A wireless interface for a diagnostic instrument is provided. The diagnostic instrument includes a communications interface having an external data port. A wireless adapter coupled to the external data port communicates diagnostic data with one or more computing devices. In a single user mode, a computing device can control several diagnostic instruments wirelessly. In broadcast mode, a diagnostic instrument can send a data stream wirelessly to many listening computing devices. Further features, such as safety warning messages, are provided.

Conventional computing devices, such as PCs and handheld computers, provide a convenient platform for communicating with diagnostic instrumentation. The computing devices enable a technician to use a diagnostic instrument quickly and easily. For example, in an automotive service facility, a handheld computing device can be easily connected to a vehicle's on-board diagnostic system for testing or problem diagnosis.
Although handheld computing devices offer portability and flexibility, the diagnostic instruments with which they are designed to work typically require serial communication cables or other wireline infrastructure to communicate. Consequently much of a handheld computing device's portability is compromised when it must be coupled to a wireline interface.
In addition, a technician may use several diagnostic instruments when diagnosing a problem or evaluating a vehicle's performance. Typically each of these diagnostic instruments requires various wireline connections to the computing device. Many such connections can become cumbersome for the technician to manage. An improper or incorrect connection may cause the computing device to malfunction or to provide inaccurate information and, therefore, consume diagnostic or repair time needlessly.
Conventional wireline interfaces also complicate the use of diagnostic instruments for technician training or other collaborative work. In particular, traditional diagnostic instruments are designed for one-to-one operation with a single host or computing device. Using a single computing device can make it difficult for a group of users to view the results or to collaborate in the process.
Further, service facilities have invested in many diagnostic instruments that have wireline interfaces. Adding wireless capability to a diagnostic instrument has conventionally involved redesigning the internal circuitry to support the wireless functionality. Thus service facilities may be reluctant to reinvest in the costly replacement or redesign of their diagnostic instruments in order to have wireless capability.
What is needed is a wireless adapter for a diagnostic instrument. What is further needed is a wireless architecture that enables concurrent communication among a number of diagnostic instruments and computing devices.

Wireless communication for diagnostic instrument


The present invention provide a lateral type electron-emitting device in which abnormal discharge near an electron-emitting region is suppressed, electron emission characteristics are stable, and electron emission efficiency is high. A method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device of the invention includes: a first step of preparing an electron-emitting electrode and a control electrode that are arranged on a surface of an insulating substrate; and a second step of covering the surface of the insulating substrate, which is located between the electron-emitting electrode and the control electrode, with a resistive film to connect the electron-emitting electrode and the control electrode. In the method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device, the resistive film is arranged to cover an end of a surface of the electron-emitting electrode opposed to the control electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a field emission electron-emitting device, an electron source and an image display device that use the electron-emitting device, and a method of manufacturing the same. In addition, the invention relates to an information displaying and reproducing apparatus using the image display device.
2. Related Background Art
As an electron-emitting device, there are a field emission (FE) electron-emitting device, a surface conduction electron-emitting device, and the like. The field emission electron-emitting device includes a metal/insulating layer/metal (MIM) electron-emitting device and a Spindt-type electron-emitting device.
An application of the electron-emitting device to an image display device has been examined by arranging plural electron-emitting devices on a substrate (see Japanese Patent No. 3154106, Japanese Patent Application Lai-Open No. H11-317149, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H02-72534).

Electron-emitting device, electron source, image display device and information display and reproduction apparatus using image display device, and method of manufacturing the same


A system for computing a path in an electronic map (or other network) starts a pathfinding exploration in the background while the system is waiting for a request to find a path. The system automatically chooses an origin. The system's memory can be divided such that a portion of memory acts as a cache. The data for the nodes in the electronic map are loaded into the cache when needed. The system terminates the pathfinding process when a predetermined condition occurs; for example, a predetermined percentage of the cache is filled. When the system terminates the pathfinding process, the system can start a new pathfinding process from a new origin. Thus, when a user requests a path to be found, the pathfinding process begins with data already loaded in the cache.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a system for caching data for a pathfinding computation.
2. Description of the Related Art
The computer has revolutionized the idea of a map from an image statically depicting the location of physical features to the electronic map, which consists of geographically referenced electronic data quantifying a physical, social or economic system. The range of information included in electronic maps is unlimited; for example, electronic maps could include distances between elements, driving time, lot numbers, tax information, tourist information, etc. Additionally, storing a map as a file on a computer allows for unlimited software applications to manipulate that data.
One advantage of the electronic map is to store and determine costs associated with various portions of a map. Examples of cost include time, distance, tolls paid, ease of turning, quality of scenery, etc. Thus, a traveler may wish to know how far that traveler can drive without paying more than $10 in tolls, what restaurants are within a 10 minute drive, or what gas stations are within a one mile walk. In each of these situations, the traveler desires to know where they can travel to within a given cost. A more detailed discussion of costs can be found in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/756,263, Using Multiple Levels Of Costs For A Pathfinding Computation, filed Nov. 25, 1996, ETAK7717, U.S. No. Ser. 08/756,263, Richard F. Poppen, incorporated herein by reference.
Electronic maps can also be used for pathfinding, which is a method for computing a route between an origin and a destination. An electronic map that is used for pathfinding must carry information about the connectivity of a road network, that is, information about the ways in which pieces of road do or do not connect to each other, for example, where there are ordinary intersections, where there are overpasses, where turns are restricted, and so on. For an area of any significant extent, this is a very large amount of information. An electronic map can include tens or hundreds of megabytes of data. In order to hold such vast quantities of data economically and allow a user to replace maps with updated copies easily, many current pathfinding apparatus (which includes general purpose computers with pathfinding software, automotive navigation systems or other map application equipment) use CD-ROMs to store the electronic map data.
Although CD-ROMs hold a great deal of data, accessing that data can be relatively slow. For example, a typical CD-ROM drive used for automotive pathfinding may take on the order of 1/3 of a second for each read access. If a pathfinding system had to wait 1/3 of a second every time it needed data, the time needed to compute a path would not be acceptable to a user. A user of a navigational pathfinding system stored in a car typically would demand very fast response times when requesting a path because a user currently driving in the car needs to know which way to turn. For these reasons, it is very important to minimize the number of disk accesses required to compute a path. It is noted that some systems may use peripheral devices other than CD-ROMs, for example, hard disks, floppy disks, solid state memory, etc. These other storage devices suffer similar access time limitations.
One attempt to minimize the number of disk accesses required to compute a path includes grouping map data into clusters, that is, grouping together on a CD-ROM (or other storage device) information about sets of road segments often used in the same path computation. For example, a number of consecutive segments of the same street, road segments that cross each other or road segments that lead to a highway may be stored in a single cluster. Note that these clusters need not be geographically based. Information about roads on two sides of a river in an area that is not close to a bridge would probably not be stored in the same cluster, since the roads would not be used in relation to each other during path calculation even though they may be quite close to each other geographically. Information about highways over a wide area are good candidates to be stored together in one cluster because a path computation typically explores the connections of highways with other highways. There are many ways to cluster data to increase performance. One example of clustering data can be found in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/245,690, Method for Clustering Multi-Dimensional Data, filed May 18, 1994, Poppen et al., now U.S. Pat. No. 5,706,503, incorporated herein by reference. When clustering is used with a suitable cache methodology, the time for pathfinding is saved because information needed by the pathfinding computation is often already in the cache (or main memory) having been read as part of a cluster which includes data already used.
Caching is a well-known process of saving records recently read in order to reduce the number of disk/memory accesses. One of the most well known forms of caching includes using a small memory local to a processor called a cache memory. Certain data recently used is typically stored in the cache memory, with access to the cache memory being quicker than access to main memory. In this example, the cache memory caches data between main memory and a processor.
Another example of caching is to cache data between a storage device and main memory. An alternative to using a cache memory separate from main memory is to use a portion of main memory as the cache memory. When data is read from the storage device it is typically kept in the cache memory portion (hereinafter called "cache") of the main memory for a certain amount of time so that later access to that data will be quicker than accessing the storage device. The portion of the memory allocated as the cache will hold a number of records of data along with an indication of how recently each record has been used. When the program needs to read a given record, the program first looks in the cache for the record. If the record is in the cache, the program uses the information stored in the cache rather than reading the disk file again. If the record is not in the cache, and there is enough unused space in the cache to hold the record, the record is read into the cache and then used by the program. If the record is not in the cache and there is not enough unused space in the cache to hold the record, the least recently used record or records are discarded to provide sufficient room to hold the new record. A record of data could include one or more clusters of data or another suitable arrangement of data. If map data is clustered in such a way that information regarding a given road segment is often used shortly after the use of information regarding another road segment in the same cluster there will be a significant speed improvement in the pathfinding process because the number of accesses to the CD-ROM will be decreased.
The path calculation remains a lengthy process even when using a cache as described above. Every cluster used in the computation still needs to be read at least once. Since the pathfinding computation may need to read a large number of clusters at the beginning of the pathfinding computation, the user of the pathfinding apparatus still spends a significant amount of time waiting for the pathfinding apparatus to read all the data prior to a path being calculated.
Therefore, a system is needed that reduces the amount of time needed to calculate a path from an electronic map.


