A cordless telephone set having various functions, such as transplantation, secrecy, repeated display and compressed display function is disclosed. A control circuit of a main unit and a control circuit of a subunit of the cordless telephone set are preprogrammed to realize a transplantation function for transplanting functions of the digital telephone set to the cordless telephone set, a secrecy function for preventing the digital telephone set from eavesdropping on communication conducted through the cordless telephone set, a repeated display function for repeatedly displaying a display message received from digital switching equipment when the subunit Y issues no answer to a call, and a compressed display function for displaying, in a compressed manner, a display message received from the digital switching equipment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-function and easy-to-use cordless telephone set.
2. Description of the Prior Arts
The applicant of the present invention has proposed in Japanese Patent Application No. HEI 6-214612 a cordless telephone set which can be connected with a variety of digital switching equipment of different protocols. The proposal was made to improve the current situation where cordless telephone sets are not commonly used in business offices because the protocols employed by digital PBXs which are used widely now differ from manufacturer to manufacturer.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram indicating constitutions of a main unit X of a cordless telephone set CT as proposed in the above patent application and a subunit Y coupled by wireless with the main unit. The main unit X of the cordless telephone set CT transmits control data and voice data on a time division basis or through a duplex bidirectional transmission system between a digital PBX through a PBX line. The constitution and operations of the main unit X will be explained hereafter for every transmitting direction with reference to FIG. 1.
When data is transmitted to the cordless telephone set CT from the digital PBX, a data transmitting/receiving circuit 2 of the main unit X receives audio data and control data specified by the protocol of the digital PBX, those data being transmitted from the digital PBX through the PBX line, and separately extracts the audio data and control data under the control of a timing signal to respectively send the control data to a protocol conversion circuit 4 and the audio data to a transmitter 10. Since the PBX line employs a system in which two wires are commonly used for transmission and reception of data or a system in which two sets of two wires are provided for transmission and reception, respectively, depending on the protocol of the digital PBX, the data receiving/transmitting circuit 2 must be structured in such a manner as to correspond to the number of interface lines of the PBX line.
The protocol conversion circuit 4 is used for conversion between control data specified by the protocol of the digital PBX connected and inherent control data (hereinafter referred to as "inherent control data") of the cordless telephone set CT. For performing such conversion, a ROM 6 which stores a look-up table indicating the correspondence between the control data specified by the protocol of the digital PBX and the inherent control data is built in the protocol conversion circuit 4. Therefore, the protocol conversion circuit 4 and ROM 6 corresponding to the protocol must be used if the protocol of the digital PBX to which the cordless telephone set CT is to be connected is different from the protocol of the PBX currently connected. A control circuit 8 has a control function which is required for an ordinary cordless telephone set. That is, the control circuit 8 receives inherent control data from the protocol conversion circuit 4, determines the content of the control, activates a transmitter 10 depending on the received inherent control data, and transmits from the transmitter 10 the control data and audio data corresponding to the inherent control data to the subunit Y of the cordless telephone set CT through a transmission/reception switching circuit and an antenna 12. The control circuit 8, transmitter 10, antenna 12 and transmission/reception switching circuit and receiver 14 are common to the cordless telephone set of the prior art.
For the purpose of connecting the PBX line to a digital telephone set TL, a data distribution/combination circuit 40 is provided in the side of the input to the data transmission/reception circuit 2 to distribute control data and audio data specified by the protocol of the digital PBX from the PBX line to the main unit X and digital telephone set TL and to transmit control data and audio data transmitted from the main unit X or digital telephone set TL to the PBX line. Between the PBX line and the data distribution/combination circuit 40, a first relay 42 is provided to switchingly connect the PBX line to the main unit X or the digital telephone set TL. If the PBX line employs the system where two wires are used in common for transmission and reception, a pair of movable contacts 42-1 of the first relay 42 are connected to the PBX line, while a first pair of stationary contacts 42-21 of the relay 42 are connected to the data distribution/combination circuit 40.
A second pair of stationary contacts 42-22 of the relay 42 and the data distribution/combination circuit 40 are connected to the digital telephone set TL through the second relay 44. Specifically, a pair of movable contacts 44-1 of the second relay 44 are connected to the digital telephone set TL, while a first pair of stationary contacts 44-21 of the second relay 44 are connected to the data distribution/combination circuit 40 and a second pair of stationary contacts 44-22 of the second relay 44 are connected to the second pair of stationary contacts 42-22 of the first relay 42, respectively.
A voltage monitoring circuit 46 is also provided in the main unit X to monitor whether a regular voltage is supplied from a power source (not shown) or not. When the regular voltage is supplied, the monitoring circuit 46 gives a signal of logical "1" to one input of an AND circuit 48. Since the protocol conversion circuit 4 usually gives a signal of logical "1" to the other input of the AND circuit 48, as shown in the figure, the AND circuit 48 applies the signal of logical "1" to the first relay 42 and the second relay 44, whereby, in the first relay 42, the movable contacts 42-1 are connected to the first pair of the stationary contacts 42-21, while, in the second relay 44, the movable contacts 44-1 are connected to the first pair of the stationary contact 44-21. However, when the voltage supplied to the main unit X becomes lower than the regular voltage, the voltage monitoring circuit 46 gives a signal of logical "0" to the AND circuit 48 to set the output of the AND circuit 48 to be in the state of logical "0", whereby the movable contacts 42-1 of the first relay 42 and the movable contacts 44-1 of the second relay 44 are respectively connected to the second pairs of the stationary contacts 42-22, 44-22, and the PBX line is forced to be connected to the digital telephone set TL.
The control circuit 8 is provided with two switches SW-1, SW-2. The switch SW-1 is turned ON to transfer communication to the digital telephone set TL when a user is talking over the cordless telephone set CT. When the switch SW-1 is closed, the control circuit 8 determines that a command to transfer communication to the digital telephone set TL from the cordless telephone set CT is issued and sends corresponding control data to the conversion circuit 4. Upon reception of this control data, the conversion circuit 4 transmits a signal of logical "0" to the AND circuit 48 to change the output of the AND circuit 48 to a logical "0" state, whereby the movable contacts 42-1 of the first relay 42 and the movable contacts 44-1 of the second relay 44 are respectively connected to the second pairs of the stationary contacts 42-22, 44-22. As a result, the communication being performed with the cordless telephone set CT is transferred to the digital telephone set TL. The switch SW-2 is turned ON in order to transfer communication with the digital telephone set TL to the cordless telephone set CT. When the switch SW-2 is closed, the control circuit 8 determines that a command to transfer communication with the digital telephone set TL to the cordless telephone set TL is issued thereby enabling communication with the subunit Y. In this case, a signal sent to the AND circuit 48 from the conversion circuit 4 is kept in a logical "1" state and none of the contacts of the first and second relays 42, 44 are switched.
When the switches SW-1 and SW-2 are operated to transfer communication to the digital telephone set TL from the cordless telephone set CT or to the cordless telephone set CT from the digital telephone set TL, control data required for transfer of communication is transmitted between the main unit X, digital telephone set TL and subunit Y. For instance, when the switch SW-1 is closed to issue a command to transfer communication to the digital telephone set TL from the cordless telephone set CT, the main unit X transmits, to the digital telephone set TL, control data which operates the digital telephone set TL in such a manner that a call is received by the digital telephone set TL. When the switch SW-2 is closed, the control circuit 8 transmits control data for setting the digital telephone set TL to be in a suspended condition.
Such a modification as follows is possible. The movable contacts of the first and second relays 42, 44 are normally connected to the first pairs of the stationary contacts. When the digital telephone set TL answers a call, this fact is detected by the conversion circuit 4, the output of the conversion circuit 4 to the AND circuit 48 is set to logical "0" to cause the AND circuit 48 to output a signal of logical "0" and the movable contacts of the relays 42, 44 are switched to the second pairs of the stationary contacts. In this case, when the switch SW-2 is closed to transfer communication to the cordless telephone set CT from the digital telephone set TL, the control circuit 8 transmits control data to the conversion circuit 4, causing the circuit 4 to output a signal of logical "1" to the AND circuit 48, whereby, the output of the AND circuit 48 is set to a logical "1" state to switch the movable contacts of the relays 42, 44 to the first pairs of the stationary contacts.
The constitution of the subunit Y shown in FIG. 1 is well known and comprises an antenna 20 for transmitting and receiving control data and audio data to or from the main unit X; a receiver 22 for receiving and demodulating a signal from the antenna 20 and separately extracting encoded control data and audio data; a codec 24 for decoding the audio data from the receiver 22 to reproduce a reception signal from a loud speaker 26 and for encoding a transmission signal applied to a microphone 28 to transfer this encoded signal to a transmitter 30; the transmitter 30 for modulating the encoded transmission signal and transmitting this signal from the antenna 20; and a control circuit 32 for controlling operations of the receiver 22 and the transmitter 30, for controlling the termination and origination of call in response to the reception of control data from the receiver 22, for causing received display data to be displayed on a display device 34, for supplying control data inputted from a keypad 36 to the transmitter 30 and for causing the control data on the display device 34.
In the case where data is sent to the digital PBX from the cordless telephone set CT, control data and audio data to be transmitted from the subunit Y are first encoded by the codes 24, modulated by the transmitter 30 and then transmitted as a radio signal from the antenna 20. The transmitted radio signal is received by the antenna 12 of the main unit X and is then supplied to the receiver 14. In the receiver 14, the received data is decoded to separately extract control data and audio data. The extracted control data is given through the control circuit 8 to the protocol conversion circuit 4 as the inherent control data. The audio data from the receiver 14 is sent to the data transmitting/receiving circuit 2. The protocol conversion circuit 4 converts the inherent control data given from the control circuit 8 into the control data specified by the protocol of the digital PBX by means of using the look-up table stored in the ROM 6. Then, the data transmitting/receiving circuit 2 sends the control data from the protocol conversion circuit 4 and the audio data from the receiver 14 to the PBX line.
Therefore, the cordless telephone set CT can be connected to any one of digital PBXs in different protocols by preparing, for each of the digital PBXs of different protocols, a protocol conversion circuit 4 comprising a ROM 6 storing a look-up table between the control data specified by the protocol of the digital PBX to which the cordless telephone set CT is to be connected and the inherent control data of the cordless telephone set CT and a data transmitting/receiving circuit 2 constituted corresponding to the number of digital PBX lines to transmit or receive control data and audio data, and by providing the main unit X with the protocol conversion circuit 4 and the data transmitting/receiving circuit 2 in correspondence with the digital PBX which the cordless telephone set CT is to be connected.
In the cordless telephone set explained with reference to FIG. 1, both or any one of the control circuit 8 of the main unit X and the control circuit 32 of the subunit Y are realized by means of microcomputers and therefore it is possible to add various functions to the cordless telephone set thereby realizing a multi-functional and easy-to-use cordless telephone set by programming these microcomputers as required.


