Methods and apparatus for providing network communications capability to a computer system in accordance with standard communication line protocols are described, including interface circuits which sense various characteristics of the communication lines to control or provide signals to control power to line drivers and/or other substantial power consuming circuitry to conserve power when communication line conditions indicate powering such circuits is not useful. Various embodiments are disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of digital communications, and particular to communications interface circuits and power management systems and methods.
2. Related Art
Various communication interface standards are known for establishing communications between computer systems and peripheral devices. One example of such an interface is the RS-232 serial communications interface standard which is used in many applications, including IBM compatible personal computers. Other common standards include the RS-485 or RS-422 standards. Such digital communications standards include specifications adequate for equipment of different designs and manufacture to communicate with each other. Conventionally, the circuitry used to provide a computer system with RS-232 communications interface capability remains active and powered even when not connected to a device. In the past, when computer systems were generally powered via a standard electrical outlet, this constant utilization of power did not present a problem because of the virtually inexhaustible supply of power available.
However, with the recent popularity of portable laptop and palmtop computers, which generally draw power from a rechargeable battery, this unnecessary power consumption has become problematic. Without a check on the status of its connection to other systems, the unused interface circuitry continues to drain power from the rechargeable battery, thereby reducing the amount of time the portable computer system may be used remotely.
To reduce this unnecessary power consumption, and thereby extend the time the rechargeable battery remains charged, it is desirable to provide a communication interface circuit which detects when it is not coupled to another communications system, and which responds by signaling for the application of power to certain portions of the interface circuit to be suspended. It is also desirable for the interface circuit to include a power management system that monitors communication activity through the communication interface circuit. The power management system signals certain portions of the communication interface circuit to shut (or power) down if there exists no communication activity through the communication interface circuit for a prescribed period of time as well as power up in the event that communication activity is detected and the communication interface circuit is shut down.

Communication circuit having network connection detection capability


An apparatus for treating skin includes a chamber defined by a surface and a rim extending from the surface. A source of vacuum is capable of removing air from inside the chamber so that air outside the chamber flows into the chamber. Impedance of the air flowing between the rim of the chamber positioned adjacent the skin surface causes the pressure inside the chamber to decrease relative to ambient. A pressure sensor can determine when the pressure inside the chamber decreases to a threshold value. A controller can receive a signal from the pressure sensor when the threshold value is reached, which causes the rate of removal of the air from inside the chamber by the source of vacuum to be increased. The rim of the chamber forms a substantially fluid tight seal with the skin. The skin is drawn toward an inner surface of the chamber.

Vacuum assisted treatment of the skin has recently been described in several patent applications, including: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/498,456; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/401,674; EP Patent Application No. 050007952.4; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/057,542; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/498,382; and PCT/IL02/00635, the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety. Clinical applications of vacuum assisted treatments of the skin include, among others, light based aesthetic treatments of the skin such as hair removal, treatment of pigmented lesions, and treatment of vascular lesions as well as medical treatments such as painless injections. An evacuation chamber, which is currently utilized for pain reduction as well as to increase efficacy and safety of light based aesthetic treatments, can use a micro-switch to enable the generation of vacuum in the evacuation chamber. When the operator places the chamber contacts the skin on the treatment site, the switch is depressed and the air is removed from the vacuum chamber. This can be achieved by slightly pressing the skin while placing the evacuation chamber over the treatment site, resulting in the activation of the micro-switch and the activation of the vacuum.
Although generally satisfactory, a disadvantage of the utilization of a micro-switch on the skin can result if the skin lacks stiffness or rigidity. While pressing the skin for the activation of the micro-switch, the skin can recede. The receding degree depends on the specific patient. Skin receding is particularly significant in obese patients or in soft areas such as the axilla or bikini line or the chin. As a result, the micro-switch may not be activated, and evacuation over the skin may not occur. Consequently, a treatment may be more difficult, or in certain circumstances, may not be feasible.


Systems and methods for cognitive composition of multi-dimensional icons and interactions are disclosed. In embodiments, a computer-implemented method comprises: generating, by a computing device, interaction logs based on user context data received; identifying, by the computing device, one or more target applications and associated scripts; automatically generating, by the computing device, a multi-dimensional icon for the one or more target applications based on the interaction logs, wherein the multi-dimensional icon comprises a geometric structure including content cells; allocating, by the computing device, the scripts to respective content cells of the multi-dimensional icon.

The present invention relates generally to multi-dimensional icons, and, more particularly, to cognitive composition of multi-dimensional icons.
User-selectable icons are common mechanisms for triggering software applications in a computer based graphical user interface. Typically, such icons are two-dimensional and display a single image or play a single video clip or dynamic illustration. As the number of software applications utilized by a single device increases, new methods of organizing software application icons have been explored. One method of organizing software application icons involves the use of three-dimensional (3D) icons that can be rotated to show an assortment of information or data. Typically, such 3D icons are designed and constructed by third party developers, and made available to users or manufacturers for use in user computer devices. Other solutions enable users to manually create 3D icons devoted to user-selected subject matter, such as a social media cube depicting various social media applications of the user.

Cognitive composition of multi-dimensional icons

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A surgical support attaches to a surgical table by means of mounting plates and base plates that may communicate through a surgical drape without puncturing the surgical drape. The base plates may be attached to the surgical table by means of a pegboard or by direct clamping of the base plates to a side of the surgical table underneath the surgical drape.

The present invention relates to a surgical support system for supporting a surgical device or patient during surgery and in particular to a support system that can be attached to and adjusted with respect to the operating table from the sterile operating field through a surgical drape.
During surgery, a surgical drape may be placed ova the operating table to isolate a sterile operating area and sterile equipment from non-sterile areas and equipment. The surgical drape is typically a disposable, flexible plastic material.
For surgical procedures such as a total knee replacement, it is necessary for the patient's leg to be properly positioned and then held fixed in that position before cuts are made for the removal of the existing joint. For this purpose, a sterile leg support system may be positioned on the sterile side of the surgical drape.
Such support systems often compromise the sterile barrier of the surgical drape by going around it to the side or penetrating the surgical drape. Some systems attempt to clamp a support system over top of the sterile barrier, but nearly always penetrate the surgical drape. An adhesive backed covering applied to the sterile drape may be used to minimize the opening formed in the surgical drape when the surgical drape is cut or punctured, but such covering has only limited success in preventing contamination of the sterile field. Substantial adjustment of such patient support fixtures, as may be necessary for proper surgery, often requires the physician to move between the sterile and non-sterile fields jeopardizing the sterility of the sterile field.


A system with secure cryptographic capabilities using a hardware specific digital secret.

The use of digital computer systems in electronic communications and information processing systems for information control and information retrieval has rapidly proliferated in modern business environments. Preservation of sensitive information under a security implementation utilized by the conventional digital computer systems can be compromised due to unfettered access to the processors and memory of each of the conventional digital computer systems. Thus, it would be advantageous to provide a solution that can provide a secure environment to perform cryptography on sensitive information.

System with secure cryptographic capabilities using a hardware specific digital secret


Method for forming a highly relaxed epitaxial semiconductor layer (52) with a thickness between 100 nm and 800 nm in a growth chamber includes four principle steps. In a first step, the method provides a substrate (51) in the growth chamber on a substrate carrier. In a second step, the method maintains a constant substrate temperature (TS) of the substrate (51) in a range between 350° C. and 500° C. In a third step, the method establishes a high-density, low-energy plasma in the growth chamber such that the substrate (51) is being exposed to the plasma. In a fourth step, the method directs Silane gas (SiH4) and Germane gas (GeH4) through the gas inlet into the growth chamber, the flow rates of the Silane gas and the Germane gas being adjusted in order to form said semiconductor layer (52) by means of vapor deposition with a growth rate in a range between 1 and 10 nm/s. The semiconductor layer (52) has a Germanium concentration x in a range between 0<x<50%.