An integrally-formed capacitive touch panel is disclosed including: a singular lens substrate, a mask layer, and a sensing circuit integrally coupled with said singular lens substrate. Said singular lens substrate, said mask layer, and said sensing circuit are integrally formed.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a touch panel, especially to a capacitive touch panel assembled with a display panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most electronic devices, such as PDA, palm-sized PC and information appliance, have a touch display panels. The touch display panel includes a lens, a display panel and a touch panel arranged between the lens and the display panel. In the prior art, the lens and the touch panel are separately formed on different substrates, which are usually glass substrates. The lens and the touch panel are then laminated to form a touch module. The touch module is further stacked up with and attached to the display panel to form the touch display panel. A user can touch objects displayed on the touch display panel with his or her finger or a touch pen to input information or perform an operation.
Please refer to FIG. 6. FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a conventional touch display panel. As illustrated in FIG. 6, in the prior art, a touch panel 6 is disposed between a display panel 2b and a lens 5. A black layer 51 is provided on the periphery of a lower surface of the lens 5. The black layer 51 is stuck to the periphery of the upper surface of the touch panel 6. There is a stick layer 4c disposed between the black layer 51 and the touch panel 6, as shown in FIG. 6. For the conventional touch panel 6, conductive layers are formed on the upper surface of a glass substrate 61. The conductive layers include at least a lower transparent conductive layer 62 and an upper transparent conductive layer 65. The conductive layers may include but not be limited to an indium-tin-oxide (ITO) material. A transparent insulation layer 64 is formed between the upper transparent conductive layer 65 and the lower transparent conductive layer 62. On each periphery of the upper transparent conductive layer 65 and the periphery of the lower transparent conductive layer 62, a metal trace 63 is formed respectively for transmitting signals thereon. The black layer 51 is arranged to cover the metal traces 63 so that the metal traces 63 are not exposed when viewed from above the lens 5 for prettifying the appearance of the lens 5. A transparent overcoat 66 made of insulation material (such as silicon nitride, silicon dioxide, etc.) is formed above the upper transparent conductive layer 65 to prevent the upper transparent conductive layer 65 from being scraped and damaged. The coordinates of a position that has been touched on the touch panel 6 is obtained according to detection of an induced current corresponding to a capacitive generated between the transparent conductive layers 62 and 65 and the human body.
The display panel 2b may include a liquid crystal display (LCD) formed by providing a liquid crystal layer 24b between an upper glass substrate 22b and a lower glass substrate 26b. An upper polarizing plate 21b is provided on a top surface of the upper glass substrate 22b, and a transparent conductive layer 23b is provided between the liquid crystal layer 24b and a bottom surface of the upper glass substrate 22b. A lower polarizing plate 27b is provided on a bottom surface of the lower glass substrate 26b. Another transparent conductive layer 25b is provided between the liquid crystal layer 24b and a bottom surface of the lower glass substrate 26b. The upper glass substrate 22b and the transparent conductive layer 23b form an upper glass electrode substrate. The lower glass substrate 26b and the transparent conductive layer 25b form a lower glass electrode substrate. The display panel 2b and the touch panel 6 are laminated together with a stick layer 4b disposed between them.
As illustrated in FIG. 6, the liquid crystal layer 24b is sandwiched between the upper glass electrode substrate and the lower glass electrode substrate. Driven by an electric field between the upper glass electrode substrate and the lower glass electrode substrate, the liquid crystal molecules contained by the liquid crystal layer 24b are twisted to determine whether light from a light source can pass through. Further, the liquid crystal display displays a colorful image using a color filter for the upper glass substrate 22b. A user then may see an image from the top of the lens 5. The user then is able to perform an operation or input information by touching the lens 5 with the indication conveyed by the image.
As described above, in the prior art, each of the lens 5 and the touch panel 6 is formed on a glass substrate separately and individually, wherein the glass substrate 61 of the touch panel is individually shown in FIG. 6. After separate and individual fabrication, the lens 5 and the touch panel 6 are then laminated. Each of the lens 5 and the glass substrate 61 of the touch panel 6 is made of same glass material, which increases the consumption of glass material in production of the touch display panel. Besides, the assembling process is very complex and time wasting, and it is easy to generate defective products during the lamination process. Furthermore, the thickness of the touch display panel is hard to reduce for both the lens and the touch panel adopt the glass substrates.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a capacitive touch panel that can alleviate the aforementioned disadvantages.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An apparatus which measures a size and a shape of a transparent sheet includes a conveyor, a lighting apparatus, an imaging device and a process controller. The conveyor moves the transparent sheet. The lighting apparatus projects light onto the transparent sheet. The imaging device receives reflected light reflected from the transparent sheet. A thickness is input into the process controller. A sheet temperature from a sheet temperature sensor and/or a structure temperature from a structure temperature sensor are output to the process controller. An image is output from the imaging device to the process controller. The process controller outputs the size and the shape of the transparent sheet. The outputs from the process controller are used to adjust machine tools used to fabricate the transparent sheet.

1. Summary of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automated measurement system and methods for measuring the size and shape of glass sheets.
2. Description of the Related Art
In processes for manufacture of glass in sheet form, it is necessary to be able to inspect the sheets of glass for defects. It is important to be able to conduct the inspection on-line in the manufacture process, at production speeds, so that defects may be rapidly identified, this information communicated with production personnel and the glass sheets with defects may readily be separated in an effective manner from glass sheets meeting quality specifications.
During the production of glass sheets, it is important that the glass sheet produced be of a precise size and shape. Glass sheets are currently produced in a variety of specified sizes and shapes. Current inspection of glass sheets for various geometries, including size and shape, in the glass production industry is semi-automated and involves mechanical fixtures or dyes, limited caliper measurements and sampling a subset of production for inspection. Pencil probes can also be used to directly mechanically measure the size and shape of an individual glass sheet. Current inspection systems for glass sheets of various geometries often rely on human measurement and human intervention with the production line to alter upstream parameters of a glass production system. Such manual processes introduce a large amount of variability in the outgoing inspection product. Until recent advances in large area sensors, attempts at precision, non-contact measurements of large area glass sheets using machine vision required multiple sensors. However, the use of multiple sensors imposes problems of camera to camera registration and the inherent loss of accuracy.
A need exists for an automated inspection system which determines the size and shape of a glass sheet.

Automated online measurement of glass part geometry


Device for metering powder, in particular in clean-rooms, which includes a vessel containing powder and a sealing head with a septum for the vessel, wherein the sealing head is connectable powder-tight with the vessel and the septum powder-tight with the sealing head and the device further includes a vessel holder, which serves to hold the sealing head of the vessel, and the vessel with its opening points downwards, so that the powder can flow out of the vessel, wherein a gap is provided between the sealing head and a holding bowl of the vessel holder, in which a gas flow between the holding bowl and the sealing head can be created. The invention also relates to a use of the device and a metered addition method.