When a communication regulation determining block determines that E-mail communication is regulated when an E-mail processing block prepares for communication or initiates communication, information indicative of alternative communicating section using another communication path in which communication is not regulated is displayed on a user interface section. Therefore, it is possible to easily check which communicating section is effective when communication regulation occurs, and hence the user can easily make a determination such as that alternative communicating section is used, or that communication is aborted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable terminal such as a portable telephone, and more particularly to a portable terminal having a plurality of communicating sections corresponding to voice communication, an E-mail, etc.
2. Description of the Related Art
A technique for switching over communication systems or communicating section depending on the kind of the partner terminal, the situations of communication, or the like is known.
For example, JP-A-9-130425 discloses an E-mail transmitting and receiving system having: a device which converts voice to characters; a device which converts characters to voice; and a device which converts kana/kanji characters to kana characters. In the system, an E-mail is converted while selecting one of the devices which is suited to the kinds of terminals transmitting and receiving the E-mail, and then transferred, thereby realizing the use of an E-mail in various kinds of terminals.
JP-A-2003-78648 and JP-A-2003-78649 disclose communication apparatuses in which, when an E-mail is to be transmitted, the reception state of the partner communication apparatus is checked in advance of the transmission, and the method of transmitting the E-mail is changed in accordance with a result of the check.
A communication system is known in which, when the partner terminal rejects character communication (chat), or when communication is disabled because of reasons such as that the partner terminal is positioned outside the communication range, character communication is switched to mail communication performed through the identical communication path.
Another communication apparatus is known in which, when communication is disabled because of reasons such as that the partner terminal is positioned outside the communication range, an E-mail for an incoming call notification is transmitted to the partner terminal.
A further communication system is known which has a function of, when a terminal in which voice communication is inhibited, for example, in the case of driving a vehicle, informing the partner terminal that communication with an E-mail can be received.
JP-A-9-130425, JP-A-2003-78648, and JP-A-2003-78649 are referred to as related art.
Usually, recent portable telephones have various communication functions in addition to voice communication. A typical communication function is a function of communication of E-mails via the Internet. Many of the other communication functions are compatible with E-mail distribution services such as that called SMS (short message service). The SMS is a service in which simple messages can be exchanged between portable telephones with using a communication sequence for voice communication. In the service, the communication fee is set to be low. Therefore, the service gets many users.
In the SMS, when an E-mail according to the SMS (hereinafter, referred to as SMS mail) is to be transmitted between portable telephones subscribing to the same carrier, the SMS mail is transmitted with designating the destination telephone number. When an SMS mail to be transmitted to another portable telephone is produced, therefore, the user is not required to input a special address for an SMS mail. When an SMS mail received from another portable telephone is opened, the telephone number of the portable telephone is displayed as a mail address of the transmission source.
On the other hand, when a large number of communications are concentrated at a time in a portable telephone base station, for example, a congested state occurs. In the case where such a state occurs, the base station may temporarily regulate communication between portable telephones. In the communication regulation, it is often that all communications are regulated irrespective of the kinds such as voice communication, an E-mail, an SMS mail, or that only voice communication is regulated in view of nuisance to the surround.
In a communication standard called "cdma2000" and the like, communication regulation can be performed on each of the kinds. Contrary to the above, therefore, a case may possibly occur where voice communication is possible but E-mail communication is regulated.
In a portable terminal having the plurality of the communicating sections (voice communication, an E-mail, an SMS mail, and the like), when a situation where respective communication paths can be independently regulated occurs, the user oneself must manually check which the communicating section is effective when communication regulation occurs, and make a determination such as that alternative communicating section is used, or that communication is stopped. Consequently, there arises a problem in that operations of the check and determination take a lot of trouble. In all of the related art described above, no measure for enabling the user to check which the communicating section is effective when communication regulation occurs is taken, and hence the problem cannot be solved.
In the communication system where character communication is switched to mail communication performed through the identical communication path, when communication regulation occurs in the communication path, the user must manually check whether or not the communication can be switched to voice communication or E-mail communication which uses another communication path. Consequently, there arises a problem in that operations require a lot of trouble.


A person counting device according to embodiments of the present invention counts the number of persons passing through a doorway based on an imaged image in which the surroundings of the doorway are imaged. The person counting device includes a moving line acquirer that acquires a moving line for each person detected from the imaged image, a person counter that counts the persons that have passed through the doorway based on the moving line, and a display information generator that generates display information which represents the number of persons that have passed through the doorway based on the counting results of the person counter. The person counter detects an interruption of the moving line in the vicinity of the doorway, determines a similarity between the background image of the doorway and the person image, and includes a deemed counter that deems that the person has passed through the doorway.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a person counting device, a person counting system, and a person counting method that counts the number of persons that have passed through a doorway based on an imaged image in which surroundings of a doorway for entering or leaving a predetermined place in a store or the like is imaged.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a store such as a convenience store, a monitoring camera system that monitors persons in the store using an image imaged by a camera installed in the store is widespread. However, if the number of entering persons and leaving persons are acquired by detecting the number of persons passing through the doorway of the store and counting the persons entering and leaving the store using an image imaged by a camera, it can be considered that there will be an improved way of effectively managing the store, and thus, it is possible to improve the sales and profits of the store.
As a device relating to counting the number of persons passing through the doorway of the store, a technology is known in the related art, in which a count line for counting the number of passing persons is set on the image imaged by the camera, and when a moving line for the person acquired from the imaged image crosses the count line, it is determined that the person has crossed the count line, and then, the person is counted (refer to Japanese Patent No. 3218521 and Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2009-211311).
In addition, a technology is known, in which, a person can reliably be detected by detecting a person from an image imaged by a general monitoring camera and by measuring a distance to the counting target by a range camera using a laser light, even in a situation in which it is difficult to appropriately detect a person in the detection of a person using an image imaged by a general monitoring camera (refer to Japanese Patent No. 5396192).
In a case where the number of persons passing through a doorway of a store is counted, the persons may be detected by an imaged image in which surroundings of the doorway are imaged from the inside of the store. However, when it is difficult to identify a person and the background in such a case where a person is dressed in a color close to black in a situation in which the outside of the store is dark at night time, there is a problem that the person detection may fail and omissions may occur in counting the number of persons, and thus, the accuracy in counting the number of persons deteriorates.
In technologies disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3218521 and Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2009-211311, no consideration is taken into account with respect to the above-described problem, and thus, it is difficult to solve the problem of deterioration of the accuracy in counting the number of persons caused by omissions in counting the number of persons.
On the other hand, in a technology disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 5396192, since it is possible to detect a person even in a situation in which it is difficult to appropriately detect a person in the detection of a person using an image imaged by a general monitoring camera, it is possible to reduce omissions in counting the number of persons. However, in that case, there is a problem that the cost increases because a specialized device such as the range camera is needed. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a technology in which the accuracy in counting the number of persons can be improved by reducing omissions in counting the number of persons even in a case where the person detection is performed using only the image imaged by a general monitoring camera without using a specialized device.

