, it would be difficult to completely prevent the expression of the viral proteins by the antisense oligonucleotide method, because a main target in the antisense oligonucleotide method is a viral mRNA, which is an intermediate product. More particularly, a synthesizing rate of the viral proteins from the viral mRNAs is very rapid in a cell infected with an influenza virus, and thus a part of the viral proteins may be produced before the antisense nucleotide functions to the targent mRNA. This would lead to an investigation of the potentiality of an antiviral agent utilizing a decoy RNA against a final product, i.e., a viral protein, such as a viral RNA polymerase, which plays an important role in the proliferation of viruses.
For example, the PB2 protein, one of the influenza virus RNA polymerases, utilizes a part of the 5xe2x80x2 end of a host cell mRNA, when an mRNA is transcribed from an influenza viral RNA (vRNA) in an initial stage of the infection with the influenza virus. More particularly, the PB2 protein recognizes and binds to an oligoribonucleotide moiety of a first 10 to 13 base sequence containing a cap structure located at the 5xe2x80x2 end of the mRNA of the infected host cell. Thereafter, the rest of the mRNA is cleaved out, and a complementary chain is elongated after the bound first 5xe2x80x2 terminal oligoribonucleotide moiety, using the vRNA having genentic information of the influenza virus as a template, to generate an mRNA having the genentic information of the influenza virus.
The present inventors conducted in vivo experiments using similar oligoribonucleotides (synthesized mRNAs), and surprisingly, found that oligoribonucleotides (synthesized mRNAs) having 10 to 12 bases (nucleotides) effectively inhibit the RNA elongation reaction. The present inventors also found that the in vitro results obtained by D. Y. Thomas, et al cannot be applied to an in vivo experiment. Further, the present inventors found that oligoribonucleotides having 8 to 9 bases effectively inhibit the RNA elongation reaction in vivo.
The present invention is based on the above findings.
Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide a method or a pharmaceutical composition for treating or preventing an influenza virus.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel oligoribonucleotides.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a pharmaceutical composition comprising a capped oligonucleotide capable of binding to a PB2 protein of an influenza virus RNA polymerase, and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or dilute, the capped oligonucleotide having a structure of the formula (I):
m7GpppXpYxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(I)
wherein ppp is a triphosphate bridge, p is a monophosphate bridge, m7G is 7-methylguanosine group binding at the 5xe2x80x2 end thereof to the ppp, X is 2xe2x80x2-O-methyl guanosine group or guanosine group, the 2xe2x80x2-O-methyl guanosine group or guanosine group binds at the 5xe2x80x2 end thereof to the ppp, and at the 3xe2x80x2 end thereof to the p, and Y is an oligoribonucleotide moiety binding at the 5xe2x80x2 end thereof to the p, and having 5 to 11 bases.
In accordance with the present invention, there is also provided a method for treating or preventing influenza, comprising administering to a subject in need thereof a capped oligonucleotide of the formula (I) in an amount effective in treating or preventing influenza.
Further, the present invention relates to a capped oligonucleotide of the formula (I) wherein Y is an oligoribonucleotide moiety consisting of the base sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4 or SEQ ID NO: 5.
Still further, the present invention relates to a pharmaceutical composition comprising the capped oligonucleotide of the formula (I) wherein Y is an oligoribonucleotide moiety consisting of the base sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4 or SEQ ID NO: 5, and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or dilute.
Still further, the present invention relates to a method for treating or preventing influenza, comprising administering to a subject in need thereof the capped oligonucleotide of the formula (I) wherein Y is an oligoribonucleotide moiety consisting of the base sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4 or SEQ ID NO: 5 in an amount effective in treating or preventing influenza.

Pharmaceutical composition for treating or preventing influenza, and novel capped oligonucleotide

Abstract: wherein ppp is a triphosphate bridge, p is a monophosphate bridge, m7G is 7-methylguanosine group binding at 5xe2x80x2 end thereof to said ppp, X is a 2xe2x80x2-O-methyl guanosine group or guanosine group, said 2xe2x80x2-O-methyl guanosine group or guanosine group binds at a 5xe2x80x2 end thereof to said ppp, and at a 3xe2x80x2 end thereof to said p, and Y is an oligoribonucleotide moiety binding at 5xe2x80x2 end thereof to said p, and having 5 to 11 bases is disclosed. The pharmaceutical composition can inhibit a protein expression of an influenza virus.


