A receiver includes a controller which receives A/D sampled input signals and shifts the sampled digital signal to compensate for Doppler effect in the input signal prior to demodulation. The controller compensates for a Doppler increased frequency by shifting the sampled digital signal so as to skip a sample period every n samples. This may be achieved by decreasing a cycle of m samples by one sample period every n samples. The controller compensates for a Doppler decreased frequency by shifting the sampled digital signal so as to add a sample period every n samples. This may be achieved by repeating a sample every n samples to shift the sampled digital signal. The compensation is performed in software on a multi-threaded processor.

The present invention relates generally to receivers and more specifically to a receiver which compensates for the Doppler effect in the received signal.
Due to the computational complexity, the Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) receivers have been implemented in hardware, employing multiple parallel channels. Usually, each channel is responsible for tracking and demodulating one satellite. In some more sophisticated designs, for economic reasons, one channel can be time shared by more than one satellite. In the case of multi-protocol communication systems, the hardware implementation becomes less attractive due to extra chip cost and PC board area consumed.
Although the present receiver will be described in the context of a GPS receiver, the principles are applicable to any receiver which has a Doppler effect in the received signal resulting from the relative movement of the transmitter and the receiver.
The received GPS signal can be viewed as a superposition of Ns DS-CDMA signals coming from Ns visible satellites. Each satellite has its unique signature and slightly different carrier frequency due to the Doppler effect, even though they transmit at the same carrier frequency f. The composite GPS code signal can be modeled as (see Elliot D. Kaplan, Understanding GPS Principles and Applications, Artech House Inc. (1996)):
                                                                        s                                                  (                  t                  )                                            =                                                                            ∑                                      i                    =                    0                                                                              N                      s                                        -                    1                                                                                ∑                                          n                      =                                              -                        ∞                                                                                +                      ∞                                                                                ∑                                              k                        =                                                  -                          ∞                                                                                +                        ∞                                                                                A                        i                                                                                d                          i                                                                                [                          k                          ]                                                                                g                                                                          (                                                      t                            -                                                          k                                                                                N                                  p                                                                                f                                  i                                                                                )                                                                                g                                                  (                                      t                    -                                          n                                                                                1                                                  f                          i                                                                                )                                                                                P                      i                                                                                [                                                                        (                                                      n                            +                                                          n                              i                              ′                                                                                )                                                                                %                                                                                N                          p                                                                    ]                                                        ·                                      cos                                                              (                                                                        2                                                                                π                                                                                f                            i                                                                              t                                                +                                                  φ                          i                                                                    )                                                                                (        1        )            wherein: Ai is the amplitude for satellite i, d[k] is the data in the kt millisecond, fi=1/Ti is the carrier frequency for the ith satellite, g(t−mTi)=σ(t−mTi) σ[(m+1)Ti−t)] is the window function,
      σ              (      t      )        =      {                            1                                                    for                                                                                t                        ≥            0                                                0                                                    for                                                                                t                        <            0                              is the unit step function, Pi[n] the is the nth chip in the kth millisecond of the C/A code for satellite i, % means modulus operation, Np is the number of visible satellites and φi is the phase shift. In equation (1), the noise term has been deliberately ignored for commodity.
After multiplying the composite signal s(t) by a window function of the carrier frequency f=1/T and summing, equation (1) becomes:
                                                                        χ                                                  (                  t                  )                                            =                                                                            ∑                                      i                    =                    0                                                                              N                      s                                        -                    1                                                                                A                    i                                                                                d                      i                                                                                [                      k                      ]                                                                                P                        i                                                                                [                                                                              (                                                          n                              +                                                              n                                i                                ′                                                                                )                                                                                %                                                                                N                            p                                                                          ]                                                              ·                                                                                g                                                        (                                          t                      -                                              n                                                                                1                                                      max                                                                                (                                                              f                                ,                                                                  f                                  i                                                                                )                                                                                )                                                  ·                                  cos                                                        (                                                                  2                                                                                π                                                                                f                          i                                                                        t                                            +                                              φ                        i                                                              )                                                  ·                                  ⅇ                                                            -                      j                                                                                2                                                                                π                                                                                f                                                                                t                                                                                (        2        )            The integral of χ(t) over the entire time axis represents the Fourier transform of cos(2πfit+φi) times a constant:
                                                                                ∫                                      -                    ∞                                                        +                    ∞                                                                                χ                                                              (                      t                      )                                                                                ⅆ                    t                                                              =                                                                            ∫                                      n                    ·                    T                                                                              (                                              n                        +                        1                                            )                                                                                max                                                                    (                                                  T                          ,                                                      T                            i                                                                          )                                                                                χ                                                              (                      t                      )                                                                                ⅆ                    t                                                                                =                                                                            ∫                                      n                    ·                    T                                                                              (                                              n                        +                        1                                            )                                        ·                                          max                                                                    (                                                  T                          ,                                                      T                            i                                                                          )                                                                                ⅆ                    t                                                                                ∑                                              i                        =                        0                                                                                N                          s                                                -                        1                                                                                A                        i                                                                                d                          i                                                                                [                          k                          ]                                                                                P                            i                                                                                [                                                                                (                                                                  n                                  +                                                                      n                                    i                                    ′                                                                                )                                                                                %                                                                                N                                p                                                                                ]                                                                          ·                                                                                cos                                                        (                                                                  2                                                                                π                                                                                f                          i                                                                        t                                            +                                              φ                        i                                                              )                                                  ·                                  ⅇ                                                            -                      j                                                                                2                                                                                π                                                                                f                                                                                t                                                                                =                                                                            ∫                                      n                    ·                    T                                                                              (                                              n                        +                        1                                            )                                        ·                                          max                                                                    (                                                  T                          ,                                                      T                            0                                                                          )                                                                                ⅆ                    t                                                                                A                    0                                                                                d                      0                                                                                [                      k                      ]                                                                                P                        0                                                                                [                                                                              (                                                          n                              +                                                              n                                0                                ′                                                                                )                                                                                %                                                                                N                            p                                                                          ]                                                              ·                                                                                cos                                                              (                                                                        2                                                                                π                                                                                f                            0                                                                              t                                                +                                                  φ                          0                                                                    )                                                        ·                                      ⅇ                                                                  -                        j                                                                                2                                                                                π                                                                                f                                                                                t                                                                      +                                                                                ∫                                      n                    ·                    T                                                                              (                                              n                        +                        1                                            )                                        ·                                          max                                                                    (                                                  T                          ,                                                      T                            1                                                                          )                                                                                ⅆ                    t                                                                                A                    1                                                                                d                      1                                                                                [                      k                      ]                                                                                P                        1                                                                                [                                                                              (                                                          n                              +                                                              n                                1                                ′                                                                                )                                                                                %                                                                                N                            p                                                                          ]                                                              ·                                                                                cos                                                              (                                                                        2                                                                                π                                                                                f                            1                                                                              t                                                +                                                  φ                          1                                                                    )                                                        ·                                      ⅇ                                                                  -                        j                                                                                2                                                                                π                                                                                f                                                                                t                                                                      +                …                +                                                                                ∫                                      n                    ·                    T                                                                              (                                              n                        +                        1                                            )                                        ·                                          max                                                                    (                                                  T                          ,                                                      T                                                                                N                                s                                                            -                              1                                                                                )                                                                                ⅆ                    t                                                                                A                                                                  N                        s                                            -                      1                                                                                d                                                                        N                          s                                                -                        1                                                                                [                      k                      ]                                                                                P                                          N                                              s                        -                        1                                                                                [                                                                  (                                                  n                          +                                                      n                                                                                N                                s                                                            -                              1                                                        ′                                                                          )                                                                                %                                                                                N                        p                                                              ]                                                  ·                                                                                cos                                                        (                                                                  2                                                                                π                                                                                f                                                                                N                              s                                                        -                            1                                                                                t                                            +                                              φ                                                                              N                            s                                                    -                          1                                                                                )                                                  ·                                  ⅇ                                                            -                      j                                                                                2                                                                                π                                                                                f                                                                                t                                                                                (        3        )
In order to minimize the detection error for a particular satellite i resulting from the Doppler shift as well as for the phase shift, the following must be true f−fi=0 and φi=0 for each satellite. Conforming to the Fourier transform shifting property, the condition f−fi=0 can be achieved either through frequency or time domain shift.
In a hardware implementation, the carrier is tracked by advancing or retarding the local oscillator LO frequency and phase (frequency domain shift) conforming to the output of a Phase Locked Loop (PLL) circuit. The integrals in equation (3) are performed in parallel, each by a separate channel as shown in FIG. 1. The signal from the RF front end is digitized, demodulated and correlated against the satellite signature (PN number), and the results are transferred to the digital signal processor DSP for further processing. There is also a PLL block and local oscillator LO associated with each channel. Depending on cost/performance, a GPS receiver can incorporate from 4 to 12 channels.
The hardware architecture of the present receiver uses fewer hardware components and allows an efficient software implementation. It provides both flexibility and low power consumption.
The receiver includes an antenna for receiving a signal from a transmitter which is moving relative to the receiver. An A/D converter, connected to the antenna, provides a sampled digital signal from the input signal A controller receives and demodulates the sampled digital signal from the A/D converter. The controller shifts the sampled digital signal to compensate for Doppler effect in the input signal prior to demodulation. The controller compensates for a Doppler increased frequency by shifting the sampled digital signal so as to skip a sample period every n samples. This may be achieved by decreasing a cycle of m samples by one sample period every n samples. The controller compensates for a Doppler decreased frequency by shifting the sampled digital signal so as to add a sample period every n samples. This may be achieved by repeating a sample every n samples to shift the sampled digital signal.
The sampled digital signal is shifted until a known transmission frequency of the transmitter has been modified to match the frequency of the input signal. The controller matches the phase of the sampled digital signal to the phase of the input signal using, for example, a phase locked loop. The controller includes software for shifting and demodulating the sampled digital signal and the phase locked loop. The controller identifies how many transmitters' transmissions are in the input signal and demodulates and shifts the sampled data for each identified transmitter, in parallel.
These and other aspects of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention, when considered in conjunction with accompanying drawings.


