A high-speed magnitude comparator circuit (30) receives two n-bit operands and provides first and second signals for each bit position. The first signal is a logical OR of a complement of a corresponding bit from the first operand and a corresponding bit from the second operand; the second signal is a logical AND of a complement of the corresponding bit from the first operand and the corresponding bit from the second operand. The second signal corresponding to the least-significant bit position is formed differently, as the logical OR of a complement of the least-significant bit of the first operand and the least-significant bit of the second operand. These signals are then provided to pullup (34) and pulldown (35) columns of transistors to determine the results of the comparison in parallel. Thus, the operands need only propagate through three logic levels to provide the result.

A useful function in many integrated circuits, such as data processors, is a magnitude comparison of two numbers. For example, a data processor core may be integrated with several different on-chip peripheral circuits, such as on-chip memory. For different integrated circuit designs using the data processor core, the size of the on-chip memory varies. The data processor core must determine whether a memory access cycle is to the on-chip memory or to off-chip memory. The data processor core makes this determination by performing a magnitude comparison between critical address bits and a preprogrammed address space size. If the magnitude comparator detects that the address is less than or equal to pre-programmed address space size, then the access is to internal memory. Otherwise, the access is to external memory. Since data processor cores using current technology may operate with clock speeds of approximately 40 MHz, the magnitude comparator must be very fast to avoid delaying the memory access.
There are two types of known magnitude comparator circuits. The first type is a sequential magnitude comparator, such as the AMD 9324 5-bit comparator. The sequential comparator first compares the most-significant bit of each of the two operands. Logic circuitry determines whether the first operand is larger than, equal to, or less than the second operand. If the most-significant bits are not equal to each other, the magnitude comparator can then provide an output signal representing the result of the comparison. However, if the bits are equal to each other, then the comparison is indeterminate and must proceed to the next-most-significant bit position. Likewise, the results of this comparison may determine the overall result, but it may be necessary for the comparison to proceed to the next-most-significant bit, and so on, until the least-significant bits are compared. In the worst case, the comparison will not be complete until all bits are compared, requiring approximately seven logic levels for a five-bit comparator.
The second type of magnitude comparator is a bit-cell magnitude comparator. The bit-cell magnitude comparator simultaneously compares corresponding bits from each bit position of the two operands. Each bit cell activates one of three output signals, a less-than signal designated "LT", a greater than signal designated "GT", or an equal to signal designated "EQ". Corresponding LT, GT, and EQ signals from all bit cells are then combined using random logic to provide overall LT, GT, and EQ signals. While this design may reduce the number of logic levels below that of the sequential design, it may also require the use of multiple-input logic gates, which increase switching time. For example, a five-bit magnitude comparator may be implemented in approximately five logic levels by using multiple-input logic gates.


A cultivator includes a handle having a lower end with a tool member connected thereto. The tool member has first and second spaced-apart tines, each of the tines having an outer tip and being tubular with a longitudinal interior hollow extending to the tip. A flexible member, such as a wire, extends from the hollows of the times and between the tips thereof. There are devices for securing the flexible member in tension between the tips of the tines. Preferably the tines have outer portions which are thinner and harder than inner portions of the tines. For example, the outer portion of each tine may be a tubular insert telescopically received within the inner portion. The devices for securing the wire may include a reel secured to one end of the wire.

This invention relates to weeders and cultivators, particularly the type having spaced-apart tines with a tensioned wire extending therebetween.
Many tools have been devised in the past for weeding gardens and otherwise cultivating the soil. These include hoes, weeders with blades or rotary devices which chop weeds, and in the process move large amounts of soil, sometimes replanting the weeds elsewhere. Some of these tools penetrate deeply into the soil and can cause damage to the roots of crops. Many of the earlier tools are bulky so it is difficult to weed in close proximity to plants without causing damage, particularly very small nursery plants. In addition, many such cultivators are not suitable for dry, sandy soil because turning over large volumes of soil causes loss of critical moisture.
A class of cultivator is known which is somewhat rake like, having an elongated handle with spaced-apart tines at the bottom end thereof. A tensioned wire extends between the tines. Examples are seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,056,007 to Jaenichen, 1,050,721 to Dickson and 2,397,786 to Gascoigne. While such devices theoretically present a solution to the problem of hand weeding, particularly in sandy soil, they have not achieved widespread acceptance. Some of these tools, for example, have relatively broad outer tines so that they cannot weed closely to small plants. In addition, many such tools do not allow for easy replacement and tensioning of the wire, causing inconvenience for the gardener.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved cultivator or weeder of this type having tines which are strong, but thin adjacent the wire so that the tool can cultivate close to small plants without causing damage.
It is another object of the invention to provide a tool of this class where the wire can be easily replaced and the tension can be conveniently adjusted without requiring special tools.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a tool of this type which is simple and robust in construction so that it can be built economically and yet provide convenient and reliable operation over a long period of time.


An insert formed of a polymeric microwave transmissible material is arranged for complementary reception with the microwave oven cavity permitting ease of removal of the insert relative to the cavity for enhanced ease of cleaning of the insert relative to and subsequent a microwave oven cooking procedure.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention relates to microwave oven structure, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved microwave oven insert wherein the same is arranged for reception within a microwave oven permitting ease of its removal for subsequent cleaning.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Microwave oven cleaning due to the fixed configuration has typically been of concern, wherein U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,633,052 and 4,778,968 set forth liner apparatus arranged for positioning within a microwave oven structure of a typical bag-like configuration and construction for enhanced ease of cleaning of a microwave oven.
The instant invention attempts to overcome deficiencies of the prior art by providing for a unitary insert housing member arranged for positioning within a microwave oven permitting ease of cleaning and removal of the liner relative to the microwave oven in a manner not addressed by the prior art and in this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


An ultrasonic surgical device includes a transducer assembly adapted to vibrate at an ultrasonic frequency in response to electrical energy. A transmission component having a transmission component adapted to receive ultrasonic vibration from the transducer assembly and to transmit the ultrasonic vibration from a first end to a second end. A braking device is configured to apply a force to the outer surface of the transmission component to dampen the ultrasonic vibration being transmitted from the first end of the transmission rod to the second end of the transmission rod. A method of inserting a trocar cannula into tissue of a patient is also provided. The method includes the steps of providing an ultrasonic trocar obturator having an ultrasonic waveguide including an end effector at a distal end thereof, positioning the trocar obturator within a trocar cannula, positioning the trocar obturator in contact with a wall of said body cavity, and ultrasonicly vibrating the end effector to create a penetration opening. The method further includes advancing the ultrasonic obturator into said penetration opening, detecting when penetration has been completed, applying a braking member to the obturator to dampen the ultrasonic vibration of the end effector, and advancing the trocar cannula into the penetration opening.

Minimally invasive endoscopic surgical procedures have become increasingly widespread in view of the reduced trauma for patients, and their highly cost-effective nature. For such procedures, a trocar assembly is typically employed for effecting penetration of the wall of a body cavity of the patient. A typical trocar assembly includes an outer tubular cannula, and an inner tissue-piercing obturator having a puncturing tip. For use, the trocar assembly is positioned so that the obturator can be advanced to form an opening in the wall of the body cavity with the puncturing tip, and the cannula thereafter inserted through the opening. The obturator is then removed from within the cannula, with the cannula thereafter providing access for insertion of surgical instruments and other devices related to the surgical procedure to be performed.
Many trocar assemblies have a retractable or removable shield that can cover the puncturing tip of the obturator, thus covering the tissue-piercing portion of the assembly. When the trocar assembly is positioned for puncturing the body cavity of a patient, the shield can be retracted to expose the puncturing tip to pierce the wall of the body cavity. Once the body cavity has been pierced, the shield re-covers the puncturing tip of the obturator. For example, in abdominal surgery, when the peritoneal cavity is reached, the shield covers the puncturing tip of the obturator.
Use of ultrasonic surgical instruments is also becoming increasingly widespread by virtue of the unique performance characteristics of such devices. Depending upon specific instrument configuration and operational parameters, such devices can provide substantially simultaneous cutting of tissue and hemostasis, again desirably minimizing patient trauma.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,449,370, hereby incorporated by reference, discloses an ultrasonic trocar assembly including an ultrasonic obturator configured to effect ultrasonic penetration of the wall of a body cavity for subsequent introduction of a tubular cannula of the trocar assembly. The obturator of the trocar assembly is provided with a blunt or rounded tip for minimizing patient trauma attendant to penetration of the body cavity. When the obturator penetrates the tissue of a patient, a feedback mechanism shuts off or reduces the ultrasonic energy delivered to the obturator.
The present invention is directed to an interlock or braking mechanism that mechanically dampens the ultrasonic energy delivered to a transmission component.

Ultrasonic interlock and method of using the same


In accordance with the present invention, it has been discovered that arylpropargyl ethers can readily be isomerized to produce benzopyrans, by subjecting a defined group of aryl propargyl compounds to isomerization conditions in suitable solvent. Invention isomerization process allows the production of a good yield of a variety of benzopyran materials, free of contaminating diluent. Benzopyrans prepared in accordance with the present invention are useful for the preparation of adhesive compositions, microelectronic devices, and the like.