The present invention relates to a device for powder metering for chemical production processes under clean-room conditions, the use of the device for powder metering and methods for the production of chemical products using this device.
In chemical production processes such as for example coating or electroplating, pickling, degreasing, etching, in precipitations, etc., mixtures of a great variety of substances are used. The concentrations of the substances concerned must be maintained in a narrow production window in order to ensure always the same production quality. Since not all substances are consumed equally, the concentration of the individual substances must be determined and each replenished after deviation from the required value. In very many processes, the later metering is performed in liquid form.
The advantage of liquids is the ease of metering by means of pumps. These are very easy to control and, depending on the volume which is needed per unit time, easy to scale. Since the substances to be metered in must be present in dissolved, liquid form, either water or another solvent is added to the process as a main constituent. Over a prolonged period, this can lead to non-optimal behaviour of the process. Also, the transport weight of the solution is many times higher than that of the pure dissolved substance which is needed. This leads to increased costs and greater environmental pollution.
In many cases, therefore, solids such as powders or granules are used to replenish the process. In this way, unnecessary loading of the process with other substances (water, solvents) and the transport weight can be markedly reduced. Also, the storage life of a powder is as a rule considerably longer than that of a liquid concentrate. The aforesaid disadvantages of metering in liquid form can justify the higher technical effort of using powder in a method. However, in the later metering of powder, dust evolution, the danger of contaminating the environment during the transfer of the powder from a container into the process and also endangerment of the health of persons can arise.
Usually the metering of powders is effected with screw conveyors and conveyor belts of any size. A disadvantage with these transport devices is that these have a large number of moving parts, which leads to material wear of the transport device. There is also the danger of this wear and the lubricants used contaminating the powder to be introduced. For many applications, the impurities are so slight that this is relevant neither for the production process nor for the environment.
On the other hand, in applications such as the pharmaceutical or semiconductor industry, in which impurities in the smallest quantities must be avoided, this is nonetheless a method uncertainty not to be ignored.
A device for the metering of powder with a container with a sealing head and a vessel holder is known from US 2009/0078194 A1.
In the pharmaceutical industry as in the semiconductor industry, production is under clean-room conditions, and dust evolution of any kind under clean-room conditions is a major problem. In clean-rooms according to ISO1 to ISO4 (according to ISO 14644-1) no particles ≥5 μm may be generated or present.
Also, ever more substances are being identified as harmful to health and classified accordingly. Unfortunately, there is not a harmless replacement substance for all these substances. Thus it is very important to protect the staff from health hazards. If substances of concern are used in powder form in a production process, the emergence of powder must be avoided in every case, as can be seen from the following example of the metering of crystalline boric acid into nickel plating electrolytes:
An essential component of the nickel baths is boric acid in concentrations of up to 45 g/l. In June 2010, boric acid was included by the ECHA on the candidate list for SVHC (substances of very high concern). After the GHS order 1272/2008/EG and the REACH modification VO 790/2009/EG came into force, boric acid was designated as reprotoxic. According to the GHS order, mixtures which contain boric acid in a concentration of >5.5% are also to be designated as reprotoxic. Unfortunately, no replacement substances for these applications have yet been found. Nickel plating is a widespread surface finishing process and is used in many different industries, such as the automobile and circuit board industries. Since the solubility of boric acid in water at 20° C. of 47 g/l is very close to the specified concentration of the process, boric acid cannot be replenished as a solution—at least not if the specified concentration is greater than 25 g/l. For processes with a high boric acid concentration, the state of the art is that the addition takes place manually with crystalline boric acid. The personnel is thereby exposed to a constant hazard. Here a solids metering process would be the means of choice in order to protect the personnel against the hazards.
The same nickel electrolytes are also used in the semi-conductor industry, where the protection both of the personnel and of the clean-rooms is imperative.
A further example of the advantages of powder metering relates to wafer coating with tin or a tin alloy in the semiconductor industry:
Tin and tin alloy plating on wafers has grown greatly in the last ten years. Essentially, two tin processes are used on a large scale: the plating of pure tin and of tin alloys. Among the tin alloys, the alloy SnAg (tin and silver) is most commonly used, where other alloy components such as for example bismuth or copper can also be added to the tin. In all applications, both with pure tin and also with tin alloys, 1 g to 6 g of tin is typically deposited per wafer. It is not possible to operate the SnAg process with soluble tin anodes, because of the uncontrolled/uncontrollable plating of silver (immersion because of the different electrochemical properties of the two metals), consequently inert anodes are as a rule used. A typical production plant (plater) has a throughput of 150 to 400 wafers per day, depending on the number of plating chambers available and the plating times. This means that per day and plater between 450 g and 2400 g of tin are plated. Replenishing solutions with a concentration of 200 g/l to 400 g/l of Sn2+ dissolved in MSA (methanesulphonic acid) are available commercially. Thus, per day and tank, 2 to 12 l of metal concentrates must be added. As a result, after a certain time the tank would overflow. In order to avoid this, a volume of electrolyte corresponding to the volume to be added is aspirated from the tank and as a rule sent to waste. In the best case, this "waste electrolyte" is processed. For logistical reasons or as a result of a lack of infrastructure, recycling of tin is mostly costly and thus not economical.
For most applications in wafer coating, so-called low α tin is exclusively used. The emission rate of a particles is typically less than 0.001 cph/cm2. Since low α tin in the production process is very expensive and the production of the liquid concentrates drives the price still higher, it is desirable for cost reasons to avoid waste. This would also be desirable from the environmental viewpoint.
The reaction equations (neglecting the alloying metal) are as follows:Anode: 6H2O→O2+4H3O++4e−Cathode: 2Sn2++4CH3SO3−+4e−→2Sn+4CH3SO3−
At the inert anode, water is cleaved (electrolyzed) and in the process free acid (H3O+) is formed. As a result, the free acid content continually increases. At the cathode, the tin ions are reduced to elemental Sn. The state of the art is metered addition of the reduced tin as Sn2+ methanesulphonate in MSA methanesulphonic acid.
The following disadvantageous effects thereby result:
The tank volume increasing owing to the metered addition must be kept in balance by the discharge of tin bath liquid (volume to be discharged=volume to be added).
The MSA content (free acid) increases continually, as a result of which the operating point of the electrolyte shifts continually. The behaviour of the organic bath additives is influenced by the changing acid content. This has the effect that the plating properties of the process continually change. Depending on the process and the structures to be plated, the lifetime of the electrolyte is limited. Typically this limit lies at an MSA concentration of ca. 250 g/l. Depending on throughput, this occurs after a few weeks and the whole tank of ca. 150 l must be discharged and discarded.
Both of these disadvantageous effects could be avoided if tin monoxide SnO powder could be used for metering the reduced tin according to the following reaction equation:Anode: 6H2O→O2+4H3O++4e−Cathode: 2Sn2++4CH3SO3−+4e−→2Sn+4CH3SO3−Tin Addition:2SnO+4CH3SO3−+4H3O+→2Sn2++4CH3SO3−+6H2O
The same also applies for the addition of copper(II) oxide CuO.
With this method, both the rise in the free acid and also the increase in the tank volume would be prevented, whereby two positive effects arise: no electrolyte would have to be discharged in order to avoid an overflow of the tank, and the content of free acid would remain constant, as a result of which the lifetime of the electrolyte would be significantly prolonged.
However, for such a method it would also be necessary to be able to add further tin oxide powder or copper(II) oxide powder under clean-room conditions.

Device for powder metering for chemical production processes under clean-room conditions, use thereof and metered addition method


An inner housing defines a pin retaining receptacle elongated in an X-direction with entry ramps extending parallel to the X-direction. The inner housing is slidably coupled to an outer housing and extends into an interior thereof. The pair of inner housing retaining surfaces can engage the pair of cooperating inner housing retaining surfaces, with the pin retaining receptacle of the inner housing extending into the interior of the outer housing, to slidably couple the inner housing and the outer housing together while permitting movement of the inner housing relative to the outer housing in a Y-direction in response to the inner housing moving in the Y-direction during insertion of the pin into the pin retaining receptacle. Associated methods are also disclosed.

This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Pin and grommet fasteners are known in the art. Such pin and grommet fasteners typically require the pin to be centrally aligned in both X and Y directions with a pin receiving aperture of the grommet. In other words, a pin that is offset from the pin receiving aperture must be physically repositioned to align with the center of the pin receiving aperture of the grommet before the pin can be inserted into the pin receiving aperture. Some pin and grommet fasteners exist that allow for offset of the pin in one direction (e.g., in the X-direction), but the pin must still be repositioned relative to the grommet so the pin is centrally aligned with the pin receiving aperture in the other direction (e.g., in the Y-direction) to effect its insertion.
Such pin and grommet fasteners are not completely satisfactory, for example, where a plurality of pins are attached to a first component in fixed positions relative to each other and need to be inserted into pin receiving apertures of a corresponding plurality of grommets fixed to another component. As another example, such pin and grommet fasteners are not completely satisfactory where insertion of the pin into the grommet involves blind positioning and insertion of the pin in the grommet. Ease of pin insertion in both of these cases would be facilitated by a pin and grommet fastener that can accommodate a significant amount of pin offset in both the X and Y directions during insertion into the pin retaining aperture of the grommet.

Pin and grommet fastener accommodating two directional offset and related methods


An improved gradient proportioning valve compensates for hydraulic inertia in a compact, reliably sealed valve assembly that is less susceptible to unswept volumes and gas permeation. A flat diaphragm is located within an accumulator volume integral to a valve manifold block. The compliance and damping of the diaphragm are optimized for the application's flow characteristics. Sealing of the diaphragm is provided by a sealing plug installed in the manifold block. The diaphragm has only one sealing joint. The sealing plug configuration allows for a more reliable clamping and sealing of the diaphragm which reduces and substantially eliminates the potential for leaks. Potential for unswept volumes is substantially eliminated by including the accumulator volume as a unitary part of the valve manifold. Air permeation into the fluid stream is substantially reduced by a reduction in surface area and exposed liquid volume in the accumulator, effected by including the accumulator volume as part of the valve manifold. Valve size is decreased by the elimination of the external tube accumulators and associate fittings. The valve that is more conducive to use and attainment of the benefits of in-line solvent degassing. More accurate delivery of the respective proportions of components of a liquid composition is achieved. Pump flow is positively impacted.