A manufacturing method of ceramic slurry being used for producing a green sheet which can have a smooth surface, exhibits a satisfactory sheet strength, and is excellent in workability such as releasing, a green sheet produced by the use of the slurry produced by the method, and a multilayer ceramic device produced by the use of the green sheet is provided. According to the present invention, a manufacturing method of ceramic slurry at least comprising a ceramic powder and a binder resin solution, wherein a high-pressure dispersing treatment of the ceramic powder and a lacquer for preliminary addition, which is a part of the binder resin solution, is carried out so that a shearing rate is set to 1×107 to 1×108 [1/sec] to prepare a preliminary slurry, and at least a lacquer for post-addition, which a high-pressure dispersing treatment is not applied, is added to the preliminary slurry which a high-pressure dispersing treatment is applied.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a manufacturing method of ceramic slurry, more particularly, a manufacturing method of ceramic slurry being used for producing a green sheet which can have a smooth surface, exhibits a satisfactory sheet strength, and is excellent in workability such as releasing, a green sheet produced by the use of a slurry produced by the method, and a multilayer ceramic device produced by the use of the green sheet.
2. Description of the Related Art
Developments of ceramic green sheet are performed to obtain a high-capacitance multilayer ceramic chip capacitor as an example of multilayer ceramic device. The multilayer ceramic chip capacitor has a structure of alternately laminating electrode layers, which one end is exposed to the edge of the chip, and dielectric layers, and both sides of the laminating direction are covered with the dielectric layers like a lid.
While more dielectric layers in 1 chip can provide a higher capacity, the chip size is fixed. Therefore, in order to make capacitance of the chip large or maintain the capacitance while miniaturizing the chip, the dielectric layer is required to be thin. The dielectric layer is obtained by covering dielectric particles having a diameter of sub micron order with resin, i.e. binder, to form a sheet, laminating these sheets, and firing. Therefore, in order to laminate said dielectric layers, it becomes important to produce a thin green sheet.
However, when the sheet becomes thin, unevenness on the sheet surface cannot be ignored. That is, when the sheet is thin, a surface state change, which was not needed to take into consideration when the sheet was thick, turns into change of the sheet thickness itself. It is expected that concaves of the unevenness on the surface becomes weak to voltage impression after firing, and causes short circuit. Therefore, it is indispensable requirements for manufacturing multilayer chip capacitor to provide a sheet having a smooth surface, i.e. small change of a surface roughness, and a uniform thickness.
As factors, which influence the surface unevenness of a sheet, a particle size of pigments, a paste composition, a dispersing condition when manufacturing the paste, a spreading condition when forming a sheet, and a smoothing treatment to the sheet itself, etc. are mentioned. The present invention relates to an improvement approach of the distributed condition when manufacturing the paste. Pigments not causing aggregation within the paste and disperse as a single particle form raises surface characteristic and density of the sheet formed with said pigments. With the present invention, pigments can be dispersed, and sheet having superior surface characteristic can be manufactured.
In addition, as shown in the following patent reference 1, a method to improve dispersiveness by performing a high-pressure treatment particularly to the binder while manufacturing the paste is proposed. However, with the technique shown in this patent reference 1, since a high-pressure dispersion treatment is applied to the paste including binder. i.e. resin, as shown in FIG. 2(B), shearing stress is given to not only pigments but also resin. For this reason, the resin will be destroyed by the shearing stress, and deterioration in sheet strength may be caused.
Patent Reference 1: U.S. Pat. No. 3,387,455