Cyanate ester resins, epoxy resins and bismaleimide resins comprise the three major classes of thermosetting resins. Thermosetting resins can be used in a wide variety of applications, such as, for example, in the preparation of advanced composite materials, in the preparation of printed circuit board compositions, in the formation of glob-top structures, in a variety of encapsulation applications, in the preparation of adhesive compositions (e.g., die attach compositions), and the like.
Cyanate esters in particular are currently employed for the rapid curing of adhesive compositions used to bond semiconductor devices or chips, also known as dice, to carrier substrates. Such adhesive compositions include, in addition to the cyanate ester, thermally and/or electrically conductive filler, alkylphenol (as a proton donor participating in the cyclotrimerization cure of the cyanate ester monomer), and a curing catalyst dissolved in the alkylphenol.
Cyanate ester adhesive compositions have eliminated many of the deficiencies inherent in epoxy adhesives and polyamide adhesives, such as low glass transition temperature, high degree of ionic contamination, retention of solvent and lengthy cure. Nevertheless, there still remains room for improvement of die attach pastes containing electrically conductive filler in a variety of ways, e.g., by reducing the cost of preparation, by improving the ease of preparation, by improving the working pot life of the preparation, by avoiding the use of potentially detrimental components (e.g., alkylphenols are acidic species, which are potentially corrosive), by avoiding the use of volatile components (which upon cure tend to bleed out, which may lead to the creation of voids in the cured resin), by reducing the propensity of such materials to uptake moisture, by improving the resistance of such materials to hydrolysis, and the like.

Method for isomerization of arylpropargyl ether monomers and uses therefor


A method and apparatus for use with a component assembly that forms part of an enterprise and at least one processor, the processor programmed to perform at least one diagnostic process on the assembly and to at least periodically perform at least one summary process on the assembly, the method for commencing the at least one summary process and comprising the steps of specifying at least one triggering relationship between at least a first enterprise user and the assembly that is to initiate the at least one summary process, determining when the at least one triggering relationship occurs and, when the at least one triggering relationship occurs, causing the processor to perform the at least one summary process.

This section of this document is intended to introduce various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present invention described and/or claimed below. This section provides background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. It should be understood that the statements in this section of this document are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
This invention relates generally to diagnostic systems and more specifically to diagnostic systems and methods that perform diagnostic functions at optimal times and that generate diagnostic warnings in an optimal fashion.
Unless indicated otherwise, in order to simplify this explanation, the present invention will be described hereinafter in the context of the industrial automation industry. Nevertheless, it should be appreciated that the present invention includes various methods and apparatus that may be used in any of several different industries including, but not limited to, industrial automation and building automation as well as the medical field and other businesses where electronic and/or mechanical resource operations are analyzed to determine if tell tale signs of interesting conditions (e.g., a likely failure condition or an unexpected condition) occur.
Many industries employ complex automated manufacturing systems that include hundreds and even thousands of different electronic and mechanical resources that are integrated into machine lines for performing manufacturing processes. Most electronic and mechanical resources and systems have an expected useful life after which some or all of the components have to be replaced or repaired. In addition, most resources may malfunction prematurely under certain operating conditions or due to imperfections in the resources when the resources themselves were manufactured.
As with most electronic and mechanical devices, the useful lives of machine line resources can be extended via proper and routine maintenance. To this end, many large manufacturing concerns employ a number of different maintenance engineers charged with routinely maintaining resources. Here, in the case of mechanical resources maintenance may simply include keeping resources well lubricated and periodically replacing worn components. In the case of electronic components and some mechanical components, maintenance may include diagnostically analyzing operating data during normal operation of the resources. For example, for a specific set of resources there may be a range of acceptable operating parameters. A trend over several weeks toward one end or the other of the acceptable range of operating parameters may indicate a likely pending failure of certain components. When a trend is slow, prior experience may indicate that the likely time prior to failure will be relatively long and, when a trend is rapid, experience may indicate that failure is imminent. In some cases diagnostic processes may also include specific operations over and above normal resource operating procedures and analysis of resulting diagnostic data.
Experience generally guides development of diagnostic processes. For example, in the case of a first resource sub-set, experience may indicate that trend data should be obtained and analyzed on a weekly basis to avoid malfunctions and downtime whereas, in the case of a second resource sub-set, experience may indicate that trend data should be obtained and analyzed on a monthly basis.
As the number of manufacturing lines within facilities become greater, the number of diagnostic processes required to service facility resources increases. In addition, as the machine lines become more complex, the complexity of diagnostic processes also often increases. Moreover, as diagnostic results are examined, new diagnostic procedures are often developed that take into account new trends in diagnostic results and, in some cases, normal system operating data.
While diagnostic processes are advantageous and necessary, unfortunately diagnostic requirements increase manufacturing costs appreciably. To this end, large manufacturing concerns often include a large number of different resource types integrated into many different machine lines where the diagnostics required for each of the lines may be unique to the specific machine line. Here, maintenance engineers have to be relatively highly skilled in order to provide services to all lines within a concern's facilities. In addition, in most cases, diagnostic results do not warrant immediate maintenance. Thus, in cases where an engineer has to be present to perform diagnostic processes, if the engineer's presence is not immediately required to address problems related to the diagnostic results, valuable engineer time is wasted.
Many manufacturing concerns have reduced maintenance engineer or technician training requirements by training specific engineers to service specific machine lines and/or resources. For instance, a large manufacturing concern having twenty manufacturing facilities and many buildings at each facility may employ a total of ten maintenance engineers including two engineers in each of five different maintenance classes. Here each engineer need only be versed in maintaining one fifth of the entire set of resources employed by the concern. A specific engineer may routinely work at a different facility each day of a two week cycle and may be on call to address specific unforeseen interesting conditions in any of the facilities when the conditions occur.
To reduce the amount of time engineers have to spend performing routine diagnostic processes, in some cases diagnostic processes have been automated. For example, where a diagnostic process must be performed every week on a resource sub-set, a controller for the resource sub-set may be programmed to automatically perform the process at 5 AM every Monday morning. Similarly, where a process has to be performed every month, the controller may be programmed to automatically perform the process at 5 AM on the first of every month. In these cases either the controller or some other processor is programmed to examine the diagnostic results and, where an interesting condition occurs, to indicate that the interesting condition occurred. In any event, the diagnostic results may be stored for processing via subsequent trend type diagnostic analysis.
Automated diagnostics and multiple classes of maintenance engineers have solved many of the problems associated with maintenance programs. Nevertheless, some shortcomings still exist. For example, where an automatic diagnostic process is performed at 5 AM on the first of every month and a maintenance engineer is in a specific facility on February 27th and is not scheduled to be back in the facility until one week later, if the diagnostic process on March 1 indicates an interesting condition that requires consideration by an engineer, the engineer will have to make an additional and unforeseen trip back to the facility on March 1. In addition to wasting travel time, the additional trip may also throw off the engineer's regular schedule.
As another example, when an interesting condition is identified, often a signal is sent to a central facility or concern monitoring or service station which then contacts an engineer to resolve the condition. Here, in most cases, a monitoring employee must assess the situation, identify a qualified engineer to address the condition and then issue a work request of some type to the engineer. This process requires that the monitoring employee be familiar with engineer qualifications which is not always the case—especially in the case of large concerns where engineer and monitoring employee turnover may be routine.
In addition, at any given time there is usually a specific engineer within the sub-set of qualified engineers that is optimal for addressing a specific interesting condition and known systems fail to enable the monitoring employee to identify the optimal engineer. In this regard, all other things being equal, the qualified engineer that is currently least busy should address an occurring interesting condition. Similarly, all other things being equal, the qualified engineer that is currently closest to the location of the interesting condition should address the occurring interesting condition. In addition, all other things being equal, if an interesting condition occurs at a facility location where a qualified engineer is scheduled to be within a short period to perform other maintenance duties, that engineer may be the optimal engineer to address the condition. Known current systems do not enable a monitoring employee to optimally assign tasks to maintenance engineers as a function of various factors such as proximity, qualifications, availability, etc.
One other problem that has been recognized with existing diagnostic systems is that often there are broad location related trends that cannot be appreciated at the resource level. To this end, where a rash of interesting conditions occurs within a specific area of a facility there may be some environmental cause (e.g., temperature, excess humidity, magnetic field, etc.) that is affecting resource operations. Current known systems have no way of grouping together location based interesting conditions.
Yet one other problem with addressing diagnostically interesting conditions is related to mobile resources. One recent trend in manufacturing resources is to provide resources that are rapidly reconfigurable so that many different products can be manufactured using different integrated resource subsets or so that one resource may be used at different times with different resource sub-sets. For example, a dryer machine may be wheeled between several facility locations to be used at different times with different plastic molding resource sub-assemblies. Here, where interesting conditions are noticed to service stations, known systems fail to provide a mechanism for determining which of several different stations should receive notice of interesting conditions associated with the mobile resource.