A method for producing resin beads providing various types of products, such as cosmetics, imparted with superior tactile impression, spreadability on skin, transparency, and product stability is provided. The resin beads containing a cellulose derivative as a main component can replace resin particles composed of a synthetic material derived from petroleum. The production method includes: preparing a suspension containing oil droplets containing the cellulose derivative and an organic solvent by mixing an oil phase containing the cellulose derivative and an organic solvent dissolving the cellulose derivative and having a water-solubility of 0.1 to 50.0 g, with an aqueous phase containing a dispersion stabilizer; and contracting the oil droplets by adding water to the suspension, satisfying expression (A) below as defined in the specification, until a content of the organic solvent in the suspension becomes equal to or less than the water-solubility of the organic solvent: (W/S)/T≤1.00 . . . (A).

In the past, resin beads have been used in various fields, such as a matting agent, a slipping agent, and an antiblocking agent, from the properties derived from the spherical shape. Further, various resin powders (resin particles), such as resin beads, have been used in order to improve the properties, such as spreadability, of cosmetics for makeup. However, materials for forming resin beads to be blended in cosmetics have been changing from synthetic materials derived from petroleum to natural materials due to the problems and the like, such as marine pollution caused by microplastics, in recent years.
For example, powdery cellulose useful as a scrubbing agent has been proposed as spherical resin particles composed of a natural material (Patent Literature 1). Further, cellulose derivative fine particles (Patent Literature 2) which are used for a diagnostic drug and a spherical cellulose powder (Patent Literature 3) which is used for cosmetics have been proposed. Furthermore, porous cellulose particles and the like which are used as a filler for chromatography have been proposed (Patent Literatures 4 and 5).

Method for manufacturing resin beads, resin beads, and product employing resin beads

Dainichiseika Color & Chemicals Mfg. Co., Ltd.


Embodiments of apparatus and methods for detecting gestures are described. In embodiments, an apparatus may include a transmitter-receiver electrode arrangement to generate an electric field projecting beyond a side of a computing device, so that changes to the electric field caused by user gestures on or near the outer surface of the side may be sensed. The transmitter-receiver electrode arrangement may include at least a transmitter and a receiver that are different, but complementary in geometry and disposition, disposed relative to an inner surface of the side of the computing device. Moreover, a capacitive sensor may be disposed in the computing device to output electrical signals indicative of changes to the electric field sensed. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.

The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art or suggestions of the prior art, by inclusion in this section.
Many mobile devices may be equipped with mechanical switches or buttons on the sides, sometimes along the metal band, to provide various control functions, such as power on/off, volume up/down, etc. Similarly, many modern mobile devices may be equipped with touch sensing technologies (e.g., virtual buttons of home, back, menu, etc.) in the front to provide various control functions. Capacitive sensing is a touch sensing technology based on capacitive coupling that may use human body capacitance as input.
Many mobile devices may use a metal band at the outside edges as a design feature to improve the durability and aesthetical value of the products. In many occasions, the metal band may be made as part of the wireless antenna system to improve wireless reception of the mobile device. However, existing touch sensor designs cannot be used for replacing mechanical switches on the sides of mobile devices, for example, due to the interference from the conductive metal band.

Detecting gestures on the side of a computing device


The tracking of ad selections (such as ad clicks for example), and/or rich levels of ad performance may be facilitated by encoding one or more ad properties in a click URL of the ad. An intermediate URL server may be used to decode such ad properties when the ad is selected. Ad properties may include a rendering attribute of the ad; a geolocation to which the ad was served; information pertaining to advertiser charges, etc.