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Manufacturing method of ceramic slurry, green sheet and multilayer ceramic device


A front case 50 accommodates a substrate 30 on which female contacts 90 are mounted. The female contacts 90 are accommodated in a housing 70. From a rear portion 61 of a rear case 60, male contacts 80 protrude forward. The front protrusion 80a of each male contact 80 is provided inside a housing 62. When a housing 62 is fitted with a housing 70, each male contact 80 slides on and contacts leading ends 91a and 92a in the direction in which the housings are fitted.

The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus including a substrate on which an image sensor is mounted.
A Known imaging apparatus mounted on a vehicle or the like disclosed in Patent Literature 1 (Japanese Patent No. 4623744) includes a camera case and a substrate which is accommodated in the camera case and on which an image sensor is mounted. The camera case is constituted by an upper camera case (front case) to which a protector is attached to protect the lens and a lower camera case (rear case) with which an external connector is fit, and the lower camera case is provided with a first contact electrically connected to the external connector. Furthermore, on the substrate accommodated in the camera case, an image sensor and a second contact electrically connected to the image sensor are mounted. As the first contact of the lower camera case is electrically connected with the second contact of the substrate, the external connector is electrically connected to the image sensor.


An oral fluid collection and transfer device comprises a collection device (10) and a test cartridge (100). The collection device includes a frame or chassis (14), and an absorbing pad (12) for absorbing oral fluid and which is secured around part of the frame with part of the frame protruding from the pad. A collapsible cover (16) covers the absorbing means and has apertures (68) for the ingress of oral fluid into contact with the absorbing pad. A cap (18) covers the part of the frame protruding from the absorbing pad. The cap and the cover latch together to surround the frame and the absorbing pad. The device also includes a fluid adequacy indicator (20) in the form of an electrical circuit with an LED (66) which is completed when the absorbing means has absorbed a predetermined volume of oral fluid.