Location based diagnostics method and apparatus


A PDP includes first and second substrates facing each other, a plurality of address electrodes disposed on one surface of the first substrate, a first dielectric layer covering the address electrodes, barrier ribs disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate and partitioning a plurality of discharge cells, a phosphor layer disposed in the discharge cells, a plurality of display electrodes disposed in a direction generally perpendicular to the address electrodes and positioned on the surface of the second substrate facing the first substrate, a second dielectric layer covering the display electrodes, and a protective layer covering the second dielectric layer. The protective layer includes particles of strontium oxide (SrO).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plasma display panel (PDP).
2. Description of the Related Art
A PDP is a display device that displays images by exciting a phosphor layer with vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) rays generated by gas discharge in discharge cells. As PDPs can be fabricated with wide screens and high resolution, they have been spotlighted as next generation flat panel displays.
The PDP has a general three electrode surface-discharge structure. The three electrode surface-discharge structure includes a front substrate including a display electrode having two electrodes, and a rear substrate positioned a distance from the front substrate and having an address electrode. The display electrodes are covered with a dielectric layer. The space between the front and rear substrates is partitioned with barrier ribs into a plurality of discharge cells, into which a discharge gas is injected. A phosphor layer is formed on the rear substrate.
In addition, a protective layer is disposed thereon to protect the dielectric layer from ion impact during the discharge.


A sample plate comprising a sample well is disclosed. The sample well can comprise one or more bead retaining chambers. Also provided herein is a method of using the sample plate and kits comprising the sample plate.

An assay device is important in many biological assays, such as for detecting an analyte in a liquid sample. A desirable feature of an assay device is the durability of the plate and maintenance of the reagent in the plate for accurate assay results. For example, a design for an assay device is a sample plate comprising molded wells with fingers that protrude up from the bottom of the well and into which a reagent bead is dispensed, and the reagent bead can be captured in the fingers. However, as reagent beads are free to move up and down within the finger height, a reagent bead may become stuck at an undesired height during a processing or reading step, which can lead to an inaccurate assay result. Furthermore, any movement of, or damage to, the fingers could result in a reagent bead becoming stuck at an undesired height. The fingers also protrude from the base which makes them susceptible to damage particularly during pipetting and washing stages.
Another desirable feature of an assay device is the ability to perform multiple assays at once, or the ability to multiplex. For example, an assay device with a high density of wells for a sample plate allows an increased number of assays to be performed on a single plate. Another desirable characteristic of an assay device is the ability to use a minimal amount of reagents and sample, as well as the prevention of crosstalk between different samples during multiplexing.
Another desirable aspect of an assay device is the ease in manufacturing. For example, a sample well with molded fingers is relatively complex to manufacture and can suffer from unreliability issues during manufacture. The long thin fingers are difficult to form by molding and would be prone to damage during manufacture or during use. The fingers also have a feature at the top which in a mould tool would be an undercut. When the part is ejected off the tool, the fingers must bend for the feature to get past the tool material. Such a manufacturing process is generally undesirable due to unreliability issues. Furthermore, any change in the process parameters is likely to affect the ability to release the part from the tool and leave the part intact to the correct mechanical tolerances. The position of the fingers relative to each other would be critical to allow the reagent bead to move up and down correctly and also to ensure that the reagent bead does not come out of the top of the fingers. This would be very difficult, in practice, to control in a mass production environment. The design of the single bead arrangement is also completely different to the design of the multi-well arrangement. As a result, completely different tool designs would be required which again would greatly increase the complexity of manufacture. In a high volume manufacturing environment, the combination of the design features and quality assurance concerns would make the sample plates excessively expensive to produce.
Thus, there is a need for an assay device with one or more of these desirable features. Provided herein is a sample plate system, and methods of using the system, that meets these needs and provides related advantages as well.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A new and distinct Alstroemeria plant variety producing flowers of good quality and attractive coloration.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of Alstroemeria originated as a seedling by crossing as seed parent an unreleased, unpatented seedling identified as 89T477-1 and as pollen parent an unreleased, unpatented seedling identified as 86F1382-1 from among my collection of Alstroemeria seedlings maintained under controlled conditions in a greenhouse at Van Staaveren B.V., Aalsmeer, The Netherlands, for developmental purposes. The varietal denomination of the new variety is `Starexan`.
The first act of asexual reproduction of `Starexan` was in Aalsmeer, The Netherlands, by propagation by dividing rhizomes. Asexual reproduction by dividing rhizomes through successive generations in Aslsmeer, The Netherlands, has demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for `Starexan` are firmly fixed and retained through successive generations.
`Starexan` has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. Phenotypic expression may vary with variations in environment such as temperature, light intensity, day length and growing and cultural conditions.


In an object environment, among the plurality of objects interact, one or several objects in the number of objects are allocated to a component. The naming management is distributed over the components. Each component manages the naming of the component or components which immediately follows it.

To implement the software of distributed computer systems, object oriented design is increasingly used as the architectural principle. One such computer system software architecture is the CORBA architecture (CORBA=Common Object Request Broker Architecture), which is an important component of the OSA architecture (OSA=Object Service Architecture) specified by the Object Management Group (OMG).
The invention is based on the way that the naming management of objects (managed objects) is normally executed in a computer system according to the CORBA architecture. This is described, for example, in "Common Object Request Broker: Architecture and Specification r2.0", Object Management Group, Framingham, Mass., 1995.
A central CORBA service (naming service) is responsible for the naming management which produces this service in a central node (naming server). Here, the naming management includes, in particular, the display of a logical address of an object on a physical CORBA address (object reference). This mapping function is of vital significance for a CORBA system, as objects which act on a CORBA infrastructure can only be found by means of this physical address.
Problems arise when objects which are not specified as CORBA objects have to interact on the CORBA infrastructure over CORBA mechanisms. Dependent upon how such objects are implemented in the CORBA architecture, independent naming areas result, which cannot be accessed in a uniform way. The central naming management cannot manage these areas and access to objects in this naming area is almost impossible using CORBA mechanisms.

Process for managing the naming of objects, process for mapping an object name to a CORBA object reference, program module, computer unit, and computer system

Alcatel Alsthom Compagnie Generale d'Electricite


A receiving apparatus for synchronising a digital data clock in a receiver with a digital data clock in a transmitter and a method therefor is disclosed which utilizes two phase-locked loops so as to improve accuracy and jitter performance. One of the phase-locked loops is locked onto positive edges in a received waveform and the other phase-locked loop is locked onto negative edges. The phase-locked loops independently decode the 1's and 0's in the data allowing the transmit data and clock to be readily recovered. Each of the phase-locked loops uses a decoding method in which mid-bit transitions in the encoded received waveform are detected in more than half of the sampling periods within one bit period which further improves the performance of the apparatus.

a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a receiving apparatus and a method therefor for synchronising a digital data clock in a receiver with a digital data clock in a transmitter.
b) Description of the Prior Art
It is known in digital electronic systems to send digital data from one device (a transmitter) to another device (the receiver). In many such systems a single cable is used as the transmission media between the two devices in which the data is converted into individual binary digits (bits) of information which are serially transmitted along the cable.
Some form of encoding is required to represent each of the bits of data to be transmitted and one common form of encoding is the so-called "no return to zero" (NRZ) of which an exemplary waveform is shown in FIG. 1(a). Referring to FIG. 1(a) each data bit has one of two values which are represented by high and low voltage levels on the cable, the low voltage levels being represented by data level "0" and the high voltage levels being represented by data level "1". To correctly decode the data it is necessary for the receiver to know at what point to sample the incoming waveform. In instances where the transmitter and receiver share a common clock then synchronisation is relatively straightforward but it is not usually the case that the transmitter and receiver share a common clock and so it then becomes necessary for the receiver to generate its own clock with which it samples the incoming data. Although this may not represent any problems for short data streams, there will invariably be problems with frequency variations between the transmitter and receiver clocks, particularly if the data stream contains long periods of one particular logic level which give the receiver no information about the clock of the transmitter.
It is, therefore, desirable to transmit the data and the clock used to generate it. One known encoding method used to enable the clock and data to be sent down a single cable is so-called "Manchester" encoding, a typical waveform of which is shown in FIG. 1(b) corresponding to the NRZ data waveform shown in FIG. 1(a). It will be noted that from FIG. 1(b) that each data bit is split into two halves, the first half of each bit period being set equal to the inverse of the data bit to be sent and the second half being set equal to the data bit to be sent. The relevant and important feature of the waveform of FIG. 1(b) is that there is a transition in the middle of every bit period regardless of the data which is being sent.
At the start of data transmission a preamble of alternating 0's and 1's is transmitted and such a preamble waveform for the NRZ data is shown in FIG. 2(a) and for the Manchester encoded data is shown in FIG. 2(b). The Manchester encoded data preamble waveform, as shown in FIG. 2(b), only has transitions in the middle of every bit period and not at the end of the bit periods, and it is a square wave at exactly half the frequency of the transmitted NRZ data rate shown in FIG. 2(a). The receiver is, thus, able to use the preamble to synchronise its own clock and the ensuing transition in the middle of every bit period is used to maintain the synchronisation.
It is known to use a phase-locked loop (PLL) to perform the receiver clock synchronisation and in a conventional receiver the Manchester encoded data is decoded by using the receiver clock to sample the incoming data. Thus, to correctly decode the data the receiver clock must match the transmitter clock to within a quarter of a bit period or the data may be sampled on the wrong side of a transition in the data. The receiver must also be able to cope with jitter in the incoming data stream, that is in which the individual edges of the waveform may be shifted by a significant amount from their normal position. Thus, to take ETHERNET as an example, the bit period is 100 ns and so the receiver clock must be accurate to .+-.25 ns. It is also possible to have jitter of up to 18 ns--as specified in ISO Standard 8802.3--which means that, as an absolute minimum, the accuracy of the receiver clock must be .+-.7 ns.
Until relatively recently the majority of high-speed phase-locked loops were analogue in nature and these had the advantage of having an infinite resolution but required the use of accurate capacitors and resistors which makes them unsuitable for integration into digital integrated circuits.
A digital phase-locked loop requires no such precision components. However, its resolution is very much limited by its sampling frequency. Therefore, to take the example of ETHERNET, if it was decided that a clock accuracy of .+-.5 ns was required, this would require a 200 MHz sampling rate in a conventional digital phase locked loop. This is above the maximum clock frequency achievable in most current silicon technologies.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a receiving apparatus for synchronising a digital data clock in a receiver with a digital data clock in a transmitter and to provide a method therefor.