Person counting device, person counting system, and person counting method

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


A dry cleaner easily and rapidly eliminates particles and dirt adhered to interior surfaces of the wafer carrier. The dry cleaner has a housing with a table mounted thereon, and an assembly for cleaning the wafer carriers disposed on the table. The cleaning assembly sprays a cleaning gas simultaneously into the carrier box and the cover of the wafer carrier. Dirt and particles separated from the carrier box and the cover are collected, by vacuum pressure through openings in the table, into a dirt-collector disposed in the housing, and then discharged through an exhaust tube. A controller controls a quantity of cleaning gas supplied and a time of cleaning by the cleaning assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dry cleaner for wafer carriers used in a semiconductor manufacturing system, and more particularly, to a dry cleaner in which gas is sprayed simultaneously into a carrier box and a cover of a wafer carrier by a plurality of spray means, and by which particles that are adhered to the interior surface of the wafer carrier can be easily eliminated.
2. Description of the Related Art
A wafer carrier is a container, including a carrier box and a cover, for moving wafers in the course of a process for manufacturing semiconductor devices. When the manufacturing process is not be carried out, for example, when the wafers are being held for further processing at a later time, the wafers are stored in the carrier box and sealed with the cover.
With the rapid progress of automation, larger wafer capacity, and high integration of the semiconductor devices, more attention has been paid to the wafer carrier including the carrier box and the cover.
Such increased attention has been a result of two main factors. First, there must be compatibility between the wafer carriers and the robot manufacturing systems required for the automated processes, and second, contamination of the wafers must be prevented by the wafer carriers.
In particular, the second contamination problem plays an important role in the degradation of the semiconductor devices. That is, broken wafer pieces or fine wafer particles may be generated due to an impact or friction between the carrier boxes or the carrier box and the wafers. Such contaminants adhere to the wafers, thereby causing degradation of the semiconductor devices.
Further, organic and metallic contamination caused by outgassing from the material of the carrier box may be a latent source for polluting the wafers stored in the carrier box, thereby deteriorating the yield and reliability of the semiconductor devices.
Generally, to solve the above problems, the wafer carrier is cleaned, mainly by wet cleaning, to prevent contamination of the wafer carrier. However, such a wet cleaning process requires a large cleaning system and much time to perform the task. Moreover, further contamination may arise due to the cleaning solution itself.
In addition to the wet cleaning method, other cleaning methods have utilized a vacuum tube. However, the vacuum tube method also has a shortcoming in that much time is required for the cleaning process.


A lighting device includes a housing disposed on a base for accommodating perfume having a fragrance, a casing disposed on the housing for accommodating an electric fan in order to circulate the fragrance of the perfume from the housing toward the casing and outward of the casing, a motor and gear disposed on the casing, a cover disposed on the casing, and a light bulb disposed in the cover. The cover is rotated by the motor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to lighting equipment, and more particularly to rotatable lighting equipment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Typically, lighting equipment for household usages is stably disposed in place and is not rotatable.
The present invention has arisen to provide novel lighting equipment.


A system for interlocking together two panel members comprises a washer member having a first washer portion connected by a first necked down portion to a second intermediate washer portion and a third washer portion connected by a second necked down portion to the second intermediate washer portion. A bore runs through the washer member for receiving a screw for fastening the washer member to a side of a first panel member. A second panel member has a keyhole slot and an aperture spaced from the keyhole slot. A resilient clip member has one end formed with a right angle projecting portion and a second end formed with an aperture configured to securely receive the first necked down portion of the washer member. When the washer member is fastened together with the clip member to a side of the first panel member, the third washer portion may be inserted into the keyhole slot and the first panel member may be moved such that the second necked down portion slides into a reduced opening portion of the keyhole slot, whereupon the projecting portion of the clip member is resiliently biased into the aperture of the second panel member thereby immovably securing the panel members together.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a locking clip system for removably securing panels together and more particularly, to a locking clip which may be used advantageously for removably securing a desk top to a cabinet pedestal such that the top and pedestal may be conveniently assembled or disassembled.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the construction of office furniture or the like, it is common to find desks assembled from a desk top panel having pedestals secured to its underside. The pedestals are often constructed of sheet metal and are provided with suitable drawers for filing documents or storing office supplies. The desk top may be fabricated from a variety of materials but is often a composite structure having a wood or wood-like appearance.
Because desks are often large bulky items, it is frequently desired to ship them to their ultimate destinations in disassembled form for assembly on site. In such case, a desk comprising pedestals and a desk top surface is usually assembled by fastening the pedestals to the desk top surface using screws or the like. However, such assembly can be a time consuming process involving the use of tools such as drills, wrenches, and screwdrivers. In recent times, it has been found desirable to secure the desk top surface to the pedestals using locking clip systems. One such locking clip system is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,786,119, issued to Smuda. In the Smuda arrangement, special bolts having conical heads are screwed into the undersurface of the desk top at the corners thereof. An upper surface of the pedestal is provided with keyhole slots corresponding to the number of locations of the bolts such that the heads of the bolts may be inserted into the keyhole slots. Once inserted into the slots, an aperture of a resilient clip engages the conical head of each bolt and retains the bolts in locked position in the slots. An advantage of such a clip system is that the desk top may be conveniently installed on the pedestals on site without the need for any tools. Likewise, the desk can be readily disassembled without tools by simply releasing the locking clips manually whereupon the top can be removed.
Although the locking clip system of the aforesaid Smuda patent provides a convenient means for desk assembly, it is desirable to improve that system from the standpoint of simplicity and consequent manufacturing cost. For example, in the Smuda system, the locking clip must be fastened to the pedestal by such means as rivets or by welding. Moreover, the bolt is an intricate member requiring several machining processes. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an improved locking clip system comprising few simple parts and which are easily assembled in manufacture.

Locking clip system for securing panels together


Adhesives comprising rubber, tackifier, oil, and optionally absorbent and active ingredient are described. The adhesives are suitable for medical applications as they are repositionable on skin. Also described are medical articles using the adhesives.

Many medical adhesives are based on silicone soft gel adhesives. Although satisfactory in many respects, such silicone adhesives cannot be sterilized using certain techniques such as by exposure to gamma radiation. In addition, most if not all silicone adhesives for medical use exhibit low breathability. Thus, apertures or other physical transport passageways must typically be formed in regions or layers of silicone adhesive. Silicone adhesives are formed from a two-part reactive system and once mixed, react to form the adhesive which limits subsequent processing.
Accordingly, new adhesives that address and ideally overcome the various limitations are desired.


A dual ducted fan arrangement in which the duct components, engine, and avionics/payload pods are capable of being quickly disassembled to fit within common backpacking systems. Each duct is identical in fan, stator, and control vane design. Assembly connections between ducted fans and electronic modules are also identical. An engine or APU drives the dual ducted fans through a splined shaft to a differential or through electric motors. Energy is transferred to the ducted fans by a single gear mounted to the stator hub. Relative speeds of the individual ducted fans are controlled through separate frictional or generator load control braking mechanisms on each of the splined shafts between the differential and ducted fans. In the electric motor case relative speed is through electronic speed control. The fans are counter rotating for torque balancing. The electronic module locations are vertically variable for longitudinal center of gravity for variations in payloads.

