A circuit that has a limited switch dynamic logic gate having a front end logic circuit and a latch. The output of the front end logic circuit is connected to an input of the latch, and the front end logic circuit evaluates a set of input signals applied to the front end logic circuit to generate an output signal. The latch receives and holds the output signal. The circuit also has a logic circuit having an output connected to a clock input in the front end logic circuit. The logic circuit generates a modified clock signal in response to receiving a clock signal from a clock source, and the modified clock signal has a duration that provides a minimum period of time for the front end logic to evaluate the set of input signals and generate the output signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electronic circuits in general and in particular to a cell based register. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for a limited switch dynamic logic cell based register.
2. Description of the Related Art
High performance designs use ever-increasing clock frequencies to obtain the desired processor performance. Clock power dissipation may depend on the distribution network and the total transistor gate load driven by a clock signal. With each new generation of micro processors, the loads have increased on the clock systems. Currently, loads on the clock systems have turned out to be a dominant source of power consumption for modern processors.
In reducing power consumption, limited switch dynamic logic circuits have been used to reduce the consumption of power in addition to reducing the area needed for circuits. These circuits integrate dynamic logic and latches. Dynamic logic circuits provide two benefits compared to static circuits. These types of circuits proved high switching speed and use a smaller area. Power consumption is the trade off that designers make when implementing designs with dynamic circuits. The goal of a limited switch dynamic logic circuit is to benefit from the performance advantages of dynamic logic without enduring the power penalty. Limited switch dynamic logic circuits mitigate this penalty by adding a latch to the output of a dynamic circuit.
Limited switch dynamic logic gates include two sections. These sections are a dynamic logic style front and a latching mechanism. Even with the use of limited switch dynamic logic based circuits, it is still desirable to minimize the complexity of the designs to reduce the area needed on a chip, as well as reduce the power consumption of the chip.
Thus, it would be advantageous to have an improved method and apparatus for a limited switch dynamic logic circuit in which the area needed for the circuit and the power consumed by the circuit are reduced.

Limited switch dynamic logic cell based register

International Business Machines Corporation


Accumulators that operate to fully or partially remove noise from a signal, including removing noise inserted into the signal by the accumulator itself. In some embodiments, an accumulator may be operated in a sampling phase and a transfer phase each time the accumulator samples an input signal. In some such embodiments, an op-amp of an accumulation circuit of the accumulator may be auto-zeroed during some or all of the sampling phases of an accumulation period. In some embodiments in which the op-amp is auto-zeroed during some or all of the sampling phases, the accumulation circuit may include a holding capacitor that, during an auto-zeroing process, holds a value output by the op-amp during a prior transfer phase. Including such a holding capacitor in an accumulator may reduce a voltage that the op-amp output rises following the auto-zero process, which may reduce a bandwidth and noise of the accumulation circuit.

Accumulators can be used to store a result of an operation performed on an input signal and produce an output signal corresponding to the result. An accumulator, for example, may sum input signals provided to the accumulator over time and output, at a time, the sum of the input signals received up to that time. More particularly, an accumulator may sum the voltages of input signals over time and output, at a time, a signal having a voltage corresponding to the sum of the voltages received up to that time.
Accumulators can be used in circuits for creating a higher-voltage signal from a lower-voltage signal, in place of an amplifier. Accumulators may therefore be useful in such circuits when the lower-voltage signal is to be evaluated, but the low voltage of the signal may make evaluation difficult. An accumulator can produce a higher-voltage signal that is indicative of the lower-voltage signal and which can be evaluated in place of the lower-voltage signal.


A double-walled drinking vessel, e.g., a tumbler, is described that is constructed of a downwardly tapered outer wall with a bottom and a continuous side wall with an upper rim; a inner wall with a bottom and a continuous side wall with an upper rim, the inner wall being spaced inwardly from the outer wall and including a first downwardly tapered section extending downwardly from the rim, a second downwardly tapered section extending upwardly from the bottom, and a continuous cylindrical section of a given height and diameter between the first and second tapered sections; and a decorative fabric band secured around the cylindrical section, the band having a width approximately equal to the width of the cylindrical section and a length at least as great as the diameter of the cylindrical band.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a double-wall, insulated drinking vessel, and in particular to a drinking vessel having spaced inner and outer walls, and a decorative band around a cylindrical section of the inner wall.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Drinking vessels, e.g., glasses, cups, mugs, etc., of the type contemplated by the present invention have a double-wall construction to insulate the vessel's contents. These vessels are normally made of polycarbonate, acrylic, or other transparent plastic and include an inner wall, an outer wall and an air space between the walls. Each wall includes a bottom and a continuous side wall extending upwardly from the periphery of the bottom to a continuous upper rim. The inner and outer walls are joined together at or near their top rims. The walls are downwardly tapered from the rim to the bottom, i.e., the rim diameter is greater than the bottom diameter.
It is also known to incorporate decorative materials within the space between the inner and outer walls. For example, it is known to attach indicia to the surface of the inner wall or to embed decorative objects between the walls. However, the use of ribbons or bands of material as decorative material for insulated glasses has not heretofore been contemplated or taught by the prior art. As a result, coordination between these insulated vessels and materials such as napkins, placemats, etc., has not been available. Therefore, there is a need for a double-wall drinking vessel that can be decorated with ribbons or bands.


A process provides information to users about trips. The process may include receiving a user request to obtain information about trips; obtaining a geographic location of the user; selecting, with a computer, an origin based on both a distance from the geographic location of the user to a geographic location of the origin and a trip-volume value indicative of an amount of trips departing from the origin; obtaining a trip departing from the selected origin; and presenting the obtained trip to the user via a graphical user interface.

Users typically have a strong preference for trip search engines that are relatively easy to use. When researching trips on a trip search engine, a user may enter multiple queries, iterating through various options to identify a trip that is appropriate to their trip constraints, and the cumulative effect of specifying all of these queries can place a relatively large cognitive burden on the user, particularly when the task is accompanied with configuring other aspects of a trip, typically a taxing endeavor. This burden can deter users from further research to improve their trips and lead to inferior selections of trips by the users.

Apparatus and method for inferring an origin


A sensor may detect a coolant leak at or near an appliance that is slidable between a seated position and an ejected position relative to a rack. In the seated position, a coolant supply line may be coupled with a conduit of the appliance to convey coolant past the appliance. A biaser can bias the appliance toward the ejected position, and a latch may secure the appliance in a seated position against the biaser. A releaser can release the latch in response to coolant leak detection by the sensor and permit the biaser to move the appliance toward the ejected position, for example, which may cause the conduit to become disconnected from the coolant supply line to cut off flow to the leak.

Datacenters contain large amounts of computing equipment, which can include servers and networking hardware such as switches and routers. One important consideration for datacenters is how to effectively cool computing equipment components to reduce risks of equipment failure that may make computing resources unavailable. Liquid-cooled systems can be used, but such systems introduce a risk of coolant leaks, such as at an individual-component level. Such individual failure may also damage or impart other negative effects to other nearby or otherwise associated components.

Component ejection for fluid leak isolation


A geartrain for a five-speed automatic transmission including first and second compound planetary gear units. The first compound planetary gear unit includes first and second simple planetary gearsets having first, second and third operating elements. The first operating element acting as an input element. The second compound planetary gear unit includes third and fourth simple planetary gearsets having fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth operating elements. The fifth operating element acts as an output element. The sixth operating element is variably connected to either the first operating element or the second operating element. The seventh operating element is fixedly connected to the fourth operating element. Clutches for variably connecting the sixth operating element to either the first operating element or the second operating element are provided. Brakes for selectively connecting the third and eighth operating element to a transmission housing are provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a geartrain, and more particularly, to a geartrain for a five-speed automatic transmission used in vehicles, which can be designed to be compact in size and lightweight by reducing the number of frictional elements and planetary gearsets.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, automatic transmission systems for vehicles comprise a transmission control unit (TCU) which automatically controls shift ratios according to changes in a running condition of the vehicle.
The above-described TCU controls a plurality of friction elements provided in a geartrain to either operative or inoperative states to select one of the three essential elements of the planetary gearset (a sun gear, a ring gear, and a planet carrier) to be an input element, another a reaction element, and the last an output element, thereby controlling the number of output revolutions.
The geartrain is generally designed to realize four forward speeds and one reverse speed. However, with the development of high-power engines, geartrains have been developed to realize five forward speeds and one reverse speed.
The 5-speed geartrain is comprised of three simple planetary gearsets and at least six friction elements.
However, in such a geartrain for a 5-speed automatic transmission, to drive the vehicle in fourth or fifth speed-overdrive, there is a need for an element which rotates at a higher speed than that of a final output element. This results in power loss. In addition, the large number of friction elements results in a heavy and large-size automatic transmission.