Apparatus and method for synchronizing a digital data clock in a receiver with a digital data clock in a transmitter


In-system signal monitoring using an integrated circuit such as a programmable logic device is described. An analog-to-digital converter is disposed in the programmable logic device. A sampling bridge is coupled to provide an analog input to the analog-to-digital converter and to receive first signaling of a first frequency. A signal generator is configured to provide second signaling at a second frequency which is a fraction of the first frequency. Sample window circuitry is coupled to receive the second signaling and configured to provide third signaling to the sampling bridge at least partially responsive to the second signaling and at least partially responsive to an adjustable impedance setting of the sample window circuitry. The sample window circuitry is configured to provide an adjustable sample window within a pulse-width range.

Programmable logic devices ("PLDs") are a well-known type of integrated circuit (IC) that can be programmed to perform specified logic functions. One type of PLD, the field programmable gate array ("FPGA"), typically includes an array of programmable tiles. These programmable tiles can include, for example, input/output blocks ("IOBs"), configurable logic blocks ("CLBs"), dedicated random access memory blocks ("BRAMs"), multipliers, digital signal processing blocks ("DSPs"), processors, clock managers, delay lock loops ("DLLs"), and so forth. Notably, as used herein, "include" and "including" mean including without limitation.
One such FPGA is the Xilinx Virtex® FPGA (including Virtex, Virtex 2 and Virtex 4) available from Xilinx, Inc., 2100 Logic Drive, San Jose, Calif. 95124. Other PLDs are programmed by applying a processing layer, such as a metal layer, that programmably interconnects the various elements on the device. These PLDs are known as mask programmable devices. PLDs can also be implemented in other ways, for example, using fuse or antifuse technology. The terms "PLD" and "programmable logic device" include but are not limited to these exemplary devices, as well as encompassing devices that are only partially programmable.
For purposes of clarity, FPGAs are described below though other types of PLDs may be used. FPGAs may include one or more embedded microprocessors. For example, a microprocessor may be located in an area reserved for it, generally referred to as a "processor block."
It should be understood that flip-chip and ball grid array packaging generally do not have exposed leads for probing. Thus, to do real-time debug and verification of a design instantiated in an FPGA, a tool called ChipScope from Xilinx, Inc., may be used. ChipScope facilitates debug and verification at or near operating system speed. Essentially, logic analyzer, bus analyzer, and virtual input/output low-profile software cores are loaded into programmable logic of an FPGA in addition to the instantiated design. These cores allow viewing of internal signals and nodes as brought out through a programming interface, and such signals may be captured for output at or near operating system speed. The FPGA may be linked to test bench equipment for signal viewing and analysis.
However, it should be appreciated that a software core solution, such as the ChipScope solution, is for testing while coupled to a "test bench" or other test equipment. Accordingly, it would be desirable and useful to provide means for testing or monitoring a design instantiated in a PLD while in an in-system operating environment.

Integrated circuit for in-system signal monitoring


The present invention provides a phenylpyruvate reductase for efficiently obtaining highly pure, optically active 3-phenyllactate and 4-hydroxyphenyllactate; a gene coding for the same; and a method for manufacturing optically active 3-phenyllactate and 4-hydroxyphenyllactate employing the same.

Both 3-phenyllactate and 4-hydroxyphenyllactate are antibacterial agents isolated from lactobacilli (Non-patent References 1-4).
3-phenyllactate has a wide spectrum of antibacterial activity, not just against Aspergillus ochraceus, Penicillium roqueforti, Penicillium citrinium, and other molds (Non-patent Reference 5), but also against Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli 0157, and other such harmful gram-negative and positive bacteria (Non-patent References 1, 2, 5-7). This wide spectrum of antibacterial activity suggests the possibility of utilizing 3-phenyllactate as a food additive. It is moreover a useful compound that can be utilized in other applications such as pharmaceuticals, agricultural chemicals and intermediates thereof, aromatic biopolymer plastics, liquid crystals, and other such functional materials, biocompatible (medical) materials, and the like.
Because both 4-hydroxyphenyllactate and 3-phenyllactate are similarly derived from lactobacilli, this suggests not only the possibility of utilization as a food additive, but the potential to serve as an antibacterial additive for other applications, as well as potential in pharmaceuticals, agricultural chemicals, or intermediates thereof.
With regard to methods for the manufacture of these compounds, numerous attempts at manufacturing optically active 3-phenyllactate have been reported (Patent Reference 1), but from an environment impact and cost standpoint, a new method of synthesis that does not use such chemical substances would be preferable. Furthermore, no techniques have been devised to date for large-scale production of high purity 4-hydroxyphenyllactate. Currently, test reagents derived through organic chemical synthesis and principally racemic products, i.e., mixtures of D- and L-isomers, are marketed in small quantities, but a synthesis method affording higher efficiency of generation would be preferable.
One potential means for solving these problems would be a method for synthesis of optically active 3-phenyllactate or 4-hydroxyphenyllactate by microbial culture or with enzymes, to produce the desired compound in large quantities without the use of catalysts, organic solvents, and other such chemicals.
Various lactobacilli are known to be 3-phenyllactate-producing bacteria (Non-patent References 5, 9-11), including the Asmomycota Geotrichum candidum (Non-patent Reference 2) and the propionic acid-producing bacteria Propionibacterium freudenreichii (Non-patent Reference 8).
However, with regard to research on the enzyme molecular level conducted in relation to production of 3-phenyllactate, only purification of D,L-lactate dehydrogenase from Lactobacillus. sp SK007 has been reported, in 2008 (Non-patent Reference 12). Moreover, there are only two examples to date of cloning the genes of enzymes exhibiting enzyme activity on phenylpyruvate, which is predicted to be a precursor of 3-phenyllactate: recombinant D,L-lactate dehydrogenase derived from Lactobacillus plantarum SK002 (Non-patent Reference 13), and recombinant glyoxylate reductase/hydroxypyruvate reductase derived from Rhizobium etli CFN 42 (Non-patent Reference 16). It is unclear how these would contribute to production of 3-phenyllactate.
Moreover, while Patent References 2 and 3 report optically active 3-phenyllactate-producing bacteria, these are undesirable mixtures of R and S isomers.
In Patent Reference 4, it is reported that an enzyme produced by the filamentous bacteria Mycelia sterilia (FERM BP-2671), a PF1022 substance-producing bacteria, acts on phenylpyruvate so as to reduce it, converting it to (R)-2-hydroxy-3-phenylpropionic acid.
However, there is currently no efficient way to obtain high-purity optically active 3-phenyllactate.
As noted above, a manufacturing method whereby it would be possible to obtain high-purity optically active 3-phenyllactate and 4-hydroxyphenyllactate in large quantities has yet to be devised, and there is an urgent need to develop one.