Valves are known for use in systems for low pressure metering and delivery of components of a liquid composition in systems, such as HPLC systems, that require accurate proportioning of components of the liquid composition. U.S. Pat. No. 4,595,496 ("the '496 patent"), which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, describes various known implementations for addressing applications which require mixing liquids in controlled proportions. The '496 patent discloses and claims a novel system including a switching valve arrangement to the inlet of a high pressure pump for delivery of liquid in an HPLC system.
The invention in the '496 patent overcomes limitations and disadvantages of the prior art by providing a system, suitable for use in liquid chromatography applications, in which problems associated with the non-uniformity of the draw stroke of an HPLC pump and fluid inertia of the solvent delivery system are minimized with a concomitant minimal impact on system design and cost. This is accomplished by connecting a plurality of reservoirs, each containing a liquid to be mixed to form a liquid composition, through a switching valve arrangement to the inlet of a high pressure pump for ultimate delivery to an HPLC column.
As described in the '496 patent, a flow and composition controller actuates the switching valves in a manner that allows the non-uniformity of the draw stroke of the pump to be equally shared by each of the liquid components over several cycles of switching valve actuation. A microprocessor drives both the pump and the fluid switching valves and includes means for generating a ratio between the time to connect all of the reservoirs selected for actuation and the cycle time for a pump draw stroke. By connecting the output of the pump drive to the valve drive, this ratio is held constant throughout the operation of the chromatographic system within a given flow range.
To avoid problems associated with the non-uniformity of the volumetric intake rate, according to the '496 patent, it had been found advantageous to establish the relationship, i.e. ratio, between the pump cycle time and the switching valve cycle time as a non-integer ratio that could be either greater than or less than one. The result was an averaging of the non-uniformity of the pump intake rate over many switching valve cycles, effecting compositional averaging that produced a more accurate mixture after several draw strokes.
The implementation of the non-integer ratio relationship between the pump cycle time and the switching valve cycle time created other concerns related to the affects on compositional accuracy resulting from the valves being actuated at widely varying pump intake rates. In particular, switching a valve open or closed during the rapid intake portion of the pump draw stroke, ideally, should cause instantaneous changes in flow through the valve. However, hydraulic inertia associated with the fluid in the relatively long length of tubing between the solvent reservoir and the valve resisted instantaneous flow changes. This resulted in inaccurate and unpredictable compositions which were highly dependent on specific operating conditions such as flow rate, tubing length, tubing diameter, tubing stiffness, solvent density, solvent compressibility, etc. These problems became magnified at high flow rates and/or short duration valve actuations, particularly in systems designed to operate over wide dynamic ranges of flow rate and solvent composition.
According to the '496 patent, and as illustrated in FIG. 1 herein (corresponding to FIG. 5 of the '496 patent with the reference numerals in accordance therewith), the hydraulic inertia related problems were addressed by implementing a series of hydraulic accumulators, one for each reservoir, directly adjacent to the switching valve arrangement 17A, 17B on the side closest to the reservoirs, i.e. the low pressure side of the system. The accumulators 19A, 19B allowed the fluid flow through the valves to accurately correspond to the rate of volume displacement during the pump draw stroke. Each accumulator 19A, 19B consisted of a soft-walled, flexible plastic tube 50 of generally circular cross-section. The accumulator tube 50 was adapted at an end closest to the valve inlet to snugly slide over a rigid plastic connector 52. A connecting tube 54 was implemented at the opposite end of the accumulator tube to hold the relatively long length of flow tubing 56 that connects the valves with the reservoirs. The end of the accumulator tube adjacent the connecting tube was caused to assume approximately the cross-section of a flattened ellipse 55 which allowed a significant internal volume change to occur in the accumulator tube, with little change in pressure thereby allowing the accumulator to overcome the effects of hydraulic inertia.
However, the implementation of such accumulator tubes is not without its own set of problems. The addition of accumulator tubes significantly increases the amount of space required to house the valve switching assembly. Sufficient space has to be provided to accommodate the tubes unhindered, e.g. without kinks or other restrictions.
The accumulator tubes each require interconnections at two ends, which presents the potential for unreliable sealing in the system. Inadequate seals at either end of the tubes results in leaks in the system for fluid to escape or for air to enter the system.
In addition to the potential for air to permeate the system at the exposed sealing points of the accumulator tubes, the large surface area of the tubes themselves are permeable, permitting air to enter the system. Air permeating the system and entering the solvent will cause pump flow errors. The problem created by the permeability of the tubes is exacerbated in systems where in-line solvent degassing is effected.
Furthermore, the accumulator tubes present areas for the collection of unswept volumes, that is, volumes of solvent that are not easily swept from the accumulator tubes. Unswept volumes will retain air bubbles, reducing the accuracy of the flow performance. Unswept volumes result in residual solvent components that require more time to clear the system and change between solvents. The accumulator tubes present the occurrence of unswept volumes which are difficult to eliminate, especially at the tubing joints.


A stored value card and carrier assembly including a carrier formed from one or more panels, at least one stored value card sandwiched and sealed within the carrier, and a label removably adhered or coupled to the card and adhered or coupled to an interior of the carrier such that the bond to the carrier or card is greater than the bond to the other of the card or carrier. The label includes at least a portion of activation indicia, such as a barcode, either printed or otherwise applied thereon. Upon removal of the card from the carrier, the label remains coupled to one of the carrier or the card, whichever bond is greater, rending any remaining activation indicia on the other of the stored value card or carrier unreadable.

Stored value cards, which may also be known as gift cards, prepaid cards, shopping cards or fare cards, prepaid Mastercard™ and Visa™ cards (instant issue) among other names, are very popular with both consumers and retailers. The wide appeal of stored value cards, as a result, has attracted the unwelcome attention of criminals seeking to exploit the conveniences and automated processes afforded by such cards. In particular, such criminals misappropriate and manipulate stored value cards and associated account information to perform fraudulent transactions. Stored value card fraud is typically perpetrated in the form of either at the physical point of sale (POS) or "card present" fraud, or for virtual POS purchases or "card not present" (CNP) fraud. The latter includes transactions such as in e-commerce or internet purchases that cannot be authenticated using "standard" processes used at the physical POS.
A stored value card is typically the size and shape of a conventional credit card (CR80 Card) and includes a magnetic stripe, barcode or other similar activation method, account identifying element, or means for using the card. The stripe, code, account identifying element, etc. on the card is encoded with data, which includes a unique account number. The account activation indicia, for example, may be visible while the card is secured in or secured to packaging, such that the account activation indicia may be used during the purchase and activation of the card.
Commonly, stored value cards are displayed by retailers for purchase by customers. The cards may be stored in an active or inactive state. If stored in an inactive state, the card cannot be used to purchase goods or services until the card has been activated. A customer may have a card activated by bringing a card to a cashier and having the cashier then, for example, swipe the card through a point of sale terminal, which may add value to the card in exchange for payment, or activate value already on the card. In this context, the "swipe" action could involve passing a card (or its packaging) though a magnetic strip reader/writer; or passing the card or package over a barcode scanner; or putting the card or package in the vicinity of a proximity reader/writer (such as, for example, an RFID reader/writer), or any other equivalent activation technique. A balance on the card may be maintained within a computer system located at the point of sale or at a remote location. A holder of the stored value card may then use the card to purchase goods and/or services immediately or over time up to the value of the card. These current procedures relating to stored value cards, although providing convenience to consumers, leave the cards vulnerable to criminals.
One particular fraud that is perpetuated by criminals with regard to stored value cards is called "skimming." Skimming is a serious problem resulting in significant loss to both retailers and consumers, and applies to both card present and CNP fraud. To skim a card having a magnetic stripe holding account information, for example, a criminal will purchase a stored value card from a retailer, thereby causing an account associated with the card to become activated. The criminal will then remove additional cards from the store that have not yet been activated, and will then alter magnetically stored information on the inactivated cards to match that of the activated card. As such, all of the altered, inactivated cards will have the magnetic information that identifies the account of the originally purchased card. The criminal will then return the altered cards to the store shelf where unsuspecting customers seeking to purchase a stored value card will unknowingly place money into the account of the criminal holding the originally purchased card. The unsuspecting customer may attempt to use their card and will be told that it has no associated value or has a smaller value than thought. The retailer may be able to verify that the customer did not use the value associated with the stored value card, and in the interest of customer service, may restore the value to the customer. In that case, the retailer loses the money. However, in some cases, there may be no way to prove fraud and the customer may lose up to the entire value.
Another type of fraud that is perpetrated by criminals with regard to stored value cards is unauthorized activation. Specifically with secure packaging, activation indicia, such as a barcode, is printed on the card and positioned beneath a perforated pull tab. Account information, such as a PIN or account number, is also on the card and sealed within package. Fraud is perpetrated when a criminal takes a stored value package from a retailer without purchasing the card. The criminal will then carefully remove the card from the package, and steal account information from the card and either replace the card within the package or with another card with an activation barcode, and carefully reseal the pack. The criminal rehangs or replaces the package at the retailer location. The criminal then waits until package is sold by visually checking if pack is still on rack or attempts to check balance online. An unsuspecting customer then purchases the package and activates the stored value card, unknowingly placing money into the account of the criminal holding the originally purchased card or with access to the original account information. The unsuspecting customer may attempt to use their card and will be told that it has no associated value or has a smaller value than thought.
Another fraud perpetuated by criminals is carried out by the criminal viewing stored value cards in the store. The criminal writes down the code associated with the particular stored value card (such as a credit card type number) while it is still in the store. In such situations the code is in plain view of the criminal or may be easily viewed without altering the card packaging. Once the criminal has recorded the code, the criminal waits for a period of time, assuming that an unsuspecting customer will purchase and have the card activated during that time. The criminal then periodically checks to see if they are able to make purchases, such as online purchases (CNP fraud), by attempting to use the card code. If the card has been activated by the true purchaser, the criminal will be able to purchase goods online using the activated code, thereby stealing the balance on the card from the true purchaser.
Criminals may perpetuate the above-described frauds or other frauds with regard to stored value cards as they sit on store shelves today. Thus, there is a need for a way to protect such cards and insure that they have not been tampered with or duplicated prior to purchase or activation by an innocent consumer.
There have been proposals and attempts to reduce the occurrence of fraud associated with stored value cards. For example, modifications to card readers or other parts of the activation process have been proposed, but changing existing systems in such ways involves significant cost. Additional steps have been added to the activation process for some cards, such as steps involving pin numbers and web access. However, additional steps reduce the level of convenience that such cards provide to consumers.
Other attempts at reducing the occurrence of fraud include packaging of the card such that unauthorized tampering with the packaging or card therein is visually evident. Examples of these types of secure packs can include, for example, sealing the card, sensitive information concerning the card, or combinations thereof within a single or multi-panel carrier such that a breach of the package destroys the carrier. However, these packages have been vulnerable to breach by the use of a sharp instrument, such as a razor blade, to slice open the package at its sealed edge. The card and/or information are then accessed for skimming purposes, and the package is resealed, without evidence that it has been compromised.
Therefore, there remains a need for a way to prevent fraud relating to stored value cards that is effective, and inexpensive to implement, while at the same time not negating the convenience of stored value cards.