§1.1 Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns advertising. In particular, the present invention concerns tracking ad selection and ad performance.
§1.2 Background Information
Advertising using traditional media, such as television, radio, newspapers and magazines, is well known. Unfortunately, even when armed with demographic studies and entirely reasonable assumptions about the typical audience of various media outlets, advertisers recognize that much of their ad budget is simply wasted. Moreover, it may be very difficult to identify and eliminate such waste.
Recently, advertising over more interactive media has become popular. For example, as the number of people using the Internet has exploded, advertisers have come to appreciate media and services offered over the Internet as a potentially powerful way to advertise.
Advertisers have developed several strategies in an attempt to maximize the value of such advertising. In one strategy, advertisers use popular presences or means for providing interactive media or services (referred to as "Websites" in the specification without loss of generality) as conduits to reach a large audience. Using this first approach, an advertiser may place ads on the home page of the New York Times Website, or the USA Today Website, for example. In another strategy, an advertiser may attempt to target its ads to narrower niche audiences, thereby increasing the likelihood of a positive response by the audience. For example, an agency promoting tourism in the Costa Rican rainforest might place ads on the ecotourism-travel subdirectory of the Yahoo Website. An advertiser will normally determine such targeting manually.
Regardless of the strategy, Website-based ads (also referred to as "Web ads") are often presented to their advertising audience in the form of "banner ads"—i.e., a rectangular box that includes graphic components. When a member of the advertising audience (referred to as a "viewer" or "user" in the specification without loss of generality) selects one of these banner ads by clicking on it, embedded hypertext links typically direct the viewer to a page on the advertiser's Website (referred to as an "ad landing page" or simply a "landing page"). This process, wherein the viewer selects an ad, is commonly referred to as a "click-through" ("Click-through" is intended to cover any user selection.). The ratio of the number of click-throughs to the number of impressions of the ad (i.e., the number of times an ad is rendered) is commonly referred to as the "click-through rate" of the ad.
A "conversion" is said to occur when a user consummates a transaction related to a previously served ad. What constitutes a conversion may vary from case to case and can be determined in a variety of ways. For example, it may be the case that a conversion occurs when a user clicks on an ad, is referred to the advertiser's web page, and consummates a purchase there before leaving that Web page. Alternatively, a conversion may be defined as a user being shown an ad, and making a purchase on the advertiser's Web page within a predetermined time (e.g., seven days). In yet another alternative, a conversion may be defined by an advertiser to be any measurable/observable user action such as, for example, downloading a white paper, navigating to at least a given depth of a Website, viewing at least a certain number of Web pages, spending at least a predetermined amount of time on a Website or Web page, registering with a Website, etc. Often, if user actions don't indicate a consummated purchase, they may indicate a sales lead, although user actions constituting a conversion are not limited to this. Indeed, many other definitions of what constitutes a conversion are possible. The ratio of the number of conversions to the number of impressions of the ad (i.e., the number of times an ad is displayed) is commonly referred to as the conversion rate. If a conversion is defined to be able to occur within a predetermined time since the serving of an ad, one possible definition of the conversion rate might only consider ads that have been served more than the predetermined time in the past.
The serving of ads can be priced in various ways. Common examples include cost per impression (CPI) and cost per action (CPA), where "action" refers to some desired activity of the user such as selecting (or clicking) the ad, purchasing a product, signing up for a service, or some other "conversion." Initially, online advertising was generally priced per impression (e.g., per thousand impressions). However, pricing schemes which more closely align online advertising costs with the desired results of the advertiser (e.g., having a user visit the advertiser's Website, having a user consummate a commercial transaction on the advertiser's Website, etc.) have become more popular. To track user selections (clicks), the links in some ads may include links that first direct the user's content rendering application (e.g., a browser) to one or more intermediate resources or servers (e.g., using one or more URLs). These servers associated with intermediate URLs (simply referred to as "intermediate URL servers" without loss of generality) can direct the user's content rendering application (e.g., a browser) to a server that can record the selection (click event) before forwarding the user's content rendering application to a subsequent server (which may be the server storing the ad landing page). Note that in addition to tracking selections for billing purposes, selections can be used to derive ad performance metrics. Such metrics may be used for various purposes such as positioning ads or applying relative rendering attributes, ad campaign assistance, governing the serving of ads, etc.
As can be appreciated from the foregoing, there is a need for methods and apparatus that allow clicks to be tracked. Moreover, such tracking should support performance monitoring, perhaps supporting rich levels of performance monitoring.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Encoding AD and/or AD serving information in a click URL