New materials and material compositions are being employed in industry in order to improve semiconductor devices such as transistors, for example. This allows one to improve the processing speed and performance of integrated circuits (ICs). A typical example is the deployment of a thin strained silicon film on top of a relaxed Silicon-Germanium (SiGe) buffer layer, on a Silicon (Si) substrate.
A conventional approach of using relaxed graded SiGe layers as buffers is now described. The concept of graded SiGe buffer layers was invented in 1991 by Fitzgerald et al. The results of their work are described in F. A. Fitzgerald, Y.-H. Xie, M. L. Green, D. Brasen, A. R. Kortan, J. Michel, Y.-J Mii, and B. E. Weir, Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol. 59, p. 811, 1991. Such buffer layers are used as virtual substrates (VS) for applications in the area of high-speed electronics by means of metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) and modulation-doped field-effect transistors (MODFETs) based on strained Si or Si1-xGex(0<x≦1). The active layers (e.g., Si) on top of a VS are strained because the VS has a lattice parameter intermediate between that of Si and Ge.
In the graded buffer approach, the Ge concentration x in a Si1-xGex alloy is raised in a linear or step-wise fashion from zero up to some final value xf.
In this way, dislocations are distributed in a larger volume compared to a SiGe film with constant composition, where they reside basically at the interface. As a result, threading dislocation (TD) arms become more mobile, long misfit segments are formed (ideally across the whole wafer) and the density of TDs piercing the active layers of devices, and spoiling their performance, is reduced.
To date, the highest low-temperature electron and hole mobilities in strained Si channels were reported in the following two papers: K. Ismail, M. Arafa, K. L. Saenger, J. O. Chu, and B. S. Meyerson, in Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol. 66, p. 1077, 1995; P. Weitz, R. J. Haug, K. Von Klitzing, and F. Schäffler, in Surf. Sci. 361/362, p. 542, 1996; and in strained Ge channels by H. von Känel, M. Kummer, G. Isella, E. Müller, and T. Hackbarth, in Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol. 80, p. 2922, 2002. This has been achieved using VS based on Fitzgerald's concept.
Conventional VS are, however, typically several microns thick because the grading rates have to be kept low (typically around 10%/μm) to assure low TD densities. Such VS are therefore very time consuming to fabricate with conventional growth techniques.
There does, however, exist a fast deposition process, called low-energy plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (LEPECVD) by means of which time and material consumption has been minimized. The basic process, applied only to Si and SiGe films of a "quality sufficient for epitaxy", is described and claimed in the US patent with patent number U.S. Pat. No. 6,454,855 B1, and in a pending PCT application published as WO 98/58099.
For the application of LEPECVD to p-MODFETs, a European patent application was filed on 22 Nov. 2001. Application number 01127834.8 was assigned. Subsequently, a PCT patent application was filed on 5 Sep. 2002 and the international application number PCT/EP 02/09922 was assigned. In the context of these applications 01127834.8 and PCT/EP 02/09922, the LEPECVD is used to grow thick graded relaxed SiGe layers. It is a disadvantage of thick graded SiGe buffer layers, that their thermal conductivity is relatively low. When using a substrate with such a thick SiGe buffer layer, heat dissipation might be a problem in particular in highly integrated circuits. If one uses a substrate with a thick SiGe buffer layer, the integration of Si circuits is difficult, since there are substantial differences in heights (large step heights) between the buffer and those areas where the buffer has been removed by means of etching. Photolithography on such a structured surface is difficult due to focusing problems, for instance.
Even though VS based on thick graded relaxed buffer layers can now be economically grown, e.g., by LEPECVD, the thick VS concept implies major disadvantages, such as                poor thermal conductivity, leading to problems with heat dissipation for SiGe devices, as mentioned above,        large surface roughness due to cross-hatch, requiring chemical mechanical polishing        problems with integration because of large step heights due to large SiGe layer thickness, as mentioned above.
In the following, thin relaxed buffer layers serving as VS are addressed. In the past few years many attempts have been made to overcome the shortcomings of thick conventional graded buffers, aiming at a substantial reduction of buffer layer thickness to the range of 100-500 nm. In almost all cases these efforts have been carried out by means of solid source molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), which is not a suitable technique for large scale production. One notable exception is the work by K. K. Linder et al., who used gas-source molecular beam epitaxy and ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition. For details please refer to K. K. Under et al., Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol. 70, p. 3224, 1997. These processes are, however, extremely slow, of the order of a mono-layer per minute or less, at the low substrate temperatures required.
The most serious disadvantage of MBE is the limited capacity of the evaporation crucibles. This is a disadvantage in particular when growing SiGe-buffer layers having a thickness of up to 500 nm. MBE is thus not well suited for industrial production of devices comprising SiGe layers.
CVD processes in general, are not deemed to be suitable for deposition at low substrate temperatures even for VS thinner than ˜500 nm. In the "Handbook of thin-film deposition processes and techniques ed. Klaus. K. Schuegraf, Noyes Publications, New Jersey, USA, 1988, ISBN: 0-8155-1153-1, p. 26 through 79, there is an overview article by M. L. Hammond addressing Si epitaxy using CVD. It is clear from this article that there is an exponential decrease of the growth rate as the substrate temperature decreases. Estimates based on figures from various publications indicate that Si would grow at a rate between 0.01 nm/min and 0.0001 nm/min if using a CVD process at about 400° C. A SiGe alloy layer would probably grow at a rate that is certainly below 1 nm/min (0.0166 nm/s) if one were to use a CVD process at about 400° C.
One concept that was investigated is the deposition of a low temperature Si buffer before SiGe growth. The idea of this so-called low-temperature silicon (LT-Si) buffer was introduced by H. Chen et al., J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 79, p. 1167, 1995. Chen proposed a two-step growth process. It is based on the following premise: Silicon epitaxially grown at low substrate temperatures (typically of the order of 400° C.) contains a high concentration of point defects. These point defects may diffuse to the interface during subsequent SiGe growth at higher substrate temperature, and promote the nucleation of dislocation loops. Relaxation of the SiGe film therefore no longer requires formation of dislocation half-loops at the surface. Since the half-loops are associated always with two TDs, reducing their density should also reduce the density of TDs.
It is a disadvantage of this two-step growth process that it appears to fail at Ge concentrations x above ˜30%. It is, however, applicable to higher x if layers are grown in more than one step (cf. C. S. Peng et al., Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol. 72, p. 3160, 1998). Such a procedure is evidently time consuming.
Another two-step growth process starts with the epitaxial growth of SIGe at ultra-low temperatures. According to this concept, advocated by E. Kasper et al. in Thin Solid Films, Vol. 336, p. 319, 1998, it is the SiGe film itself which is grown in a first step at very low temperatures of the order of 200° C. by MBE. In a second step, the VS is completed by growing the film to its final thickness at a higher temperature (cf. M. Bauer et al. in Thin Solid Films Vol. 369, p. 152, 2000). The idea here is that point defects in the film should help dislocations with opposite Burgers vector to annihilate, because of dislocation climb. Furthermore, as in the case of LT-Si, condensation of point defects can result in the formation of dislocation loops inside the SiGe layer, avoiding dislocation nucleation from surface sites. It is a disadvantage of the concept advocated by E. Kasper et al., that it requires MBE.
Another approach is the post SiGe growth hydrogen ion Implantation or H-cleaning plus annealing. In this approach, described by S. Mantl et al. in Nucl. Instr. and Meth. in Phys. Res., Vol. B 147, p. 29, 1999, and by B. Holländer et al. in Nucl. Instr. and Meth. In Phys. Res., Vol. B 148, p. 200, 2000, hydrogen is implanted at some depth below the SiGe epilayer. In the subsequent annealing steps, micro cavities form which seem to promote the nucleation of dislocation loops. The latter can extend at the interface and act as misfit segments enabling strain relaxation.
An alternative method has been proposed by J. Kuchenbecker et al. in Thin Solid Films, Vol. 389, p. 146, 2001. In this paper, the Si wafer is exposed to a low-energy hydrogen plasma, and annealed for a short time, before the epitaxial growth of the SiGe layer by MBE. Similar to H-implantation, this process induces cavities below the interface, which again promote relaxation of the SiGe film upon annealing.
It is regarded as a disadvantage of these approaches, that for growth in one single step, Ge concentrations in the VS appear to be limited to approximately 20%.
Another approach—which is essentially similar to the previous one—is referred to as post SiGe growth helium ion implantation plus annealing. It differs from the previous approach in that the implanted species is He rather than H. It has, however, been shown to work up to Ge concentrations of 30% (cf. B. Holländer et al., Nucl. Instr. and Meth. In Phys. Res. B 175-177, p. 357, 2001). Transistor data obtained on 95 nm thick Si0.69Ge0.31 VS are comparable to those obtained on conventional graded VS (cf. H.-J. Herzog et al., IEEE Electron Device Letters, Vol. 23, p. 485, 2002.
VS growth by hydrogen and He implantation plus annealing could be used in industrial production, provided that the SiGe layers are grown by a gas phase process rather than by MBE, as In all publications mentioned above.
As addressed above, several approaches have been suggested and implemented to decrease the thickness of the VS to below ˜500 nm. While partially successful from a scientific point of view, all these approaches rely for the most part on processes unsuitable for large scale production.
It is a disadvantage of the known CVD approaches that the growth rate is low. Since a certain minimum thickness of ˜100 nm of the semiconductor layer (e.g., a SiGe VS) is required, the formation of this layer takes quite some time when using conventional approaches. This is, however, highly unfavorable for industrial mass production.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for making thin, highly relaxed semiconductor layers using processes suitable for large scale production.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for making SiGe layer(s) having a high degree of relaxation.
It is an object of the present invention to provide heterostructure devices made by such methods.