Stored value card and carrier assembly with tamper evident label


A method for dirty region logging of a file that includes receiving a request to open the file, determining each of a plurality of component files associated with the file, opening each of the plurality of component files, writing to a region of the at least one of the plurality component files, and updating a dirty region log (DRL) associated with the one of the plurality of component files to reflect the write to the region.

Typical distributed systems include clients and servers. The servers are configured to interact with the clients and to provide service to the clients. One common service that the servers provide is file storage. Thus, clients can store a copy of their files on the server and in addition other clients can access the files stored on the server. If the files contain critical data, then it becomes advantageous to employ a data backup scheme to ensure that critical data is not lost if the server containing the data fails. One data backup scheme that is commonly employed is mirroring. Mirroring (also known as RAID 1) involves maintaining two (or more) copies of a file, where each copy of the file is located on separate file storage device (e.g., a local hard disk, a networked hard disk, a network file servers, etc.).
When one or more servers holding one or more mirror fails for any length of time, that mirror(s) may become unsynchronized. However, when employing a mirroring scheme, it is of critical importance to ensure that the mirrors are synchronized (i.e., that the content of each mirror is the same). If a mirror becomes unsynchronized, the simplest recovering scheme involves copying all of the data from a synchronized mirror to the unsynchronized mirror. A more efficient mirror recovery scheme is dirty region logging (DRL). In the conventional DRL schemes, each mirror is logically divided into a number of "regions." Depending on the implementation, the region may be as small as single disk sector or larger than 256 KB.
Whenever the content of a region changes, for example, when there is a write operation on data within the region, a dirty region log entry for the region is created in the dirty region log. In most cases, the dirty region log entry merely indicates that data in the region has changed. During normal execution, every time a region on a given mirror is modified, the corresponding region on the other mirror is also modified such that the mirrors remain synchronized. Thus, a dirty region log entry is created when the region is modified on the first mirror and then subsequently cleared once corresponding region on the other mirrors has been synchronized. If one or more mirrors fail prior to synchronization, then the dirty region log is used to determine which regions on the mirrors are not synchronized.


A skirt for a toner cartridge comprises a body having a pair of parallel edges, a plurality of beams extending along the body in the direction of the pair of parallel edges, the beams having a first end dimension B, the beams having a second end dimension b, the plurality of beams having tapered edges between the first end and the second end defining a ratio R defined by dimensions b/B being from about 0 to 0.9 for inhibiting creep deflection.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a skirt for a toner cartridge, and more specifically relates to a skirt having a preselected geometry for use with a toner cartridge in order to inhibit creep and promote efficient movement of toner within an electrophotographic (laser) printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Laser printers utilize a light beam which is focused to expose a discreet portion of an image transfer drum in a further attempt to attract printing toner to these discreet portions. Toner comprises a mixture of pigment, typically carbon black, and plastic. When the toner becomes electrostatically charged, the toner is attracted to exposed portions of the image transfer drum. When a medium, printing paper, passes over the rotating transfer drum, the toner is transferred to the medium. Afterward, the medium passes through a heat fuser so that the plastic is melted and permanently fused with the medium.
Existing laser printers utilize replaceable toner cartridges having a developer roll, a toner reservoir and a metering system. Within the toner cartridge a skirt is connected to a rotating shaft in order to define a paddle which moves the toner through one or more reservoir areas and toward the image transfer drum. The skirt sweeps and/or flicks toner from one portion of the cartridge to a second portion of the cartridge. After repeated operations, the toner becomes depleted due to the printing process.
There are generally three factors that influence a skirt's ability to transport toner: length, geometry and thickness. In order to work properly, the skirt must engage portions of the toner cartridge housing and must deflect to some extent for best moving the toner. However, one problem encountered during shipping of toner cartridges occurs when the cartridges are subjected to elevated temperatures of greater than 100 degrees Fahrenheit. When the skirt is subjected to such temperatures and deflected due to engagement with some portion of the toner cartridge housing, the deflection combined with the high temperatures can result in a permanently deflected skirt, which is typically referred to as "creep" of the material. A skirt which has been affected by creep is less effective in moving toner as it provides less interference with the housing and thus is limited in the amount of toner which can be transferred toward a desired location in the toner cartridge. When the skirt fails to provide an adequate amount of toner, then starvation occurs resulting in an incomplete print image or an image which is lighter than desired.
Software solutions have been implemented to position the skirt at a location with decreased or no contact with the toner cartridge when the cartridge is shipped or between operating cycles. However, such solution resulted in a decrease in throughput of media since the skirt was repositioned between each media page printed. With the detrimental effect to printing functionality, a mechanical solution was desirable.
It would be desirable if a skirt design limited or eliminated creep associated with toner cartridge paddles.


A method and sensor are provided for detecting the binding of a probe and a target biomolecule by measuring a difference in the shear stress on the surface of the sensor before and after hybridization of the target molecule to the probe, such as nucleic acids or proteins. The shear stress may be measured sensitively and conveniently as an electrical signal without additional fluorescent labeling and without use of expensive additional devices.

This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 2001-65484, filed Oct. 23, 2001, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for detecting the binding of biomolecules, and more particularly, to a method and sensor for detecting the binding of probes and target biomolecules on a bio-chip by measuring the shear stress on a sensor substrate, to which the biomolecules are bound, before and after binding of the target molecules to the probes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Bio-chips, which are constructed by attaching a number of DNA or protein probes having a complementary sequence that can bind to target molecules of interest on a substrate at a high density, are used for analyzing a gene expression pattern, deficiency, protein distribution, or reaction pattern in the target sample. Bio-chips can be classified into micro-array chips with probes immobilized on a solid surface and labs-on-a-chip with probes immobilized on micro-channels according to the way probes are attached. Bio-chips also can be classified into DNA-chips, protein-chips, etc., according to the kind of the probes. Those bio-chips need a system for detecting the binding of biomolecules in a sample to the probes immobilized on a substrate in order to identify whether a target biomolecule of interest exists in the sample.
Most currently available DNA chips for gene array fluorescently detect target molecules in a sample. U.S. Pat. No. 6,141,096 discloses such an optical biomolecular detection method involving labeling sample DNAs with fluorescent dye, reacting the sample DNAs with probes immobilized on a chip, and detecting the samples DNAs which are fluorescently labeled and bound to the surface of the chip using a confocal microscope or CCD camera. However, it is difficult to apply the optical detection method to micro-sized chips.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,096,273 and 6,090,933 disclose electrochemical methods for detecting DNA hybridization using metallic compounds that are susceptible to oxidation and reduction. The metallic compounds form metal-DNA complexes through hybridization, and the metal-DNA complexes are electrochemically detected (Anal. Chem., Vol. 70, pp. 4670–4677, 1998; J. Am. Chem. Soc., Vol. 119, pp. 9861–9870, 1997; Analytica Chimica Acta, Vol. 286, pp. 219–224, 1994; Bioconjugate Chem., Vol. 8, pp. 906–913, 1997). However, the electrochemical method also inconveniently needs an additional labeling process.
Further, assay methods using no labels such as fluorescent dye have been developed. For example, a method for detecting the binding of biomolecules by measuring a difference in mass before and after binding using a quartz crystal microbalance is disclosed in Anal. Chem., Vol. 70, pp. 1288–1296, 1998. Assay methods involving matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry are disclosed in Anal. Chem., Vol. 69, pp. 4540–4546, 1997 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,043,031.
Micromechanical methods capable of detecting even a single base mismatch are disclosed in Science, Vol. 288, pp. 316–318, 2000 and Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 98, 1560, 2001, which use a microfabricated cantilever as a mechanical sensor for detecting the molecular binding force before and after binding of DNA probes and target molecules. However, the method needs an expensive separate laser device in order to precisely measure the deflection of cantilever beams.
Therefore, there is a need to develop a method for sensitively and efficiently detecting the binding of biomolecules directly as an electrical signal without using expensive additional devices, such as a laser device.