An improved device for cleaning probe pins of a probe head assembly is presented. The device includes a first holding plate, a second holding plate and a cleaning cartridge. The first holding plate secures the probe head assembly. The second holding plate secures the cleaning cartridge in proximity to the first holding plate. The cleaning cartridge has a chamber. The chamber includes a cleaning solution and an absorbent pad located therein. The absorbent pad is saturated with the cleaning solution and prevents leakage of the cleaning solution out of the chamber. During cleaning operations, the first holding plate is positioned about the second holding plate such that the probe pins of a probe head extend into and contact the absorbent pad in the chamber. Once contact is established, the cleaning solution acts upon the probe pin tips to remove unwanted debris. A depth of penetration of the pins into the pad is controlled by a surface of the cartridge.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to probe assemblies for testing integrated circuit (IC) devices and, more particularly, to a system for cleaning tips of probe pins.
2. Description of Prior Art
During fabrication of IC devices from silicon wafers, a probe device is used to interface the IC devices to a tester. A typical probe device includes a probe card assembly having an array of probe pins that contact bond pads on the IC device during testing. The bond pads on the IC device are made from metallic materials such as tin-lead that can oxidize when exposed to air. Also, organic materials left over from certain fabrication processes can exist on the bond pads. When probe pin tips repeatedly contact bond pads, metal oxides of tin-lead and other bond pad materials can build-up on the probe pin tips. Such build-up interferes with the function of the probe pins during testing operations. Therefore, it is necessary to periodically clean probe pins on a probe card.
Conventional cleaning operations include wiping or spraying probe pins with a chemical solution. Effective chemical solutions often employ ingredients that may be hazardous to human operators and to certain components of the probe device.
Accordingly, there is a need for improving probe pin cleaning systems and methods that are effective and easy to use while being safe to both human operators and components of devices being cleaned.


The present invention provides an optical waveguide device for optical wiring, and a manufacturing method therefor, which provides the advantages that simple and highly accurate connection is possible, the device is low in cost, and it is easily manipulated.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an optical waveguide device for optical wiring, and to a manufacturing method therefor, which is capable of simplifying the connection of various optical integrated circuits and optical devices and the like, which are employed in the fields of general optics and microoptics and in the fields of optical communications and optical data processing, and the connection of optical devices between boards when those devices are mounted on boards for use in wiring in the field of optical interconnection.
2. Related Art
In recent years, a great deal of research has been conducted into optical waveguides, which are employed in the fields of optical data processing and optical communications technologies, with the object of the integration, miniaturization, improvement in function, and reduction in cost of such optical waveguides. In one area of the optical communications field, in fact, silica system optical waveguide elements for use in optical wiring have reached the stage of practical application (reference document: Kawauchi Masao, NTT RandD, volume 43, number 11, page 101 (1994)).
Furthermore, research into polymeric waveguides, which employ inexpensive materials and allow for simplified production methods, have also been widely conducted. However, these optical waveguides have all been investigated with respect to the advantages of optical waveguide elements as optical parts, and there is almost no perception of such elements as optical wiring parts, and almost no research has been conducted in this area. For this reason, in optical wiring technologies for establishing connections between devices and between boards (optical interconnection), there have been almost no examples of the use of optical waveguides as optical parts for connecting optical device arrays such as various laser diodes (LD) or photodiodes (PD) or the like, or parallel planar optical waveguides, which have the function of conducting the branching and merging of waves. Optical fibers or optical fiber tapes are employed in this type of optical wiring. Examples of such optical fiber tape include, for example, optical fiber tapes provided at both ends with multiconductor optical connector plugs, and the like.