Phenylpyruvate reductase and method for manufacturing optically-active phenyllactic acid and 4-hydroxyl-phenyllactic acid using same enzyme


A process for production of a magnet which comprises step of supplying a slurry S containing magnetic powder and a dispersing medium into the cavity C of a molding apparatus 12, a step of compression molding the slurry S while applying a magnetic field to the slurry S to obtain a molded article and a step of sintering the molded article to obtain a magnet, wherein the molding apparatus 12 comprises a die 121 having a through-hole 121a into which the slurry S is supplied, a slurry supply gate 121d being formed in the inner wall surface 121b, a die 122 inserted in the through-hole 121a and a die 123 that forms a cavity C together with the dies 123, 122, the slurry S being supplied in an amount such that it is less than the volume of the cavity C when the die 122 has been inserted in the through-hole 121a and has blocked the slurry supply gate 121d, and in the step of obtaining the molded article, the slurry S is compression molded after the die 122 has blocked the slurry supply gate 121d.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for production of a magnet, a magnet obtained thereby and a production apparatus for molded articles for magnets.
2. Related Background Art
Ferrite magnets are widely used in various fields including automobiles, household electrical appliances and industrial equipment because of their excellent properties and relatively low cost.
For production of a ferrite magnet, first a mixture of starting materials in a prescribed mixing ratio is calcined to obtain a calcined ferritized body, and then the calcined body is pulverized to the submicron size to obtain finely pulverized powder composed of ferrite particles. The finely pulverized powder is then subjected to compression molding in a magnetic field to obtain a molded article, and the molded article is sintered. This process yields a ferrite magnet.
Such molding processes are largely classified as dry molding wherein the finely pulverized powder is molded after drying, or wet molding in which the finely pulverized powder is prepared as a slurry before molding, with wet molding being preferred for a greater degree of magnetic orientation.
Processes for production of magnets by wet molding are known, such as described in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2006-253526, for example. The magnet production process described in the aforementioned publication employs a molding apparatus comprising a mortar die with a through-hole, a drag that is inserted into the through-hole of the mortar die and a cope which forms a cavity by sealing the through-hole together with the drag, wherein a slurry supply gate for supply of slurry is formed in the inner wall surface surrounding the through-hole of the mortar die. The slurry supplied to the mortar die with a pump is fed into the cavity through the slurry supply gate.
In this magnet production process, the slurry supplied to the mortar die by the pump is fed into the cavity through the slurry supply gate causing the cavity to become filled with the slurry, after which the drag is moved to accomplish compression molding of the slurry while blocking the slurry supply gate, to obtain a molded article.

Process for production of magnet, magnet obtained thereby and production apparatus for molded articles for magnet


A fiber-coupled laser based on a whispering-gallery-mode resonator formed of a laser gain medium and an angle-polished fiber coupler.

This application relates to lasers, and more specifically, to optically-pumped lasers.
A laser generally includes an optical resonator, an active laser medium in the optical resonator, and a pump source. The active laser medium is selected to absorb the energy from the pump source and to produce an optical gain at a laser wavelength. The laser is optically pumped when the pump source is a laser or other light source. The resonator is used to direct the optical energy at the laser wavelength to repetitively pass through the active laser medium to be amplified and stored in one or more resonator modes. When the optical gain exceeds the total optical loss in the resonator, the laser oscillation occurs and the optical energy at the laser wavelength can be coupled out of the resonator as a laser output beam.
The present disclosure includes a laser that uses a whispering-gallery-mode microsphere as the laser resonator and the active laser medium. The microsphere is formed of a material that is doped to produce the desired optical gain for laser action at a laser wavelength. An angle-polished fiber coupler is implemented to couple an optical fiber to the microsphere so that a pump beam at a pump wavelength from a pump light source can be delivered through the optical fiber to the microsphere and coupled into a whispering gallery mode at the pump wavelength in the microsphere. In addition, the angle-polished fiber coupler is also used to couple the laser beam in a whispering gallery mode out of the microsphere and into the optical fiber.


A keyboard support device provides a user with ergonomic positioning of the hands during keyboarding to prevent ailments such as carpal tunnel syndrome. The support device provides surfaces to receive a keyboard and mouse. Wedge shaped inserts can be used to alter the particular angle of the keyboard and mouse thereby providing a user with flexibility to position the hands at a desired angle. A first embodiment can be constructed of a closed cell foam in a molding or injection molding process. A second embodiment provides an inflatable support device especially suited for users who travel.

Alphanumeric keyboards used in typewriters, computers, and in certain scientific instruments are most often arranged such that the front edge of the keyboard surface is lower than the rear edge of the keyboard surface. Accordingly, a keyboard operator must elevate the hands with respect to the forearms in order to strike the keys. The medical community has become aware of an affliction known as "carpal tunnel syndrome" which effects the median nerve extending down the arm and out to the hand. This median nerve can be exacerbated by repetitive keyboard operation wherein the hands are elevated in comparison to the forearms.
In order to overcome this undesirable affliction, it is known to provide a keyboard support at a reverse angle or inclination such that the hand and fingers are allowed to droop normally at a level parallel with or somewhat below the forearms. Performing keyboard operations while the hands are in this position can help to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome. One example of a prior art reference which discloses such a reverse angled keyboard support apparatus includes U.S. Pat. No. 5,567,067. This invention discloses a keyboard positioning system in which the keyboard is positioned with its rear edge substantially lower than its forward or operator edge in order that the operator uses the keyboard with the plane of the operator's hands parallel to, or below the line of the operator's forearm, this reducing the incidence of carpal tunnel syndrome. A hand support bar is provided to support the operator's hands while keyboarding.
Another example of a keyboard support device utilizing a reverse inclination is that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,378. This reference discloses a keyboard support tray having folding legs. The legs have risers to enable adjustment of a support deck to a height so that a hinged tray depends at an approximate negative angle of 25°. The support deck has a height to support a wrist pad at just below the user's wrists to enable typing with a 0° angle from the wrist to the forearm.
Our earlier U.S. Pat. No. 6,543,949 discloses a keyboard support apparatus to help prevent afflictions such as carpal tunnel syndrome. The structure of this apparatus is characterized by a foldable support having a base panel, an incline panel, and means for adjusting the incline of the incline panel with respect to the base panel. The inclined panel is rotatably connected to the base panel, and a user may selectively adjust the inclination of the incline panel to best support the user's arms and wrists thereby placing the hands in a more natural position.
While each of the aforementioned inventions may help to overcome carpal tunnel syndrome or other afflictions, there is still a need for a support apparatus that is of simple construction, and allows a user to adjust the angle at which the hands are positioned for keyboarding operations to optimize a natural position to prevent such afflictions.


A method of bonding a plastic substrate with an alpha-cyanoacrylate adhesive in which a primer comprising an ethylenediamine is used. The method is particularly suitable for use in bonding polyolefins in the consumer market.