1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
The present invention relates generally to the field of hovering and vertical take off and landing vehicles. More specifically, the present invention relates to air-vehicles with ducted fans as the propulsion system.
2. Background Art
Ducted fan configurations are known for their superior aerodynamic performance over non-ducted fans and several implementations of ducted fan hovering air-vehicles have been developed and flown. However, most of these vehicles either utilized single duct configurations with the engine center mounted or utilized rotating ducts attached to a fuselage to for thrust vectoring.
Hovering vehicles utilizing a single ducted fan configuration have the engine mounted either in a puller or pusher arrangement in the inlet or exit of the duct flow. Engine mounting is to the duct ring. Stator assemblies are implemented just after the fan to remove the induced fan swirl to provide linear axial flow. Thrust vectoring is accomplished with sets of vanes in the resulting exit airflow. Avionics and payloads are either mounted inline with the engine (forward or aft of the fan/stator assembly) or as pods on the outside surface of the duct.
The problem is that the physics of the various parameters of; packing size weight and volume, endurance, acoustics, and fuel consumption all play against each other to make an optimum system that is humanly portable by the average soldier. The objective is to provide a vertical take off and landing and hovering vehicle with the greatest payload carrying capability and longest endurance and yet fit within the portable packing constraints of a soldier's equipment carrying system. This requires a critical balance of the vehicle payload, performance, endurance or persistence, propulsion system, control system, and weight, while minimizing acoustic signature.
The application of ducted fan propulsion to hovering air-vehicles has been attempted and successfully demonstrated in various configurations but successfully meeting all the needs for a deployable system requires a combination of utility and physics of the problem to be addressed. These hovering air-vehicles utilize well known physics of mass properties that generate thrust from moving air, that direct the air to control attitude, and axially linearize the air flow removing induced swirl for added thrust. Human back packing ability imposes additional weight, container constraint sizing constraints and plays against performance and set up times with a resulting reduced payload and endurance. Solutions that apply single ducted fans with inline engines exhibit reduced fan and duct efficiencies arising from engine, engine mount avionics, payload, and vane airflow disturbances. These single ducted fan solutions also suffer from increased aero-acoustic noise signatures because of these same airflow disturbances. The trailing attitude control vanes impact not only the acoustic noise signature but contribute to added drag and do nothing to counteract the natural outflow contraction ratio.
Managing the center of gravity along the duct axial direction and laterally across the duct is critical to making the vehicle controllable. Payload modularity is severely limited for axial locations with payloads of varying mass distributions as small shifts of the cg require control stabilization changes and can very quickly make the vehicle uncontrollable. Laterally located payloads are also often used but the mass properties require that there be a close to even balance between opposing masses relative to the axial axis of the fan. These vehicles are statically unstable and even though passive stability is desired it is not attained. Compounding the cg management problem is the electrical wiring between pods and control effectors. There are no convenient wire routing channels between payloads and avionics located around the exterior of the duct or axially above or below the engine. The compromises will usually impact weight, efficiency, and limit payload modularity.
Centrally mounted engines impact structural integrity of the payload pod mounting and the engine mount structure. Minimum gap between the fan blades and the duct is desired for greatest efficiency but is limited by the engine vibration and structural bending of the engine mound and duct. The duct attachment point is also a high structural failure point. Sensor integrity is compromised when blurred by vibration from payload pods mounted cantilevered around the duct and in front of or below the engine due to natural body bending modes. These effects add up to more exotic materials and weight to manage the undesirable effects.
Endurance and/or persistence of the vehicle mission are impacted with the limited fuel carrying capacities when the only location for fuel is limited to the interior of the duct.
Sensor visibility is severely restricted by either axially in-line or laterally duct mounted pods. Vehicle orientation in forward flight will obscure an axially down looking sensor mounted below the fan. Vehicle orientation in hover will obscure an axially mounted sensor above the engine. Laterally mounted side pod sensors have good visibility forward and down in hover and forward flight, but are limited to side viewing.
Structurally integrated systems that require close tolerances and layered assemblies limit the fielded utility of a potentially back packable system through increased setup and teardown times. Specialized tools may be required to remove assemblies and higher skill levels are required. Maintenance, repair, and replacement of components is limited because of the complexity associated with component assembly.
With all these issues previous solutions have focused only on individual elements of the problem or some combination of the problems but have failed to provide a solution that addresses the complete physics of a fieldable system. A system that combines the performance of larger duct sizes, enhances the duct aerodynamic efficiency, is inaudible to the human ear, supports a variety of payload sizes weights mass distributions and electrical interfaces, is reconfigureable for missions, provides high structural solidarity for maximum sensor utility, supports backpacking for human transport, and provides rapid setup tear down and maintenance actions is provided in this invention.
The following are prior art patents that disclose differing types of prior art inventions that are lacking the inventive concepts of the present invention. U.S. Pat. No. 6,691,949, entitled Vertical Takeoff and Landing Aerial Vehicle; U.S. Pat. No. 6,672,538, entitled Transmission for a Coaxial Counter Rotating Rotor System; U.S. Pat. No. 6,655,631, entitled Personal Hoverplane with Four Tiltmotor; U.S. Pat. No. 6,607,162, entitled Ring-Wing Aircraft; U.S. Pat. No. 6,270,038, entitled Unmanned Aerial Vehicle with Counter-Rotating Ducted Rotors and Shrouded Pusher-Prop; U.S. Pat. No. 6,170,778, entitled Method of Reducing a Nose-Up Pitching Moment on a Ducted Unmanned Aerial Vehicle; U.S. Pat. No. 6,065,718, entitled Universal VTOL Power and Rotor System Module; U.S. Pat. No. 5,941,478, entitled STOL/VTOL Free Wing Aircraft with Modular Wing and Tail; U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,441, entitled Horizontal and Vertical Take Off and Landing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle; U.S. Pat. No. 5,863,013 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,575,438, entitled Unmanned VTOL Ground Surveillance Vehicle; U.S. Pat. No. 5,419,513, entitled Ancillary Aerodynamic Structures for an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Having Ducted, Coaxial Counter-Rotating Rotors; U.S. Pat. No. 5,407,150, entitled Thrust Unit for VTOL Aircraft; U.S. Pat. No. 5,372,337, entitled Unmanned Aerial Aircraft Having a Single Engine with Dual Jet Exhausts; U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,913, entitled Coaxial Transmission/Center Hub Subassembly for a Rotor Assembly Having Ducted, Coaxial Counter-Rotating Rotors; U.S. Pat. No. 5,277,380, entitled Toroidal Fuselage Structure for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Having Ducted, Coaxial, Counter-Rotating Rotors; U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,350, entitled Drive Train Assembly for a Rotor Assembly Having Ducted, Coaxial Counter-Rotating Rotors; U.S. Pat. No. 5,150,857, entitled Shroud Geometry for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,129, entitled Unmanned Boom/Canard Propeller V/STAL Aircraft.


The present invention relates to a polynucleotide encoding a protein comprising an amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 2, wherein the protein encoded by the polynucleotide has a hyaluronic acid binding ability, the protein, a method for measuring hyaluronic acid using the protein, and a reagent kit for measuring hyaluronic acid comprising the protein as a constituent.

Hyaluronic acid is a kind of mucopolysaccharide, and contained mainly in the synovial fluid and ocular vitreous humor of animal, and in connective tissues such as the umbilical cord and the upper dermis, and the like, of animals. It has been known that concentration thereof in blood rises when affected by rheumatoid disease, cancer or hepatic disease, and hence, hyaluronic acid is thought to be useful for diagnosis of these diseases, and various measuring methods have been developed to date.
As a method for measuring hyaluronic acid, a method in which measurement is performed by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using HABP (Patent Literature: 1, Patent Literature: 2, and the like) or an immunological measurement method using latex particles are known.
Among them, the immunological measurement method using latex particles has been widely employed, because of its simple procedure and applicability to multipurpose measuring devices. As a measurement method using latex particles as a reagent for measuring hyaluronic acid, a method comprising processes of supporting HABP on carrier particles, reacting HABP with hyaluronic acid in the sample to form a reaction complex, and determining the hyaluronic acid by detecting the reaction complex (Patent Literature: 3), and the like are known.
On the other hand, as HABP, proteoglycans such as aggrecan, and the like, link protein and hyaluronectin, and the like are known. Among them, aggrecan is a proteoglycan of high molecular-weight, which accounts for about 90% of proteoglycan present in cartilage, contains chondroitin sulfate, and is present in cartilage tissue in a form binding to hyaluronic acid. In addition, aggrecan is also used for measurement of hyaluronic acid.
However, since aggrecan that has been heretofore used for measurement of hyaluronic acid is a purified product from bovine cartilage, aggrecan has problems such that it has a fluctuation in quality from lot to lot due to native product and expensive price thereof.
Therefore, a development of HABP which has no fluctuation in quality and is inexpensive and a method for obtaining the HABP has been desired.

Protein capable of binding to hyaluronic acid, and method for measurement of hyaluronic acid using the same


According to one embodiment of the invention, a flow conditioning system for fluid jetting tools includes a housing having a plurality of jet nozzle openings and a fluid straightener disposed within the housing. The fluid straightener is defined by one or more vanes, and the vanes form a plurality of flow channels within the housing. Each flow channel is associated with at least one jet nozzle opening.

The present invention relates generally to fluid jetting tools and, more particularly, to a flow conditioning system and method.
Various procedures have been developed and utilized to increase the flow of hydrocarbons from hydrocarbon-containing subterranean formations penetrated by wellbores. For example, a commonly used production stimulation technique involves creating and extending fractures in the subterranean formation to provide flow channels therein through which hydrocarbons flow from the formation to the wellbore. The fractures are created by introducing a fracturing fluid into the formation at a flow rate which exerts a sufficient pressure on the formation to create and extend fractures therein. Solid fracture proppant materials, such as sand, are commonly suspended in the fracturing fluid so that upon introducing the fracturing fluid into the formation and creating and extending fractures therein, the proppant material is carried into the fractures and deposited therein, whereby the fractures are prevented from closing due to subterranean forces when the introduction of the fracturing fluid has ceased.
In such formation fracturing procedures, hydraulic fracturing tools use high-pressure fluid directed through relatively small diameter nozzles to obtain the desired result. This high pressure fluid, when turning the corner, may create a large coriolis spin or turbulence before entering the jet nozzle.

Flow conditioning system and method for fluid jetting tools


A test interface for a telephone service panel includes a receptacle having switching contacts for normally connecting a network line to a subscriber line. A contact of each pole of the receptacle has an actuator operable by an inserted plug of a test device, independent of mating contacts of the receptacle and the plug-in device. One switching contact of each pole is fixed in place and has a resilient extension engageable by a plug-in device.

Test interface equipment has been incorporated for some time in telephone entrance panels. In one form, the test interface equipment involves a jack or receptacle to which a line of a distribution network is connected; plug connected to a subscriber's line normal remains in that receptacle and connects the subscriber's line to, the network line. When a test is to be performed using that form of interface, the plug of the subscriber's line is removed from the receptacle as a first step in the test procedure, and a plug of a test device is then inserted into the jack. The test device may be a telephone that is known to be in proper working order. If (and only if) the test device works properly in this test, the network line is known to be in good working condition. Accordingly, the trouble that prompted the test must be in the subscriber's line.
In the interest of simplifying the test and reducing the cost of the interface panel, modified forms of test interface have been developed. In one modified test interface, a switching receptacle is provided which connects the subscriber's line to a network line when the receptacle is empty. When the plug of a test device is inserted into the receptacle, the subscriber's line is disconnected and the receptacle connects the test device to the network line. To be compatible with telephone distribution lines, the receptacle advantageously adopts the standardized configuration used in telephone system practice, as represented by the RJ-11 or RJ-45 configurations mentioned in U.S. Pat. No. 5,030,123, issued Jul. 9, 1991, to Silver.