Geartrain for a five-speed automatic transmission


If the device-specific maintenance rate statistics is higher than the average maintenance rate statistics, method embodiments herein alter replacement warning thresholds for components of the device by extending the replacement warning thresholds to produce modified replacement warning thresholds. If the specific device incurs unscheduled maintenance visits more often than average, the embodiments herein extend the replacement warning thresholds for components of the device. The amount that the replacement warning thresholds are extended is different for different parts, and is based on part life, part cost, and part service cost. If the device-specific maintenance rate statistics is lower than the average maintenance rate statistics, method embodiments herein alter replacement warning thresholds for components of the device by shortening the replacement warning thresholds to produce modified replacement warning thresholds. If the specific device incurs unscheduled maintenance visits less often than average, the embodiments herein shorten the replacement warning thresholds for components of the device.

Embodiments herein generally relate to methods, systems, computer programs, services, etc. for replacing components within complex, heavily used devices that utilize large numbers of individual components to operate properly, such as copiers and printers, where such component replacement systems are based, in part, on the maintenance rate statistics of each specific apparatus.
Within complex, heavily used devices that utilize large numbers of individual components to operate properly, HFSI (High Frequency Service Items) counters are used to provide customer service engineers (CSE's) warnings and replacement directives for parts that wear out at a consistent and predictable interval. HFSI components of a system have a relatively short life with respect to the life of the system. Replacement of such items can result in a large number of unscheduled service calls.
To minimize the number of service calls, devices can track the life of such HFSI components. If the life of a component has exceeded a fixed warning threshold, it is included on a list of components that need to be replaced soon. That list is displayed to the service engineer when they visit the machine, or to the user. If the warning is declared too early, the part is replaced too often resulting in excess parts cost. If the warning is declared too late, the service engineer may not see it before the part fails resulting in an unscheduled service call and the associated additional costs.
One feature of embodiments herein is that each apparatus maintains its own historic interval of service calls and usage, and can alter the warning threshold for part replacement on its own. Thus, in the embodiments herein each device maintains its own device-specific maintenance rate statistics, and each device calculates a device-specific usage amount that will occur before the next predicted maintenance service, based on those device-specific maintenance rate statistics. In other words, each device keeps track of how often maintenance service calls have been performed in the past (e.g., once every 37 days, on average) and each device keeps track of its average usage (e.g., 50,000 copies per month). From this information, each device can determine when the next maintenance service call is likely to occur, and how much usage the device is predicted to undergo before that next predicted maintenance service call occurs.
Then, the embodiments herein can compare the device-specific usage amount that is predicted to occur before the next predicted maintenance service to a predetermined, standard usage amount of a predetermined, standard replacement warning threshold of a component within the device. For example, each component will generally have some recommended standard (predetermined) replacement warning threshold (e.g., 20,000 copies) that is based upon historical averages of that component within many devices. Each individual device can be informed of these standard (predetermined) replacement warning thresholds in a number of ways, including preloading the devices computer storage memory at the time the device is manufactured. In addition, as components are replaced, these standard, predetermined warning thresholds can be updated as the components are made more durable, etc.
If the device-specific usage amount (that is predicted to occur before the next predicted maintenance service, e.g., 25,000 copies) is higher than the predetermined usage amount (that is based on the standard, predetermined warning thresholds, e.g., 15,000 copies), the embodiments herein can alter the replacement warning thresholds for the component by increasing the predetermined warning thresholds to produce modified replacement warning thresholds. Therefore, for example, the standard, predetermined warning threshold could be increased from 15,000 copies to 25,000 copies to provide the warning earlier than it would be provided if the standard warning threshold was utilized.
On the other hand, if the device-specific usage amount (that is predicted to occur before the next predicted maintenance service, e.g., 10,000 copies) is lower than the predetermined usage amount (that is based on the standard, predetermined warning thresholds, e.g., 15,000 copies), the embodiments herein can alter the replacement warning thresholds for the component by decreasing the predetermined warning thresholds to produce modified replacement warning thresholds. Therefore, for example, the standard, predetermined warning threshold could be decreased from 15,000 copies to 10,000 copies to provide the warning later than it would be provided if the standard warning threshold was utilized.
The methods herein store the modified replacement warning thresholds in a computer-readable medium within the device. This storing of the modified replacement warning thresholds can comprise replacing the predetermined replacement warning thresholds with the modified replacement warning thresholds in the computer-readable medium within the device. Therefore, when a query is presented to the device, the device can output component replacement warnings using the modified replacement warning thresholds.
The embodiments herein also comprise machine (apparatus, device, etc.) embodiments. One such embodiment comprises a printing device (of a model type). The printing device includes a computer-readable medium, and a processor operatively connected to the computer-readable medium that executes instructions stored on the computer storage media. Various components are operatively connected to the processor. The processor controls the components to cause the components to print markings on printing media.
At least one counter is operatively connected to the processor, the counter determines (counts) some operating parameter such as the number of prints made by the printing device, the number of hours of operation, the calendar age, etc. Further, this counter (or a different counter) can determine the number of maintenance actions that have been performed on the printing device. The counter stores such counts in the computer-readable medium.
The device includes an input/output (e.g., a graphic user interface, a network connection, a communications port, etc.) that is operatively connected to the processor. The processor calculates device-specific maintenance rate statistics of the printing device based on the maintenance counts, and the processor maintains the device-specific maintenance rate statistics on the computer-readable medium. In other words, the processor maintains its own historic interval of service calls and usage, and can alter the warning threshold for part replacement on its own.
Thus, in the embodiments herein each device maintains its own device-specific maintenance rate statistics, and each processor calculates a device-specific usage amount that will occur before the next predicted maintenance service, based on those device-specific maintenance rate statistics. In other words, each processor keeps track of how often maintenance service calls have been performed in the past and each processor keeps track of its average usage. From this information, each processor can determine when the next maintenance service call is likely to occur, and how much usage the device is predicted to undergo before that next predicted maintenance service call occurs.
Then, the processor can compare the device-specific usage amount that is predicted to occur before the next predicted maintenance service to a predetermined, standard usage amount of a predetermined, standard replacement warning threshold of a component within the device. Each individual device can be informed of these standard (predetermined) replacement warning thresholds in a number of ways, including preloading the computer storage memory at the time the device is manufactured. In addition, as components are replaced, these standard, predetermined warning thresholds can be updated as the components are made more durable, etc.
If the device-specific usage amount is higher than the predetermined usage amount, the processor can alter the replacement warning thresholds for the component by increasing the predetermined warning thresholds to produce modified replacement warning thresholds. Similarly, if the device-specific usage amount is lower than the predetermined usage amount, the processor can alter the replacement warning thresholds for the component by decreasing the predetermined warning thresholds to produce modified replacement warning thresholds.
Whether the warning thresholds are increased or decreased, the processor stores the modified replacement warning thresholds in a computer-readable medium within the device. When storing the modified replacement warning thresholds, the processor can replace previous (or standard) warning thresholds with the modified replacement warning thresholds in the computer-readable medium of the device. This allows the device to provide automated warnings regarding the need for part replacement. In addition, in response to a query presented to the device, the processor can output component replacement warnings using the modified replacement warning thresholds.
These and other features are described in, or are apparent from, the following detailed description.

Automatic optimization of HFSI warning thresholds based on actual service interval statistics


Tailgate hinge mechanism mounting the tailgate for swingable movement between closed, open and removal positions is designed to allow incorporation of a torque rod which cooperates with the hinge mechanism to assist in opening or closing the tailgate and yet is not a required portion of the hinge mechanism, but if desired may be quickly and easily installed as a unitary mechanism.