Formation of thin semiconductor layers by low-energy plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition and semiconductor heterostructure devices

Eidgenoessische Technische Hochschule Zuerich


A distributed network of independently operable servers is provided. Each server is adapted to communicate over the network with at least one of the other servers and has a datastore with a plurality of datafields adapted to store information about at least one user. By enabling an authentication of a user based on a user supplied biometric identifier, the network is adapted to enable the transfer of information relating to the user between different servers.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a distributed network of servers or entities, each having user specific information that may be shared across the network. The system is particularly concerned with the management of customer relationships with one or more service providers.
2. Description of the Related Art
At present, organizations hold an increasingly large and complex amount of information about individual customers. There is a significant administrative overhead in managing, updating, and correlating a customer's information. As a result, within any single organization, different departments may have different disparate and segmented views of the same individual customer.
Within many organisations there is a problem with maintaining an accurate and up to date view of a customer across all internal systems. The number of customer transactions and the volume of data collected from those transactions can be very high. In addition, there can be a wide variety of different data collected depending on the application. Over time, new data fields will be required, and old fields may be eventually discarded. Therefore customer information is both increasing in size and complexity. For example, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) data held on a hotel customer will include standard details such as name, address, dates of previous stays, and payment card details, but might also include preferred room type and location, hotel facilities used, and feedback history.
If customers have dealt with a particular service provider (SP) before they will expect to be recognized in all future transactions and treated appropriately. They do not want to have to repeat information that they have already disclosed. For example, any change of address or preferred payment method must be reflected in all future transactions. In turn, this increases customer satisfaction and helps retain customers. A few regular customers can generate more revenue than many infrequent customers. In order to provide this service a large administrative burden is placed on the SP in order to keep customer details up to date, and to cater for the complex data sets.
EP 0 917 119 describes a distributed network based wallet system that is adapted for a provision of a safe, secure and properly authorized transfer of information while preserving individual privacy. The system provides a centralised storage depot for storing personal information about a person, yet differentiates between the type of information that may be accessed by third parties.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,131 is also concerned about the secure processing of sensitive customer information over distributed networks such as the internet. This system provides such security by storing the user data and processes in vaults only accessible by an authenticated user.
The latter two disclosures base their treatment of the user information on a central depot for the information which is then accessible by a user or third party on authentication of same. This requirement for central storage means that the datastore associated with the user needs constant updating of information in order to have everyday use or applicability. It further requires high level of trust between users of the system as all users are accessing the master datastore and although their privileges may be restricted using security protocols and the like there is a possibility of corruption of an entire dataset, and subsequent loss of all information pertinent to the user.
In addition to the multiple storage of information relating to customers it is also known to provide loyalty cards, which identify a specific customer account, to the customer in order to track transactions and reward frequent patrons. However, this results in a number of such cards and tokens being required by the customer for each and every service provider (SP) with whom they interact. FIG. 1 is an example, in a high-level block diagram format, illustrating how existing prior art customer relationship management systems fail to obtain a unified view of the customer and require use of a multitude of different customer identification tokens.
Conventional loyalty cards are not easy to deploy as typically a lengthy application procedure must be followed by the customer. The loyalty card usually takes the form of a physical plastic magnetic stripe card or smart card. In addition, each SP issues their own loyalty card, requiring the user to apply and carry a new card for every single SP they interact with, as is shown in FIG. 1.
There is therefore a need to provide a system and method that enables a user to easily interface with a plurality of service providers in a secure manner. There is a further need to provide a system that provides for a single authentication of the user and the subsequent use of that authentication across a wide platform of independently operable servers as operated by different service providers.

Distributed network system using biometric authentication access


A syringe assembly includes a syringe barrel having an elongate body, a tip on its distal end surrounded by a barrel collar. A needle assembly includes a needle cannula attached to a hub having a cavity in its open proximal end. The hub is attached to the barrel with the barrel tip in the hub cavity. A plunger having a stopper positioned in fluid tight engagement on the inside of the barrel. A collar is rotatably connected to the outside surface of the barrel collar. An elongate needle shield is hingedly connected to the collar. The needle shield includes two side walls defining a longitudinal opening and a recess. A needle shield is capable of pivoting about the collar from an open position to a closed position wherein the distal end of the needle cannula is in the recess of the needle shield. Structure is provided to lock the needle shield to the collar and to trap the needle cannula in the needle shield when the needle shield is in the closed position. Structure is provided to prevent over-rotation of the needle shield past the needle protecting position and to guide a needle cannula into the recess of the needle shield. An over-center hinge facilitates moving the needle shield to the closed position.

Accidental needle sticks with new unused needle can cause injury and render the needle unfit for further use. Accidental needle sticks with a used needle can transmit disease. As a result, most prior art needle assemblies have a needle shield. Some prior art needle shields define a rigid sleeve that can be manually telescoped over a needle cannula. This procedure requires a healthcare worker to hold the syringe barrel in one hand and the shield in the other. Some medical procedures require the application of pressure to the penetration site after the needle has been removed. Thus, healthcare workers are often unable to use both hands for shielding the needle cannula. In these situations, workers merely deposit the used medical implement on a nearby surface with the intention of shielding at a more convenient time. However, until the needle is shielded or properly disposed of, it presents a potential danger to other people.
A needle shield which is hinged near the base of the needle has the advantage of allowing one handed needle reshielding. Thus providing the opportunity for reshielding, under most circumstances, immediately after use. Accordingly, a number of prior art needle shield assemblies have been developed that include such needle shields.
Various means have been provided for locking a hinged needle shield in the closed, needle protecting, position. Deflectable members have been provided in the needle shield for engaging the needle upon shielding and preventing subsequent unshielding of the needle. Such members trap the needle within the needle shield. Locking has also been accomplished by locking engagement of the needle shield with structure near the base of the needle.
Although hinged needle shields are known in the art, there is still a need for an improved hinged needle shield that is automatically locking, cost effective, easy to manufacture and having improved safety features.


Overlapping section (81) is constructed by positioning an inner side wall portion (78) of an outer impact absorbing section (63) closer to a longitudinal centerline (48) of a vehicle body than an outer side wall (33, 103) of a front side frame (11, 12; 91), so that a collision impact load can be transmitted to the outer side wall portion by way of the overlapping section. Inner impact absorbing section (62) projects forward by a greater length than an outer impact absorbing section (63). Thus, an airbag-deploying acceleration threshold value Gs is set within a range between an acceleration level when the inner impact absorbing section (62) alone is deformed by impact energy and an acceleration level when the inner and outer impact absorbing sections (62, 63) are deformed.

Among the conventionally-known vehicle front body structures are ones which include, on each of left and right sides of the vehicle body, an upper member disposed laterally outwardly of a corresponding (i.e., left or right) front side frame, inner and outer impact absorbing sections provided on respective front end portions of the front side frame and upper member in spaced-apart relation to each other in a width direction of the vehicle body, and a bumper beam fixed to the inner and outer impact absorbing sections.
One example of such vehicle front body structures is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2007-190964 (JP 2007-190964 A), which will be described below with reference to FIG. 20 hereof. FIG. 20 is a view illustrating how impact energy caused by an offset collision (i.e., collision impact energy) is absorbed in the conventional vehicle front body structure, only with respect to one of the left and right sides (left side in the illustrated example of FIG. 20) of the vehicle front body structure. In the vehicle front body structure 200, inner and outer impact absorbing sections 203 and 204, constituting an impact absorbing unit of the structure 200, are provided on respective front end portions of the left front side frame 201 and upper member 202; thus, the impact absorbing unit can have an increased overall width. Consequently, in case an impact load is applied to a bumper beam 205 as indicated by white arrow f, each of the impact absorbing sections 203 and 204 can be prevented from undesirably tilting sideways, so that the applied impact load f can be transmitted via the absorbing sections 203 and 204 to the left front side frame 201 and upper member 202.
Inner side wall portion 204a of the outer impact absorbing section 204 is spaced outwardly from an outer side wall portion 201a of the left front side frame 201 by a distance S. Thus, when another vehicle 210 has collided against the vehicle in question (i.e., vehicle where the vehicle front body structure 200 is employed) with an offset (e.g., leftward offset) from a longitudinal centerline extending centrally through the width of the vehicle in question, a collision impact load applied to the bumper beam 205 is transmitted to the left front side frame 201 and left upper member 202 by way of the absorbing sections 203 and 204 as indicated by arrow a and b.
Such an offset collision would deform the bumper beam 205 as depicted by imaginary lines, and thus, the collision impact load would act toward the longitudinal centerline of the vehicle body as indicated by arrow c. This impact load is applied to the left front side frame 201 and would bend the left front side frame 201 in a direction indicated by arrow d. For this reason, a stiffener (partitioning plate) functioning as an reinforcing member is provided on the left front side frame 201 for preventing the side frame 201 from being bendingly deformed as indicated by arrow d. However, if the left front side frame 201 is reinforced with such a stiffener, the left front side frame 201 would undesirably increase in weight.
Also known in the art are vehicle front body structures where, on each of the left and right sides of the front vehicle body, respective front end portions of the front side frame and upper member are interconnected via a connecting frame and an acceleration sensor is provided on the connecting frame. Occurrence (i.e., presence/absence) of a collision is determined on the basis of acceleration (deceleration) detected by the acceleration sensor. Once it is determined that a collision has occurred to the vehicle, an airbag is developed or deployed to protect a vehicle occupant. One example of such vehicle front body structures is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3930004 (JP 3,930,004 B).
Also known in the art are vehicle front body structures which can absorb impact energy caused not only by a low-speed collision but also by a high-speed collision. Thus absorbing impact energy caused by a low-speed collision can protect an object having collided against the vehicle in question, while absorbing impact energy caused by a high-speed collision can protect a vehicle occupant. By providing such vehicle front body structure with the acceleration sensors as disclosed in JP 3,930,004 B, an airbag can be deployed into a vehicle compartment once acceleration detected by any of the acceleration sensors exceeds a predetermined airbag-deploying acceleration threshold value; this arrangement can protect a vehicle occupant even more effectively.
In order keep the airbag undeployed at the time of a low-speed collision and to get deployed only at the time of a high-speed collision, it is necessary to set an appropriate airbag-deploying acceleration threshold value with a high accuracy. The acceleration produced by impact energy would fluctuate to some degree. Therefore, in order to set the airbag-deploying acceleration threshold value with a high accuracy, it is preferable to set the airbag-deploying acceleration threshold value within a range in which the acceleration presents a sharp increase, i.e., within a range of a great (and hence clear) acceleration change rate. However, because the vehicle front body structures have a low-speed-collision absorbing function capable of absorbing impact energy caused by a low-speed collision, the low-speed-collision absorbing function would undesirably work at the time of a high-speed collision. Therefore, it is difficult to secure a great acceleration rate for a high-speed collision and set the airbag-deploying acceleration threshold value within the range of the clear acceleration change rate. Therefore, it has been difficult to accurately determine, on the basis of a prestored (preset) airbag-deploying acceleration threshold value, proper timing (or acceleration level) at which the airbag is to be deployed