A bidet apparatus includes a building fixture having a water pipe carrying pressurized water; a valve connector tube having a connector tube first end and a connector tube second end; a water pipe coupling structure coupling the connector tube to the water pipe so that the water pipe and the connector tube first end are in fluid communication; a mixing valve including a water inlet structure coupled to the connector tube second end, a medication inlet structure and a squeeze bottle containing medication and coupled to the medication inlet structure through a bottle coupler structure containing a check valve oriented to obstruct liquid flow into the bottle from the mixing valve structure, an internal mixing cavity in which the medication from the bottle and the water from the water pipe are mixed to produce a liquid mixture, a mixture outlet structure including an outlet coupling structure; a flexible mixture delivery tube having a delivery tube first end and a delivery tube second end, the delivery tube first end being coupled to the mixture outlet structure by the outlet coupling structure; a nozzle structure coupled to the delivery tube second end by a nozzle coupling structure; and a water flow control mechanism.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to hygienic devices and in particular to bidets.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Bidets have been found to be superior to the use of toilet paper for cleansing the anal-genital area of the human body. They have also provided relief for sufferers with hemorrhoids, fissures, and similar ailments. The conventional bidet is a free standing fixture with attached plumbing that provides water and drainage. A user sits on the porcelain rim of the bidet and adjusts the flow is and temperature of water with a control knob. Body position is then readjusted to accommodate the flow of water from fixed jets within the bowl. The reason that more people do not enjoy the benefits of a bidet is largely due to the extra space and expense a free standing bidet requires. Many owners of bidets find it inconvenient to move to a unit separate from the toilet. Yet shorter hospital stays, elderly home care and the AIDS crisis have created a greater need for this kind of cleansing. A wide variety of disposable douches, enemas, and wet wipes on the market have tried to meet this need. The problem is that the manufacture and disposal of these products use up valuable resources and despoil the environment. Thus a number of bidet devices and seats have been proposed for use with an ordinary flush toilet.
A primary object of a bidet device is to apply warm water to the anal-genital area of the user of a toilet. A number of such devices are electrically heated. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,622,704 to Chung (1986), a lower reservoir is adapted to receive and electrically heat cold water from a refillable upper reservoir. The heated water is then transferred through a flexible hose to a handheld nozzle with a manual or electrical pump. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,190 to Huang (1983), an electric control system heats water inside a jacketed toilet seat, connected to the toilet water supply source. The system comprises a power source connector, a circuit breaker, a transformer for reducing input voltage, a heating coil and a thermostat, connected by a sensor inserted in the water of the jacket. The malfunction of any of these mechanisms in a moist environment, particularly if extension cords are used, may cause temperature and electrical shock for the user. Thus number of devices, using both the hot and cold water supply, have been proposed.
Some of these devices include a hand-held nozzle with a volume control that is attached to a sink faucet with a flexible hose. Here, the volume and temperature controls are often not accessible to the toilet. Pressure build-up or disconnection from the faucet could cause leakage, and water temperature cannot be changed. Thus some devices provide their own mixing valve, connected directly to the hot and cold water supply stops. Most of these devices, including U.S. Pat. No. 4,041,553 to Sussman (1977), U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,311 to Ingels (1989), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,995,121 to Barker (1991), provide external handles for adjusting the position of nozzles inside the bowl area. Their elaborate configurations restrict directional movement and are difficult to keep clean. U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,510 to Basile (1991), stores a hand-held nozzle with a flexible conduit within a compartment of the toilet or seat. While protected from elimination materials, the nozzle head is subject to mildew and mold which readily grow in the moist environment. Self-contained hand-held bidets, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,340 to Lovitt (1990), are stored in a dry sanitary place but do not provide the continuous flow of water of the seat and bidet attachments.
Another object of the bidet device is to dispense a medicine or cleanser in series with the flow of water for internal and external body treatments. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,622,704 to Chung (1986) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,097,540 to Lovitt (1992), a liquid soap is somehow added to an internal chamber of a discharge handle and dispensed with the flow of water. A pump is used to dispense the liquid while the solution is being directed to the desired body area. This process may prove to be difficult for certain users. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,130,118 to McLaughlin (1978), a discharge apparatus holds a cartridge, containing solid salts, that is dissolved with the flow of warm water. These cartridges are more expensive and limited than the over-the-counter liquids used in many applications. Also, the increased weight and size of all these handles can make them awkward to maneuver. The limited volume of their reservoirs prevents multiple or extended treatments. These reservoirs must first be emptied before new liquids are added to apply different solutions.
A further object of the bidet device is to provide a safe and sanitary nozzle for applying both internal and external body treatments. The discharge nozzles of the prior art are elongated in shape and have attached disposable tips for applying internal body treatments such as douches and enemas. The insertion of these nozzle tips may irritate the sensitive lining of a body cavity especially for those suffering from hemorrhoids or, recovering from surgery. In addition, these tips can be expensive to purchase and present a disposal waste problem. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,764,997 to Anderson (1988), external heat therapy is administered with a sitz bathe adapted for such a nozzle. The integral molded channel of the sitz bathe restricts the free range of movement of the bidet. There is also the danger of contaminants being inadvertently introduced by the user during the soaking phase. Thus, independent self administration of these body treatments is often difficult.
Another object of the bidet device is to provide greater accessibility to the general population. Bidet devices thus far have been marketed to persons with special needs and tend to be automated to increase convenience. These mechanisms have complicated and expensive control and heating mechanisms that require electricity to operate. Often these functions are performed more efficiently by less complex and commercially made components. Thus a simple, more economical method of production needs to be explored.
A further object of a bidet device is to provide convenience of use without appearing obtrusive. Special seats that have nozzles located inside the toilet bowl modify the appearance of the toilet. Their proximity to the toilet bowl make them difficult to clean, and may cause unpleasant odors. Self-contained and portable hand-held bidets are either inconveniently stored out of sight or require an obtrusive reservoir tank for attachment.
A further advantage of a bidet device is to provide related solution-rinse applications with a sink basin or a shower. The elongated nozzle heads of the cited prior art can be only used with a toilet. They are not versatile enough to provide treatments to other parts of the body with a sink or a shower. Infant bathing, hair treatments, and body washes are applications that require a round nozzle head similar to that of an ordinary hand shower.
Accordingly, several objects and advantages of the present invention are:
(a) to provide a safe, efficient and sanitary warm water delivery system. PA1 (b) to provide a safe, reusable nozzle head for both external and internal treatments. PA1 (c) to provide a liquid dispenser that can be quickly changed for different applications. PA1 (d) to make the device more affordable to purchase, use and maintain. PA1 (e) to provide convenience for the user without having an obtrusive appearance. PA1 (f) to provide a versatile nozzle head for related applications with a sink or shower.
Further objects and advantages include adaptations of self-adjustment mechanisms, currently used in showers and garden hose nozzles to modify discharge patterns. Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings.

Bidet device providing repeatable solution treatments


Method and apparatus for manufacturing a contact lens comprising: dispensing a plurality of separate portions (24) of a liquid composition onto a contact lens mold section (12, 16), each separate portion of the liquid composition having a volume of less than about 1000 nano-liters.

Typically, in the cast molding of contact lenses, a single mold assembly for molding a single contact lens product includes a male mold section having a convex optical surface defining a posterior surface of the lens to be made, and a female mold section having a concave optical surface defining an anterior surface of a lens to be made. Thus, when the male and female mold sections are assembled together, a contact lens shaped cavity is formed between the concave surface of the female section and the convex surface of the male section.
A conventional apparatus for dispensing a lens precursor composition, for example, a polymerizable composition, is based on a syringe pump and commonly dispenses from about 30 microliters to about 80 microliters of polymerizable composition in a single mass onto the concave surface of the mold section. Due to variability in the volume of composition dispensed by such syringe pumps, the amount of composition dispensed onto the mold section typically exceeds the amount needed to produce the lens in order to avoid having less than the amount of composition necessary to form a lens present in the mold.
For example, such syringe pump systems have optimal rates of filling and emptying which are relatively slow, as operating at faster rates can cause air bubbles to form in the composition and/or can result in higher pressures to be present in the barrel, causing the composition to continue to flow out after the plunger has stopped moving. Additionally, it is common for a small amount of the dispensed composition to cling to the outside of the dispensing needle, resulting in the volume of the composition deposited into the mold being lower than intended. When another portion of the composition is subsequently dispensed through the needle, some of the composition already clinging to the outside of the needle may be dispensed along with the portion of the composition which is intended to be delivered, resulting in the volume of composition actually deposited into the mold being larger than intended. Furthermore, as the viscosity of the liquid typically is related to the temperature, the volume of composition delivered can vary over time due to changes in temperature, and can vary from syringe to syringe when a series of syringes are used, as is commonly done in a manufacturing setting. Due to these factors, as well as others, when using a syringe pump to dispense same size portions of composition into a plurality of contact lens molds, the actual volume of composition deposited into the molds can vary considerably, for example, by 5% or 10% or more, and it is difficult to predict and compensate for the variability.
Dispensing an excess volume of the composition into the mold results in the excess composition being "squeezed" out of the lens shaped cavity formed when the male mold section is combined with the female mold section. This excess composition may end up as a ring or partial ring of polymerized material outside the lens-shaped cavity is referred to as flash. The composition which ends up as flash is wasted since it cannot be reused to produce other lenses. Such waste of composition increases the cost of manufacturing cast molded lenses, particularly if the composition is relatively expensive, such as is typically true of compositions used to produce silicone hydrogels. The presence of flash can further increase manufacturing costs as additional process steps may be required to ensure that the flash is captured and removed during the manufacturing process.
Further, using the method of filling the female mold section in a single mass does not allow for pre-coating the mold, and can result in undesired mixing of the different compositions used and/or an uneven or non-uniform placement of a relatively thin layer of a coating or treatment composition over or on top of the surface of the basic lens composition, for example, polymerizable composition.
Thus, there is a need for new methods for manufacturing contact lenses, new apparatus useful in producing contact lenses and for new contact lenses manufactured/produced using such methods and/or apparatus.