Method and sensor for detecting the binding of biomolecules by shear stress measurement


A system and method for passing a fiber cable through a fiber connector is presented. A fiber connector includes an outer body and a series of flutes inside the outer body. The outer body forms an interior chamber that has a first opening and a second opening. The first opening allows a coolant to flow into the first opening and the first and second openings allow the fiber cable to pass through the first opening and the second opening and through the fiber connector. A series of flutes are attached to an inner surface of the outer body and extend into the interior chamber. The flutes are spaced apart from each other and extend from the inner surface toward the fiber cable but do not touch the fiber cable when no liquid is flowing in the fiber connector.

1. Field of Invention
The current invention relates generally to apparatus, systems and methods related to fiber optic cables. More particularly, the apparatus, systems and methods relate to cooling fiber optic cables. Specifically, the apparatus, systems and methods provide for a low stress connector used in a cooling system to cool fiber optic cables.
2. Description of Related Art
Typical fiber optic connectors use an epoxy or mechanical clamp to secure an optical fiber within a connector. The possible disadvantages of this approach may involve a permanent bonding, or the bonding may impart physical stress to the fiber. Stress on the optical fiber changes the optical wave-guide characteristics of the fiber, leading to undesirable out-coupling of radiation from the fiber to the polymer coating on the final cladding of the fiber. Excess out-coupling of radiation in high power fiber lasers leads to a thermal failure of the polymer coating, cascading to total fiber laser failure, often times catastrophic. Long term, low magnitude stresses on the fiber can decrease the total lifetime of the laser through slow degradation of the polymer coating.
Typical fiber laser fabrication is conducted in discrete, sequential steps. This build process allows for mistakes in the manufacturing to be corrected immediately. A highly integrated fiber laser requires the parallel success of each fabrication step. The seating of the fiber laser into the Connector/Cable assembly is the last step in laser fabrication. A manufacturing mistake jeopardizes the entire laser. What is needed is a better fiber optic cable connector.

BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc.


Disclosed is a method to operate a RF transmitter, and an RF transmitter constructed to operate in accordance with the method. The method includes determining a transmitter output power and varying a level of a signal at a transmitter phase modulator according to the transmitter output power so as to increase the level of the signal as the transmitter output power increases and to decrease the level of the signal as the transmitter output power decreases. In the preferred embodiment the method further includes adjusting the current consumption of a plurality of components of an RF transmitter chain in accordance with at least one of the level of the signal and the gain of the stage.

DCT designers typically are concerned with improving the efficiency of a power amplifier (PA) at its maximum output power level, as this efficiency improvement is important in order to reduce the current/power consumption at high transmission power. However, a mobile station transmitter typically does not operate at its maximum output condition. For example, according to a CDMA CDG4 statistical profile (see CDMA Development Group, "CDG System Performance Tests (Optional)", Rev. 3.0 draft, Apr. 9, 2003) the most often encountered transmission power for a CDMA mobile station is at the mid to low power level, such as between about +3 and −10 dBm for a CDMA mobile transmitter used for voice communications. In this transmission power region, the transmitter (Tx) chain dominates the power consumption of the overall transmitter. It is apparent that reducing the Tx chain current consumption can efficiently increase talk time of the mobile station by conserving battery power.
In at least some conventional mobile station transmitter designs the level of the base-band (BB) signal coming from a digital to analog converter (DAC) that is applied at the input of the Tx chain is fixed. In addition to this, the BB signal level is quite high, and may exhibit a 2.5 V peak-to-peak voltage swing. This is based on a consideration that as the BB signal level is made higher, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is also higher. However, to handle such a high level input, a quadrature modulator, which forms the properly modulated transmission signal and converts the BB modulation signal to the desired RF transmission signal, and the following variable gain amplifiers (VGAs) and drive amplifier in the Tx chain, are required to consume a significant amount of current in order to maintain sufficient linearity without causing significant distortion. Therefore, the Tx chain typically operates in an inefficient current consumption condition.
In order to reduce the current (power) consumption of the mobile station transmitter, it is known in the art that the PA bias current can be controlled by adjusting a PA reference current or voltage. However, even greater savings in power consumption, and increases in efficiency, are desired.

Low current direct conversion transmitter architecture


Embodiments of the present application disclose a method, device, system and server for acquiring and providing vehicle image data. The method for providing vehicle image data includes: receiving a query request message for vehicle image data which carries unique identification information (S201, S405); obtaining each piece of vehicle image data corresponding to the unique identification information based on the unique identification information and pieces of vehicle image data containing unique identification information stored in an image database, and providing each piece of vehicle image data corresponding to the unique identification information to a user (S202, S406); vehicle image data stored in the image database are sent by an image acquisition device after acquiring the vehicle image data, the vehicle image data acquired by the image acquisition device include image information of a vehicle, and unique identification information of at least one WiFi terminal obtained using a preset WiFi detector when acquiring the image information of the vehicle. In embodiments of the present application, multiple pieces of image information of a vehicle can be correlated and provided to a user together.

With the rapid development of the national economy, the number of vehicles traveling on the road is increasing rapidly, and the traffic pressure is doubled. In order to detect vehicle violations on the road, image acquisition devices are deployed at different locations on the road. The image acquisition device is used to acquire image information of vehicles and sends the same to a data server, the data server provides the image information of vehicles to a user, the user judges whether there are vehicle violations for the vehicles based on the image information of vehicles, providing an effective means for solving or acquiring evidence of a case.
When a vehicle is traveling on a road, multiple pieces of image information of the vehicle are acquired by different image acquisition devices and are stored on a data server. However, in the existing image information acquisition methods, the data server cannot correlate multiple pieces of image information of a vehicle, and can only provide one piece of image information of a vehicle to a user instead of multiple pieces of image information of a vehicle together, whereas one piece of image information provided to the user may be unclear, and the user can't judge whether there are vehicle violations in this vehicle based on this piece of image information or can't identify the detailed information of the vehicle based on this piece of image information.

Collection and provision method, device, system and server for vehicle image data

Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co., Ltd.


A voicemail service node of a carrier network may configure a voicemail profile for a subscriber to provide voicemail transcription delivery. For example, a voicemail service node may receive, from a voicemail client on a user device, a request to activate delivery of voicemail transcription for the user device via the voicemail client. The voicemail service node may determine device configuration information for delivery of voicemail transcription, determine, based on the device configuration information and the activation request, a delivery configuration for delivery of voicemail transcription via the voicemail client using a set of one or more modes of delivery of voicemail transcription, and configure the voicemail profile associated with the user device to cause delivery of voicemail transcription to the user device using the set of one or more modes of delivery of voicemail transcription.

In recent years, mobile devices have advanced from offering simple voice calling services within wireless communication networks to providing users with many new features. In some examples, mobile devices may provide voicemail and voicemail transcription delivery. However, the proliferation of different mobile devices and/or visual voicemail client types may result in difficulty in managing and configuring voicemail and voicemail transcription delivery securely.


A zoom lens comprises a first lens unit G1 having a positive refractive power, a second lens unit G2 having a negative refractive power, a third lens unit G3 having a positive refractive power, a fourth lens unit G4 having a negative refractive power, a fifth lens unit G5, and a sixth lens unit G6 having a positive refractive power. Zooming from a wide angle end to a telephoto end is carried out by changing a distance between the lens units, and a distance between the first lens unit G1 and the third lens unit G3 narrows at the telephoto end than at the wide angle end, and the first lens unit G1 is stationary at the time of zooming from the wide angle end to the telephoto end, and lens units from the second lens unit G2 to the fifth lens unit G5 move.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a zoom lens.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a large-aperture telephoto zoom lens of F2.8 class, a zoom lens shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2007-212830 or Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2010-191336 has hitherto been proposed.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2007-212830, a four-unit zoom lens with a refractive power of lens units in order of a positive refractive power, a negative refractive power, a positive refractive power, and a positive refractive power from an object side has been disclosed. In such type of zoom lens, zooming is carried out by a movement of a second lens unit having a negative refractive power and a third lens unit having a positive refractive power. Moreover, the first lens unit having a positive refractive power is divided into a front-unit and a rear-unit, and focusing is carried out by a movement of the front-unit. According to such an arrangement, the zoom lens is a telephoto zoom lens with an interchangeable lens application of a class of zooming ratio of three times.
In Japanese Patent application Laid-open Publication No. 2010-191336, a five-unit zoom lens with a refractive power of lens units in order of a positive refractive power, a negative refractive power, a positive refractive power, a negative refractive power, and a positive refractive power in order from the object side has been disclosed. In such type of zoom lens, zooming is carried out by movement of the second lens unit having a negative refractive power, the third lens unit having a positive refractive power, and the fourth lens unit having a negative refractive power. Moreover, focusing is carried out by movement of the third lens unit having a positive refractive power. According to such an arrangement, the zoom lens is a telephoto zoom lens with an interchangeable lens application of the class of zooming ratio of three times.
However, in recent years, there has been an increase in a need not only of still photography but also of video photography, and a lens system in which, a video photography function is optimized even in cameras such as an integrated-lens type camera and a digital camera of an interchangeable-lens type, has been sought.
Generally, in video photography, it is necessary to maintain a focused state by moving an auto-focus function all the time. As one of the methods for this, a method of moving a focusing lens unit in the vicinity of a focusing position by a minute amount (called as wobbling) has been known. By carrying out wobbling, a change in a contrast of an image on an image pickup surface is measured, and in a case in which, a judgment is made that the focusing state has changed, the focusing lens is to be moved appropriately once again to refocus. By such wobbling function, even if a distance between the zoom lens and an object changes, the focusing state is maintained continuously all the time, but an extreme high-velocity operation is necessary in accordance with a frame rate of a camera main body. For carrying out an appropriate drive control, the focusing lens unit is sought to be light-weight and with a small amount of movement. Moreover, a reduction in sound which is generated due to wobbling is also sought for reduction in noise at the time of video photography. Although the focusing lens unit and the wobbling lens unit are same normally in most of the cases, sometimes the focusing lens unit and the wobbling unit are arranged as separate lens units.
Moreover, a method of carrying out focusing by detecting a phase difference of an object image on the image pickup surface from a light ray that has passed through different pupil positions, and calculating an object distance, has also been known.