Vehicles, such as trucks and station wagons, have a closure member, such as a tailgate, pivotally mounted between body side panels at the rear of the vehicle. The closure member pivots about a hinge axis between horizontally open and vertically closed positions. For instance, in a truck, a tailgate in the closed or up position serves as the rear wall of the cargo bed of the truck. In the open or down position, the tailgate is out of the way to enable loading and unloading of the cargo bed.
Typically, tailgates may be removed from trucks with quick connection fittings. Usually, the quick connection fittings are designed so that the tailgate is removable from the truck when the tailgate is pivoted to a partially open tailgate removal position. For example, the tailgate may include hinge pins extending outwardly along the hinge axis. The hinge pins removably connect into journals mounted on brackets carried on the truck body. When the tailgate is pivoted to the tailgate removal position, at least one of the hinge pins slips through a slot in the connecting journal as the tailgate is lifted at one end from the truck body.
For some operators, handling the weight of the tailgate during opening and closing movements may be too much of a burden. Trucks are becoming more popular with a wider audience of operators than ever before. Operators of all sizes and shapes and both genders use and enjoy trucks. Accordingly, it is advantageous to provide an assist device which may be installed in a pivotable tailgate for assisting in opening and closing the tailgate while permitting quick removal of the tailgate from the truck body.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,358,301 ("the '301 patent") discloses a counterbalance mechanism for a removable tailgate which assists with opening and closing the tailgate while permitting removal of the tailgate from a truck body. The counterbalance mechanism includes a torque rod having a crank end anchored to the tailgate for pivotal movement therewith and a stationary end. A receptacle mounted on the truck body captures the stationary end of the torque rod to restrain pivotal movement thereof. When the tailgate is moved away from a tailgate removal position, the torque rod is torsionally wound and urges the tailgate back towards the removal position. The receptacle captures the stationary end with a releasable slip-fitted connection to permit the tailgate and the torque rod to be removed from the truck body.
A primary disadvantage associated with the '301 patent is that in the various embodiments disclosed therein either the tailgate pivots on the torque rod itself or an end of the torque rod must be aligned with a receptacle on the truck body at the same time as the pivot pins at opposite sides of the tailgate are being aligned with the trunions on the vehicle body. In the first case, the torque rod is an essential component providing the pivotal connection between the tailgate and the truck body and thus is not an option. In short, instead of using hinge pins or shafts to pivot, the tailgate pivots on the torque rod. Thus, the torque rod must be installed for the tailgate to pivot.
In the second case, the tailgate uses hinge pins and trunions for pivoting. However, the torque rod is assembled to the tailgate in a complex and intricate manner. For example, during assembly of the tailgate, the stationary end has to be aligned with an aperture on the lower edge of the tailgate while the anchoring end is aligned with a reinforcement plate located inside the tailgate. All of the aligning must be performed while the torque rod is deep within the interior of the tailgate. This procedure is too difficult for rapid assembly. Moreover, many additional elements are required to assemble the torque rod to the tailgate.


A novel sanitary and odor free workstation having two spaced apart, transparent plate members that are operatively interconnected to a vacuum source and in combination define a vacuumed air evacuation area that functions as a workstation between the plate members. Thus, a user can easily position an object of choice within the workstation, or even adjacent thereto, and have hands free controlled access that allows manipulation of the object yet protects the user, and others, from physical or airborne transference of bacterial matter and from any undesirable odors emitting there from and also protects the user's eyes from any potential damage, respectively. Furthermore, the workstation is portable, self-contained, safe, sanitary and is substantially usable with any object of choice.

Within the known prior art, there have been numerous attempts to provide different types of workstations that may be used for hands-on work and the like. However, most types of workstations are designed for a specific type of job at hand and are therefore limited to a specific use. Unfortunately, heretofore there has not been a successful multi-purpose, self-contained, portable and odor-free workstation that allows for a user to work on any type of object of choice, and/or perform any job at hand in a safe convenient manner as taught herein. Also, the uses for the present invention are to numerous to mention, such as this invention may be used for not only for removal of odors associated with object or worksite, but also eliminates any other unwanted contaminants from the surrounding ambient air, such as gaseous materials including but not limited too, aerosol, chemical odors, vapors, smoke, particulate matter, etc. In fact, in order to provide an improved comfortable workstation the invention further includes an optional pleasant scent system if so desired which is most advantageous.
Some examples of prior art workstations are disclosed within U.S. Pat. No. 6,663,610, No. 4,921,492 and No. 5,015,243. Each of these references are somewhat relevant to the present invention as they each include a vacuum source used for evacuation of air from the work site while the object is being worked on. However, these references are clearly limited to use only for a specific job at hand, namely performing a surgical procedure.
Other types of workstations have been taught but none include the novel advantages and diversified uses as taught by the present invention as will be seen after reviewing the following specification.

Multipurpose, self-contained, portable and odor-free workstation


The invention provides an automatic analyzing machine comprising a unique reaction cup combination for running high volume chemical analyses, such as analyses for sodium, potassium, glucose, creatinine and BUN (blood urea nitrogen). The reaction cup combination includes an aluminum body having at least one flat smooth side. A planar heating element is sandwiched between the flat side and a planar outer sidewall. Within the planar outer sidewall is disposed a reagent inlet conduit coiled or otherwise disposed in planar fashion. By this design, heating of inlet reagent is more efficient and control of the temperature within the reaction cup is more precise. In a preferred embodiment, the reaction cup assembly includes a pair of such heating element and inlet conduit combinations so that the reaction cup can be rinsed with heated water instead of heated reagent. Such a design not only reduces the use of expensive reagent, but minimizes toxic waste disposal needs.

A number of different automated clinical chemical analyzers are known in the art. Such analyzers range from simple, largely manually-operated instruments to highly complex, nearly fully automated instruments. Each analyzer has its own particular performance characteristics related to the number of different tests ("menu") that the analyzer can perform and the number of samples that can be processed in a given period of time ("throughput").
Large scale, highly complex analyzers useful in large hospitals and clinical laboratories have been developed which have both a large menu of tests which the instrument can perform and a high throughput. Such an analyzer is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,049 issued to Lillig et al. which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,049, it is recognized that the throughput of a large menu analyzer can be increased by performing frequently requested analyses in high volume, limited menu analyzer modules separate from broader menu analyzer modules. Such high volume, limited menu modules are commonly used for such frequently requested analyses as sodium, potassium, glucose, creatinine and blood urea nitrogen ("BUN").
As sophisticated and efficient as many of today's large scale analyzers are, several problems continue to exist. First and foremost is throughput capacity. Every second which can be saved in the analysis time of each sample means millions of dollars in savings of precious medical resources. Therefore, there is continuous pressure on analyzer manufactures to increase throughput. In prior art high volume, limited menu modules, the required rinsing step between each analysis is carried out using the same reagent which is employed in the analysis. This results in a loss of module turnaround because the rinsing reagent must either be preheated (to maintain the temperature of the module) or (if non-preheated reagent is used) the module must be reheated after rinsing prior to its being used in another chemistry.
Also, in analyzing machines using nephelometry to analyze the results of the chemistry carried out within the module, throughput is reduced by having to periodically calibrate the nephelometer.
An additional problem is maintenance. Users of large scale analyzers require an extremely high standard of reliability. In high volume, limited menu analyzer modules which use nephelometry, several problems related to reliability exist in the prior art. Typically, the nephelometric analyzer uses a light source, a focusing lens, a receiving lens and a light receptor. In prior art nephelometric analyzer manufacturing processes, the forward end of the light source is, itself, shaped like a lens. However, the quality of such lens shaping varies from light source to light source. Thus, with every analyzer, the light energy emanating from the focusing "lens" varies depending upon the relative quality of alignment. In the prior art, the analyzing machine manufacturer had to compensate for these alignment problems by calibrating each analyzer after it was installed in the analyzing machine using modulating shutters disposed between the focusing "lens" and the reaction cup. Use of such shutters requires that the light source be operated at near maximum capacity. Thus, prior art light sources tend to burn out quickly. Also, a problem arises at the time that the light source burns out and needs to be replaced. The analyzer shutters have to be recalibrated anew. Since the recalibration operation is complex and requires considerable skill, the simple occurrence of a burned out light source bulb in the prior art causes a significant maintenance problem for the user.
Another problem with the prior art is reliability. In prior art light source modules, the light receptor housing is attached within the reaction cup using a bayonet connection. Minimum resistance to rotation in the bayonet connection is provided solely by the resilient pressing of the forward end of the receptor housing against a flexible O-ring. Unfortunately, this connection can easily be bumped out of alignment, such as by minor physical contact with the light receptor housing. Any such misalignment throws the analysis module out of calibration.
Still another problem with the prior art is that high volume, limited menu analyzer modules of the prior art are typically expensive to operate because they use a considerable amount of reagent (because the rinsing step mentioned above is carried out with expensive reagent) and because of excessive waste disposal costs (again, because potentially toxic reagent is often used as the rinsing agent).
Accordingly, there is a need for a high volume, limited menu analyzer module which has greater throughput than similar prior art analyzer modules, requires less maintenance, is more reliable and does not cost as much to operate.