This invention relates to apparatus for the collection and assay of analytes in oral or other fluids. The invention relates further to a method for the controlled transfer of oral fluid from a collection device to a test cartridge, and to apparatus including a transportation vial for the secure transportation of a sample of oral fluid to a laboratory for test verification.
Bodily fluids such as blood, urine or oral fluid have traditionally been used for the purpose of testing for the presence of particular analytes such as drugs, hormones, pollutants, viral and bacterial antigens in the body. Oral fluid is the term used to describe all of the fluids that can be found in the mouth cavity. It is commonly referred to as saliva but is in fact composed of a number of other components such as bacteria, food debris, enzymes, water, salts and mucoprotein in addition to saliva. The use of oral fluid for analyte testing has a number distinct advantages over other biological fluids. It is a painless, non-invasive technique and the collection is straightforward, can be performed by the donor, and is easily observed. Oral fluid is becoming increasingly used as a sample matrix for testing of substances such as drugs of abuse, infectious diseases and for DNA testing.
For many organisations, drug testing is an important and necessary duty. Police officers for example may wish to conduct roadside tests to determine whether a motorist has taken an illegal substance that will affect his driving capabilities. The criminal justice system often conducts random drug tests on prison inmates, detainees or individuals on probation in order to monitor the presence of illegal drugs. Similarly, sporting authorities may wish to conduct random tests on athletes to detect the presence of performance-enhancing drugs. These and other applications may require testing for the presence of drugs such as cannabinoids, amphetamine, cocaine, opiates, benzodiazepines, methadone, methamphetamine and phencyclidine amongst others.
A number of prior systems for the collection of oral fluid have been developed, most of which rely on a collection device made from an absorbent material which is placed in the mouth. One prior system for example uses a rayon ball which is placed in the mouth for a certain period of time. The ball is subsequently placed into a syringe mechanism to extract the absorbed oral fluid prior to testing. This system suffers from the disadvantage that it is difficult to know when an adequately-sized sample has been obtained, and a subjective judgement is required by the operator to decide when a sufficient volume of fluid has been collected. This results in considerable variation in volume of oral fluid collected and may affect the consistency and reliability of testing. For example, if an insufficient (and undefined) volume of oral fluid is used for testing, then the quantity of any compound present in the sample may be too small to detect.
Another system draws oral fluid from the mouth by osmotic pressure into a small plastic sack consisting of a semi-permeable membrane containing high molecular weight sugars. This system suffers the disadvantage that it may take between 10 to 15 minutes to collect a sufficient volume of oral fluid. This problem is compounded in the case of drug addicts who often suffer from dry mouths and for whom collection of an adequate volume of oral fluid make take an inordinate length of time.
A further system uses an aspirator to draw and de-bubble oral fluid directly from the mouth into a test cartridge housed in an instrument casing. This system suffers the drawback that it is large, cumbersome and lacks portability.
Our International Patent Application WO00/04381 (and US Patent Application 2001/0034068 based thereon) describes a system which uses an absorbent foam pad on an indicator handle which turns blue to signal that a sufficient volume of oral fluid has been collected. The collection pad is inserted into a tube having a separator filter to extract oral fluid from the pad which is then transferred to a test cartridge by carefully pipetting a number of drops onto the cartridge. The ease in maintaining reliability of testing using this system may however be significantly reduced if collection takes place in a turbulent environment, for example by the roadside.
Further examples of prior systems are described in the following patent applications. The device described in international patent application WO 01/49820 comprises an absorbent foam swab having a tether which is placed into a port of a testing device The tether may be used to pull and compress the foam swab thereby transferring a volume of fluid from the swab to a test strip or a sample container. U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,577 describes a device having an absorbent mass which is placed in a chamber and compressed by a piston screwed down into the chamber. Fluid is thereby transferred from the absorbent mass to a collection vial. European Patent Application 0 734 686 describes an oral fluid sample collection device comprising an absorbent cotton pad on a plastic handle with a colour dye sample adequacy indicator. U.S. Pat. No. 6,303,081 describes a collection device incorporating a bite plate in which oral fluid is drawn by capillary action from the mouth, through a wick to a chromatography strip. United States Patent Application 2002/0015663 describes a syringe mechanism to transfer oral fluid from the mouth to a test strip. Another collection system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,673.
In view of the disadvantages of prior systems, we have appreciated the need for a non-invasive system for the collection and testing of oral fluid which is portable, quick and easy to use. We have further appreciated the need to eliminate subjective judgement and reduce errors on the part of the operator to enable the system to produce reliable, reproducible and consistent results. Furthermore, we have appreciated the need to allow point-of-care (on-site) collection and testing with the option of sending the collected specimen to a laboratory for further testing or the option of sending the collected sample directly to a laboratory without an on-site analysis.

Oral fluid collection, transfer and transportation device and method


The invention relates to natural or artificial pearl in which one or more ornamental elements (4) are inserted in form of an inlay with or without a mount, wherein the outer visible top or ornamental side opposite the pearl of each inlay has a horizontal projection with a random contour and dimensions confined by the limits of the spherical surface and wherein the inner bottom side facing the pearl of each inlay is fitted with locking or anchoring means (20). Each inlay is lodged with positive-fit or at least substantially with positive-fit in an appropriately matching groove (6) (slot, cavity), locking and/or anchoring means being formed in the bottom and/or wall of said groove which interact with the corresponding inlay, preferably by positive locking according to the key-lock principle, and in or on which the inlay inserted into the groove is fixed in or on the pearl.