Described are a novel graphical element known as a spatial patch and a system and method for rendering the spatial patch to create computer graphics. The spatial patch may include appearance data and displacement data for each of a plurality of nodes that together specify the color and geometry for typically a small portion of a surface of an object. The appearance and displacement data may be independent and irregular for each of the nodes in order to represent complexly colored and structured objects. The spatial patch may be processed independently and may have internal topology or structure to facilitate parallel processing. Accordingly, the spatial patch offers many quality and processing advantages over polygon mesh representations that have previously been used to create three-dimensional computer graphics.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of computer graphics. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for representing a graphical object with one or more spatial patches and rendering the graphical object based on this representation.
2. Background Information
In order to provide accurate and immersing computer graphics, it is desirable to use computer graphics models that accurately represent the visual qualities of real-world objects. FIG. 1 illustrates a three-dimensional stage 100 that is at least conceptually used by many computer graphical models to generate computer-generated images. As shown, a spherical object 110 on the stage is viewed from a viewing location 120, which may be an eye or a virtual camera. A light 130 illuminates the object 110.
The viewing location 120 which may be an origin of a world coordinate system may indicate a viewing distance to the object 110, a viewing direction, and one or more viewing angles that may affect what parts of the object 110 are visible. For example, only the side of the object 110 that faces the viewing direction 120 may be visible. A view port 140 and the viewing location 120 may create a viewing frustum 160 that indicates interior objects or portions of objects that are visible. A view plane 150 may contain a projection 155 of the object 110.
Traditionally, three-dimensional objects such as spherical object 110 have been modeled or represented as a combination of a polygonal mesh representation that models the geometry of the three-dimensional object and textures applied to the polygons to represent surface appearances. Both curved and flat surfaces are turned into polygons. This is often known as tessellation. The vertices or corners of the polygons are assigned positions and colors and are used in lighting and shading during rendering. Polygonal representations based on this approach have been preferred because they can provide high frame rates and rapid display of the representations. Most often, triangular meshes have been used because modern hardware has been designed and/or optimized for these representations.
FIG. 2 conceptually illustrates representation of a portion 220 of the surface of a three-dimensional object 210 using a triangular mesh representation. A display 200 shows the three-dimensional object 210 having the portion 220. The portion 220 includes five joined non-overlapping triangles 250, 252, 254, 256, and 258 that form a connected set of triangular planar surfaces that represent the portion 220 of the surface of the object 210. The five triangles share a centralized common vertex. A texture map is applied to each of the five triangles, giving each of the triangles a texture internal area. This textured internal area is represented as textured areas 260, 262, 264, 266, and 268 for triangles 250, 252, 254, 256, and 258, respectively.
As expected, the smoothly varying surface of the spherical object 210 is poorly represented by the triangles (a large number of triangles is needed to represent the object with an acceptable accuracy). This example represents a general and major problem with polygonal mesh representations, namely that polygonal mesh representations provide poor approximations of real-world objects having shapes that vary smoothly, rather than in discrete planes corresponding to the polygonal boundaries. FIG. 3 shows an exemplary human head 300 represented using a prior art triangular mesh representation. Triangle 310, which is clearly visible in the head 300, reveals the inadequacies of this prior art approach for representing real curved objects when realism is desirable.
A technique known as bump mapping is sometimes used to create the appearance of a natural surface or geometric details on a planar area of a polygon. Bump mapping is based on approximating illumination from the surface by perturbing interpolated normals over the polygonal surfaces using stored bump maps. However, no real displacement of pixels is achieved, and bump mapping techniques are not effective for silhouettes and other surfaces that do not directly face the virtual camera. Among other problems with bump mapping, the bump maps require additional storage and self occlusion does not happen correctly.
Accordingly, in the prior art, the only practical way of overcoming the limitation illustrated in FIG. 3 is to provide a large number of very small polygons, which significantly increases the number of computations and slows rendering. Often such sacrifices are not acceptable. Accordingly, in the prior art approaches the need to rapidly display computer graphics has forced an inaccurate and unnatural approach for representing real-world objects, and such approaches are limiting the visual quality and appeal of the computer graphics.


A panel includes a plurality of integrated strain gauges for measuring deformation information relating to the panel. The strain gauges are arranged parallel to one another in the longitudinal direction of the panel and have at least two different lengths.

The disclosed embodiments relate to a panel, such as a couch panel for supporting a patient, with a plurality of integrated strain gauges for measuring deformation information relating to the panel.
Strain gauges are used for registering extensions or compressions of deformation bodies. By way of example, DE 102004008432 A1 describes extension measuring fibers or fiber strands. The extension measuring fibers are made of carbon fibers (CFRP) provided with metallic sleeves at the ends thereof. The sleeves assume a contacting function and are, for this purpose, attached to the extension measuring fibers via an electrically conductive adhesive or a mechanical clamping connection. The sleeves are employed as solder connections for connecting lines that connect the strain gauges in electric circuits with the power supply and amplifier elements. The strain gauges are made of electrically conductive measurement fibers and change the electric resistance value thereof depending on extension. The strain gauges may be used in measurement circuits, for example, in Wheatstone measurement circuits, and may be used for precise evaluation of extension-dependent measurement variables. The measuring fibers have high breaking strength and a high fatigue-proof extension capability of at least 1.2%.
DE 102004041897 A1 describes a strain gauge used for establishing bending of a tabletop, which is used for patient support in the case of treatment or diagnosis. The sag of the tabletop may be calculated as a function of the extension measured by the gauge.
DE 102010023033 A1 discloses that strain gauges at a plurality of points along the length of a couch panel may be used to establish the deflection line of the couch panel.
When integrating strain gauges into a panel, information may be established only to a restricted extent due to the dimensions of the strain gauges and of the panel, and due to the electronic connections used to evaluate the resistance change of the strain gauges.
There is a need for an intelligent arrangement of strain gauges in a panel such that various items of useful information may be obtained.

Panel with strain gauges for measuring deformation information


Provided are computer-implemented methods and systems for implementing and utilizing an audio and visual asset matching platform. The audio and visual asset matching platform may include a first interface, a digital asset creation platform, an asset matching engine, and a user feedback engine. The first interface may be configured to select at least one master digital asset. The digital asset creation platform may be configured to create digital assets, the digital assets comprising at least one of text, audio, image, video, 3D/4D virtual environments, and animation files and metadata. The asset matching engine may be configured to match digital assets and generate at least one output digital asset. The user feedback engine may be configured to monitor and analyze behavior in response to receipt of at least one output digital asset and generate feedback metrics to improve the matching of the asset matching engine.

Multimedia content, such as text, audio, images, videos, animations, virtual environments, emoticons, and stickers, have the ability allow creators of the content to express their emotions and creativity. This same multimedia content can be shared with other individuals through messages, emails, files, or across social media to express emotions of the sender and elicit emotions from the recipient(s).
However, there remains a need to able to easily and automatically combine more than one multimedia content based on the multimedia content file, properties surrounding the multimedia content, the senders, receivers, and context. Additionally, there is a need to be able to understand peoples' reactions, expressions, and feedback in response to the merged multimedia content in order to continually improve the content matching.

Audio and visual asset matching platform


A high voltage stator bar 20 (FIG. 7) is used in a power generation system and includes a core section having a core 32 and stator coil 23, including at least one coil involute. A ground wall insulation layer 40 overlies and surrounds the stator coil. An inner grounding electrode 42 overlies and surrounds at least a portion of the ground wall insulation layer and includes the at least one coil involute. An insulator 46 overlies and surrounds the inner grounding electrode and leaves at least one exposed area 51 of the inner grounding electrode. An outer grounding electrode 52 overlies and surrounds the insulator and is electrically connected to the inner grounding electrode at the at least one exposed area of the inner grounding electrode for relieving a build-up of internal voltage, thereby preventing partial discharge.