Automatic chemistry analyzer with improved heated reaction cup assembly


An inverted contact and methods of fabrication are provided. A sacrificial layer is patterned in an inverted trapezoid shape, and oxide is deposited around the pattern. The sacrificial layer is removed, and a metal contact material is deposited, taking an inverted-trapezoid shape. Embodiments of the present invention provide an inverted contact, having a wider base and a narrower top. The wider base provides improved electrical contact to the underlying active area. The narrower top allows for closer placement of adjacent contacts, serving to increase overall circuit density of an integrated circuit.

As integrated circuits continue to scale downward in size, the finFET (fin field effect transistor) is becoming an attractive device for use with smaller critical dimensions. In a finFET, the channel is formed by a semiconductor fin, and a gate electrode is located on at least two sides of the fin. Due to the advantageous feature of full depletion in a finFET, the increased number of sides on which the gate electrode controls the channel of the finFET enhances the controllability of the channel in a finFET compared to a planar MOSFET. The improved control of the channel allows smaller device dimensions with less short channel effects as well as larger electrical current that can be switched at high speeds. A finFET device generally has faster switching times, equivalent or higher current density, and much improved short channel control than planar CMOS technology utilizing similar critical dimensions. In forming a functional integrated circuit, contacts are formed, which connect gates and source/drain regions of the finFETs to other elements, such as other transistors, diodes, resistors, and the like. Typically, one or more metallization layers in the back-end-of-line (BEOL) stack are used to complete the connections. Hence, contact formation is an integral part of fabricating a functional integrated circuit. It is therefore desirable to have improvements in semiconductor contacts and methods of fabrication.


A battery, suitable for forming a battery pack, includes an electrode assembly having a positive electrode plate and a negative electrode plate, and a separator wound or laminated together, core materials of the negative and positive electrode plates being bared respectively at either end. A bottomed cylindrical outer case having a bottom is connected to either end face of the electrode assembly to serve as a battery terminal. Electrolyte is impregnated in the electrode assembly and a lid connected to the other end face of the electrode assembly and fixedly attached to the outer case with a sealer and an insulator interposed therebetween. A connecting part is a part of the lid so that the connecting part engages with and connects to a bottom part of the outer case of another battery.

With the growing demands for electric vehicles or hybrid vehicles in view of global environmental problems, rechargeable batteries used as power sources for such vehicles are desired to be smaller and lighter as well as to have higher capacity and power output, and battery packs consisting of a plurality of series-connected battery cells have been used for this application.
One example of the structure of a lithium ion battery that has conventionally been used is described below with reference to FIG. 6. Reference numeral 21 denotes an electrode assembly that is formed by winding together a positive electrode plate 22 consisting of a positive current collector 22b and positive electrode material 22a coated thereon, a negative electrode plate 23 consisting of a negative current collector 23b and negative electrode material 23a coated thereon, and a separator 24 interposed therebetween. Reference numerals 25, 26 respectively denote a positive and a negative current collector plate welded to end faces of the electrode assembly 21. A positive electrode tab 25a is welded to the positive current collector plate 25.
The electrode assembly 21 is accommodated in an outer case 27 with electrolyte, and the negative current collector plate 26 is connected to an inner bottom surface of the case 27 by resistance welding so that the outer case 27 serves as the negative terminal of the battery. Reference numeral 28 denotes a lid having a hole 28a in the center, which is joined to the case by caulking a caulking portion 28b at the outer edge after an O-ring 29, safety vent 30, spacer 31, and cap 32 are inserted therein. The safety vent 30 consists of a thin sheet of aluminum foil and breaks at a hole 31a in the spacer 31 upon an increasing of battery internal pressure above a predetermined level so as to release gas to the outside. The positive electrode tab 25a is welded to this lid 28, so that current from the electrode assembly 21 flows through the caulking portion 28b of the lid 28 to the cap 32, which serves as the positive terminal of the battery. Reference numeral 27a represents a groove formed in the outer case 27 by plastic deformation for determining the position of the lid 28. Reference numeral 33 denotes a gasket interposed between the outer case 27 and lid 28 for providing insulation therebetween; it also provides a seal when the open end edge 27b of the case 27 is caulked such as to sandwich the lid 28.
A plurality of batteries having the above structure are connected in series using suitable connecting members to form a battery pack as shown, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei. 10-106533. The structure of the connecting part of this battery pack will be described with reference to FIG. 7. The connecting member 35 is a stepped cup-shaped pressed part including a bottomed small diameter cylindrical portion 36, step 37, and large diameter cylindrical portion 38. The bottom is formed with a hole 39 through which the connection boss on the cap 32 passes, and is in contact with the cap 32 and welded thereto at a plurality of projections or welds 40 by resistance welding. The bottom of the outer case 27 fits into the large diameter cylindrical portion 38 and rests on the step 37, and welded to the large diameter cylindrical portion 38 at a plurality of projections or welds 41 by resistance welding.
With the above structure of the conventional battery and battery pack, however, batteries are connected using the connecting members 35 separately of the battery's lid 28. The assembling process thus includes assembly of the battery pack, mounting of the connecting members 35, and connection of other batteries, i.e., it takes numbers of components and assembling steps and the costs high, resulting in a poor mass productivity.
Another problem is that the electrode assemblies 21 of adjacent batteries are connected to each other via the positive current collector plate 25, the positive electrode tab 25a, the lid 28, the cap 32, the connecting member 35, the outer case 27, and the negative current collector plate 26, i.e., because the current path between the cells is long and includes many connection points, the resistance is accordingly large. The large resistance per cell is a large inhibitor to longer battery life and higher power output.
In view of the problems encountered in the prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a battery and a battery pack, which are efficiently mass produced with fewer numbers of assembling steps and components and lower cost, and with which a higher power output is achieved by reducing internal resistance per cell.


Data of physical property values of a material to be cooked and thermal conduction operation procedures are stored, and data of the material and heating data are input, so that a heating output of a particular part of the material may be calculated based on a distance between the particular part of the material and a predetermined reference point. A temperature rise value per unit time of the particular part of the material is obtained from the input data of the material and the heating output. A thermal conduction operation is carried out in accordance with the stored operation procedures with the use of the temperature rise value.

A conventional high frequency cooking apparatus which is a kind of the aforementioned cooking apparatus, namely, a microwave oven, has a construction as shown in FIG. 22. A main body 1 of the cooking apparatus has a door 2 at a front face thereof. A material to be cooked is brought in and out of a chamber 3 of the main body by opening and closing the door 2. A high frequency generation device 4 is installed inside the main body 1 and, an emission opening 5 is formed at a top or ceiling face of the chamber 3 to emit high frequency waves into the chamber. The emission opening 5 or a plurality of emission openings 5 are formed in some apparatuses at a rear face or a side face of the chamber other than the top face. A moisture sensor 6 detects the generation of moisture subsequent to cooking, which is utilized to find the progress of cooking. A weight sensor 7 detects the weight of the material to be cooked and is used to adjust the cooking time. These sensors are not always used together, but may be used separately or in combination with other sensors.
During cooking with the use of the thus-constructed high frequency cooking apparatus, there are ways of cooking, e.g., in one way the material is heated only for a preset time; in a different way the cooking is controlled based on values of the humidity and weight detected by the above sensors, that is, the cooking is carried out automatically; in another different way, program cooking is executed, specifically, a heating output and an emission time can be minutely programmed beforehand, so that the cooking is controlled automatically every moment as set by the program. For example, when a frozen meat is to be defrosted and cooked, the meat should be first heated quickly, then moderately, and considerably softly last so as not to be overheated. The meat is properly cooked in the program cooking once the heating intensity and the heating time in each heating state or stage are programmed beforehand. The above-described cooking ways are selected in accordance with the kind of material to be cooked or how to cook the material, resulting in sufficiently satisfactory effects under certain conditions. Optimum cooking conditions for various kinds of materials and cooking ways have been determined from experiments and offered in the form of cookbooks and the like.
Nevertheless, the way of high frequency cooking is unable to control temperatures minutely and delicately, because every material generates a different amount of heat and is greatly influenced by its shape during high frequency heating. Each material cannot be heated uniformly, either. Due to such characteristics of high frequency heating as above, a satisfactory temperature control cannot be achieved when the progress of cooking is indirectly detected by way of the above-described sensing, not by directly detecting the temperature of the material. Meanwhile, if the temperature of the material is to be directly detected, a sensor which does not include metallic parts generating heat by themselves when influenced by high frequency waves or a sensor designed to be resistant to influences by electric waves is needed, although there has been hardly any sensor meeting this requirement put in practical use. In other words, a delicate temperature control based on a temperature change of the material detected during high frequency heating/cooking has never been carried out heretofore. Nor has a control to improve the nonuniform heating state been realized because of the reason that the temperature of the material cannot be detected during cooking. As such, cooking requiring a sensitive temperature control, e.g., vacuum cooking at low temperatures or the like with the use of a high frequency cooking apparatus has not been practiced yet.
In the above-described conventional construction, cooking was done for a fixed time under preliminarily set conditions for menus for which the optimum cooking conditions were already known. Such cooking conditions were conditions conforming to individual cooking apparatuses with no relation to the temperature change of materials. Although it is well known that meat should be heated as rapidly as possible not to exceed 70.degree. C. and vegetables should be heated to 90.degree. C. or higher temperatures, how to set conditions for this way of heating differed in each of the conventional apparatuses. Therefore, the cooking conditions were determined without the temperature change of materials taken into consideration, but with an aim for controlling the operation of each cooking apparatus. In the prior art, unless the optimum cooking condition for each individual cooking apparatus is known, it is hard to perform cooking as required.
The above holds true also for automatic cooking with a programming function. An optimum condition specific to each cooking apparatus and in conformity with each menu should be preliminarily obtained so as to set an optimum program for the menu.
In the case of sensor cooking using various kinds of sensors, the detected physical amount and the temperature of the material are not associated with each other, with the result that the cooking apparatus is controlled based on the ambient temperature or humidity during cooking. While the temperature of the material is directly detected in considerably rare cases, it is practically difficult to detect the temperature of a part of the material for which the temperature is really wanted. Therefore, the cooking apparatus is not controlled using the temperature or temperature change of the material as a parameter.
As discussed hereinabove, the temperature change of the material could not be predicted prior to cooking, or the temperature of the material could not be detected on real-time basis in the middle of cooking in the conventional heating/cooking technology. A good cooking result was hence hard to obtain unless the optimum cooking condition was known. A delicate temperature control in accordance with the temperature of the material was also difficult to achieve.
The present invention has been devised to solve the above-described inconveniences inherent in the prior art, and has for its object to provide a temperature estimation method whereby a temperature change of a material (substance to be cooked) in the middle of cooking is estimated in conformity with the quantity, kind and heating condition of the material. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a cooking apparatus enabling cooking of a material always under required heating conditions irrespective of the amount and kind of the material or the user's experience with the apparatus, etc., with a temperature or temperature change of the material during cooking taken into consideration.