When the conventional optical fibers described above are employed, most such fibers are comprised of silica system glass, so that as a result of the properties of the material, cracking resulting from sudden bending, twisting, compression, torsion, or the like must be taken into account, and sufficient excess lengthmust be provided when the fibers are manufactured, and special methods are required for dealing with this excess length, so that the devices become larger and it becomes difficult to reduce the optical wiring boards and the like within devices to a compact size.
Furthermore, when optical fibers which are provided with multiconductor optical connector plugs at both ends thereof such as those conventional examples described above are employed, it is impossible to produce optical fiber tape which is provided with multiconductor optical connector plugs at both ends thereof in which the optical fiber portion is greatly shortened in order to reduce the length thereof. For this reason, it is necessary to provide a large amount of space on the boards for optical wiring, and this is inconvenient with respect to high density installation.
Furthermore, polymeric waveguides are optical wage guides which do possess flexibility; however, because there is no method for easily conducting optical connection with various devices, it is difficult to take advantage of this characteristic flexibility.
The present invention was created in light of the above circumstances; it has as an object thereof to provide an optical waveguide device for optical wiring, and a manufacturing method therefor, which is capable of easily and highly precisely connecting optical devices, planar optical waveguides, optical fibers, and the like on optical wiring boards, and moreover, is low in cost and is easy to manipulate.
The optical waveguide device for optical wiring of the present invention is provided with connectors which are connected to an optical fiber in an unaligned manner via guide pins, and a polymeric waveguide, which is a film-shaped optical waveguide; the connectors are joined to either both ends or one end of the polymeric waveguide, and the connectors comprise two connector parts arranged in facing position, and in the opposing faces of these optical connector parts, a polymeric waveguide loading groove for loading the polymeric waveguide and two guide pin loading grooves for loading the guide pins are formed, and the polymeric waveguide is sandwiched between the two connector parts, and the polymeric waveguide is joined to the two connector parts and this is made into a single unit.
In accordance with the optical waveguide device for optical wiring in the present invention, either both ends or one end of the polymeric waveguide is connected to a connector, so that it is a simple matter to carry out connection to an optical fiber. Accordingly, it is possible to connect optical devices, planar optical waveguides, optical fibers, and the like easily and with high precision. Moreover, the structure is simple, and it is possible to realize a reduction in cost, and the ease of manipulation is also increased.
Furthermore, the connector comprises two connector parts which are disposed in facing position, and a polymeric waveguide loading groove for loading the polymeric waveguide and two guide pin loading grooves for loading the guide pins are formed in the mutually opposing surfaces of the connector parts, and the polymeric waveguide is sandwiched between the two connector parts, so that it is possible to precisely and easily assemble the device by placing the polymeric waveguide in the polymeric waveguide loading groove and connecting the polymeric waveguide with the two connector parts.
The manufacturing method for the optical waveguide device optical wiring of the present invention is a manufacturing method for an optical waveguide device for optical wiring which is provided with connectors which are connected to an optical fiber in an unaligned manner via guide pins, and a polymeric waveguide, which is a film-shaped optical waveguide; the upper cladding or lower cladding of the polymeric waveguide is formed so that the distance from a line connecting the two guide pin loading grooves of the connector to the bottom surface of the polymeric waveguide loading groove is within 5 micrometers of the height to the center of the core of the polymeric waveguide, and the polymeric waveguide is formed so that the positional displacement in the horizontal direction between the center of the polymeric waveguide in the horizontal direction and the center of a line connecting the centers of the two guide pin loading grooves is 5 micrometers or less, and a connector is connected to one or both ends of the polymeric waveguide.
In accordance with the manufacturing method for the optical waveguide device for optical wiring of the present invention, it is possible to precisely control the film thickness of the lower cladding of the polymeric waveguide, and it is possible to precisely manufacture the width of the polymeric waveguide. Accordingly, it is possible to align the center of the core of the optical fiber which is connected with the center of the core of the polymeric waveguide with an accuracy of within 5 micrometers, and moreover, it is possible to produce an optical waveguide device for optical wiring in which the connection loss is limited to 0.2 dB or less.