The invention relates to a decorated natural or artificial pearl having an integrated ornamental element, and a method of manufacturing same. As ornamental elements, in particular semi-precious or precious stones are provided; parts formed from other materials, for example wood, glass, acrylic glass, inter alia, also come into consideration however.
Pearls from oysters have been from time immemorial a beloved and desired type of jewellery and since the beginning of pearl cultivation approximately 100 years ago an independent pearl market has developed which plays an important role in the jewellery industry. Amongst pearls those which have an ideal or almost ideal spherical shape and a uniformly formed spherical surface have always been preferred and consequently traded most.
In pearl cultivation and also in nature, however, it frequently happens that the pearl has a so-called xe2x80x9copen placexe2x80x9d. This means: the seed which the cultivator has inserted into the oyster or which has reached it in the natural manner is not uniformly covered with mother-of-pearl by the oyster but at one or more places no mother-of-pearl at all or only a relatively very thin layer of same is deposited, such that more or less deep pits of the most varied shape and extent have arisen. These xe2x80x9cimperfectxe2x80x9d xe2x80x9copen placesxe2x80x9d on pearls count generally as a defect and considerably lessen the quality and thus the market value of the affected pearls.
It is admittedly generally known that a natural or artificial pearl can be provided with a through-bore or a blind end bore in order to draw it up on a thread and thus manufacture for example necklaces or bracelets, or in order to place it on a pin and secure it thus for example to rings, decorative pins and other jewellery bases. These bores are however in many if not even most cases not suitable for concealing xe2x80x9copen placesxe2x80x9d, solely for the reason that the relevant xe2x80x9copen placexe2x80x9d has too great a diameter and/or the affected pearl has a plurality of xe2x80x9copen placesxe2x80x9d which do not lie (by chance) on a line through the pearl centre.
The use of pearls is varied and includes also the combination of pearl(s) with precious stone(s). With such combinations it is generally a question of additions, i.e. a side-by-side arrangement of pearl(s) and stone(s), pearl(s) and stone(s) respectively representing separate, independent components of a brooch, a necklace, a bracelet, ring or some other piece of jewellery.
Up to present only one type of integrated combination of pearl and precious stone has been known. In this so-called xe2x80x9cdecorated pearlxe2x80x9d the pearl is provided with a blind end bore running radially and a precious stone mounted in metal is cemented into this bore. The blind end bore has a round cross-section which is substantially smaller than half the diameter of the pearl and the shape of the precious stone or its mount is inevitably closely adapted thereto in terms of size and contour. DE 44 06 609 describes such a decorated natural or artificial pearl in which an ornamental element is introduced into a blind hole. The limited dimensions of the recess, here a bore, are considered as important in order not to impair the stability of the pearl.
The object underlying the invention is now to make available a decorated natural or artificial pearl having an integrated semi-precious or precious stone or ornamental elements formed from other materials or respectively a decoration for pearls, more especially for pearls with xe2x80x9copen placesxe2x80x9d and a method of manufacturing decorated pearls of this type, the decoration taking up regions of any size of the pearl surface and the spherical surface being able to be designed in any way.
This object is achieved in the provision of a natural or artificial pearl of the type mentioned initially in which one or more ornamental elements is (are) configured as an inlay with or without a mount, the outer, visible upper or ornamental side, remote from the pearl, of each inlay having a horizontal projection of any contour and dimensions within the limits of the spherical surface, and the inner underside, facing the pearl, of each inlay being provided with at least one locking and/or anchoring means. Each inlay is accommodated as a form-fit or at least substantially as a form-fit in a recess (depression, pit) appropriately made for it, in the base and/or wall of which locking and/or anchoring means are formed which co-operate with those of the inlay, preferably by positive locking according to the key-lock principle, and in or respectively on which the inlay sitting in the recess is secured in or on the pearl.
The recess(es) can be relatively flat and lie only in the outer (peripheral) spherical layers (mother-of-pearl layers) of the pearl. It is equally possible to configure one recess, a plurality of or all the recesses in the shape of a wedge, cone or tetrahedron, the tip of the wedge, cone or tetrahedron pointing in each case to the pearl seed or pearl centre.
The term xe2x80x9cbase of the recessxe2x80x9d comprises here and below not only more or less flat surfacesxe2x80x94such as are present for example in cuboid recessesxe2x80x94but also inner edgesxe2x80x94e.g. in the case of wedgexe2x80x94or notch-shaped recesses, or also inner tipsxe2x80x94e.g. in the case of recesses shaped like a pointed cone.
A preferred embodiment of the pearl according to the invention, which is particularly easy to manufacture, is characterized in that the locking or anchoring means is formed on the underside of the inlay- as a projection(projections), more especially as a wedge (wedges), pin (pins), lug (lugs) or feather (feathers), and in that the locking and/or anchoring means complementary thereto are realized as depressions, especially as grooves or tubular (blind) hole(s) on the base and/or in the wall of the recess in the pearl.
In a variant of the invention having at least two inlays, provision is made for the pearl surface to have at least two recesses each having respectively one tubular hole as a locking or anchoring means, which recesses are disposed spatially in relation to one another in such a manner that the at least one hole at the base of the one recess forms with the at least one hole at the base of the other recess axe2x80x94preferably practically rectilinearxe2x80x94tubular passage between the two recesses. The inlays provided for this purpose have complementary connecting means to one another as locking and/or anchoring means, pin-shaped anchoring means which are designed as connecting means complementary to one another, preferably on the one hand as a threaded pin (solid or hollow pin with external thread) and on the other hand as the complementary threaded sleeve (hollow pin with correspondingly complementary inner thread). When the inlays concerned sit in the recesses, these connecting means are inserted in the tubular passage and are connected to one another therexe2x80x94in the case of threaded pin and threaded sleeve, screwed to one another. Thus particularly stable anchoring of the inlay on the pearl is guaranteed.
In a special development of this variant of the invention, the recess for the one inlay is extended like a cavity tangentially and radially below the pearl surface, and the cavity walls pointing away from the interior of the pearl are provided with window-like hole apertures, so-called window openings, in whichxe2x80x94preferably unmountedxe2x80x94ornamental elements sit. These ornamental elements have the shape of a pyramid or (truncated) cone and are oriented in the window openings in such a way that the base of the pyramid or (truncated) cone points towards the interior of the pearl. By jamming and/or supporting one another and/or being supported on the cavity walls and/or the inlay sitting in the recess/the two recess(es), the position of these ornamental elements in the window openings is fixed.