Method of estimating temperature inside material to be cooked and cooking apparatus for effecting same

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


This invention relates to certain improvements in the art of keratometry and, more particularly, to the use of television techniques to determine the shape of the corneal surface of an eye in essentially real-time. Paired television images of diffuse reflections from the cornea are produced by projecting an infra-red illuminated pattern onto the cornea. These diffuse reflections are compared by triangulation to define the corneal contour. The resultant data are processed by a conventional microcomputer to derive surface contour for display, the shape data so generated in a form for instant use. Compensation for image brightness at each location is provided by altering projected image brightness to compensate for inherent non-linearity of diffuse image brightness versus position in the image plane. The liberalization reduces the complexity of the digital signal processing required for producing a contour map of the cornea. The present invention specifically relates to devices that are used in clinical practice.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to photo-keratometry, and more particularly, to improvements in the art of photo-keratometry wherein a diffuse reflection of a projected, illuminated surface or other target is formed on the cornea. This diffuse reflection is analyzed to determine the surface contour of the eye. The present invention specifically relates to devices that are used for clinical keratometry
2. Description of Related Art
The instruct that is in most common use for central-optical-zone shape measurement, in ophthalmic clinical practice, is the EyeSys topographer. Several companies offer similar devices, from outright copies to apparatus redesigned using a similar principle of operation. These devices require the user to operate one or more controls. These controls are employed to bring Mire images that are reflected from the tear film on the surface of the eye, simultaneously into focus and alignment.
Most prior art devices require that the tear film on the eye surface be intact since reflection from this film is central to the measurement technique. The tear film is typically not constant in thickness and, in some cases, may not be present at all. This variable thickness or outright absence of the tear film prevents meaningful measurements of the corneal shape. In addition, if the corneal surface is not smooth as in the case of corneal transplants, the reflections are ambiguous and do not permit meaningful determination of the surface shape.
Representative of video keratometers is the EyeSys System 2000. A placido (bulls-eye target) is illuminated by an internal lamp system, and a video image of the reflex is examined by conventional video analysis means. A second generation of these instruments provides for analysis of both corneal surface contour and shape/location mapping of more posterior elements such as corneal thickness, anterior chamber depth and lens geometry. Representative of these is the Orbtek Orbscan. In this instrument, a sequence of optical slit images are formed by conventional projection means and the resulting Tyndall images are used for determination of the mapping information. Requirement for a sequence of images requires that the subject be able to fixate perfectly for a long period of time without either head or eye movement and the large amount of data collected requires extensive calculations which require expensive computers for data analysis.
Prior art systems, however, are costly, complex, and slow, and modifications, if required, are difficult to implement. Thus, it follows that another system for characterizing the eye must be employed in order to produce a functional instrument within the speed and cost constraints required for commercial viability. Additionally, a practical system must be suitable for operation by unsophisticated users. These above-listed factors, as well as other criteria, require a departure from the traditional techniques for keratometry and image analysis.
In recent times, keratometers have been more commonly used in both clinical and surgical ophthalmology and optometry. In spite of the number of systems in use today, universal satisfaction with the results of these systems have not been obtained.
None of the currently available video keratometers, however, are designed to overcome most of these above-mentioned problems. Additionally, the prior art systems exhibit a wide range of error and are inconvenient to operate.
Thus, there remains a need for an apparatus and method for measuring the optical components of the eye that avoids most, if not all, the foregoing problems.

Keratometry system and method for measuring physical parameters of the cornea


Each stage of an emission control line driver includes a first transistor connected to a first node, a first power source, and a first output terminal; a second transistor connected to second node, the first output terminal, and a second power source; a third transistor connected to a second input terminal, a first input terminal, and the first node; a fourth transistor connected to the first node, the first power source, and the second node; a first controller connected to the first to third input terminals to supply sampling signal to a second output terminal; and a second controller connected to the second input terminal and a fourth input terminal to control the voltage of the second node. The first controller includes a fifth transistor connected between the first power source and the second output terminal, and to the second controller or the first output terminal via a protection unit.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments relate to an emission control line driver, and more particularly, to an emission control line driver capable of preventing a damage of an inner circuit device and securing stability of an output.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, various flat panel display devices capable of reducing weight and volume which are disadvantages of a cathode ray tube have been developed. Such flat panel display devices include a liquid crystal display device, a field emission display device, a plasma display panel, an organic light emitting display device, and the like. The organic light emitting display device displays an image using an organic light emitting diode (OLED) that generates light by recombination of electrons and holes. The organic light emitting display device has advantages including a fast response speed and low power consumption. A general organic light emitting display device supplies current corresponding to a data signal using a transistor in each of pixels so as to emit light in the organic light emitting display device.
The organic light emitting display device as described above includes a data driver supplying data signals to data lines, a scan driver sequentially supplying scan signals to scan lines, an emission control line driver supplying the emission control signals to a emission control lines, and pixel unit including a plurality of pixels connected to the data lines, the scan lines and the emission control lines.
The pixels included in the pixel unit are selected when the scan signals are supplied to the corresponding scan lines, thereby receiving the data signals from the data lines. The pixels that receive the data signals generate light with brightness corresponding to the data signal and display a predetermined image. Emission times of the pixels are controlled by the emission control signal supplied from the emission control lines. Generally, the emission control signals are supplied to overlap the scan signals that are supplied to one scan line or two scan lines to set the pixels, to which the data signals are supplied, in a non-emission state.
To this end, the emission control line driver includes stages connected to each of the emission control lines. Each of stages receives a plurality of clock signals and outputs high or low voltage to an output line.


A tire pressure maintenance apparatus and system is disclosed. The apparatus and system comprises a high pressure reservoir and a pressure regulator secured to the high pressure reservoir. A high pressure relief valve is also provided. The high pressure reservoir is circumferentially continuous. Further, the pressure regulator has a passive valve in fluid communication with the high pressure reservoir and the pressure regulator opens at a low pressure point and closes at a high pressure point.