A flash memory circuit having a word line decoder with even and odd word line latches and a source line decoder with a source line latch is disclosed. The word line decoders and source line decoder provide the capability of erasing the memory cells of two adjacent word lines in a flash memory simultaneously and verifying the memory cells word line by word line. By erasing two adjacent rows simultaneously, the embodiments of this invention eliminate over-erasure and source disturbance problems associated with conventional flash memory circuits. The decoding architecture provides flexible erase size that can be from a pair to a large number of multiple pairs of word lines. By dividing the memory cells of a word line into a number of segments, the decoding circuit further provides the capability of selecting the memory cells of a word line segment for erasing.

In recent years, flash memory devices have been widely used in computer related equipment and other electronic appliances as storage devices. The nonvolatile and on-chip programmable capabilities of a flash memory are very important for storing data in many applications. As an example, flash memories are frequently used for the BIOS storage of a personal computer. In addition, the small physical size of flash memories also makes them very suitable for portable applications. Therefore, they have been used for storing programs and data for many portable electronic devices such as cellular phones, digital cameras and video game platforms.
Different from a normal random access memory (RAM) that can be randomly read, erased and programmed on a byte basis, a conventional EPROM-type flash memory features a byte-program and a block-erase capability with each block containing a number of bytes. Because the data within a memory block can not be selected for erasure individually, a flash memory has to erase the data of a whole block of memory cells, i.e., an erase block, and then program the new data byte by byte. The block erase scheme, however, not only is inflexible but also has an undesirable problem called over-erasure. The over-erasure results from the inherent difference between the speed of erasing of each memory cell. Because a large number of cells are erased together, the cells having fast speed of erasing may be over-erased below 0V, while the cells having slow speed are not successfully erased yet. The over-erased cells will conduct leakage current and cause the malfunction of bit line (3L) sense amplifiers.
To add more flexibility for erasing memory cells, isolate non-selected memory cells and avoid disturbance of data, U.S. Pat. No. 5,548,551 provides a negative voltage decoder for erasing either one memory cell or a block of memory cells for a non-volatile memory. In practical applications, however, it is desired that a small (multiple bytes) and flexible (random and multiple word lines) erase size for the erase operation of a flash memory can be accomplished without any memory disturbance and over-erasure problems.

Flash memory array and decoding architecture


A method of operation of a mobile terminal includes displaying, on a display module, a preview image generated by a camera module, obtaining object information for at least one object shown in the preview image or at least one object within a predetermined distance of a current location of the mobile terminal, and displaying the object information on the display module using a display form that is determined according to a user preference level of the object information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mobile terminals.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mobile terminals are portable devices capable of performing various functions, such as voice/video calls, inputting and outputting information, and/or storing data. As the functions of mobile terminals diversify, an increasing number of mobile terminals have become able to provide various complicated functions, such as capturing photos and moving images, playing music files or moving image files, providing game programs, receiving broadcast programs, and providing wireless Internet services.
Most mobile terminals are equipped with camera modules for capturing photos or videos. As such, advanced mobile camera module technology including augmented reality (AR) is increasingly being implemented in mobile terminals. AR is a term that refers to the combination of a view of a physical real-world environment with additional information related to the physical real-world environment. Accordingly, AR can enable users to acquire information regarding their surroundings with an enhanced sense of reality.
However, AR techniques used in mobile terminals may not present the additional information related to the physical real-world environment in a clear and effective manner.


A portable infant booster seat having an upright back support, foldable sidewalls, a flexible front wall and an upwardly extendible cushioned seat member that supports an infant in an elevated seated position.

An article of manufacture relating generally to a foldable seat and more particularly to a portable infant booster seat which is compact and easy to handle but affords maximum support for an infant.
Infant booster seats are well known in the prior art. Portable booster seats have become more popular due to the concern about sharing germs between booster seat users and the lack of booster seats in some locations. The present infant booster seat has an upright back support, foldable sidewalls and a flexible front wall forming an outer shell. A seat member hingedly connected to the outer shell includes a cushioned seat and support panels that extend from a lower front edge and mid-section of the seat, providing a unitary support structure for the seat. The seat member may be placed in a horizontal position for use with an infant or in a compact, upright, folded storage position. The following embodiments and aspects thereof are described and illustrated in conjunction with systems which are meant to be exemplary and illustrative, not limiting in scope.


A low profile collector and seal assembly for sealing the open end of a container of an electrochemical cell and providing venting of pressurized gases. An electrochemical cell has a can with a closed bottom end and an open top end, positive and negative electrodes disposed in the can, and a collector and seal assembly disposed in the open top end of the can for closing the open top end of the can. The collector and seal assembly includes a current collector and an annular seal that move relative to each other from a sealed position to a vented position when the internal cell pressure reaches a pressure threshold to vent pressurized gases.

The present invention generally relates to electrochemical cells (i.e., batteries) and, more particularly, to a current collector and seal assembly for sealing the open end of a cell container and providing pressure relief for venting gases when exposed to excessive pressure.
Conventional alkaline electrochemical cells generally include a steel cylindrical can having a positive electrode, referred to as the cathode, which commonly comprises manganese dioxide as the active material. The electrochemical cell also includes a negative electrode, referred to as the anode, which commonly comprises zinc powder as the active material. In bobbin-type cells, the cathode is typically formed against the interior surface of the steel can, while the anode is generally centrally disposed in the can. A separator is located between the anode and the cathode, and an alkaline electrolyte solution simultaneously contacts the anode, the cathode, and the separator. A conductive current collector is inserted into the anode active material to provide an electrical path to a negative outer terminal. An annular polymeric (e.g., nylon) seal provides closure to the open end of the steel can to seal the active electrochemical materials in the sealed volume of the can. An inner cover radially supports the seal. The current collector, inner cover, and seal are typically assembled together to form a collector and seal assembly.
Cylindrical alkaline cells are typically sealed closed by placing the collector and seal assembly in the open end of the steel can and crimping the upper end of the can inwardly and over the outer periphery of the seal to compress the seal. However, electrochemical cells commonly employ electrochemically active materials, such as zinc, which generate hydrogen gas, particularly when subjected to abusive discharge conditions, such as battery reversal, as well as during storage, and sometimes during or following service use. When the can is sealed closed, excessive build-up of high pressure gases within the sealed can may force the crimped closure open and cause damage to the cell and/or the device in which the cell is employed.
One approach to avoiding a potentially excessive build-up of pressure in a cell has been to employ a resealable valve system that periodically releases excessive pressurized gases from within the active cell volume. However, the continued periodic release of pressurized gases may, in some situations, permit the release of electrolyte solution containing salts or other particulate matter, which may foul the resealable valve, and such systems generally require additional costly components. Another approach to avoiding excessive build-up of internal pressure involves employing a sealed membrane that is intended to blow out when exposed to excessive pressure either by puncture or rupture of the membrane itself. A puncture mechanism, such as a spiked member, may be employed to punch a hole in the sealed membrane once the internal pressure reaches a predetermined amount.
A further approach to venting excessively pressurized gases has included the use of a vent formed in the seal which is intended to rupture upon experiencing an excessive pressure build-up in the sealed interval volume of the cell. As an example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,667,912 discloses a current collector assembly having a seal with a thinned portion formed in the seal diaphragm axisymmetrical about a rotation of the central longitudinal axis of the cell. The thinned portion of the seal is intended to shear when the internal pressure exceeds a predetermined pressure threshold, to thereby create a pressure relief vent passage.
While the aforementioned conventional approaches have served to vent high pressure gases in commercial cells, many of these approaches involve complex seal designs which consume a significant amount of volume. Increased collector and seal assembly volume generally results in reduced internal volume available for electrochemically active materials, thus limiting the service performance capability of the cell. Additionally, some conventional venting seals exhibit poor leakage performance. Further, the venting pressure is generally limited in conventional rupture type venting seals due to the difficulty in injection molding the thinned portion of the seal. Accordingly, it is therefore desirable to provide for an electrochemical cell having a simplified, low profile collector and seal assembly that effectively vents pressurized gases at a predetermined pressure, is capable of achieving lower vent pressures, and exhibits enhanced leakage performance.