1. Field of the Invention
Because of their low surface energy non-polar materials are difficult to bond, even with cyanoacrylate adhesives. Particularly difficult to bond are linear polymers of simple olefins, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polybutene and the like, including their copolymers. Other materials which can be bonded by this invention are polyacetals, plasticized polyvinyl chloride, polyurethane, ethylene-propylene diene polymer thermoplastic rubbers based on vulcanized polyolefins and the like.
While it is well known that solutions of amines and other organic and inorganic bases will accelerate the cure of cyanoacrylate adhesives, it is surprising that the primers of this invention also confer adhesion on non-polar substrates. The curing or polymerisation of a film of cyanoacrylate, between two materials, does not necessarily result in a strong bond, particularly if the materials are non-polar, and if the polymerisation of the cyanoacrylate is excessively rapid, a very weak bond or no bond will result.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various surface treatments have been used heretofore to improve adhesion of the difficult-to-bond materials described above. These treatments include surface abrasion, corona discharge (J.C. Von der Heide & H.L. Wilson, Modern Plastics 38 9 (1961) P199), flame treatment (E.F. Buchel, British Plastics 37 (1964) pl42), U.V. radiation (Practising Polymer Surface Chemistry, D. Dwight, Chemtech (March 1982) P166), plasma treatment, hot chlorinated solvents, dichromate/sulphuric acid and chlorine/U.V. radiation (D.Brewis & D.Briggs, Polymer 22 7 (1981) and references therein). All the above treatments are effective to some degree and are generally thought to work by introducing polar groups on non-polar substrates.
While the above treatments may, on occasion, improve the ability of difficult substrates to be bonded with adhesives, the treatments have the disadvantage of requiring specialized apparatus and equipment and can involve corrosive and/or hazardous materials.
Apart from the above treatments, there are examples in the prior art of the use of various accelerators or initiators of the polymerization of the cyanoacrylate monomer. The disadvantage with such accelerators or initiators is that while the speed of cure of the bond is increased, adhesion on non-polar substrates is not promoted and the resulting bond can be very weak and the adhesive can slip off the substrate.
U.S. Pat. Ser. No. 3326742 of Sheppard discloses the use of certain N-Halogenated compounds at temperatures of at least 90.degree. C. as a surface treatment for organic high polymers to render the surface of the plastic mode adherent, so that the material can be easily and securely bonded with conventional bonding agents or adhesives. The N-Halogenated amine compounds suitable for use in this process are electro-negative organic amine compounds halogenated at the nitrogen atom with either chlorine or bromine. The halogenated amine compound may either be applied to the surface to be bonded or it may be incorporated into the adhesive.
The invention is suitable for use with polymers which are normally difficult to bond particularly polyesters, polyacetals, polycarbonates, vinyl polymers, polyolefins, various nylons, and polyurethanes. Such a surface treatment requires extremely high temperatures which makes it unsuitable for use in a consumer market; it is more appropriate in an industrial setting.
Accelerators comprising basic organic nitrogen compounds for use with cyanoacrylate adhesives for surgical use are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Ser. No. 3483870 of Coover and Fassett. The organic nitrogen compounds are beta-substituted ethyl-amines of formula: ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 can be alkyl or cycloalkyl of 4 to 6 carbon atoms but, preferably, is phenyl or phenyl substituted with hydroxy or lower alkoxy, or the like, R.sup.2 is hydrogen, lower alkyl, preferably methyl or hydroxyl. R.sup.3 and R.sup.4 are hydrogen or lower alkyl; and at least one of R.sup.2, R.sup.3 and R.sup.4 is hydroxyl or lower alkyl. These compounds are vasoconstrictors and local anesthetics; a particularly preferred compound being epinephrine.
Japanese Patent No. 74012094 of Toa Gasei Chemical Ind. discloses the use of one or more of diethyl amine, o-phenylene diamine, dimethyl-para-toluidine, diethyl-para-toluidine, N,N-diethyl aniline, trichloroacetamide and succinic acid imide to improve adhesion of alpha-cyanoacrylate type adhesives. The compounds may be used either independently or in combination or as a mixture with other amines, and are preferably used as a dilute solution with a solvent. The compounds are particularly suitable for use in bonding light metals, nylon or Delrin (polyacetal resin).
The use of alkalis to promote the adhesion of synthetic resin substances with alpha-cyanoacrylate adhesives is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 43-5004, of Toa Gosei Kagaku Kogyo Co. Ltd. inorganic or organic basic substances can be used, the most preferred being a caustic aqueous alkali solution with a density of 1 to 20%. Also disclosed are inorganic basic substances such as alkali carbonate and calcium hydroxide, or amides such as dimethyl acetoamide and formamide, amines such as monoethanal amine and ethylamine and other organic basic substances such as piperidine and pyrroline. Many of the substances disclosed in this patent application are caustic and would therefore be unsuitable for use in a consumer product.
A hardening accelerator for use with cyanoacrylate adhesives comprising an amine compound, with a boiling point of between 50.degree. C. and 250.degree. C., together with a deodorizer and a solvent, is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 59-66471 of Toa Gosei Chemical Industry Co. Ltd. Examples of suitable amines are triethyl amine, diethyl amine, butyl amine, isopropyl amine, tributyl amine, N,N,-dimethyl aniline, N,N-diethyl aniline, N,N-dimethyl-p-toluidine, N,N-dimethyl-m-toluidine, N,N-dimethyl-o-toluidine, dimethyl benzyl amine, pyridine, picoline, vinyl pyridine, ethanolamine, propanolamine and ethylene diamine.
Japanese Patent Application No. 48-78961, also in the name of Tao Gosei Chemical Industry Co. Ltd., discloses the use of quaternary ammonium salts as adhesion promotors with inert or non-polar and/or highly crystalline plastics which are normally hard to adhere. The specification discloses a number of suitable compounds such as alkyl ammonium salts, amide-bonded amonium salts, ester-bonded ammonium salts, ether-bonded ammonium salts and alkylimidazolinium salts. The compounds also have use in promoting bonding of porous materials such as wood, leather, paper etc.
U.S. Pat. Ser. No. 3260637 of von Bramer discloses the use of a range of organic amines (excluding primary amines) as accelerators for cyanoacrylate adhesives, particularly for use on metallic and non-metallic substrates. The amines are selected from poly N-vinyl pyridine, poly(ethylenediamine) and an amine of the formulae: ##STR2## wherein R is a C.sub.1-8 alkyl, phenyl, tolyl, xylyl, benzyl, phenylethyl, cyclopentyl or cyclohexyl radical, R.sub.1 is a hydrogen atom, C.sub.1-4 alkyl, phenyl, tolyl, xylyl, benzyl, phenylethyl, cyclopentyl or cyclohexyl radical, R.sub.2 is a C.sub.1-8 alkyl or C.sub.1-8 alkenyl radical, R.sub.3 is a hydrogen atom or a C.sub.1-8 alkyl radical and R.sub.4 is a radical --CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 --O--CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 --.


Graphitic structures have been prepared by exposing templates (metal, metal-coated ceramic, graphite, for example) to a gaseous mixture that includes hydrocarbons and oxygen. When the template is metal, subsequent acid treatment removes the metal to yield monoliths, hollow graphitic structures, and other products. The shapes of the coated and hollow graphitic structures mimic the shapes of the templates.

Graphitic articles employed for commercial applications are currently made by cutting or shaping macroscopic graphitic bodies using machine tools or by high pressure molding of graphite powders. There are problems with these approaches. First, the scale and intricacy of the design of graphitic articles by a machining or high pressure molding approach is limited. Graphitic articles with micron-scale dimensions and smaller cannot readily be prepared by machining techniques or high pressure molding approaches. Graphitic articles in which the orientation of the planes of graphite is critical (an array of cylindrical objects in which the basal planes of the graphite encircle the cylinder axis, for example) also cannot be fabricated readily using machining techniques. In addition, fabrication is expensive because machine work is required and the graphite feedstock is costly. Naturally occurring graphite feedstock is sometimes used. More often, the feedstock is produced by an expensive batch process that requires soaking carbon precursors such as petroleum coke for hours at temperatures in excess of 2500 K.
There remains a need for methods for preparing intricate graphitic articles.
Therefore, an object of the invention is to provide a simple method for producing precise and intricate graphitic articles.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a method for producing precise and intricate graphite coatings on metallic, ceramic, and metal-coated objects.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method for preparing graphite monoliths.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a method for making very large (scales from centimeters to many meters) graphitic objects.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description that follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.


Methods and systems for detecting an oscillatory event are provided. According to one embodiment, a system may include a controller configured to provide a command signal to a positioning device and a processor communicatively coupled to the controller. The command signal may include a reference position. The processor may be configured to monitor a feedback signal responsive to the command signal. The feedback signal may include an actual position of the positioning device. The processor may be further configured to determine that within a predetermined period of time the actual position is both above a predetermined upper threshold and below a predetermined lower threshold. Based on the determination, the processor may declare the oscillatory event.

Various types of instability may be encountered during operation of a controlled system. Typically, a controller can generate reference command signals for transmission to various actuators to define positions of the actuators during the operation of the controlled system. Feedback received from the controlled system can include actual positions of the actuators in operation. These actual positions can be compared to the command signal to detect any discrepancies. The detected discrepancies may indicate that some instability exists and are used to declare errors.
FIG. 1 illustrates how, in some conventional systems, errors are declared based on predetermined thresholds and a period of time the instability lasts. As shown in FIG. 1, in operation 105, a controller provides a reference command signal to an actuator, and in operation 110, the controller monitors the feedback signal including the actual position of the actuator. In operation 115, the command signal and the feedback signal are compared to each other to determine whether any discrepancies are present and, if such discrepancies are present, it is determined whether the feedback signal exceeds thresholds in operation 120. When the feedback signal is within the thresholds, monitoring of the feedback signal continues. When the feedback signal exceeds any of the thresholds, a delay timer is activated in operation 125. The delay timer is incremented until the feedback signal exceeds thresholds.
The feedback signal is monitored for returning within thresholds in operation 130. In operation 135, the feedback signal is compared to the thresholds. When the feedback signal returns within the thresholds, the delay timer is reset in operation 140, and no error is declared. If the feedback signal does not return within thresholds in operation 135, the delay timer continues incrementing, until the predetermined value is reached. Thereafter, the delay timer expires in operation 145, and a steady state error is declared in operation 150.
FIG. 2 illustrates steady state error detection 200 by showing a signal in relation to time. A command reference signal defines a reference position 230 of a positioning device, such as an actuator, whereas a feedback signal shows an actual position 205 of an actuator. An upper threshold 215 and a lower threshold 210 determine acceptable deviations of the actual position 205 from the reference position 230. When the actual position 205 exceeds any thresholds, a delay timer starts incrementing 220 and increments until either the delay timer expires, or the actual position 205 returns within thresholds. When the delay timer expires, a steady state error is declared. If the actual position 205 is back within the thresholds before the delay timer expired, no error is declared.
Thus, conventional methods may allow detecting steady state errors. However, steady state errors are only one type of error encountered by actuators. Other types of errors include oscillatory type errors, which are characterized by fluctuations of the actual position of a positioning device in relation to the reference position or a steady state error. The oscillatory type errors may not be detected by the conventional methods described above, which simply reset the timer when the actual position 205 returns within the thresholds.
However, oscillatory errors, when severe enough, can lead to deviations from the desired system state, damage to system components, and potential system instability as well as poor performance.