There are estimates that 50% of passenger vehicles are driven on underinflated tire assemblies. Although tires are usually properly inflated when installed, tires lose air pressure over time due to tire material aging issues and changing external conditions, including but not limited to temperature. Tire air pressure loss does not only present safety issues, but may cause accelerated tire wear, decreased fuel efficiency, and increased pollution. Studies have shown properly maintained air pressure of vehicle tire assemblies would save millions of gallons of fuel each year because vehicles with underinflated tires lose on average 0.5-1.0 miles per gallon in fuel efficiency.
The aforementioned underinflated tire assemblies are not ideal and risk a series of safety issues and economic inefficiencies. Accordingly, a new tire pressure maintenance apparatus and system is desired.

Tire pressure maintenance apparatus and system


A multicoupling device for lines, especially hydraulic lines, wherein first and second coupling parts (7, 8) are provided with a plug (5) or a collar (6) for coupling units (1, 2) whose number corresponds to the number of connections to be produced. The coupling units (1, 2) are embodied in the form of a self-locking, snap coupling with a locking collar (9) which can be displaced in relation to the socket (6). The two coupling parts (7, 8) can be brought together via an operating element (10) and can be pressed apart and are mutually lockable in the coupling position. The locking collars (9) interact with a common switch plate (11). The operating element (10) is rotatably mounted on an axis (12) on the switch plate (11). The switch plate (11) can be adjusted in relation to one of the two coupling parts (7, 8) in the direction of closure or opening of the coupling units (1, 2). The two coupling parts (7, 8) can be moved by the operating element (10), which is mounted on the switch plate (11), by engagement with curved engagement slots with pins (14) that protrude from the other coupling part, in relation to each other in a closing and opening position.

The invention relates to a multicoupling device for lines, especially hydraulic lines, with coupling units, which are provided in a number corresponding to the number of connections to be produced and which each have a plug and a socket that receives the plug, and with first and second coupling parts. Here, the plug is mounted on one of these coupling parts and the socket of a corresponding coupling unit is mounted on the other of these coupling parts, with the coupling units being embodied as self-locking snap couplings, whose sockets each have a locking collar that can be displaced in relation to the socket. The two coupling parts can be brought together by means of operating elements and can be pressed apart and fixed relative to each other in the coupling position. The locking collars of the corresponding coupling unit interact with a switch plate, which is common for all of the coupling units and which lies between the two coupling parts. The switch plate can be adjusted in relation to one coupling part in the closing or opening direction of the coupling units. The two coupling parts can be moved in relation to each other by at least one operating element mounted on the switch plate by engagement via at least one curved engagement slot and a pin formed on the other coupling part into a closed and open position and can be mutually locked in their closed position.
Such multicoupling devices for connecting and disconnecting several pairs of hydraulic lines are known. These multicoupling devices are used especially such that the individual hydraulic lines cannot be connected to each other incorrectly. For this purpose, the first and second coupling parts are embodied such that these coupling parts can be brought together in a way that the plugs and the sockets of the individual coupling units can be connected only when the two coupling parts are in alignment.
In order to fix the two coupling parts in the brought-together position, in which the plugs and the sockets of the individual coupling units are connected to each other, the known multicoupling devices have mechanical connecting elements between the first and the second coupling part. For example, a known multicoupling device uses a connecting link guide for this purpose. Here, one of the coupling parts has plates, which are connected to two sides of this coupling part by means of a swivel pin and which can be turned by a lever. Each of these plates has a curved slot beginning at the side edge of the plate. The distance of the slot from the swivel pin decreases along the course of the slot. On the other coupling part, there are two pegs spaced apart laterally. By bringing the two coupling parts together until the pegs lie in the beginning regions of the slots, and then through subsequent pivoting of the swiveling lever, the two coupling parts are brought into complete engagement of the corresponding plugs in the sockets relative to each other and locked in this position. The force exerted by the two coupling parts on the mechanical connecting elements in the closed state of the multicoupling device corresponds to the sum of the forces exerted by the individual coupling units due to the pressure of the hydraulic oil. Due to the limit on the forces that can be received by the mechanical connecting elements, the permissible pressures in the individual hydraulic lines are limited to a relatively low value.
Various structural configurations of such multicoupling devices are known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,347, U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,530, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,615,546. Furthermore, in another known configuration (U.S. Pat. No. 3,527,480), a displaceable locking collar is arranged on the socket, with this locking collar then being connected rigidly to a coupling part. However, during the insertion process into the socket, there is no special holder for the plug itself and thus exact alignment is not guaranteed.
Furthermore, a configuration has become known (EP-A-0390715), in which the plug, the socket, and a locking collar are each connected rigidly to a coupling part, which requires a rather complicated connecting link control in order to move these coupling parts in relation to each other and to mutually lock these parts against shifting at the end.
Furthermore, from WO 01/50057, a multicoupling device is known, in which the coupling units are embodied as self-locking snap couplings, whose sockets each have a locking collar displaceable in relation to the socket for opening the snap coupling. Here, the locking collar of the socket of a corresponding coupling unit is mounted on the first or second coupling part and the socket body can be displaced in the longitudinal direction in relation to this coupling part. The locking collar is surrounded by an attachment socket, which is fixed in the first or second coupling part, preferably screwed into this coupling part. The locking collar is thus covered from the outside and can be moved only when one of the two coupling parts moves to a point where disengaging is possible.


An improved method and system to display messages, while processing insurance claims, using a messages table. The messages associated with the processing of insurance claims are primarily used to obtain inputs from the user of the claims processing computer system. Messages, which are typically displayed on a display screen, may include questions, answers, errors, warnings, and other text used with interactive claims processing. The messages are stored as message codes along with a corresponding message text in a messages table. The database, which includes the messages table is the repository and the lookup system for the message codes and the corresponding message texts. Each message code has a corresponding customizable message text, which may be specified at installation time. The application program requests display of specific messages by referring to its message code. The application program, thus, remains unaffected to changes in the corresponding customizable message texts.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of insurance claims. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for displaying messages while processing insurance claims using a messages table.
2. Description of the Related Art
Insurance companies have been processing and settling claims associated with bodily injury for a long time. The task of evaluating, analyzing or estimating the amount of damage associated with one or more types of bodily injuries, especially trauma-induced bodily injuries, can be very complex. Complexity in the evaluation process often arises out of the fact that concurrent expertise in legal, medical and insurance fields is often required to arrive at a particular decision involving a bodily injury claim.
The processing of insurance claims, especially bodily injury related insurance claims, is typically performed by one or more computers included in a computer system. The user typically interacts with the insurance claim processing computer system using a computer coupled to a display terminal and a keyboard. An application software program, which typically executes on a computer linked to the insurance claim processing computer system, provides the functionality to perform the processing of insurance claims. The process of determining an estimated amount of the claim associated with a bodily injury is typically interactive. The user may provide inputs to the insurance claim processing computer system by specifying the type or extent of bodily injury, describing the nature of treatments, etc.
The insurance claim processing computer system may use various messages displayed on the display terminal for prompting or communicating with the user to provide meaningful and relevant input information. Messages may also be used to advise user of a status or condition of application program, list of missing inputs, warning or error messages, etc. In some cases, messages may be output to a printer rather than being displayed on a display screen.
During the past several years, many insurance companies have been using an earlier computer-based claim-processing system to process, evaluate, analyze or estimate thousands of claims. The computer-based claim-processing system may also be an expert system which utilizes and builds a knowledge base to assist the user in decision making. It may allow the insurance companies to define new rules and/or use previously defined rules, in real-time. The business rules may be generally written by industry experts to evaluate legal, medical, insurance conditions before arriving at a valuation of a claim. The computer based claim-processing system also used messages displayed on a screen to interact with the system user.
There were several drawbacks with the earlier computer-based system. For example, the messages that were generated while processing the insurance claim, used in the prior art, lacked flexibility and was inefficient. The prior art used hard-coded messages. That is, the actual messages, including the message text, were part of the application program source code. Messages were generated specific to the context of the application program. Thus, many messages which may have had the same text or message content had to be programmed and stored separately and could not be re-used. This increased memory requirements and decreased system performance. In addition, it was difficult to modify and install the application software for use in other countries, which used a language other than, for example, US English. Maintenance of the messages hard-coded in the application program software was also time consuming and costly. This reduced the user's flexibility and usability.
It is, therefore, desirable to develop a new system and method for displaying messages while processing insurance claims using a messages table. It is desirable for the display of messages, including the message text, to be easily customizable for installation in a specific language and/or country. It is also desirable for the messages to be re-used throughout the claims processing application software. Furthermore, it is desirable to be able to store the messages in a repository, external to the application program. Thus, the messages display system and method should be of a flexible design to allow the user to freely select message text based on user requirements.