COOPERVISION INTERNATIONAL HOLDING COMPANY, LP


Microwave diffuser films are describe that provide a modified microwave energy field on one side of the diffuser film and on the other side. The films include an insulative substrate having a first side upon which is deposited a metallic coating capable of selectively reflecting a portion of incoming microwave energy. A coating is formed in a plurality of discrete areas having a predetermined reflectivity. The shape and spacing of the areas may be varied so that energy emission from noncoated surfaces of the substrate is spatially distributed in one or more ways; i.e. the energy emission more uniform than the energy impinging on the coated surface, the energy emission is focused on one or more particular location and/or the energy emission is shielded. A food packaging system for microwave cooking, which includes the microwave diffuser film of this invention, is also described.

Microwave cooking relies upon dielectric heating of foods responsive to microwave radiation. Because of the nature of microwave cooking, the heating characteristics in a microwave oven for some food products are dramatically different from those experienced in a conventional oven. Moreover, the use of microwave ovens can result in undesirable temperature differentials for a variety of food products. For example, some food products when cooked in a microwave oven, will heat to a greater extent on the interior of the product rather than on the product surface because of dielectric microwave heating which favors heating of the product interior.
The above problems are well-known in the art of microwave cooking and numerous attempts have been made to solve them, none of them entirely satisfactory. In conventional microwave packaging and cooking containers, this problem of uneven heating is ameliorated by instructing the user to leave the material unattended for a few minutes after the normal microwave cooking time in order for thermal conduction within the food to redistribute the heat evenly. Alternatively, the material may be stirred, if it is of a type which can be stirred.
The problem of uneven heating in microwave ovens can be exacerbated by typical packaging systems which employ microwave susceptors that are designed to heat the food. Microwave susceptors typically contain one or more thin metallic layers designed to absorb substantial amounts of microwave energy and to convert this energy into thermal energy.
The resistivity of a thin, metallic structure is a function of the thickness of the structure. Thin metal layers of typical susceptors have resistivities greater than about 20 ohms per square. At these values, the metallized layer reflects a smaller percent of microwave energy than a layer having lower resistivity. Thus, layers with high surface resistivities such as the metal layers used in typical susceptors, will absorb a significant portion of the impinging electromagnetic energy when illuminated with microwaves. A higher percentage of impinging microwaves will therefore penetrate the susceptor layers than will penetrate layers formed of very low surface resistance values.
These susceptors often suffer physical deterioration when exposed to microwave radiation, the result of very rapid microwave penetration and subsequent heating which occurs during the early stage of heating cycle. This heating causes the material to undergo dimensional changes which can damage the structure and the resulting reflective and transmissive properties of the susceptor material. Susceptors undergoing physical change from this intense internal heating often show an increase in microwave transmission into a food product. This results in either burning of the food or uneven heating.
Moreover, structures such as those used in many potato chip bags and drip coffee pouches incorporate a continuous, metallic layer having low surface resistance (i.e. less than about 2 ohms per square) layer. These structures disintegrate almost as soon as they are irradiated with microwave radiation. These structures presently unsuitable for microwave use.
Current attempts to control the amount and spatial distribution of microwaves during microwave cooking include using, on at least one surface of a container, one or more electrically conductive diffuser plates and/or microwave-transparent diffuser apertures that are not themselves designed to heat the food product.
At least one such attempt has been made in the prior art to control distribution of heating, described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,991 to Wendt et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Although addressing a number of significant issues relating to microwave diffusers, the Wendt patent describes an aluminum foil grid diffuser that is a very costly and complex addition to a microwaveable food package. Moreover, it is well known that as the resistivity of a metallic coating such as aluminum decreases, a surface charge accumulates which can result in severe arcing on the metal surface. Arcing is an inherent possibility at the site of any lowered resistivity such as nicks or sharp edges in reflecting grid diffusers.
Thus, a significant need exists for a simple, inexpensive microwave diffuser having low resistivity that will not arc, will not itself heat up enough to directly heat food but will distribute a microwave field within the food packaging in a well-defined way.


According to at least one embodiment, a method comprises receiving, into a capacity planning system, workload information representing an expected workload of client accesses of streaming media files from a site. The method further comprises receiving, into the capacity planning system, at least one service parameter that defines a desired service characteristic to be provided by a media server configuration under the expected workload. The method further comprises determining, by the capacity planning system, for at least one server configuration, how many servers of the at least one server configuration to be included at the site for supporting the expected workload in compliance with the at least one service parameter.

An abundance of information is available on client-server networks, such as the Internet, Intranets, the World Wide Web (the "web"), other Wide and Local Area Networks (WANs and LANs), wireless networks, and combinations thereof, as examples, and the amount of information available on such client-server networks is continuously increasing. Further, users are increasingly gaining access to client-server networks, such as the web, and commonly look to such client-server networks (as opposed to or in addition to other sources of information) for desired information. For example, a relatively large segment of the human population has access to the Internet via personal computers (PCs), and Internet access is now possible with many mobile devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile telephones (e.g., cellular telephones), etc.
An increasingly popular type of technology for providing information to clients is known as "streaming media." In general, streaming media presents data (e.g., typically audio and/or video) to a client in a streaming or continuous fashion. That is, with streaming media a client is not required to receive all of the information to be presented before the presentation begins. Rather, presentation of information in a streaming media file may begin before all of the file is received by the client, and as the received portion of the file is being presented, further portions of the file continue to be received by the client for later presentation. Thus, streaming media involves media (e.g., typically audio and/or video) that is transmitted from a server (e.g., a media server) to a client and begins playing on the client before fully downloaded.
Media servers are typically implemented for providing streaming media to clients. A "cluster" is often used to implement a media server. In general, a cluster is a group of nodes (e.g., servers and/or other resources) that appear to a user as a single system. For instance, a plurality of servers may be implemented as a cluster to form a single media server for serving streaming media files to requesting clients. While a plurality of different servers are used for servicing the clients' requests, to each client the cluster appears to be a single media server (i.e., it appears to the clients that they are accessing a single media server). Such cluster computing may be implemented to provide high availability (e.g., through redundancy provided by the plurality of nodes), parallel processing, and/or load balancing. Various load balancing strategies may be used for a cluster, including as examples a round-robin strategy or a "locality-aware" strategy, e.g., Locality-Aware Request Distribution ("LARD") strategy.
Various streaming media files may be provided concurrently by a media server to various different clients. That is, a plurality of clients may concurrently access streaming media files from the media server. Of course, limits exist as to how many concurrent streams a media server can support for a given client population. That is, limits exist as to the capacity of a media server, even a clustered media server, for supporting a given "workload" (i.e., a number of concurrent client accesses of streaming media from the media server). Streaming media service providers have traditionally had difficulty in evaluating whether a given media server configuration (e.g., a server implementation having a certain size of memory, certain disk configuration, certain number of nodes in a cluster, etc.) provides sufficient capacity for supporting the service providers' workload as desired. Thus, streaming media service providers have traditionally had difficulty in evaluating different media server configurations for capacity planning to, for example, determine the most cost-effective configuration that is capable of supporting the service providers' media service workload.