This invention relates to high voltage components, such as a high voltage stator coil, and more particularly, to a high voltage component having a covering for relieving the build-up of internal voltage, thereby preventing partial discharge.
Many high voltage components, such as a stator coil, use an outer conductive ground electrode to ensure that the outer surface is at ground potential. In some of these applications, the ground electrode extends several inches beyond the end of the typically iron stator core into the coil""s end turn region, i.e., the involute region. On high voltage stator bars that have the ground plane extended into the coil involute region, in the region where the ground plane extends beyond the stator core, partial discharge may occur because the involute ground plane may be exposed to physical damage, including mechanical rubs, abrasive particles, surface contamination, and higher than normal voltage stress and temperatures. The end of the core is also a region where mechanical rubs could cause the coil surface to make and break ground contact with the core. With any mechanical rub from the core edge, a support block or a band rub causes localized damage in the surface of the outer ground electrode. When a make and break contact occurs with the outer surface ground electrode and core, current interruption will occur and cause localized partial discharges. When these partial discharges are allowed to occur, surface discharge erosion can occur in the coil""s outer ground electrode. If the erosion in the outer ground electrode is allowed to progress, extensive failure of the involute outer ground electrode may occur. If partial discharge activity is allowed to continue over time, it is possible for complete coil ground wall failure to occur in this region.
Some prior art teachings have provided an improved wall structure for insulating an exterior surface of a high voltage component, such as a stator coil. Although the structures provide some mechanical support and covering, many prior art solutions have not provided protection for partial discharge activity, and only minimal protection for physical damage, including mechanical rubs, abrasive particles, surface contaminations, and higher than normal voltage stress and temperatures. Many prior art techniques have not provided adequate protection for the end of the core and coil, which is a region where mechanical rubs can cause the coil surface to make and break ground contact with the core.
One prior art technique is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,175,396 to Emery, et al. the disclosure which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. In Emery et al., an improved wall structure insulates the exterior surface of a high voltage component, such as a high voltage coil having roebeled windings. An inner layer is formed from an insulating material disposed over the surface of the component. An outer ground wall grounds the wall structure. A layer of semiconductive material reduces the electric stress across the inner insulating layer and is preferably disposed between the outer surface of the inner insulating layer and the inner surface of the ground wall. A connection can be provided between the high voltage component and the layer of semiconductive material to further lower the electric stress over the inner insulating layer.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,043,582 to Markovitz et al., a high voltage armature bar has one or more tiers, i.e., columns of conductor strands. Strand insulation surrounds each of the conductor strands. A conductive internal grading is positioned on and surrounds the tier of conductor strands. A ground wall insulation surrounds the conductive internal grading. A conductive material surrounds the ground wall insulation. A transposition filler can be formed by a molding compound at the opposite ends of the copper strand tiers. This molding compound could be formed of a conductive material.
Although these prior art teachings provide some insulator benefit and protection, it is desirable to provide greater protection for high voltage stator bars and the like.
The present invention is advantageous and provides a structure and method to prevent partial discharge in the conductive electrode and coil involute regions of high voltage air cooled stator coils.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a high voltage component is formed as a stator coil, and includes a conducting coil and a ground wall insulation layer overlying and surrounding the conducting coil. An inner grounding electrode overlies and surrounds at least a portion of the ground wall insulation layer. An insulator overlies and surrounds at least a portion of the inner grounding electrode. An outer grounding electrode overlies and surrounds at least a portion of the insulator and is electrically connected to the inner grounding electrode in at least one location for relieving a build-up of internal voltage, thereby preventing partial discharge.
In still another aspect of the present invention, a high voltage stator used in power generation systems includes a core section having a core and at least one stator coil, including at least one coil involute. A ground wall insulation layer overlies and surrounds the at least one stator coil. An inner grounding electrode overlies and surrounds at least a portion of the ground wall insulation layer, including the at least one coil involute. An insulator overlies and surrounds the inner grounding electrode and leaves at least one exposed area of the inner grounding electrode. An outer grounding electrode overlies and surrounds the insulator and is electrically connected to the inner grounding electrode at the at least one exposed area of the inner grounding electrode for relieving a build-up of internal voltage, thereby preventing partial discharge.
The inner grounding electrode is formed from a conductive tape. The core has a core end and the conductive tape forming the inner grounding electrode has a start point that is in board from the core end. The coil involute includes an outboard end and a voltage grading tape is positioned on the outboard end and has a start point. The conductive tape forming the inner grounding electrode is applied beyond the start point of the voltage grading tape. The insulator forming the insulating tape covers the conductive tape forming the inner grounding electrode and leaves the exposed ends of the conductive tape forming the inner grounding electrodes. The outer grounding electrode can include a conductive tape that contacts the exposed ends of the conductive tape forming the inner grounding electrode. This conductive tape forms the inner grounding electrode and has a resistance of about 400 to about 1,000 ohms/square. The insulator comprises an insulating tape and can be a glass binder tape.
In still another aspect of the present invention, a method prevents partial discharge in a high voltage stator coil used in a power generation system. This method includes the steps of surrounding a high voltage stator coil with a ground wall insulation and applying an inner conductive electrode over the ground wall insulation. An insulator is applied over the inner conductive electrode. An outer conductive electrode is applied over the insulator while contacting the inner conductive electrode with the outer conductive electrode, thereby decreasing potential and preventing partial discharge. The inner conductive electrode, insulator and outer conductive electrode can be formed from a tape material.

High voltage stator coil having low loss insulator and electrode covering and method therefor


A seat gantry system and method are provided for handling, installing, and removing heavy seat assemblies, and the components thereof prevent manual lifting of a heavy seat assembly during installation. A seat gantry system or method may include an outside seat gantry, a seat cart, an inside seat gantry, and an artificial lifting torso. An outside seat gantry is used for lifting a seat assembly off a shipping platform, moving and positioning a seat assembly over a seat cart, and lowering the seat assembly onto the seat cart. A seat cart is used for transporting a seat assembly. An inside seat gantry is used for lifting a seat assembly from a seat cart and positioning and lowering the seat assembly for installation. An artificial lifting torso is used to provide a common lifting point at a balanced fore-aft center of gravity of a seat assembly.

Passenger transportation seats, such as airline seats and train seats, are continually becoming more complex, and consequently heavier, particularly in the higher class seating areas such as First and Business Class accommodations. Seats now include such additional amenities as entertainment systems, Internet access, and long-range sleeper or signature features. Some of these seat assemblies including multiple seats may weigh over 500 pounds.
As the weights of seat assemblies increase, traditional methods of handling and installing seats have become cumbersome, more difficult, and a physical risk to the operators. Additionally, in confined spaces, such as airline cabins, handling and installing these heavy seats are complicated by restrictions on operator movement. Traditional methods of manual seat handling and installation are no longer practical.
Presently a crew of as many as four operators may be required to lift and maneuver a seat assembly, usually using lifting straps to improve lifting posture. However, even with lifting straps, it is impractical to manually lift these heavy seats. At every stage in a traditional process, lifting the seat assembly can be a difficultly to these operators' ability to install the seats. When seats arrive on shipping foundations, such as pallets, platforms, skids, and skates, manual lifting is required to remove the seats from the shipping foundations, transport the seats into a passenger cabin, possibly with the use of a seat cart, and lift the seats onto the vehicle floor for installation. During the process, operators have to hold a seat up while another operator maneuvers a seat cart into a position below the seat assembly or removes a seat cart from below a seat assembly. Similarly, operators are required to lift and lower seat assemblies into position for installation, often in awkward positions. Carrying a large and heavy seat assembly through a narrow doorway can be exceptionally difficult, and carrying a large and heavy seat assembly over workspace obstacles even as small as a surface transition can present a dangerous potential for operator injury from tripping or stumbling while supporting at least part of the weight of a seat assembly.
The constrained spaces of an airline compartment, particularly restricted overhead spaces such as under stow bins and interior walls that rapidly slope inward at the side of a cabin, cause this process to be even more difficult, especially for heavier seat assemblies. As shown in FIG. 1, up to 74 inches of vertical working space may be available in the center of the aircraft, under the center stow bins, but as little as 64 inches or less may be available under the outboard stow bins, on the seat assembly centerline. Of this space, most is consumed by seats with seat backs often being 44 inches or taller as installed. The back of a seat loaded on a seat cart for transportation may be 53 inches or more off the floor given the height of the seat cart deck. Because of stow bins and cabin accessories, there may be as little as 10 inches of vertical space remaining to lift a seat assembly on or off a seat cart and to properly position the seat assembly. The additional and improved amenities for First and Business Class accommodations such as entertainment systems and Internet access that are attached to the seat frames below the seats may prevent operators from lifting these seats from the bottom.
Therefore, with increasing weights and complexities of passenger transportation seat assemblies, a system and method to easily handle, install, and remove seat assemblies is needed. The ability for a single operator or limited number of operators to lift and remove a seat for inspection or modification is particularly useful now that ever more complicated electronics packages are being incorporated into seats along with supporting cables through and along the aircraft floor, all of which may require that seats be lifted for access prior to removal for repair or upgrades.


A prism including a substrate faceted to provide a plurality of flat surfaces, wherein at least two of the plurality of surfaces, each including a filter coating, form at least two filter surfaces, wherein each filter surface selectively permits passage of a predetermined wavelength and reflects remaining wavelengths along an optical path towards another of the plurality of surfaces, optionally another filter surface, wherein an angle of incidence of each of the plurality of surfaces along the optical path is equal or nearly equal. An apparatus incorporating the prism and its use for splitting a light spectrum into a plurality of wavelengths or wavelength ranges.