A further way of accomplishing the object set consists in the provision of a pearl of the type mentioned initially in which the pearl consists of two or more spherical portions, between which respectively at least one disc-shaped ornamental element is disposed, the two disc surfaces of which are preferably congruent with the respectively adjoining (disc-shaped) basal surface of the respective spherical portion. According to the invention, there is formed in each spherical section and in each disc-shaped ornamental element a through-bore which runs perpendicular to the basal surfaces of the spherical portions and of the disc-shaped ornamental element or elements and preferably through the respective centre of same, and is flush with the through-bore(s) of the adjoining spherical portion/portions or respectively disc-shaped ornamental element/elements. In the through-bore of each spherical portion is respectively fixed a portion or section (end section or end piece or intermediate section or intermediate piece) of an outer sleeve which represents the functional counterpart to an inner sleeve, namely in such a way that inner sleeve and outer sleeve can be positioned secure against twisting in respect of one another via means which are formed between the inner sleeve outer wall and the outer sleeve inner wall. In other words the inner sleeve can only be pushed into the outer sleeve in a single orientation in respect of same. In the outer sleeve portions and the through-bores of the disc-shaped ornamental element/elements is guided the inner sleeve representing the counterpart to the outer sleeve, such that the spherical portions are disposed in an exactly pre-determined position in relation to one another and fixed there. The inner sleeve isxe2x80x94preferably at least at its two free endsxe2x80x94connected to the outer sleeve so as to be secure against axial displacementxe2x80x94preferably with the two end faces of the outer sleeve (portions) ending at the pearl spherical surface (of the two calorie shells).
The advantage of the natural or artificial pearl according to the invention consists in the fact that the ornamental element is integrated without a mount into the pearl or its surface, and mother-of-pearl and ornamental element material, for example precious stone, lie directly beside one another practically seamlesslyxe2x80x94just as if this combination had grown in a natural manner.
A variant of this decorated natural or artificial pearl having apparently seamlessly integrated ornamental elements without any visible mount is characterized in that in at least one spherical portion at least one window-like hole, i.e. a so-called xe2x80x9cwindow openingxe2x80x9d is formed in which an inlay in the shape of a pyramid or cone is disposed, the horizontal projection of which corresponds to that of the window opening and the thicker pyramid or cone base end faces the pearl interior and is supported on the pearl seed located there.
Through the pyramid or cone shape of the relevant inlay and its positioning with the thicker pyramid or cone base in the pearl interior, the optical impression is created that the pearl has inclusions which continue into the interior of the pearl or even make up the whole pearl seed.
The subject matter of the present invention. is furthermore a method of manufacturing a decorated or artificial pearl which comprises the following steps:
the natural or artificial pearl is provided with an incision,
a depression is introduced into the natural or artificial pearl, the depression produced being located on the base or the wall of the pearl incision,
the ornamental element is fitted into the incision,
the ornamental element is secured in the pearl incision, the depression serving to anchor an anchoring means which is secured to the ornamental element,
the ornamental element is ground following the pearl surface or adapted in some other way known to the expert to follow the pearl surface, the surface of the ornamental element being integrated into the surface of the pearl.
By preference the natural or artificial pearl is first cut into and then the depression is applied to the base or the wall of the pearl incision. The depression can for example be introduced by boring or milling. The incision is preferably made with a cutting wheel, for example with a cutting wheel set with diamonds. If necessary, the incision can be further processed, for example with a diamond file. What is important is that the edges of the incision remain as smooth as possible. The angle of the pearl incision is preferably between 90 and 60xc2x0. The recess which is produced by the pearl incision can assume various shapes. It can be in the shape of a wedge, cone or tetrahedron, the tip of the wedge, cone or tetrahedron in each case pointing towards the pearl seed; it is also possible for these tips to point towards the pearl centre. The recess can be flat or deep. The depression produced can be for example a groove or a tubular blind hole which can be recessed further if necessary. However it is not limited to the embodiments mentioned; rather, the depression can assume any of the shapes known to the expert in order to be able to accommodate corresponding anchoring means. In a preferred embodiment the depression is a blind hole which is produced by a bore. In a particularly preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, instead of working step c), a stone mount is fitted exactly into the pearl incision such that the anchoring means which is secured both to the stone mount and to the ornamental element is fitted into the depression or into the bore and then the ornamental element is fitted into the mount. In this variant of the method, in which the ornamental element with the mount is introduced into the pearl, in method step d) the ornamental element in the stone mount is secured in the pearl incision, the depression or the bore serving to anchor an anchoring means which is secured to the ornamental element and the stone mount. The ornamental element with or without mount can, in addition to being secured by the anchoring means, also be secured by adhesive, e.g. cement, to the pearl. The pearl incision is preferably almost completely filled by the ornamental element with or without the mount. The ornamental element is now adapted to follow the pearl surface, for example by grinding. If the ornamental element sits in a mount and the mount has not yet been adapted to the surface, the ornamental element can be ground together with the mount in one working step to follow the pearl surface. This working step requires extraordinary care since the sensitive surface of the pearl must not be damaged. In a particularly preferred embodiment of the method, one or more locking bores are applied to the stone mount and the ornamental element to accommodate a portion of the anchoring means, the locking bores in the ornamental element and in the mount matching one another exactly and another portion of the anchoring means being anchored in the depression or in the bore of the pearl incision.
Particularly preferred according to the method according to the invention is the use of an anchoring pin as the anchoring means. It is particularly advantageous if the anchoring means grips through the locking holes of the stone mount into the locking holes of the ornamental element like a clasp. The locking of the stone is effected when stone, stone mount and anchoring means are secured in the pearl. Furthermore it is advantageous if the anchoring pin when inserted also exerts pressure on the depression or on the bore of the pearl incision, which serves to anchor the stone and stone mount in the pearl incision.