Optical waveguide device for optical wiring and manufacturing method therefor

Abstract: The present invention is provided with connectors which are connected to optical fibers in a nonalignment via guide pins, and a polymeric waveguide comprising a film-shaped optical waveguide; the connectors are joined to both ends or to one end of the polymeric waveguide, and the connectors are formed by two connector parts which are arranged in facing position, and in the surfaces of the connector parts which are in facing position, a polymeric waveguide loading groove for loading the polymeric waveguide, and two guide pin loading grooves for loading guide pins are formed, and the polymeric waveguide is sandwiched between the two connector parts, and the polymeric waveguide is joined with the two connector parts and made unitary.

Abstract: By means of this, it is possible to easily conduct connection with optical fibers, and optical devices, planar optical waveguides, and optical fibers and the like can be connected easily and with a high degree of accuracy. Moreover, the construction is simple, so that it is possible to realize a reduction in cost, and it is possible to increase the ease of manipulation.

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation


A method and related apparatus for the retrieval of a rotary pump from a wellbore while leaving the pump's drive mechanism within the wellbore, comprises lowering a latch mechanism into a wellbore by a cable or coiled tubing and connecting the latch mechanism to the rotary pump suspended within the wellbore. Holding mechanisms, which removably connect the rotary pump to the pump's drive mechanism, are disengaged by pulling of the cable or coiled tubing, or by the application of hydraulic pressure. The latch mechanism and the pump are then retrieved from the wellbore, while the drive mechanism remains suspended within the wellbore.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and related apparatus for retrieving a pump from a wellbore and, more particularly, to retrieving a pump while leaving the pump's drive mechanism within the wellbore.
2. Description of Related Art
Subterranean fluids, such as oil, gas and water, are often pumped or "lifted" from wellbore by the operation of downhole pumps, such as by electric submergible pumping systems. These pumping systems typically use an elongated electric motor installed within the wellbore to rotate a multistage centrifugal pump. While centrifugal pumps are widely used for the recovery of subterranean fluids, such centrifugal pumps have difficulty in lifting viscous fluids, such as from Southern California, and fluids with relatively high concentrations of sand and other abrasive materials, such as from the tar sands area of Alberta, Canada. Thus, there is a need for a downhole pump that can lift such fluids.
A solution to the problem of recovering viscous fluids and fluids with relatively high concentrations of sand, consists of using a Moineau pump or a progressive cavity pump. Conventional installations of progressive cavity pumps place the drive means at the earth's surface. A rod string which is used as a drive shaft rotates inside the production tubing. In wells that are deviated and/or produce abrasives, the rotating rod string causes production tubing wear. The frequent replacement of production tubing is very expensive and can cause a well to be uneconomic.
A problem encountered with progressive cavity pumps is that the seal formed between the rotor and stator wears away, reducing the pump's efficiency until it eventually stops pumping fluid, thus the pump needs to be retrieved from the wellbore periodically. Since the pump is rigidly connected to the downhole drive mechanism, when the pump is retrieved the entire downhole drive mechanism is also retrieved, which is a time consuming and a relatively expensive operation that requires a workover rig. The downhole drive mechanisms have operational lives many times longer than the progressive cavity pump, so there is a need for a method and apparatus for retrieving the pump alone and while keeping the downhole drive mechanism within the wellbore. With such a method the size of the pulling unit can be reduced, and thereby save time and money.

Method and related apparatus for retrieving a rotary pump from a wellbore


The present invention relates to a method of producing bis(4-alkylthiophenyl) disulfides characterized by (a) reducing directly a 4-alkylthiobenzenesulfonyl chloride, or (b) oxidizing a 4-alkylthiobenzenethiol obtained by reducing a 4-alkylthiobenzenesulfonyl chloride. The present invention is capable of producing the compound below useful as an intermediate of pharmaceuticals. ##STR1##

The inventors have already disclosed in Publication No. WO93/05052 that a series of compounds having alkylthiophenyl groups have various useful pharmacological functions as pharmaceuticals. Alkylthiophenyl groups are generally introduced into those compounds by reacting bis(alkylthiophenyl) sulfides with various nucleophilic reagents. ##STR2##
The above publication discloses a method according to the above formulae for synthesizing bis(4-alkylthiophenyl) disulfides among disulfides which are used for the above-described purposes. However, such a method of synthesizing disulfides through a Grignard reaction has the drawback that it is difficult to carry out the method on an industrial scale.
Another method of synthesizing bis(4-alkylthiophenyl) disulfides is disclosed in Synth. Commun., 5(3), 173(1975) in which thioanisole is reacted with disulfur dichloride in the presence of silica gel to obtain bis(4-methylthiophenyl) disulfide. However, this method produces a large amount of bis(4-methylthiophenyl) sulfide as a by-product which cannot be easily removed from the disulfide, and it is difficult to obtain high-purity disulfides. Therefore, this method cannot be used for synthesizing disulfides which are raw materials for the above pharmaceutical products.
A method which is capable of producing high-purity bis(4-alkylthiophenyl) disulfides useful as intermediates in synthesis of pharmaceutical products and organic industrial products on an industrial scale has not been known yet. There is thus strong demand for a novel useful production method.
A method of obtaining 4-alkylthiobenzenethiols from alkyl phenyl sulfides through 4-alkylthiobenzenesulfonyl chlorides is also disclosed in Coltect. Czech. Chem. Commun., 29, 2161(1964)., 39, 3338(974)., 47, 1382(1982). However, this method employs reaction using 5 equivalents of chlorosulfuric acid. In the reaction, therefore, excess chlorosulfuric acid must be decomposed by water after completion of reaction. However, this treatment has the drawback that irritant gases and heat are evolved, and a large amount of waste liquid containing acids is produced.
An object of the present invention is to provide an industrial method of producing bis(4-alkylthiophenyl) disulfides useful as intermediates in synthesis of pharmaceutical products and organic industrial products.

Method of producing bis(4-alkylthiophenyl) disulfides


A web application is described that is capable of assuming a plurality of states and being arranged to process a received event from among a predeterminable set of events to change from one state to another. A permission record defines a set of permitted or forbidden events and the web application comprises an event filter arranged to consult the permission record on receipt of an event in order to determine whether to permit or not permit the event to be processed. Related methods of access control and computer program products are also described.