Electrochemical cell having venting current collector and seal assembly


Picture display device having a vacuum envelope for displaying pictures composed of pixels on a luminescent screen, comprising a plurality of juxtaposed sources for producing electrons, local electron ducts cooperating with the sources and having walls of electrically insulating material with a secondary emission coefficient suitable for electron transport for transporting, through vacuum, produced electrons in the form of electron currents through juxtaposed trajectories at a short distance from the luminescent screen, and means for withdrawing each electron current at predetermined locations from its duct and directing it towards a desired location on the luminescent screen for producing a picture composed of pixels.

The invention relates to a picture display device having a vacuum envelope for displaying pictures composed of pixels on a luminescent screen, and particularly relates to a thin picture display device (i.e. a picture display device having a small "front to back dimension") which is clearly distinguished from state of the art display devices.
Typical state of the art approximations to thin-type picture display devices are devices having a transparent face plate whose inner side is provided with a phosphor pattern, one side of which is provided with an electrically conducting coating (the combination also being referred to as luminescent screen). If (video information-controlled) electrons impinge upon the luminescent screen, a visual image is formed which is visible via the front side of the face plate. The face plate may be flat or, if desired, curved (for example, spherical or cylindrical).
In a first category of thin-type picture display devices a number of thermally heated wire cathodes is arranged in a plane parallel to the luminescent screen at a location within the picture display device remote from the screen, which cathodes are responsible for producing the required electrons. The electrons produced may be present in the form of an electron cloud. In order to cause the electrons to impinge upon specific locations on the luminescent screen for forming a picture in such a device, the required electron current must be withdrawn from the cloud. This requires a stack form of addressing electrodes, (a buffer electrode), focusing electrodes, and in some cases deflection means. A problem which has hitherto occurred in such picture display devices is that they exhibit visual brightness variations.
Another category of picture display devices of the thin type uses single or multiple electron beams which initially extend substantially parallel to the plane of the display screen and are ultimately bent towards the display screen so as to address the desired areas of the luminescent screen either directly or by means of, for example a selection grid structure. (The expression electron beam is understood to means that the paths of the electrons in the beam are substantially parallel, or extend only at a small angle to one another and that there is a main direction in which the electrons move.) The above-mentioned devices require, inter alia, complicated electronoptical constructions.
Moreover, picture display devices of the single beam type generally require a complicated (channel plate) electron multiplier of the matrix type, certainly if they have slightly larger screen formats.
A more extensive survey of the drawbacks of thin-type state of the art picture display devices has been given in EP-A 213,839 corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,388.


A sensor assembly includes a elongate article and a plurality of elongate piezoelectric elements provided to the elongate article. Each of the piezoelectric elements is configured so that when a load is applied in a direction perpendicular to a surface of the piezoelectric element, a short axis direction of the piezoelectric element becomes a sensitivity direction in which a voltage is generated, and a major axis direction becomes a non-sensitivity direction in which a voltage is not generated.

A sensor assembly may contain a structure provided with an optical fiber as a sensor element for detecting the amount of deformation in a vehicle body. The optical fiber is held between a bumper reinforcement and a bumper cover.
For example, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-263038 (JP 2005-263038 A), when a load is applied to a bumper cover, the load is transmitted to the optical fiber by way of the bumper cover, and the optical fiber is deformed by the transmitted load. A pedestrian detection apparatus is disclosed in which the intensity of light passing through the interior of the optical fiber is altered by deformation of the optical fiber to detect that the vehicle body has collided with a pedestrian on the basis of the altered intensity of light.
However, in order to accurately detect impact with a pedestrian by using the detection apparatus of JP 2005-263038 A, the optical fiber must suitably deform in accordance with the load at the time of impact.
If the load at the time of impact is applied to an area away from the optical fiber, deformation may be brought about by the applied load at the position away from the optical fiber in the bumper cover.
If the deformed position comes into contact with the bumper reinforcement, the load will be transmitted directly to the bumper reinforcement from the bumper cover, and will not be efficiently transmitted to the optical fiber. For this reason, it is difficult to suitably deform the optical fiber (i.e., the sensor element) in accordance with the load at the time of impact and to accurately detect the load at the time of impact.


Analogues of bovine and human parathyroid hormone, wherein twenty-fifth, twenty-six and twenty-seventh positions of the natural hormone, Arg-Lys-Lys- each have been substituted with Ala, Asn, Asp, Cys, Gln, Glu, Gly, His, Ile, Leu, Met, Phe, Pro, Ser, Thr, Trp, Tyr or Val have been found to retain bone cell effect with minimal effects on blood pressure and smooth muscle, including cardiac muscle. It has further been found that this effect can be obtained by using a synthetic PTH containing only the first 34 amino acids of PTH, with substitution at the twenty-fifth, twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh amino acids as described. These analogues of PTH also are effective in the treatment of osteoporosis and other bone diseases.

Parathyroid hormone (hereinafter, PTH) is produced by the parathyroid gland and is involved in the control of calcium levels in blood. It is a hypercalcemic hormone, elevating blood calcium levels. PTH is a polypeptide and the amino acid sequences of bovine and human PTH are closely related. Only the residues at locations one, seven and sixteen differ between the two. Synthetic polypeptides containing the first thirty-four residues of PTH may be prepared using the method disclosed by Erickson and Merrifield, The Proteins, Neurath et al. , Eds., Academic Press, New York, 1976, page 257, preferably as modified by the method of Hodges et al., Peptide Research, 1, 19 (1988).
When serum calcium is reduced to below a "normal" level, the parathyroid gland releases PTH and resorption of bone calcium and increased absorption of calcium from the intestine, as well as renal reabsorption of calcium, occur.
The antagonist of PTH is calcitonin, which acts to reduce the level of circulating calcium. PTH is known to stimulate osteoclasts and its activity requires the presence of derivatives of vitamin D.sub.3, especially 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol.
Intracellular calcium, particularly in the cells of the vascular system, has been shown to affect changes in vascular tension, as can be measured by changes in blood pressure. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 603,745 describes one method which has been discovered to regulate calcium uptake in vascular cells.
Osteoporosis is a progressive disease which is particularly characteristic of postmenopausal women, and results in the reduction of total bone mass. The sequelae frequently involve fractures of load-bearing bones and the physical degenerations characteristic of immobilizing injuries. osteoporosis is associated with hyperthyroidism, hyperparathyroidism, Cushings syndrome and the use of certain steroidal drugs. Remedies historically have involved increase in dietary calcium, estrogen therapy and increased doses of vitamin D.
PTH has been used to treat osteoporosis. However, while the use of PTH is effective in the treatment of osteoporosis by diminishing the loss of bone mass, PTH may exhibit other undesired pharmalogical effects, such as hypotension and smooth muscle relaxation (e.g. relaxation of gastrointestinal organs, uterus, tracheal and vas deferens) as well as positive chronotropic and inotropic effects on the heart. The relaxation effects of PTH on smooth muscle as well as positive chronotropic and inotropic effects of PTH are described in Pang et al, Trends in Pharmacological Sciences, Vol. 7, No. 9, pp. 340-341 (September 1986).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,771,124 discloses the property of bovine and human PTH analogues wherein Trp.sup.23 is substituted by amino acids phenylalanine, leucine, norleucine, valine, tyrosine, beta-naphtylalanine and alpha-naphtylalanine as a PTH antagonist. While it was suggested that these analogues might be useful in the treatment of osteoporosis, it was based on the analogues antagonistic action to PTH. Furthermore, there was no data to indicate the effectiveness these analogues on bone or other tissue. In addition, analogues with substituted at Trp.sup.23 with leucine, phenylalanine or tyrosine would produce undesired secondary effects of smooth muscle relaxation, vascular smooth muscle calcium change as well as positive chronotropic and inotropic effects on the heart.
Because PTH is a peptide, topical administration would be the preferred method of administration. However, topical application of PTH or the aforementioned analogues which exhibit vasoactivity would likely produce an undesired local vascular reaction. This reaction could be potentially detrimental if, for example, nasal administration is employed.
It is one object of this invention to ameliorate bone loss while preventing smooth muscle relaxation as well as positive chronotropic and inotropic effects on the heart and without significantly changing blood pressure. It is another object of this invention to identify that portion of PTH which is responsible for calcium regulation and that portion which appears to be primarily related to control of blood pressure and smooth muscle action.

Parathyroid hormone analogues substituted at AA 25, 26, 27, and use in osteoporosis treatment

University of Alberta, Dept. of Physiology, 7-55 Medical Science Bldg.