Variants of the method described above are also the subject matter of the present invention. For example the ornamental element can be secured in the pearl incision by more than one anchoring means. Correspondingly, proceeding from the pearl -incision a plurality of depressions can be provided in which anchoring means are anchored. Furthermore a plurality of gemstones with or without a mount can be incorporated in one pearl. These ornamental elements can be connected to one another by securing or anchoring, or can also be secured independently of one another in the respective pearl incision or the recess. Different ornamental elements can be introduced in a sub-divided mount into a pearl incision.
The subject matter of the present invention is furthermore an anchoring pin for anchoring gemstones in pearl incisions. The pin is configured by means of a resilient mechanism as a clip, stopper or locking device in order to hold the ornamental element and/or stone mount, pressure being exerted on the anchoring depression or on the anchoring bore after the pin has been inserted with the ornamental element and/or stone mount into the pearl incision. The anchoring pin is preferably so constructed that when it is inserted into the anchoring depression it is clamped, squeezed, pressed, blocked. As a further variant it is possible for the anchoring pin to be glued or cemented in addition during this process. The pin can alternatively also be soldered securely to the mount. In the latter case the upper part of the pin does not necessarily act as a clasp which grips in the locking holes of the stone or of the mount, the stone is then held in the mount by other means. For example an additional small pin can grip through the mount into the locking bores. However other means known to the expert can also be used to hold the stone in the mount.
In particular through the construction of the pin it is guaranteed that the anchoring of the ornamental element is locally separated from the actual pearl incision. This means, even if the pearl incision itself is relatively flat, the anchoring portion of the pin preferably extends into the vicinity of the seed or by particular preference into the seed of the pearl. With incisions which extend very deep on or even into the pearl seed, the spacing between the portion which holds the stone and the portion which guarantees the anchoring of the gemstone in the pearl is naturally reduced.
The use of the anchoring pin according to the invention is not limited to the manufacture of the pearl according to the invention but is also advantageous in the anchoring of mounts or stones in blind holes. The previously used anchoring means for stones in pearls do not have any local separation between the place at which the ornamental element itself is applied to the pearl and the place in which the ornamental element is anchored.
A possible embodiment of the anchoring pin according to the invention is shown in FIG. 28. The pin shown has along the longitudinal axis of the pin a cut which is smaller than the longitudinal axis of the pin. A portion of the pin is configured as a type of clasp in order to hold the ornamental element and/or stone mount, and after the pin has been inserted with the ornamental element and/or stone mount into the pearl incision, pressure is exerted on the anchoring depression. The subject matter of the invention is also the use of the above-described anchoring pin to anchor gemstones in pearls.
Naturally the ornamental element can also be anchored with other means known to the expert.
After the pearl incision has been cut, it can be enlarged and thus the pearl recessed more. Thus in a variant of the decorated natural or artificial pearl according to the invention, the original pearl seed can be partially or completely removed. In addition to the pearl incision originally applied, at least one window-like hole, a so-called xe2x80x9cwindow openingxe2x80x9d is applied. Into this window opening is inserted a pyramid- or cone-shaped inlay, the horizontal projection of which corresponds to that of the window aperture, in such a way that the thicker pyramid or cone base end points towards the pearl interior. Then the pearl seed is restored or a new pearl seed (in the place of the old one) inserted into the pearl. This new seed is preferably provided with a through-bore for the inner sleeve. The outer shape and dimensions of the renewed seed is preferably to be chosen in such a way that the pyramid or cone base of each inlay can rest thereon and the inlay fits securely self-locking in the relevant window opening.
The object of the invention is furthermore accomplished also with a further variant of the method for decorating pearls, which is characterized by the following measures:
first of all a pearl is provided with a through-bore and an outer sleeve is inserted into this through-bore which represents the functional counterpart of an inner sleeve, specifically in such a way that inner sleeve and outer sleeve can be positioned secure against twisting in relation to one another via means which are formed between inner sleeve outer wall and outer sleeve inner wall, i.e. can be pushed or guided into one another only in one orientation in respect of one another. Then the pearl is divided, perpendicular to the through-bore and the outer sleeve guided therein, into two or more spherical portions with an outer sleeve portion lying therein. Between respectively two originally adjacent spherical portions is positioned respectively at least one disc-shaped ornamental element which is provided perpendicular to its disc surface and preferably centrally with a through-bore, specifically in such a way that the through-bore of each disc-shaped ornamental element is flush with the through-bores or the outer sleeve portions of the spherical portions lying therein and forms a tubular channel. Then a or the inner sleeve, which represents the functional counterpart to the outer sleeve (portions) guided in the through-bores of the spherical portions, is introduced into this tubular channel, the individual spherical portionsxe2x80x94as a result of the positioning of the inner sleeve in relation to the outer sleeve secure against twistingxe2x80x94assuming their original natural spatial orientation to one another again. In order to fix the spherical portions and the disc-shaped ornamental elements also secure against axial displacement, inner sleeve and outer sleeve are connected to one another. Here a method variant is preferred in which the inner sleeve is connected at its two free ends with the end faces of the outer sleeve (portions) ending on the pearl spherical surface (of the two calorie shells)xe2x80x94in the case of metal sleeves, for example, riveted.
A variant of this method which is particularly suitable for manufacturing a decorated pearl which has unmounted window- and belt-shaped inlays, is characterized in that in at least one of the spherical portions, the original pearl seed is completely or partially removed and thus a spherical half shell is formed. Then at least one window-like hole, a so-called xe2x80x9cwindow openingxe2x80x9d is incorporated in this spherical half shell. Into this window opening is inserted a pyramid- or cone-shaped inlay, the horizontal projection of which corresponds to that of the window opening, in such a way that the thicker pyramid or cone base end points towards the pearl interior. Then the pearl seed is restored or a new seed is inserted (in the place of the old one) into the spherical half shell(s) and provided with a through-bore for the inner sleeve. The outer shape and dimensions of the renewed seed is to be selected such that the pyramid or cone base of each inlay can be supported thereon and the inlay sits securely self-locking in the respective window opening.