The present invention relates to web applications.
The Internet has now become the primary global digital information distribution service. The World Wide Web (Web) allows users to navigate Internet resources in an exploratory way, without using internet protocol (IP) addresses or other special technical knowledge. The Web is made up of interconnected web pages, or web documents stored on web servers. These pages are accessed with the use of a web browser. Web browsers use URL addresses to access resources on the Internet.
The Web uses a transfer protocol known as Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). HTML and other types of web pages are made up of content text as well as formatting codes that indicate how the page should be displayed. A web browser interprets these codes in order to display the page.
The HTML, or other, code that makes up each web page may be dynamically generated by an event-driven program that is running on the server hardware. This type of program is known as a web application. In the following, the term "web server" will be used to refer to the logical entity that provides a web page in response to an http request and "web application" to the set of components that provide this function using general-purpose computing platforms within general-purpose operating environments such as are provided by the Microsoft Windows, Linux or HP-UX operating systems and their related programming libraries and tools.
Web applications are generally event-driven programs which react to HTTP requests from the client, the http request being directed to a web address (a URL). The web application will generate and return a web page to the browser. The difference between this type of arrangement and a simple "static" site is that each action the user takes can have some semantics associated with it. In other words, the resulting web page can differ according to the user, the current time or other factors prevailing in the system.
Thus, when the web application receives an event, it is arranged to evaluate the received event and decide how to respond to the client. This evaluation process may involve interaction with business logic of some kind. The interaction with the business logic can take place independently of the screen design or user interface and often involves transactions with back-end systems, such as remote databases. In web applications, the server side code that is responsible for the user interface (ie generation of the web pages to be served) is sometimes referred to as the presentation layer. For instance, in order to generate a web page, the presentation layer may need to access business data, such as a list of names and addresses. This can be obtained from the business logic, which can request the list from a database. The retrieved data can then be used by the presentation layer to build an appropriate HTML table for display, or rendering, by the browser.
Thus a web application can naturally be separated into a presentation layer, a business and a data layer. This separation is often referred to in web application server literature as the 3-tier model. Physically, the 3 tiers can be implemented separately and on different servers, a feature that can lead to greater scalability and an ability to process more client requests simultaneously.
One well-established architecture for user interfaces which facilitates event driven systems such as this is known as the Model-View-Controller or MVC architecture. The role of the controller in the MVC architecture is to determine the control flow of the system. It must process an incoming event from the user interface and determine the next state of the user interface. In addition, the controller generally must use the model component to carry out any actions required. This can change the state of the underlying business system. With this approach, the state of the underlying business system and the state of the user interface are two different, though often related, things. Thus, the presentation layer of a typical web application can be seen to comprise the view and controller elements. The model element, on the other hand, is separate from the presentation layer views and controllers. It is there to provide services to the presentation layer including access to persistent storage and thus represents the business logic and data layers.
It is possible to use a state machine for controlling a web application. For instance, a deterministic presentation layer can be achieved by modeling the User Interface using statecharts and then implementing the statechart design as part of a Model-View-Controller (MVC) engine that includes a State machine.
A further example of the use of a state machine for controlling a web application can be found in US2002/0080200 which describes a web application in which a state machine is provided to manage execution and display of a web site. The state machine includes display states and action states. In addition, the Perl module CGI::MxScreen uses a state machine to express its processing logic.
Due to their increasing size and complexity, web applications, and the service packages they are being used to provide, are to an ever-greater extent being developed as general purpose items that are configurable for deployment in a particular application. However, in the business of services offered through the web, all the customers don't necessarily buy the whole set of services that can be offered. Nevertheless, the web application they access may be capable of delivering all of them, and therefore a way is needed to deny access to the features of the application the customer has not purchased.
However, many conventional web applications do not explicitly provide for user authentication or for defining a security policy, including, for instance, which features of the application are accessible by which users. Such access control functions are often added as an after-thought, or implemented redundantly by having the business logic check for the suitable permissions before conducting an operation. US2002/0080200, for instance, proposes to use state transition permissions to determine whether a state transition is allowable on the basis of a user or system from which a request originates.
The present invention is directed to mitigating the above mentioned drawbacks with the prior art.

Access control in a web application using event filtering