System and method for determining a streaming media server configuration for supporting expected workload in compliance with at least one service parameter

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A wide frequency range signal from a test sound source is reproduced successively by a plurality of speakers, and the reproduced sound is detected by a plurality of microphones, after which the frequency characteristics are obtained at FFTs, while obtaining the frequency characteristics of the wide frequency range signal at an FFT. A high frequency range level is normalized with a low frequency range level, and a determination section compares the normalized value with a reference value stored in a reference value storage section to determine the number and positions of people in the sound field. The transfer functions between the speakers and the microphones are calculated at transfer function calculators, and impulse responses are obtained at IFFTs, after which a reverberation time calculator calculates the reverberation time based on the impulse responses. An audio signal is adjusted based on the results.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sound field measurement device for determining the number of people and their positions in a sound field where an audio signal is outputted and for measuring the reverberation time of the sound field.
2. Description of the Background Art
When an audio signal is reproduced from a CD or a DVD in a room (e.g., a listening room, or an automobile cabin), there are usually one or more listeners in the room, i.e., in the sound field. Since the listeners are inevitably present at different positions (they cannot physically be present at exactly the same position), it would be desirable if the tone quality, the sense of sound field, the sense of sound localization, etc., can be adjusted optimally for the number and positions of the listeners. Since a human is by nature a sound absorber, the reverberation time of a sound field varies depending on the number of people present therein. The reverberation time also varies depending on the interior finish of the room. Therefore, the reverberation time should also be adjusted optimally. To do so, it is necessary to determine the number and positions of people in the sound field, and the reverberation time.
It is of course possible by using a special measurement device, but such a device is expensive, and it requires a complicated process and a high level of expertise to be able to use such a device. At present, such a device has not been in general use as a consumer product. Measurement of an in-cabin sound field performed in connection with the use of a car audio system has also been a service rendered by a professional at a specialty shop. In such a service, the measurement is done at a single position using a single microphone. Measurement at a plurality of positions needs to be done while moving the microphone from one position to another. Thus, if fixed microphones are to be used, one microphone is needed for each listener (or each seat).
In a conventional approach, the audio signal adjustment is done by detecting the passenger position using a passenger sensor or a seat position detector capable of physically detecting the position of an object, instead of using a microphone for detecting an acoustic signal (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication Nos. 2002-112400 and 7-222277).
In another conventional approach, passenger detection is done by using a microphone installed in a sound field. It is important in this conventional approach that the microphone is installed at a position such that sound outputted from a speaker toward the microphone is blocked by a passenger when seated, whereby the presence/absence of passengers is determined based on the level of the detection signal obtained by the microphone. Thus, the passenger detection is based primarily on the change in the direct sound portion of the sound outputted from the speaker (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-198412).
With the seat position detection, however, the presence/absence of a passenger cannot be detected. With the passenger sensor, which does not detect the change in the sound field itself, it is not possible to know how sound-absorbing a passenger is, how much the tone quality is changed, or how much the sound field is influenced by a piece of sound-absorbing luggage present in the automobile.
Moreover, one microphone is needed for each passenger, and only one microphone is used for the detection of each passenger. Therefore, if the microphone is installed at a position where it is strongly influenced by the sound field, there will be an increased error in the level of the signal detected by the microphone. Moreover, the determination is based only on the signal level, and no description is found as to the level fluctuation due to a change in the volume level of the sound outputted from the speaker. Furthermore, since the detection is based primarily on the direct sound, changes in the reverberation characteristics cannot be known.


The apparatus includes a print switch, the remaining paper detection apparatus, and a controller and a remaining paper detection controller. The print switch sets a printing press to a printing operation mode. The remaining paper detection apparatus detects remaining paper sheets on a convey board. The controller and remaining paper detection controller inhibit the print switch from setting the printing operation mode when a remaining paper sheet is detected by the remaining paper detection apparatus.

The present invention relates to a remaining paper detection apparatus for detecting a paper sheet left on a convey board arranged between the feeder and printing unit of a sheet-fed rotary printing press.
Generally, in the printing operation, the required quality is confirmed by test printing of a proofing print, printing copy, or the like, and thereafter final printing is performed. Test printing is repeated until quality matching is confirmed. Even in final printing, various operations, e.g., a blanket cleaning work, are performed as required in order to maintain the printing quality. In this manner, final printing is performed repeating interruption and resumption of printing, and accordingly paper feeding is performed repeating interruption and resumption. Therefore, a state wherein a fed paper sheet remains on a convey board often occurs.
Since a remaining paper sheet is not fed with a normal timing, misregistration may occur or the paper sheet may skew. If the paper feed operation is resumed while leaving the remaining paper sheet as it is, the paper sheet may be torn at the register or a torn paper piece may enter into the printing unit. To remove this torn paper piece, the blanket, the ink roller, the dampening roller, and the like must be cleaned unnecessarily.
If the paper sheet in a bent state is conveyed between printing units, it may damage the blanket or the respective portions of the machine, or be caught in the ink roller or the like. When such an accident occurs, an extra time is required to settle it, leading to a decrease in productivity and quality. Conventionally, the operator himself visually confirms the remaining paper sheets before the start of paper feed operation, imposing an extra load on the operator.

Remaining paper detection apparatus for sheet-fed rotary printing press


A flavin-bound glucose dehydrogenase (FAD-GDH) with high substrate specificity for D-glucose. A gene encoding a mutant FAD-GDH with its N-terminal region, containing an amino acid sequence corresponding to MKITAAIITVATAFASFASA that exists in the N-terminal region, deleted from the amino acid sequence of a wild-type FAD-GDH derived from Mucor is introduced into E. coli to obtain an E. coli transformant. Subsequently, this E. coli transformant is cultured to obtain an FAD-GDH with a specific N-terminal region deleted. The transformant allows the production of a large amount of GDH in a short time as compared with the original microorganism. An FAD-GDH that is less susceptible to the effects of dissolved oxygen and allows accurate measurement of glucose even in the presence of sugar compounds other than glucose in a sample.

Blood glucose levels (blood sugar levels) are an important marker of diabetes. An SMBG (self-monitoring of blood glucose) device using an electrochemical biosensor is widely used for managing blood glucose levels in patients with diabetes. Enzymes that catalyze glucose as a substrate, such as glucose oxidase (GOD), have conventionally been used for biosensors employed in SMBG devices. However, GOD is characterized by the use of oxygen as an electron acceptor. Thus, SMBG devices using GOD may influence the measurement of dissolved oxygen in a sample, precluding accurate measurement.
Other enzymes that use glucose as a substrate, but do not use oxygen as an electron acceptor include various glucose dehydrogenases (GDHs). Specifically, GDH (NAD (P)-GDH) that uses nicotinamide dinucleotide (NAD) or nicotinamide dinucleotide phosphate (NADP) as a coenzyme and GDH(PQQ-GDH) that uses pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) as a coenzyme were found, and have been used for the biosensors of SMBG devices. However, NAD (P)-GDH has a problem that the enzyme is unstable and requires the addition of coenzyme. PQQ-GDH has a problem that sugar compounds other than glucose in a sample affect measurements, precluding accurate measurements, because it also reacts with sugar compounds other than glucose to be measured, such as maltose, D-galactose, and D-xylose, because of low substrate specificity.
According to a recent report, during the measurement of the blood glucose level of a patient with diabetes, who received infusion with an SMBG device using PQQ-GDH as a biosensor, PQQ-GDH also reacted with maltose contained in an infusion, raising a measured value as compared with the actual blood glucose level, and the patient developed hypoglycemia due to treatment based on this value. In addition, similar events may occur in patients who participate in a trial on galactose tolerance or xylose absorption (see, for example, Non-patent document 1). In response to this, the Pharmaceutical and Food Safety Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare conducted a cross-reactivity test to investigate the effects of the addition of each sugar into a glucose solution on blood glucose measurements. When maltose was added at 600 mg/dL, D-galactose at 300 mg/dL, and D-xylose at 200 mg/dL, measurements with a blood glucose measurement kit using the PQQ-GDH method were 2.5-3 times higher than the actual glucose level. Specifically, maltose, D-galactose, and D-xylose that may exist in a measurement sample preclude accurate measurement. The development of GDH that allows specific glucose measurement with high substrate specificity without being affected by sugar compounds that cause measurement errors is desired.
Under the above circumstances, GDHs using coenzymes other than those described above have attracted attention. For example, although the substrate specificity has not been described in detail, reports were published regarding a GDH derived from Aspergillus oryzae (see, for example, Non-patent documents 2-5). In addition, a glucose dehydrogenase using flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) from Aspergillus as a coenzyme (FAD-GDH) has been disclosed (see, for example, Patent documents 1-3). An FAD-GDH derived from Aspergillus, with reduced effects on D-xylose, has also been disclosed (see, for example, Patent document 4).
As described above, some FAD-GDHs having low reactivity with one or several sugar compounds other than D-glucose are known. However, no flavin-bound GDH having sufficiently low reactivity with all of maltose, D-galactose, and D-xylose is known. In addition, no flavin-bound GDH that allows accurate measurement of glucose levels in the presence of D-glucose, maltose, D-galactose, and D-xylose without being influenced by sugar compounds thereof is known. In addition, neither method nor means for efficiently producing a flavin-bound GDH having such excellent substrate specificity has been reported.
Methods for preparing a transformant by introducing an enzyme gene of interest into a suitable host and producing the enzyme by culturing the transformant is conventionally known as a means for efficiently producing a useful enzyme. Particularly, a method for introducing a gene into E. coli is widely used as a means for efficiently producing a substance. However, there are few findings regarding recombinant FAD-GDH production in E. coli. Only a method for recombinant expression by introducing an FAD-GDH gene derived from Aspergillus or Penicillium into E. coli K12 strain host is disclosed (for example, see, Patent document 5).
In expressing a gene by introducing it into a host, the efficiency actually varies with genes and heterologous hosts. Of note, in introducing a gene into a heterologous host, particularly, introducing a eukaryotic gene into E. coli, there may often be problems with introduction or expression in the host even using a known method with reference to the findings of the same kind of enzyme. E. coli has no a post-translational modification system. Thus, in general, expressing the activity of an enzyme derived from a eukaryotic organism (e.g., fungi) in E. coli is often difficult when the enzyme activity requires post-translational modification. For example, when an enzyme derived from fungi is expressed in E. coli, it causes an insoluble inclusion body in most cases.
Under such circumstances, it is industrially useful to find a combination of gene, host, and introduction method, which facilitates the expression and efficient production of an enzyme, derived from a eukaryotic organism (e.g., fungi), in E. coli. Besides an FAD-GDH having excellent properties, a technique for efficient production of an enzyme having such excellent properties in E. coli, advantageous for industrial enzyme production, is strongly demanded.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


It is possible to prevent lowering in productivity of thin-film transistors with no decrease in performance of the transistors. Provided are depositing an amorphous semiconductor film on a substrate, a first irradiating the amorphous semiconductor film with an energy-rich beam in an atmosphere of a gas containing an inert gas as a major component with a specific amount of oxygen, to change the amorphous semiconductor film into a polycrystalline semiconductor film, and a second irradiating the polycrystalline semiconductor film with an energy-rich beam in an atmosphere of a gas containing an inert gas as major component with oxygen of an amount less than the specific amount.