A number of optical instruments require the splitting of light across a wide wavelength spectrum into a number of components corresponding to narrow wavelength bands. For example, fluorescent microscopes often incorporate light splitting technologies to distinguish between cells or cell types labeled with different fluorescent (FL) molecules. This is accomplished by subjecting the fluorescently labeled cells to one or more excitation wavelengths, such as from one or more lasers tuned to excite the particular fluorescent molecules, and filtering or separating the wavelength or wavelength range of interest from the entire emission spectrum for viewing. Traditionally, to achieve such wavelength separation, the light of emission spectrum (or simply, emission spectrum) is passed along multiple dichroic mirrors. As the light spectrum passes these serial dichroic mirrors, light within certain wavelength bands are separated out sequentially based on the properties of each dichroic mirror.
Similarly, in flow cytometry, biological cells or particles can be identified from one another in biological samples based on labeling with fluorescent molecules. The FL light is emitted from labeled cells as they pass through a laser beam in a flow channel travelling along a certain optical path. Since a cell may have a variety of markers indicative of its identity or status often two, three or more different fluorescent labels are used simultaneously requiring the instrument to have multi-color fluorescence detection capabilities. Separation and detection of these multi-color fluorescent wavelengths from the total emission spectra due to the multiple fluorescent labels is further complicated by additional measurements of forward scatter (FSC) and even more problematic, side scatter (SSC), which also require detection after exposure to the laser beam(s). Separation and detection of individual wavelengths or wavelength ranges within the emission spectrum is accomplished by directing the spectrum along a path where it is passed through a range of dichroic mirrors and filters, so that particular wavelength ranges are split sequentially from the wider emission spectrum and delivered to the appropriate light detectors. For example, cells of different lineages (e.g. blood cells) can often be distinguished from one another based on the presence of different protein markers (that may or may not be on the cell surface) and thus antibodies against these markers can be conjugated to different fluorescent molecules for their detection or measurement. When cells are labeled with antibodies conjugated to the popular fluorescent dyes such as fluorescein (FITC) and phycoerythrin (PE), each can be excited simultaneously, using a laser at 488 nm. In response, FITC emits FL light ranging from 470 to 610 nm, with a peak around 530 nm, whilst PE emits FL light ranging 530 to 660 nm, with a peak around 600 nm. Before separating and detecting the individual FITC and PE FL signals, the total FL light emitted from the cells is collected typically by an objective lens (single lens or a group of lenses) at 90° to the traveling direction of excitation laser. This total spectrum also includes the side scatter light at 488 nm. Once collected, separation and detection of side scatter as well as FITC and PE FL light can be accomplished as overviewed in FIG. 1 and as follows:                (a) The FL light coming from the objective lens is directed through, first, a 502 nm short-pass filter (i.e., passing light with wavelengths <502 nm whilst reflecting light >502 nm, wherein the passing light is then directed through a 488/10 nm band-pass filter to an optical detector such as photomultiplier tube (PMT) or photodiode for side scatter signal);        (b) The light reflected from the 502 nm short-pass filter is then directed through a second 556 nm long-pass filter (i.e. passing light with wavelengths >556 nm, whilst reflecting light <556 nm);        (c) The light reflected from the 556 nm long-pass filter is then directed through a 530/30 nm band-pass filter for an optical detector such as a PMT for FITC color detection;        (d) The light passing through the 556 nm long-pass filter is then directed through a 585/25 nm band-pass filter for an optical detector such as a PMT for PE color detection.
The above approaches and other similar approaches require the use of multiple dichroic mirrors and band-filters for splitting light into its components having different, narrow wavelength bands. These approaches, whilst being adopted in many types of optical instruments, such as flow cytometers or some fluorescent microscopes, suffer from a number of limitations or shortcomings due to the use of a large number of optical components, such as: (1) high component cost; (2) lengthy and complicated optical alignment processes to achieve proper and efficient light splitting; and (3) large space requirements to cope with multiple components as well as their holders and to avoid spatial/mechanical interference between these components.
Thus, there remains a need to develop new optical light-splitting technologies which have simplified optical alignment procedures, occupy a small space and result in a lower cost.

Device for splitting light into components having different wavelength ranges and methods of use


A non-volatile memory element, which includes a transistor and stores data by changing its threshold voltage, includes a semiconductor substrate, an electrically chargeable floating gate electrode layer above the main surface of the substrate, another electrically chargeable floating gate electrode layer above the main surface of the substrate, and a control gate electrode layer above these floating gate electrode layers, separated from them by an insulating film such that the voltage of the control gate electrode layer controls charged conditions of the floating gate electrode layers which are insulated from each other and disposed along the direction of the current flow in the transistor.

This invention relates to non-volatile memory elements, and more particularly to highly reliable non-volatile memory elements capable of reducing the rate of occurrence of defective data retention.
FIG. 4 is a plan view, showing the basic structure, of a prior art non-volatile memory element 300, as an example of semiconductor memory element capable of electrically writing and erasing data, which comprises an EEPROM of the so-called FLOTOX (floating gate tunnel oxide) type. FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5--5 of FIG. 4, showing the memory element 300 as comprising a floating gate electrode layer 51, a control gate electrode layer 53, an insulating inter-layer film 54, an insulating film 55, a tunnel oxide film 52, source/drain regions 56, 57 and 58 and an impurity diffusion region 59. The source-drain regions 56, 57 and 58 and the impurity diffusion region 59 are formed at specified intervals on the main surface of a p-type silicon substrate 40. The floating gate electrode layer 51 is formed over the area from the the source/drain region 56 to the impurity diffusion region 59 with the insulating film 55 in between. The control gate electrode layer 53 is formed above the floating gate electrode layer 51 with the insulating inter-layer film 54 in between. The floating gate electrode layer 51 has a protruding part which is formed above the impurity diffusion region 59 with the tunnel oxide film 52 in between.
In addition, the memory element 300 also comprises a selection gate 50 and a bit line 61. The selection gate 50 is formed over the region from the source/drain region 57 to the source/drain region 58. The region sandwiched between the source/drain regions 57 and 58 becomes conductive and non-conductive in accordance with the signal inputted to the selection gate 50. The source/drain region 58 has a contact opening 62 formed for taking out the voltage and is connected to the bit line 61 therethrough. The data item stored in the transistor of which the floating gate electrode layer 51 and the control gate electrode layer 53 are constituents is outputted to an external peripheral device through the bit line 61.
The non-volatile memory element 300 thus structured has the following three operating modes: "write", "erase" and "read". A data item is stored according to the condition of charge on the floating gate electrode layer 51. Charging and discharging of the floating gate electrode layer 51 are carried out by the F-N (Fowler-Nordheim) tunnel current through the tunnel oxide film 52.
In the erase mode, a (high) erase voltage VPP is applied to the control gate electrode layer 53 and the selection gate 50 and the bit line 61 is grounded at the same time such that the source/drain region 58 is kept at the ground potential. As a result, electrons are injected from the impurity diffusion region 59 to the floating gate electrode layer 51, and the floating gate electrode layer 51 becomes negatively charged. This causes the threshold voltage Vth of the memory transistor formed below the control gate electrode layer 53 to become higher. This condition will be hereinafter referred to as the erased condition ("1"). In the write mode, the control gate electrode layer 53 is kept at the ground potential and a high voltage is applied to the selection gate 50 and the source/drain region 58. As a result, the electrons accumulated in the floating gate electrode layer 51 are ejected to the impurity diffusion region 59 and the floating gate electrode layer 51 becomes positively charged. This causes the threshold voltage Vth to become lower, and this condition will be referred to as the written condition ("0").
In the read mode, an intermediate voltage between the threshold voltages Vth in the erased and written conditions is applied to the control gate electrode layer 53. If the floating gate electrode layer 51 is in the positively charged condition ("0"), a channel is formed in the region ER3 between the impurity diffusion region 59 and the source/drain region 56. If the floating gate electrode layer 51 is in the negatively charged condition ("1"), no channel will be formed in the region ER3. Thus, the conditions "0"(wherein the region ER3 is conductive) and "1" (wherein the region ER3 is non-conductive) can be read out, depending on the current which flows through the bit line 61 when a voltage is applied to the control gate electrode layer 53.
In summary, the prior art memory element 300 stores information by using a tunnel current to change the charged condition of the floating gate electrode layer 51. In order to inject and discharge electrons into and from the floating gate electrode layer 51; however, it is necessary to apply a high voltage. If write and erase processes are repeated many times, therefore, the tunnel oxide film 52 suffers from a voltage stress, and this causes its degradation and destruction and gives rise to the problem of defective data retention because the electrons injected into the floating gate electrode layer 51 leak out through the tunnel oxide film 52.
FIG. 6 shows the relationship between faulty operations and the frequency of use for such a prior art non-volatile memory element, the vertical axis representing the rate of occurrence of faulty operations and the horizontal axis representing the frequency of use. This curve is sometimes referred to as a bathtub curve, of which the part corresponding to the initial period indicated by symbol T.sub.0 may be referred to as the initial fault period. The faults which appear relatively early during this period immediately after the use is started are primarily caused by the production processes. The second period indicated by symbol T.sub.1 may be referred to as the accidental fault period. The faults which take place during this period are those which come about sporadically and relatively soon after the initial fault period. The rate of occurrence of faults is determined by the design and represents the reliability which is peculiar to the product. The final period indicated by symbol T.sub.2 may be referred to as the wear fault period in which the number of faults increases with time, caused by wear and tear as well as material fatigue phenomena inclusive of the destruction of the tunnel oxide film 52. FIG. 6 shows that there is a rapid increase in the number of faults due to the destruction of the tunnel oxide film of a prior art non-volatile memory element according to the frequency of its use. In other words, prior art memory elements of this type fail to store data reliably after they are used very frequently. This affects the reliability of the memory device using such elements.