A thermal activation apparatus includes a thermal head for thermally activating a heat-sensitive adhesive layer of a heat-sensitive adhesive sheet by heating, and a platen roller for thermal activation opposed to the thermal head for thermal activation. The thermal head for thermal activation is energized by a spring, whereby the platen roller for thermal activation is pressed to the thermal head for thermal activation with a pressure. The heat-sensitive adhesive sheet is heated while being transported between the platen roller for thermal activation and the thermal head for thermal activation, whereby the heat-sensitive adhesive layer is thermally activated. To smoothly transport a heat-sensitive adhesive sheet without stagnating at a position opposed to a thermal head for thermal activation, even in the case where a non-activated portion is present in a heat-sensitive adhesive layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermal activation apparatus for a heat-sensitive adhesive sheet in which a heat-sensitive adhesive layer that usually exhibits non-adhesiveness and exhibits adhesiveness when thermally activated by heating is formed on one surface of a sheet-like substrate, and a printer provided with the thermal activation apparatus.
2. Related Background Art
Up to now, as disclosed in JP 11-79152 A, a heat-sensitive adhesive sheet having a heat-sensitive adhesive layer that exhibits adhesiveness by being heated has been put into practical use. Such a heat-sensitive adhesive sheet has advantages in that the sheet before being heated can be handled easily because there exists no adhesiveness, industrial waste is not produced since a peeling sheet is not required, and the like. In order to exhibit the adhesiveness of the heat-sensitive adhesive layer of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet, the heat-sensitive adhesive layer may be heated by using a thermal head generally used as a recording head of a thermal printer. Further, in the case where a heat-sensitive recordable layer is provided on a surface of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet on opposite side of the heat-sensitive adhesive layer, recording and thermal activation can be performed with a similar thermal head.
A platen roller provided so as to be opposed to a thermal head in an ordinary thermal printer is made of dimethylsilicon rubber having a small permanent deformation. The dimethylsilicon rubber has a rubber hardness of about 30 to 60 degrees. In order for the platen roller to support a recording medium as an underlying member during recording, it is preferable that rubber be crushed to some degree, and for this purpose, the platen roller is pressed to the thermal head under a relatively large pressure of 20 gf/mm2 or more. Further, as the rubber hardness is higher, the pressure with which the platen roller is pressed to the thermal head is set to be larger so as to ensure the crushed amount of rubber. The configurations of a thermal head and a platen roller similar to those of such a conventional thermal printer are often used in a thermal activation apparatus without any modification.
A printer has been developed, in which a desired character, number, image, or the like is recorded on a recordable layer of a heat-sensitive adhesive sheet, a heat-sensitive adhesive layer is allowed to exhibit adhesion under the condition that the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet is cut into a predetermined length, and the heat-sensitive adhesive layer is attached to a product, for example, to produce an adhesive label displaying a price, a product name, or the like (see in JP 2003-316265 A, JP 3329246 B and JP 2004-10710). Such a printer includes a recording apparatus for recording a desired character, number, symbol, or image on a recordable layer, and a thermal activation apparatus for thermally activating a heat-sensitive adhesive layer to exhibit adhesion. Such a printer further includes a transport mechanism for transporting a heat-sensitive adhesive sheet, and a cutter mechanism for cutting the heat-sensitive sheet into a desired length to obtain a label. The recording apparatus and the thermal activation apparatus are provided with thermal heads having substantially the same configuration, and platen rollers for supporting and transporting the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet are placed so as to be opposed to the thermal heads, respectively.
In the above-mentioned thermal activation apparatus, it is necessary that a heat-sensitive adhesive sheet is transported by a rotation of a platen roller while adhesion is exhibited by heating a heat-sensitive adhesive layer of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet by a thermal head. However, in the case where a portion not heated exists in the heat-sensitive adhesive layer of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet, the friction resistance of a non-heated portion is large, which may cause a transport defect. More specifically, a heated portion, i.e., activated portion, of the heat-sensitive adhesive layer has fluidity immediately after being heated, so that the heated portion can travel smoothly owing to the slipperiness on the surface of the thermal head. However, the non-heated portion, i.e., non-activated portion, has poor slipperiness, and rubs against the surface of the thermal head to cause a defect. For example, in the case where the activated portion and the non-activated portion are arranged in a longitudinal direction, i.e., transport direction, of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet, the speed of the non-activated portion becomes lower than that of the activated portion, and the non-activated portion stagnates, which is likely to cause skew. Further, in the case where the activated portion and the non-activated portion are arranged in a width direction, i.e., direction orthogonal to the transport direction, of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet, when the non-activated portion is pressed to the thermal head with pressure, the speed of only that portion becomes lower and that portion stagnates, which is likely to cause jamming. In particular, this tendency becomes remarkable in a high-temperature and high-humidity environment, in which a solidified heat-sensitive adhesive melts.
As described above, the slipperiness of the non-activated portion of the heat-sensitive adhesive layer is poor, and the platen roller idles to cause the stagnation of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet. This is caused by the larger friction resistance between the non-activated portion and the thermal head than that between a surface, i.e., recordable layer, on an opposite side of the heat-sensitive layer and the platen roller.
In particular, the configuration of the above-mentioned conventional thermal printer is predicated on the transport of a sheet having no heat-sensitive adhesive layer. In the case of using this configuration in the thermal activation apparatus without any modification, a problem of a transport defect of the above-mentioned heat-sensitive adhesive sheet is likely to occur. In other words, irrespective of the magnitude of a pressure with which the platen roller is pressed to the thermal printer, the friction force acting between the non-activated portion of the heat-sensitive adhesive layer and the thermal head over a substantially entire range is larger than the friction force acting between the recordable layer and the dimethylsilicon rubber, of which platen roller is made. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to smoothly transport the non-activated portion of the heat-sensitive adhesive layer without allowing it to stagnate on the surface of the thermal head, by the rotation of the platen roller.
The object of the present invention is to provide a thermal activation apparatus in which a heat-sensitive adhesive sheet having a heat-sensitive adhesive layer on one surface can be transported smoothly without stagnating on the surface of a thermal head, even if a non-activated portion exists in the heat-sensitive adhesive layer, and a printer including the thermal activation apparatus.

Thermal activation apparatus and printer


An apparatus generally includes a latch and a keeper. The latch has a latching surface and is movable between at least a closed position and an opened position. The keeper has a keeper surface configured for engagement with the latching surface. The latch is movably coupled to supporting structure relative to the latching surface such that the moment created by a load applied to the latching surface while engaged with the keeper surface biases the latch towards the closed position.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
People commonly drive pickup trucks and other vehicles that have tailgates. Usually, the tailgate includes a latching mechanism for latching the tailgate to the vehicle. The latching mechanism should prevent the tailgate from opening on its own, such as due to the impact of a shifting load against the tailgate. Tailgates may also have a lock for preventing someone from opening the tailgate.


A transportation device for transporting an object comprises a base body, a depression provided on a top surface of the base body, a lifting mechanism provided on the base body in correspondence to the depression and including a lift plate for supporting the object thereon and an air envelope unit supplied with compressed air for causing a dilatation in response thereto, the lift plate being connected to the air envelope unit such that the lift plate is lifted upward upon a supply of the compressed air, and an air foil bearing provided on the base body such that a top surface of the air foil bearing is located at a level above a bottom surface of the base body.

The present invention generally relates to manufacturing of products such as electronic apparatuses and more particularly to a device used for transporting products, half-products or raw materials in a factory or warehouse.
In the factories or warehouses, the transportation of materials such as products, half-products or raw materials is achieved usually by transportation vehicles such as a fork-lift truck. However, such a transportation vehicle is bulky and the use thereof in a closed environment causes various problems such as exhaust gas, need of ventilation, etc. Further, a license is often required for an operator to operate such vehicles.
The air-foil transportation device is a device used for transporting various materials such as products, half-products or raw materials by using an air-foil bearing. Typically, the device includes a base body on which an air-foil bearing unit is provided, wherein the base body is lifted from a floor by an air-foil that is formed by the air-foil bearing unit. The device is ideal for use in the closed environment such as factories and warehouses, as the device is driven by compressed air.
When using the air-foil transportation device in such a closed environment, particularly for lifting a body that is placed on a pallet, it is necessary to form the air-foil transportation device sufficiently small with respect to the vertical dimension such that the air-foil transportation device can move into a space that is formed under the pallet. Typically, the height of such a space is less than 100 mm. On the other hand, in order to lift the pallet together with the body of product thereon, it is necessary to provide a lifting mechanism such as a pantograph or hydraulic cylinder on the base body. However, such a lifting mechanism is bulky and makes it impossible to move the device into the space formed under the pallet.

Transportation device having an air-foil bearing


Systems and associated methods place a temperature sensing element in an xe2x80x9cedge regionsxe2x80x9d between an energy transmitting electrode and a non-electrically conducting support body, where higher temperatures are likely to exist. Reliable temperature sensing, which is sensitive to variations in temperatures along the electrode, results.