This application claims benefit of priority under 35USC xc2xa7119 to Japanese Patent Application Nos. 2000-281353 and 2001-208028 filed on Sep. 18, 2000 and Jul. 9, 2001, respectively, in Japan, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.
The present invention relates to a method of forming a polycrystalline semiconductor film. Particularly, this invention relates to a method of forming a polycrystalline semiconductor film as an active layer for thin-film transistors used for liquid crystal displays, etc.
With advanced miniaturization in liquid crystal displays, thin-film transistors (TFT) having polycrystalline silicon with high mobility used for active layers have recently been used instead of known transistors having amorphous silicon as active layers.
Described with reference to FIG. 6 is a known method of producing a transistor having polycrystalline silicon used for an active layer.
As shown in FIG. 6(a), a thin film 42 of amorphous semiconductor is deposited on an insulating film 41 made of glass for example. The thin film 42 is irradiated with energy-rich beams such as the excimer laser to be melted for recrystallization, and hence changed into a polycrystalline thin film 43 as shown in FIG. 6(b). The thin film 43 is patterned, followed by impurity doping to form semiconductor films 43a of low concentration as shown in FIG. 6(c).
Next, as shown in FIG. 6(d), the semiconductor films 43a are covered with a gate insulating film 44. A metallic film is formed on the film 44 and pattered, thus forming a gate electrode 45 for an n-channel transistor and a metallic film 45a that covers the semiconductor film 43a for a p-channel transistor. Subsequently, p- or n-type dopant is implanted into the semiconductor films 43a at a high concentration via the gate electrode 45 as a mask, to form an n-type source/drain region 46 as shown in FIG. 6(d).
A resist pattern 50 made of photoresist is formed as shown in FIG. 6(e). The metallic film 45a is patterned with this resist pattern to form a gate electrode 45a for the p-channel transistor. P-type dopant of high concentration is implanted into the semiconductor film 43a for the p-channel transistor while masked with the resist pattern 50 and the gate electrodes 45a to form p-type source/drain regions 47.
The resist pattern 50 is removed, followed by annealing for dopant activation, and an interlayer insulating film 48 is formed on the entire surface as shown in FIG. 6(f). Contact holes are formed on insulating films 48 and 44 and are filled with an electrode-material film. The film is patterned to form source/drain electrodes 49, thus producing the transistor.
Not only by irradiation of energy-rich beams such as the excimer laser, polycrystalline silicon films can be formed by, for example, solid phase epitaxy with annealing amorphous silicon for a long time at a temperature in the range from about 400xc2x0 C. to 600xc2x0 C. In general, however, polycrystalline silicon films formed by solid phase epitaxy have lower carrier mobility than those formed by irradiation of energy-rich beams for recrystallization by melting. Moreover, large substrates can easily be recrystallized by irradiation of energy-rich line beams, but not by solid phase epitaxy. Polycrystalline silicon films formed by solid phase epitaxy thus cannot be used for high-speed circuitry, and hence used only for small liquid crystal displays.
Irradiation of energy-rich beams such as the excimer laser for recrystallization of amorphous silicon by melting causes roughness on the silicon surface. Shown in FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a thin-film transistor having an active layer of polycrystalline silicon formed by irradiation of the excimer laser. It is expected from FIG. 5 that a gate insulating film 44, which is formed on a polycrystalline silicon 43a having roughness formed on an insulative substrate 41, has thin sections formed on convex portions of the polycrystalline silicon.
Gate insulating films having thin portions cause a decrease in gate dielectric strength. FIG. 4 indicates leak current dependency on voltage for oxide films. One oxide film was formed on a substrate of single crystalline silicon whereas the other film having the same thickness as the former was formed a polycrystalline silicon film which was formed by irradiating the excimer laser. The graphs teach that a leak current flowed through the oxide film formed on the polycrystalline silicon film at an extremely low voltage compared to the single crystal silicon. It is speculated that electric fields converged on the surface convex sections might have caused generation of current on the convex sections.
Thin-film transistors having polycrystalline silicon as active layers thus require a thick gate insulating film. An on state current for thin-film transistors are inverse proportional to the thickness of a gate insulating film. A thick gate insulating film mitigates roughness on the surface of a polycrystalline silicon film, however, it causes decrease in performance of transistors.
It is speculated that such roughness that causes decrease in performance of thin-film transistors is formed on the surface of a polycrystalline silicon due to segregation of an oxide film formed on the surface of amorphous silicon or formed with oxygen existing in the atmosphere irradiated with laser, during recrystallization by melting.
Such roughness thus can be mitigated by complete removal of an oxide film formed on the surface of amorphous silicon with lowering a partial pressure of oxygen existing in the atmosphere irradiated with laser. Laser annealing under this condition, however, causes abrasion of a silicon film at energy lower than that of laser beam irradiation required for grain of polycrystalline silicon to become large enough. Or, it causes increase in energy of laser beams for crystallization. This results in decreasing in operating rate of an apparatus for irradiating the laser beams.
Such a problem is solved by atomospheric laser annealing for enlarging grain of polycrystalline silicon, followed by removal of the surface oxide film with hydrogen fluoride (HF) and vacuum laser annealing for minimizing roughness on the surface of polycrystalline silicon. This is proposed in K. Suga et al., xe2x80x9cThe Effect of a Laser Annealing Ambient on the Morphology and TFT Performance of Poly-Si Filmsxe2x80x9d, Society for Information Display 00 DIGEST, p534-537, May 2000.
This method, however, requires decompression from ambient pressure to vacuum for laser annealing or two separate systems for ambient pressure only and vacuum only. Either way requires HF treatment after atomospheric laser annealing, thus decreasing productivity.
A purpose of the present invention is to provide a method of forming a polycrystalline semiconductor film that provides high performance for thin-film transistors having this polycrystalline semiconductor film and high productivity.
A first aspect of a method of forming a polycrystalline semiconductor film according to the present invention includes depositing an amorphous semiconductor film on a substrate, a first irradiating the amorphous semiconductor film with an energy-rich beam in an atmosphere of a gas containing an inert gas as a major component with a specific amount of oxygen, to change the amorphous semiconductor film into a polycrystalline semiconductor film, and a second irradiating the polycrystalline semiconductor film with an energy-rich beam in an atmosphere of a gas containing an inert gas as a major component with oxygen of an amount less than the specific amount.
The amount of oxygen for the first irradiating may be 5 ppm or more but less than 10% and the amount of oxygen for the second irradiating is preferably 200 ppm.
The total amount of energy for the second irradiating may be larger than the total amount of energy for the first irradiating.
It may be that the polycrystalline semiconductor film is exposed to an atmosphere between the first irradiating and the second irradiating, the atmosphere having an oxygen concentration higher than oxygen concentrations in the atmospheres in the first and the second irradiating.
The first and the second irradiating may be performed in the same processing chamber.
It may be to perform removing a natural oxide film formed on the surface of the amorphous semiconductor film before the first irradiating.
It may be to perform crystallization while splaying an area of the substrate, that is irradiated with the energy-rich beam, with a gas at a pressure higher than an ambient pressure in a processing chamber.
It may be to use an excimer laser beam as the energy-rich beam.
The number of irradiation of the energy-rich beam in the first irradiating may be smaller than the number of irradiation of the energy-rich beam in the second irradiating.
Moreover, a second aspect of a method of forming a polycrystalline semiconductor film according to the present invention includes forming a polycrystalline semiconductor film on a substrate, irradiating the polycrystalline semiconductor film with an energy-rich beam in an atmosphere of a gas containing an inert gas as a major component with oxygen, an amount of the oxygen being 1 ppm or more but 50 ppm or less.
Furthermore, a third aspect of a method of forming a polycrystalline semiconductor film according to the present invention includes depositing an amorphous semiconductor film on a substrate, removing a natural oxide film on the amorphous semiconductor film, first irradiating the amorphous semiconductor film with an energy-rich beam in an atmosphere of a gas containing an inert gas as a major component with oxygen, an amount of the oxygen being 5 ppm or more but less than 10%, to change the amorphous semiconductor film into a polycrystalline semiconductor film, and second irradiating the polycrystalline semiconductor film with an energy-rich beam in an atmosphere containing an inert gas as a major component with oxygen, an amount of the oxygen being 1 ppm or more but 50 ppm or less.
It may be to perform crystallization while splaying an area of the substrate, that is irradiated with the energy-rich beam, with a gas at a pressure higher than an ambient pressure in a processing chamber.

Method of forming polycrystalline semiconductor film