System and method for displaying messages using a messages table


An improved pair of swim goggles, especially designed for competitive swimming, is comprised of two substantially ovoid, convex lenses secured to a soft neoprene base. The goggles are simply and easily tightened about the head by a one pull toggle mechanism that provides an equal, balanced fit of the eye pieces against the face. The goggles provide less hydrodynamic resistance in the water during swimming and not only reduces fatigue by cutting down on eye strain but allows the swimmer both superior frontal and peripheral vision.

Competitive swimming is a demanding sport that requires full synchronization of all body parts if success is to be achieved. Victory can and is also often decided by fractions of a second and therefore every kick, stroke, and turn must be optimized to nearly perfect timing. Vital to the synchronization and timing is eyesight as clear perception of the visual patterns of the pool walls, ropes, and other swimmers is important so as to cue precisely when each critical movement must be made. This includes frontal vision for determining the distance to the pool wall for each turn and finish as well as peripheral awareness of the other swimmers and lane ropes.
The present invention is directed to an improved pair of hydrodynamically designed eye goggles that provide for increased frontal and peripheral vision as well as reduction in eye glare without increasing the resistance against the water surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,286,340 to Lathrop discloses swim goggles with improved peripheral vision comprised of a transversely curved front lens whose axis of curvature is inclined forwardly and downwardly with a flat side lens, the forward position of which flares into the curved lens. The outer portion of the circumferential wall of the upper lens is wide enough to avoid concentration of pressure on the eye yet narrow enough to fit comfortably within the narrower portion of the eye socket.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,051,557 to Bengston discloses eye goggles with improved eye comfort which eliminate eye distortion by having the seal of the eye piece moved out away from the eye sockets and onto the skull bone structure surrounding the eye.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,755,040 to Haslbeck also discloses swim goggles comprised of a pair of eye pieces, each eye piece having a lens with an essentially rigid peripheral frame. Each eyepiece has a seal holder and seal gasket, the seal holder being readily deformable but relatively stiff. This allows for a degree of resilience to accommodate certain larger curvatures of the face when present without excessive distortion. A softer material is also present to provide comfort and a yielding seal accommodates smaller variations in the curvature of the face.
Another variation on the same concept is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,199 to Hall which teaches a pair of sports goggles such as swim goggles which are characterized by the absence of any cushioning on the rear of the eyepieces. The nosepiece of the goggles has a flexible and resilient hinge-piece comprised of a dual lug and pin attachment combination which gives the nosepiece flexibility that enables it and the eyepieces to more closely conform to the face of the wearer, thereby doing away with the need for the eyewear cushioning.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,468,819 to Ohno discloses a pair of eye goggles wherein each lens is an integral piece of material comprising a dome-shaped ovoid transparent head that is integral with a relatively stiff frame and extends outwardly from the inner periphery thereof. The lens is provided with a flat outer surface which prevents the optical power from departing from a normal value. This asserted to be advantageous to swimmers in that the same focal length below and above water is maintained.
U.S, Pat. No. 4,977,627 to Metcalfe et. al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,093,940 and No. 4,564,960 to Nishiyama et. al. disclose various embodiments of eye goggles with replaceable, adjustable lenses and head-straps. The lenses are generally attached to a flexible frame which is also the nosepiece whose distal ends are joined to head-straps for securing the goggles to the face. The lenses themselves are comprised of a flat, planar generally ovoid face that is tapered at the sides to conform to the curvature of the face.
Many, if not all of these swim goggles known in the art cause problems for the wearer that are inherent in their construction. Despite claims of flexibility, the nosepiece often cut the bridge of the nose and are difficult to adjust to a comfortable fit. Since most lenses have seams, the vision is distorted particularly when in the water. They do not provide a clear peripheral vision so as to give the swimmer as idea of where the competition is, and the seams in these lenses create a drag or resistance while moving through the water. This not only slows the swimmer down but tends to pull the goggles from the eye sockets thereby requiring repeated adjustments. Finally, the straps never seem to provide an evenly distributed, snug fit.
None of the swim goggles of the prior art solves the need for extended peripheral and frontal vision during competitions without requiring movement of the head either to the side, up or forward. Such movement then disturbs the smooth, timed synchronization of the body which can cost a swimmer a race. It is an object of the present invention to provide a flexible, hydrodynamically superior eye goggle for use in swimming that is constructed so as to allow for an unobstructed frontal and peripheral field of vision without requiring the wearer to move his head from side to side or forwards. Body alignment through the water is obviously a critical function of speed and is greatly affected by head movement which in turn directly affects efficient stroke mechanics. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a set of eye goggles that is snugly and comfortably secured to the face of the wearer by a one-pull strap that insures equal pressure by each eyepiece on the eye socket.