This invention relates to activation of enzymes. More specifically, the invention relates to agents capable of enhancing the activity of peroxidases or peroxidase acting compounds. The invention also relates to methods of oxidizing a substrate with a source of hydrogen peroxide in the presence of a peroxidase enzyme or a peroxidase acting compound, and an enhancing agent. More specifically, the invention relates to a method of bleaching of dye in solutions, to a method of inhibiting the transfer of a textile dye from a dyed fabric to another fabric when said fabrics are washed together in a wash liquor, to a method of bleaching of lignin-containing material, in particular bleaching of pulp for paper production, to a method of treatment of waste water from pulp manufacturing, and to a method of enzymatic polymerization and/or modification of lignin or lignin containing material.

Peroxidases (E.C. 126.96.36.199) are enzymes that catalyse the oxidation of a substrate (an electron or hydrogen donor) with hydrogen peroxide. Such enzymes are known from microbial, plant and animal origins, e.g. peroxidase from Coprinus cinereus (cf. e.g. EP 179,486). They are typically hemoproteins, i.e. they contain a heme as a prosthetic group.
Use of peroxidase together with hydrogen peroxide or a hydrogen peroxide precursor has been suggested e.g. in bleaching of pulp for paper production, in treatment of waste water from pulp production, for improved bleaching in laundry detergents, for dye transfer inhibition during laundering, and for lignin modification, e.g. in particle board production.
The compound 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate), ABTS, supplied by Boehringer Mannheim, is a chromogenic substrate, and a common peroxidase and phenol oxidase assay agent. These enzymes catalyse the oxidation of ABTS by hydrogen peroxide and dioxygen, respectively, producing a greenish-blue colour, which process may be monitored photometrically.
ABTS has been found to form a stable radical cation when oxidized by a laccase enzyme (polyphenol oxidase, EC 22.214.171.124), and has been proposed to act as a redox mediator for oxidation of non-phenolic lignin model compounds [Bourbonnais R. Paice M G; FEBS Lett (1990) 267 99-102].
Studies on demethylation and delignification of kraft pulp by a laccase enzyme in the presence of ABTS showed that the extent of partial demethylation by laccase was increased in the presence of ABTS [Bourbonnais, R. and Paice, M. G; Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. (1992) 36 823-827].
Certain oxidizable substrates e.g. metal ions and phenolic compounds such as 7-hydroxycoumarin (7HCm), vanillin (VAN), and p-hydroxybenzenesulfonate (pHBS), have been described as accelerators or enhancers, able to enhance bleaching reactions (cf. e.g. WO 92/18683, WO 92/18687, and Kato M and Shimizu S, Plant Cell Physiol. 1985 26 (7), pp. 1291-1301 (cf. Table 1 in particular), or Saunders B C, et al., Peroxidase, London, 1964, p. 141 ff).


A hybrid Johnsen-Rahbek chuck that provides a combination of both Coulombic and Johnsen-Rahbek chucking mechanisms. More specifically, the chuck contains a plurality of dielectric mesas deposited upon particular regions of the support surface of a chuck. The body of the chuck is generally fabricated from a Johnsen-Rahbek semiconducting dielectric. The mesas are formed from a thin film deposition of a highly-resistive dielectric. Consequently, the thin, highly resistive film prevents excess DC standby current as well as reduces the dependence of the electrostatic chuck performance on the wafer backside morphology and composition.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a substrate support chuck for supporting a workpiece, such as a semiconductor wafer, within a semiconductor wafer processing system. More particularly, the invention relates to a hybrid Johnsen-Rahbek electrostatic chuck for electrostatically clamping a semiconductor wafer to the surface of the chuck during processing of the wafer.
2. Description of the Background Art
Substrate support chucks are widely used to support substrates within semiconductor wafer processing systems. A particular type of chuck used in semiconductor wafer processing systems, such as physical vapor deposition (PVD), amongst other processing systems, is a ceramic electrostatic chuck. These chucks are used to retain semiconductor wafers, or other workpieces, in a stationary position during processing. Such electrostatic chucks contain one or more electrodes embedded within a ceramic chuck body. The ceramic material is typically aluminum nitride or alumina doped with metal oxide such as titanium oxide (TiO.sub.2) or some other ceramic material with similar resistive properties. This form of ceramic is partially conductive, i.e., the material has a relatively low resistivity (e.g., 10.sup.10 ohms-centimeter) at a particular operating temperature.
In use, a wafer rests flush against the surface of the chuck body as a chucking voltage is applied to the electrodes. Because of the conductive nature of the ceramic material, charges migrate through the ceramic material and accumulate proximate contact points between the wafer and the surface of the chuck body. Consequently, the wafer is primarily retained upon the chuck by the Johnsen-Rahbek effect. Such a Johnsen-Rahbek chuck is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,117,121 issued May 26, 1992 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,526 issued Oct. 31, 1995.
One disadvantage of using a Johnsen-Rahbek chuck is that a uniform chucking force depends upon a uniform distribution of contact points between the backside of the semiconductor wafer and the chuck surface. Since the contact point distribution varies from wafer to wafer, similar wafers are not chucked in the same manner. Furthermore, wafer backside materials may vary and consequently cause differences in the chucking force across the wafer as well as from wafer to wafer. As such, the magnitude of the chucking force and its uniformity depends on wafer backside morphology and wafer backside composition.
Therefore, a need exists in the art for an apparatus that reduces the chucking force dependence upon wafer backside morphology and composition.

Hybrid Johnsen-Rahbek electrostatic chuck having highly resistive mesas separating the chuck from a wafer supported thereupon and method of fabricating same


An image pickup apparatus includes an image pickup apparatus body, an image recording/reproducing section placed on the right-hand side within the image pickup apparatus body when viewed in a photographing direction, an image-displaying monitor disposed on the left-hand side within the image pickup apparatus body when viewed in the photographing direction, and a power-supplying battery located on a side surface of the image pickup apparatus body. In addition, an optical system of a viewfinder which is detachably attachable to the image pickup apparatus body includes a first reflecting mirror disposed on a display screen at an angle of 45 degrees or less with respect to the display screen, a second reflecting mirror disposed in parallel to the first reflecting mirror for reflecting a light beam from the first reflecting mirror in a direction parallel to light incident on the first reflecting mirror, and negative and positive lenses for leading a light beam from the second reflecting mirror to an eye of the photographer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image pickup apparatus such as a video camera and a digital camera, and to a viewfinder for the image pickup apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 26 to FIGS. 29A and 29B illustrate the structural arrangement of a conventional image pickup apparatus. In these illustrations, reference numeral 5000 designates an exterior cover of the image pickup apparatus and reference numeral 5001 denotes an image pickup lens. Although not shown, there exists an image pickup element for converting the light incident through the image pickup lens 5001 into an electric signal. Further, reference numeral 5011 represents a recording section for recording data on a recording medium 5050 such as a magnetic tape, and reference numeral 5012 signifies a signal processing circuit board for processing a picked-up image signal or the like. Still further, reference numeral 5013 indicates a battery for supply power to drive the whole video camera, and reference numeral 5014 stands for a monitor such as an LCD.
As seen in these illustrations, in the conventional image pickup apparatus, its components protrude by dimensions Aj, Bj and Cj with respect to the body with a dimension of Dj. This irregular configuration makes the inconvenience in encasing it in a bag or the like. In addition, when carried, the irregular configuration causes unstable conditions, that is, deteriorates its portability.
FIG. 28B shows a state where a cover 5011a is opened to remove/load the recording medium 5050. As seen from this illustration, in the case of the conventional image pickup apparatus, the recording medium 5050 is required to be taken out or loaded from the below. For this reason, when a tripod or the like is set onto a bottom surface section of the conventional image pickup apparatus, difficulty is encountered to remove/load the recording medium 5050.
Furthermore, reference numeral 5009 represents the optical axis of the image pickup lens 5001, and reference numeral 5014a designates a display screen of the monitor 5014. Further, reference numeral 5019 denotes the center line of the display screen 5014a. Still further, reference numeral 5030 signifies the hand of a photographer. As shown in FIG. 29A, when viewed from the top surface side of the image pickup apparatus, the image pickup lens optical axis 5009 is largely shifted by a dimension Pj with respect to the center line 5019 of the display screen 5014a. For this reason, the parallax is high at photographing, and particularly, when photographing a subject close thereto, the photographing becomes hard to extremely impair the convenience in handling.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 29A, when the photographer holds the conventional image pickup apparatus, the right-hand thumb section of the photographer reaches the display screen 5014a, and hence, the display screen 5014 is hidden to be hard to see due to the existence of the right-hand thumb section of the photographer, or the display screen 5014 is made dirty because of the appearance of fingerprints of the photographer, so that a problem on operability exists. Further, if the photographer holds the image pickup apparatus while avoiding the covering of the display screen 5014a by his or her thumb section, his or her right hand becomes limited in holding the image pickup apparatus, so that the operability extremely deteriorates in holding the image pickup apparatus.
Meanwhile, recently, in the field of an image pickup apparatus such as a recorder-integrated video camera (which will be referred hereinafter to as a video camera), the size reduction and the high-quality function have rapidly been in progress, and the convenience in handling to the user has improved. For instance, there has been proposed video cameras which can take various photographing positions. As one of these video cameras, there is a video camera equipped with both a liquid crystal monitor with a dimension of approximately 2 to 4 inches which is visible from a remote position and an eyepiece-type viewfinder which has an optical system in the middle and which is used in a state where the eye of the photographer is brought close to the eyepiece window.
In the case of such a video camera, the use of the viewfinder is possible in accordance with the photographing posture. For example, when taking a picture at a low angle or at a high angle, or when being attached to a tripod, that is, in cases where the photographing is more easily feasible if the eye of the photographer is separated from the video camera, the photographing is made through the use of the liquid crystal monitor, and in cases where the video camera is held by the hand of the photographer and used at an eye level, the photographing is done through the eyepiece-type viewfinder.
However, the video camera thus constructed is required to be equipped with a drive circuit, a signal processing circuit, a backlight and others for each of a liquid crystal panel for displaying a monitored image and an eyepiece viewfinder liquid crystal display unit, with the result that the increase in cost is unavoidable. For eliminating this problem, there has been proposed a structure in which the liquid crystal monitor is used as both the viewfinder (eyepiece-type) and the monitor. This is achievable in such a manner that an eyepiece section (eyepiece lens section) is installed in a liquid crystal monitor whose dimension is approximately 2 to 4 inches. This structure will be described hereinbelow.
FIG. 31 illustratively shows the structure of such a viewfinder. In FIG. 31, a first mirror 920 is obliquely placed in an opposed relation to a screen 901a of a liquid crystal panel 901, and a second mirror 921 is located in its reflection optical path. In addition, a positive lens 922 is situated between the second mirror 921 and the eye 907 of the photographer. The positive lens 922 is disposed at a position not existing above the screen 901a. The first mirror 920, the second mirror 921 and the positive lens 922 constitute an eyepiece section. This eyepiece section is made to be detachable from the viewfinder.
In such a structure, when directly viewing from a remote position, the photographer detaches the eyepiece section and directly looks into the viewfinder by the eye 907 from a direction opposite to the screen 901a of the liquid crystal panel 901. On the other hand, in the case of using the viewfinder as an eyepiece type, the viewfinder is used in a state where the eyepiece section is attached thereto. The image displayed on the screen 901a of the liquid crystal 901 is reflected by the first mirror 920 toward the second mirror 921, so that the second reflection occurs by the second mirror 921 to lead the reflected image toward the positive lens 922. The positive lens 922 forms the image from the second mirror 921 on the retina of the eye 907 of the photographer. In this case, because the reflection takes place twice by the mirrors 920 and 921, the image on the screen 901a again returns to an erecting image which in turn, is viewed by the photographer.
In the case of the viewfinder having the above structure, its screen size is considerably large as compared with a common eyepiece-type viewfinder, the magnification of the positive lens 922 provides a significant factor. That is, if the positive lens 922 is set to a magnification equal to that of the common eyepiece-type viewfinder, since the screen size is large and the size of each of the picture elements (pixels) constituting the screen is also large, two problems occur, that is, the image expands not to fall within the field of view of the photographer and each of the picture elements becomes coarsely conspicuous.
Assuming that the size of the screen 901a takes 3 inches (in diagonal length), for setting to a proper angle of visibility, the magnification of the positive lens 922, when expressed in focal length, comes to approximately 110 to 180 mm equivalent to four or five times that of the common eyepiece-type viewfinder, and hence, setting to a considerable low magnification is necessary. If setting to this magnification, the problem that the coarseness of each picture element is conspicuous is simultaneously solvable. However, the distance from the screen 901a to the positive lens 922 for offering a proper diopter is unconditionally determined to be a value close to 90% of the focal length. Accordingly, in the case of this example, the image goes back and forth through the optical path of approximately 100 to 160 mm due to the first mirror 920 and the second mirror 921, and then, is led to the positive lens 922.
However, in the case of the above conventional viewfinder, it is required that the first mirror 920 be placed at a position not blocking the light beam advancing from the second mirror 921 to the positive lens 922 and the second mirror 921 be placed at a position not obstructing the light beam advancing from the liquid crystal panel 901 to the first mirror 920, the configuration of the whole eyepiece section increases in volume to considerably protrude toward above the liquid crystal panel 901.