The invention relates to systems and methods for ablating myocardial tissue for the treatment of cardiac conditions.
Physicians make use of catheters today in medical procedures to gain access into interior regions of the body to ablate targeted tissue areas. It is important for the physician to be able to precisely locate the catheter and control its emission of energy within the body during tissue ablation procedures.
For example, in electrophysiological therapy, ablation is used to treat cardiac rhythm disturbances.
During these procedures, a physician steers a catheter through a main vein or artery into the interior region of the heart that is to be treated. The physician places an ablating element carried on the catheter near the cardiac tissue that is to be ablated. The physician directs energy from the ablating element to ablate the tissue and form a lesion.
In electrophysiological therapy, there is a growing need for ablating elements capable of providing lesions in heart tissue having different geometries.
For example, it is believed the treatment of atrial fibrillation requires the formation of long, thin lesions of different curvilinear shapes in heart tissue. Such long, thin lesion patterns require the deployment within the heart of flexible ablating elements having multiple ablating regions. The formation of these lesions by ablation can provide the same therapeutic benefits that the complex suture patterns that the surgical maze procedure presently provides, but without invasive, open heart surgery.
As another example, it is believed that the treatment of atrial flutter and ventricular tachycardia requires the formation of relatively large and deep lesions patterns in heart tissue. Merely providing xe2x80x9cbiggerxe2x80x9d electrodes does not meet this need. Catheters carrying large electrodes are difficult to introduce into the heart and difficult to deploy in intimate contact with heart tissue. However, by distributing the larger ablating mass required for these electrodes among separate, multiple electrodes spaced apart along a flexible body, these difficulties can be overcome.
With larger and/or longer multiple electrode elements comes the demand for more precise control of the ablating process. The delivery of ablating energy must be governed to avoid incidences of tissue damage and coagulum formation. The delivery of ablating energy must also be carefully controlled to assure the formation of uniform and continuous lesions, without hot spots and gaps forming in the ablated tissue.
The invention provides device and methods for ablating body tissue. The devices and methods include an electrode carried by a support element made of a material that does not conduct tissue ablation energy. The electrode is made of a material that transmits ablation energy. The electrode has at least one edge that contacts the material of the support element. The devices and methods also include at least one temperature sensing element carried by the electrode adjacent to the at least one edge.
Another aspect of the invention provides systems and methods method for controlling the ablation of body tissue. The systems and methods supply ablation energy to an electrode carried by a support element made of a material that does not conduct ablation energy. The electrode has at least one edge that contacts the material of the support element. The systems and methods senses temperature with at least one temperature sensing element carried by the electrode adjacent to the at least one edge. The systems and methods control the supply of ablation energy based, at least in part, upon temperature sensed by the at least one temperature sensing element.
The invention places the temperature sensing element in an xe2x80x9cedge regionxe2x80x9d between an electrode and a non-electrically conducting support body. The edge region presents an area where electrical conductivity is discontinuous. The resulting rise in current density in this region generates localized increases in power densities, and, therefore, it is a region where higher temperatures are likely to exist. The invention places the temperature sensing element just where localized xe2x80x9chot spotsxe2x80x9d are to be expected. Reliable temperature sensing, which is sensitive to variations in temperatures along the electrode, results.
Other features and advantages of the inventions are set forth in the following Description and Drawings, as well as in the appended Claims.

Systems and methods for controlling tissue ablation using multiple temperature sensing elements


In an implementation, a method for managing an entity may include establishing of a framework for characterization of the entity, in which the framework abstracts operation of the entity to a state machine. In addition, each state in the state machine may be characterized in terms of distributions of a performance metric associated with the entity. The method may also include implementing of the framework for characterization of the entity to manage the entity.

Successful business operations typically require efficient management of numerous physical assets (buildings, equipment, and appliances). These physical assets consume a multitude of resources such as electricity, gas, and water. Increasingly, these physical assets are being transformed into "cyber physical systems" (CPS) via addition of smart meters, sensors, and networked monitoring devices. This has resulted in a deluge of data about asset behavior and performance becoming available, however, requisite tools to analyze and leverage these data for improving asset performance are currently unavailable.
One approach to improve asset performance is to monitor the assets over time, to pro-actively identify those requiring maintenance, to detect inefficient operation, or to detect those assets that are being improperly controlled. Timely detection of inefficient performance of physical assets has been identified as being able to save around 15 to 30% of energy in commercial buildings. However, there are a number of various factors that can impact the performance of physical assets in a building. As such, it is often challenging to detect if the performance of the physical assets is efficient or not, especially if the functionalities of the physical assets have not deteriorated in a way that current monitoring techniques are able to identify.

Managing an entity using a state machine abstract

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A cooking appliance is provided. The cooking appliance is coupled to a power supply that includes a first hot wire, a second hot wire and a ground wire. The cooking appliance includes a cabinet and a cavity defined within the cabinet. The cooking appliance also includes at least one heating assembly having two electrical heating elements positioned with respect to the cavity. A first electrical heating element is electrically coupled to the first hot wire and the ground wire. A second electrical heating element is electrically coupled to the second hot wire and the ground wire.

This invention relates generally to cooking appliances and, more particularly, to a cooking appliance having multiple operating configurations.
Some known cooking appliances include an oven cavity and electrical heating elements, such as a baking element and/or a broiling element, positioned within the oven cavity for heating food items positioned within the oven cavity. The cooking appliances are generally installed in a kitchen area of a building and coupled to the building's electrical power supply.
Many single family residential buildings include an electrical power supply system that includes three wires for supplying electrical power at 240 volts (on a 120/240V circuit). The power supply system includes two hot wires and a neutral wire. In such power supply systems, the voltage between the two hot wires is about 240 volts and the voltage between each hot wire and the neutral wire is about 120 volts. In contrast, many multiple family residential buildings, such as high-rise residential apartment buildings, include an electrical power supply system that supplies electrical power at about 208 volts (on a 120/208V circuit). In such power supply systems, the voltage between the two hot wires is about 208 volts and the voltage between each hot wire and the neutral wire is about 120 volts.
Conventional cooking appliances are typically configured to operate efficiently on a 120/240V circuit found in many single family residential buildings. As a result, when such conventional cooking appliances are coupled to a 120/208V circuit, such as found in many multiple family residential buildings, a power output of the heating elements is reduced, which may compromise appliance performance. The reduction in power output undesirably results in longer preheating times and/or inconsistent cooking performance.

Cooking appliance having multiple operating configurations


The present invention provides a die for superplastic forming of titanium-based alloy with high-workability, which is inexpensive and easy to handle, and has detailed shape-reproducibility and no reactivity with titanium-based alloy to be processed, and has excellent accordance with it in a thermal expansion coefficient. This invention relates to a die for superplastic forming of titanium-based alloy characterized by comprising quartz, cristobalite and calcium silicate. The above die for superplastic forming of titanium-based alloy is produced by kneading a mixed powder of quartz and cristobalite, together with a binder containing a plaster additive of less than 30 weight % based on the total amount with water, forming the mixture, drying the formed product and sintering it in the atmosphere to convert the plaster additive into calcium silicate.

Since titanium-based alloys have high reactivity at a high temperature, materials to be utilized as a die for molding or superplastic forming thereof are restricted extremely. Materials conventionally utilized for a die for casting include, (1) copper and mild steel, (2) graphite, (3) oxides such as zirconium, rare earth elements and calcium, and (4) metals with a high melting point such as niobium and molybdenum (Kei Sato and Takashi Yoneda, "Casting Technology of Titanium", JACT News, No. 459, published on Mar. 20, 1995, pp. 21-28). On the other hand, though superplastic forming is performed at a lower temperature than molding, calcium oxide not reacting with titanium-based alloys is also employed as a main component of a die (Makoto Kato and Hitoshi Murakami, "On the Dental Application of Titanium-based Alloy (Part 2) Ceramic Die for Superplastic Forming", Reports of the Government Industrial Research Institute, Nagoya, Vol. 39, Nos. 7-8, pp. 309-317, 1990). Since these dies are expensive or have a tendency to deteriorate owing to water existing in the atmosphere, the development of a die to be used more conveniently has been desired. In particular, if a die for superplastic forming with a high-workability not requiring the melting of titanium-based alloys is obtained, it can be possible to perform forming of titanium-based alloys conveniently.
Thus, dies conventionally used for forming of titanium-based alloys are not so sufficient. In particular, if a die for superplastic forming with a high-workability not requiring the melting of titanium-based alloys is obtained, the forming of titanium-based alloys can be performed easily. In view of the above prior arts, the present inventors have engaged in assiduous studies with a view to developing a die for superplastic forming capable of forming of titanium-based alloys easily, and as a result have succeeded in preparing a die with a high-workability comprising quartz, cristobalite and calcium silicate, which has led to the accomplishment of the present invention.

Die for superplastic forming of titanium-based alloy

Japan as represented by Director General of Agency of Industrial Science and Technology


The present disclosure describes a method for displaying supplemental content. The method includes determining environmental characteristics, e.g., wall space, empty areas, colors, etc., for a display environment, determining supplemental content based in part on a primary content displayed by a primary display, and displaying the supplemental content in the display environment.

People watch many different types of content in different viewing environments, such as within different rooms, locations, and the like. Content, which may include television shows, movies, sporting events, news, and the like, may include supplemental information, such as closed captioning, stock or score "tickers," and other information displayed with the primary content. Often, given size constraints of different display devices, such supplemental information may obscure the primary content, as well create a "busy" display, making it difficult for a user to view the primary content. Similarly, many users may not care about the supplemental information being displayed and do not enjoy the obscured and busy view.