A device for sterilizing a air within a structure, the device having a housing structured to permit air to freely flow therethrough, a base structure coupled with the housing to maintain a bottom of the housing a distance above an underlying surface so as to not obstruct air flowing into the housing, and at least one ceramic heating bundle disposed within the housing. The ceramic heating bundle includes at least two elongate members formed of a ceramic material, disposed in abutting, tight clustered relation with one another, each containing a plurality of narrow, parallel passages structured to permit air to flow therethrough, and at least one heating wire disposed within at least one of the passages of at least one of the elongate members and structured to radiate heat through the ceramic material of the elongate members, thereby heating the air disposed within the passages until the air reaches a sufficient temperature to become sterilized and rise naturally and exit the passages due to convection, thereby creating a vacuum which draws a new supply of ambient air into the passages. The passages are sized and spaced relative to one another within each of the elongate members so as to maximize a ratio of a surface area of ceramic material exposed to the air flowing therethrough, per volume of ceramic material required to define the elongate member, and also to minimize a resistance to heat flow through the ceramic material defining the elongate member and therefore through the ceramic heating bundle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved room air sterilization device directed towards eliminating air-borne germs, bacteria, viruses, and other micro-organisms in indoor environments while causing little, if any, heating of the room temperature where the device is located. In particular, the present invention is seen to include greatly improved and highly efficient air sterilization means comprised of a ceramic material and formed so as to maximize a ratio of surface area of the ceramic material which is exposed to the air per volume of ceramic material utilized in the device and also so as to minimize a resistance to heat flow through the ceramic material. Consequently, air sterilization means having an increased height dimension, without bulkiness, may be utilized so as to permit unsterilized air passing therethrough to have a greater resident air time while simultaneously, to cycle more rapidly throughout the indoor environment where the device is employed.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is commonly known that a wide assortment of harmful and germs, bacteria, viruses, and other micro-organisms exist, some of which remain alive in and are carried by air. This fact presents an especially acute problem to individuals confined to closed or indoor environments where adequate ventilation may not be provided and/or where natural disinfectants such as direct sunlight are not available. Furthermore, closed or indoor environments often retain moisture and dampness which can propagate mold, mildew, fungus, and the like which among other things, can create foul odors. Additionally, the presence of germs, viruses, and bacteria in the air obviously pose substantial health risks including a variety of respiratory problems, harmful illnesses, infections, and contagious diseases. These problems are even more acute for individuals facing particular health risks such as those suffering from a weak or compromised immune system or a sensitive respiratory system, for example.
In the past, those skilled in the art relating to room air sterilization devices have attempted to address these concerns. For example, there are many room dehumidifying devices currently available on the market. Such devices are structured to reduce the amount of moisture in a room so as to reduce the formation of mold, mildew, and fungus. These devices, however, are not oriented towards killing germs, bacteria, viruses, molds, etc. since their primary function is simply to reduce the dampness or moisture content of the air in a room instead of to kill germs, viruses, bacteria, and the like which may be present in the air.
Others have attempted to address this problem by devising room air sterilization devices which are structured to sterilize air by heating it. These known, air sterilization devices have not been entirely satisfactory however. This is because in order to rid the air of germs, bacteria, mold and the like, large quantities of the air must be passed through a device which heats the air to extremely high temperatures. Consequently, known air sterilization devices are believed to significantly raise the temperature of the room where they are located, and consume substantial amounts of energy in the process. Although an increase in the room temperature may be desirable in some situations, such as during the winter or in colder climates, in most instances an increase in a room's temperature is undesirable and renders the air sterilization device impractical for everyday use. To avoid this undesirable result, some have attempted to provide air sterilization devices which heat and sterilize very small quantities of air, but such devices are thought to be either incapable of destroying air-borne germs and bacteria or ineffective in terms of the number of germs and bacteria which are destroyed. It will be appreciated then, that a serious difficulty exists in the art, namely, to provide a device which can heat unsterilized air passing therethrough to the extremely high temperatures required for complete sterilization without significantly raising the temperature of the indoor environment where the device is used.
At least one effort has been made to provide an air sterilization device comprising a large quantity of conductive ceramic material, operably connected with heating elements which produce a quantity of sterilizing heat, and through which air will pass, become heated and thus sterilized. These type of known air sterilization devices are still, however, thought to be inefficient. First, such devices are primarily comprised of a rather large and bulky block or cube of ceramic material mass. Second, bores must then be formed within the mass of ceramic material or it must otherwise be drilled into so as to provide a plurality of air passages therein and through which unsterilized air can pass to become heated and sterilized. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the drilling or boring of holes in ceramic material is almost always done manually, and is a very time-consuming, tedious, and labor-intensive process which constitutes an expensive manufacturing procedure in the production of such air sterilization devices. Furthermore, because these known types of devices generally consist of a single mass of ceramic material it is very difficult to increase or expand the capacity of the devices after manufacture so as to include a greater number of holes or bores in the ceramic or to increase the size of the ceramic material. More significantly, however, it is not possible to drill holes or bores very close to one another in the mass of ceramic material employed by such devices as it is subject to cracking. As such, none of the existing devices provide for substantially thin walls between the air passages, as increasing an overall length of the drilled bores necessarily increases the spacing that must remain therebetween. Specifically, in order to prevent the cracking of the ceramic material, the air passages are bored or drilled a sufficient distance apart from each other so as to ensure thick walls between air passages and prevent the cracking or collapse of the ceramic material. This poses an extremely inefficient design in that a substantial quantity of ceramic material is required to be heated or heated through in order to sterilize a very small quantity of air coming into contact with the surface of the ceramic material. The inefficiency of such devices will be understood when one considers that the unsterilized air passing through the device is cleansed or sterilized only by passing through the heated bores or drilled holes in the mass of ceramic material. Yet, severe limitations exist on the number of bores or drilled holes which can be formed in the block of ceramic material as well as on the diameter of the bores or drilled holes. It is seen, therefore, that in order to achieve an operable air sterilization device, an unnecessary amount of ceramic material mass has had to be utilized, so as to present a sufficient number of heated passages through which unsterilized air may pass, which is a waste of materials. Perhaps worse, an unnecessary amount of energy must also be expended to heat through the entire mass of ceramic material, the majority of which plays no part whatsoever in contacting or sterilizing air, which is again, inefficient. It will also be appreciated from fundamental principals of heat transfer that the greater the distance between the bores or drilled passages within the ceramic block, the more difficult it would be for adjacently disposed passages to share heat provided by a common heating element. Moreover, as heat passes through the ceramic to outer bores within the mass, heat is continually lost when it encounters ceramic material, resulting in greater energy requirements, and resulting in those outer bores not becoming heated to an ideal air sterilizing temperature.
It will be understood that these features of known air sterilization devices which use ceramic material not only reduce efficiency but typically, increase the amount of heat which is dissipated and consequently, raise the temperature of a room where the device is located. One known existing device sought to include ceramic material which utilized bores of a relatively short height, namely, about 4 to 12 centimeters in an effort to avoid causing an increase in the temperature of a room where the device was located. One disadvantage of this type of device is that any one air particle is exposed to the heat within the ceramic material for a much shorter distance than it would in an air passage of greater height, and thus, air flow through the short air passages must be slower if the same degree of sterilization is to be provided. Another problem with this type of device is that even though the air passages very near or directly in contact with a heating wire become sufficiently hot to sterilize the air, the air passages at or near the outer peripheral walls of the ceramic material mass cannot approximate the same temperature as heat is lost as it passes through the large masses of ceramic material between adjacent air passages, and heat is lost to the air around the exterior of the ceramic material mass. Consequently, existing devices are not able to uniformly heat all of the air passages within the ceramic material and the air exiting these devices is inconsistently sterilized.
Accordingly, there still remains a significant need in the art for an improved room air sterilization device which can eliminate air-borne germs, bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms without raising the temperature of the room where it is located. In particular, there is a need for a room air sterilization device which utilizes greatly improved and highly efficient air sterilization means in the form of ceramic material formed to minimize the amount of ceramic material which is not exposed to the air and which may resist heat flow, to promote the sharing of heat between air passages, to allow for air passages having a taller height dimension, thereby resulting in a greater resident air time, faster air cycle time and greater disbursement into larger rooms than would have been possible utilizing known devices. There is also a need for an air sterilization device which permits the air sterilization capacity of the device to be expanded by allowing facilitated attachment of additional air sterilization means, after or before the device has been completely manufactured and assembled. The present invention is specifically designed to address these needs which remain in the art.


According to an embodiment, there is provided a disc device that execute a filtering process to remove one or more resonances from the first signal by the sum of transfer functions, the one or more resonances being included in first transfer characteristics from the first signal transmitted via the first control line to response of the first head, the transfer functions being indicative of resonances included in second transfer characteristics from the first signal transmitted via the second control line to response of the first head.

There is a disc device that includes arms equipped with head suspensions having actuators (so-called micro actuators (MA)) configured for precise movement of plurality of heads. There are techniques by which actuators for head corresponding to lower surface of a disc (hereinafter, referred to as UP head) and for head corresponding to upper surface of a disc (hereinafter, referred to as DN head) are driven in in-phase or reversed-phase directions, thereby to cancel out resonances of the arms.
However, all of the resonances cannot be canceled out by technique by which to drive the actuators for the UP heads and the DN heads in reversed-phase directions or by technique by which to drive the actuators for the UP heads and the DN heads in in-phase directions. All of the resonances cannot be canceled out by using either of techniques due to restrictions on the arms' frequency response characteristics.


Systems and methods for design-based inspection using repeating structures are provided.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to systems and methods for design-based inspection of wafers using repeating structures.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following description and examples are not admitted to be prior art by virtue of their inclusion in this section.
Inspection processes are used at various steps during a semiconductor manufacturing process to detect defects on wafers to promote higher yield in the manufacturing process and thus higher profits. Inspection has always been an important part of fabricating semiconductor devices. However, as the dimensions of semiconductor devices decrease, inspection becomes even more important to the successful manufacture of acceptable semiconductor devices because smaller defects can cause the devices to fail.
Inspection processes can be limited by various noise sources on the wafer. For example, one common inspection method is the die-to-die method that involves comparing output of an inspection system generated for corresponding positions in different dies formed on the wafer. In this manner, output generated for similar structures in multiple dies can be compared and the results of the comparison can be used to detect defects in those structures. However, due to process variations across the wafer, corresponding positions in different dies may have different characteristics such as film thickness and color variation that, while not actually defects, can be misidentified as defects in the die-to-die methods. The variations between dies can be accommodated by increasing the thresholds that are used to detect defects. However, increasing the threshold will obviously eliminate the detection of the smallest defects on the wafers.
Some inspection methods and/or systems detect defects by comparing output generated for multiple locations within a single die. There are generally two types of methods that utilize this concept in current inspection systems. However, their applicability is limited. For example, for array areas such as SRAM or DRAM areas of a die, by knowing the cell size within the array, a cell-to-cell inspection can be performed on wafer inspectors. There are also some existing systems that analyze the image stream during inspection and look for repeating structures by performing auto-correlation analysis and looking for periodic patterns. However, both of these methods are limited to layouts that have some periodicity (e.g., in the x direction) with a certain period.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to develop inspection systems and/or methods that do not have one or more of the disadvantages described above.

Design-based inspection using repeating structures


A cell phone holder that has a case with a back portion having an angled surface on an inside end surface of said back side so that a cell phone housed in said case is slanted with its face tilted at an angle for better viewing through said opening in said front surface and to provide room in said case to store a retractable ear phone device behind said cell phone. The back surface has a top portion curving backward with respect to the front surface of the case to provide an overhanging portion forming a clip to mount said case and is mountable in a recess between the driver side inner window surface and the driver side inner door so that the holder hangs on the driver side below the window and near the driver so as to be within range of a driver.

1. Field
The present invention relates to a cell phone holder. In particular the present invention relates to a cell phone holder suitable for holding a telephone in an automotive vehicle in a location near the driver for hands free and within easy communication range for the driver.
2. The Related Art
Use of cell phones in automotive vehicles can prove to be a distraction for many users while driving leading to accidents on the road. It would be desirable to avoid such problems and provide a cell phone holder that is hands free and can be located near the driver and does not block, even partially, the front windshield of the automotive vehicle due to mounting of a cell phone holder by impairing the vision of the driver in the front windshield.