Image pickup apparatus with prism optical system


An aircraft icing detection system detects accumulation of ice on an upper surface (12) of a wing (10) of an aircraft. The system includes an air pump (18) that delivers air through first and second conduits (24, 26). The first conduit delivers air through a first air knife (32) to openings (34) in the upper surface of the wing. The second conduit delivers air through a lower wing surface (14) through openings in a second air knife (42). When ice accumulates on the upper surface, flow from the first air knife is restricted. A differential pressure sensor (46) senses a pressure difference between the conduits and warns the pilot of possible ice accumulation by illuminating a warning light (50).

The accumulation of ice on the wing surfaces of an aircraft prior to takeoff can adversely affect the ability of the craft to fly. Excessive ice buildup, if undetected, may cause an aborted takeoff or crash.
Currently the presence of ice on the wings of aircraft is detected by visual inspection. Such inspection may be unreliable particularly when visibility is impaired by fog, falling snow, freezing rain and/or by darkness. Often, because of delays, it is not possible to de-ice the aircraft shortly before takeoff. For these reasons there is always some risk of a dangerous accumulation of ice prior to takeoff in wintry conditions.
In the past, others have developed ice detectors for aircraft. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,095,456; 3,996,787; 3,976,270; and 4,053,127 disclose devices for detecting ice accumulation. However, these devices check for ice accumulation during flight at a leading edge of an aircraft surface such as at the leading edge of a wing or nacelle. These devices are not adapted to check for ice on the lifting surfaces of the wings prior to takeoff.
In addition, most of these prior art devices detect only the rate of ice accumulation. They do not detect total accumulation which is critical in determining if the lifting ability of the wings of the aircraft has been impaired.
Thus, there exists a need for an aircraft icing detection system that accurately and reliably detects accumulation of ice on the wings of an aircraft prior to takeoff.


A computer system having an opening configured to accept a device, the device assembly including at least one engagement surface. 3The computer system comprises a locking mechanism disposed in the opening to releasably latch the device assembly in the opening at a preselected position. The latching mechanism includes a hand actuated assembly movable in the opening for releasably engaging the engagement surface of the device assembly when the device assembly is located in the opening. The invention also contemplates the combination of the device assembly and the computer.

According to conventional prior art practice, devices, both hard discs and floppy discs, but especially floppy discs and optical discs, are retained in a computer by screws or other fastening devices. Thus, assembly, servicing and upgrading of a computer has required the use of tools to perform these functions. While the end result is generally satisfactory, nevertheless there is a certain amount of skill required, as well as the other drawbacks normally attendant to the use of separate fastening devices for the attachment of component parts to a base part to form an assembly of parts. Thus, it would be desirable to provide a system in which devices can be easily mounted in and removed from computers without the need of using tools.

Toolless hand actuated device receiver for retaining a device in a computer


A suitcase has first rollers mounted thereon to at least partially support the suitcase when in an upright position and to enable rolling movement of the suitcase across a surface. The first end of an arm is pivotally mounted to a rigid body portion of the suitcase. Second rollers are mounted about adjacent to the second end of the arm to enable rolling movement of the suitcase across the surface. A first link is pivotally mounted to the rigid body portion, and a second link is pivotally mounted to the first link and the arm. The arm is alternately retractable to a retracted position about adjacent to a rear panel of the suitcase, and deployable to a deployed position spaced outwardly from the rear panel. The first and second rollers cooperate to fully support the suitcase when the second rollers are deployed and the suitcase is in a rolling position. A push/pull handle is mounted on the suitcase to enable a user to roll the suitcase across the surface.

It has become popular to mount suitcases on rollers to enable them to be rolled across a surface, such as the ground or a floor. Such suitcases are typically provided with a handle to enable the user to pull or push the case on the rollers.
One popular style of wheeled suitcase includes rollers or wheels mounted on the rear portion of the bottom of the case. The handle is mounted on the top of the rear portion of the case. When at rest, the case rests on the wheels and one or more legs. The user grips the handle and tilts the suitcase to an inclined position in order that the weight of the case is supported by the wheels and by the user's force on the handle. The case is then rolled across the surface. That type of configuration enables superior control over maneuvering of the case.
One disadvantage of that type of rolling suitcase is that when it is being pulled, at least a portion of the weight of the suitcase must be supported by the user. Another disadvantage is that luggage with two or four fixed wheels must be picked up by the user in order to negotiate a relatively large step. A two wheel dolly, for example, needs to be dragged up the step backwards, which may scratch the step.
A cart having four fixed wheels, such as a trolley or shopping cart, effectively bears the total load of all contents with the user providing sufficient force to overcome rolling resistance. Disadvantages are that carts are generally relatively heavy, and do not collapse or otherwise compact to a smaller size.
Application Ser. No. 08/397,687 now abandoned discloses another type of rolling suitcase in which a first pair of rollers is mounted at the junction of a rear panel and the bottom of a wall member of the suitcase. This first pair of rollers is mounted to support at least a portion of the weight of the suitcase when in the upright, or at-rest, position. A single, relatively narrow bracket is hingedly attached to a rigid portion of the rear panel. A support stay is mounted between the bracket and the rear panel to enable deployment and retraction of a second pair of rollers which is located on the bracket. The support stay may be hingedly secured to the rear panel or to the bracket. A plurality of stops may be provided to enable the deployment of the second pair of rollers to various positions. Disadvantages are cost, the ease of switching between the deployed and retracted positions, and the relatively small distance between the second pair of rollers with respect to the distance between the first pair of rollers.
There remains a need for a low cost, user-friendly, compact, wheel-mounted suitcase that has superior maneuvering around barriers, in which the weight of the suitcase is entirely supported by the wheels of the case when in a pulling/pushing position.