Decorated pearl with integrated ornamental element


Examples relate to distributed detection of malicious cloud actors. In some examples, outgoing cloud packets from the cloud server are intercepted and processed to determine if a preliminary threshold is exceeded, where the outgoing cloud packets are used to identify a customer. At this stage, a potential outgoing intrusion event of a number of potential outgoing intrusion events is generated when the preliminary threshold is exceeded. The potential outgoing intrusions events are used to update an aggregate log, where the aggregate log tracks a customer subset of the cloud servers that is associated with the customer. In response to analyzing the aggregate log to determine that cloud traffic by the customer to the destination address exceeds an intrusion threshold, a notification of malicious activity by the customer is provided, wherein the intrusion threshold is satisfied at a higher cloud activity level than the preliminary threshold.

Modern server computing devices are commonly subject to malicious attacks such as denial of service (DOS) attacks, attacks to gain unauthorized access to content, etc. For example, malicious attacks can be performed by worms that are covertly installed on user computing devices. In other cases, proxies or other obfuscation methods can be used to conceal the source of the malicious attacks. Malicious attacks are typically detected by monitoring the incoming traffic of a server to proactively detect abnormalities and then block the malicious sources.

Distributed detection of malicious cloud actors

Stoke Gifford Bristol South Gloucestershire


A system for removably attaching a decorative element to a garment or other accessory, including a panel bearing a graphic design, and a pair of mounting pads to which the panel can be attached. First and second pin members are disposed at opposing edges of the panel, each pin member having a pin extending for a length parallel to that edge. The mounting pads are attachable to a garment or accessory item. Each mounting pad has a longitudinal tunnel suitable to accommodate one of the pins. The mounting pads may be attached on the outside of an article, or on the interior of an article so that only the tunnel is exposed at the exterior of the article, in a recessed manner. The system allows a decorative panel to be interchangeably facilitates their attachment to a wide range of apparel and accessory items.

This invention is in the field of decorative and ornamental items to be worn on clothes or displayed on accessories. Embodiments of the invention are more specifically directed to interchangeable items, such as are suitable for affiliation, affinity, or artistic expression by the wearer.
As evident in modern society, many people, including children and adults, enjoy wearing clothes, hats, shoes, and other garments or apparel that bear logos or graphics of athletic teams, schools, celebrities, fictional characters, brands of goods (e.g., automobiles), and other items or institutions with which the wearer has some affinity. These logos and graphics also appear on items other than apparel, such as backpacks, golf bags and other types of bags and luggage, chairs and seat cushions, and countless others. Typically, these logos and graphics are printed or sewn directly onto the item, permanently marking the item in that fashion. To display a different logo or graphic, the customer is thus required to purchase a new item.
It has also been observed, in connection with this invention, that children also enjoy the collecting and trading of various items. In particular, it has been observed that this enjoyment is particularly acute for similar items of differing appearance, especially different graphics. Such items as trading cards, action figures, come to mind as examples of collected and traded items among children. In addition, children also enjoy displaying their affinity with sports teams, entertainers, cartoon characters, and their schools. Of course, the cost of acquiring each new garment or item that is introduced with a different logo or graphic of interest to a child can quickly mount up, especially when coupled with the rate at which children of a certain age outgrow their clothes.
Garments and other items that bear a graphics or logo typically carry a price premium relative to similar items that do not display the graphics or logo, if for no other reason than the additional licensing fee to be paid by the manufacturer.

Interchangeable decorative panel system for shoes, apparel, and accessories


Utilizing the techniques disclosed herein, sensor data inaccuracies may be corrected such that calculated fill levels more accurately reflect the actual fill level of the item within an automatic replenishment device (ARD). For example, the ARD may include a sensor configured to collect the sensor data (e.g., a distance between the sensor and an item contained within the ARD). Sensor data associated with an item within the ARD may be received. A measurement offset value specific to the item may be identified. An estimated fill level of the item within the ARD may be calculated based at least in part on the distance measured between the sensor and the item and the measurement offset value specific to the item.

Online retailers as well as brick and mortar retailers offer subscription services that deliver items to customers on a periodic basis. However, services such as subscriptions can deliver items even when the customer has not fully consumed previously-delivered items resulting in a build-up of the item at the customer's home or workplace. Conventional static subscription and delivery services fail to account for varied consumption of the item by the customer. For example, current replenishment techniques may utilize a static frequency at which an item is to be provided regardless of the rate of consumption actually realized by the customer. Although the user may modify the static frequency, subscription service typically require the customer to take proactive action to modify a subscription and/or place a reorder for an item. Conventionally, as a customer depletes a supply of an item, or nearly depletes the supply, the customer may place a new order for more supply of the product by interacting with a website associated with an online marketplace and/or utilizing a mobile application associated with an entity that facilitates the order/purchase of the product. Thus, conventional techniques for item replenishment include inefficiencies and inaccuracies which make accurate item replenishment difficult.

Test-enabled measurements for a sensor-based device


The present disclosure provides a secondary battery, which comprises an electrode assembly, a pouch, an electrode lead and an insulating tape. The electrode assembly is received in the pouch, the electrode lead is connected with the electrode assembly and extends to the outside of the pouch in a length direction. The electrode assembly comprises electrode plates and a separator, the separator separates the electrode plates. An outer surface of the electrode assembly comprises a first surface and a second surface, an area of the second surface is smaller than an area of the first surface. The first surface is provided as two in number, and the two first surfaces face each other in a thickness direction; the second surface is provided as two in number, and the two second surfaces face each other in a width direction, each second surface connects two first surfaces. At least a part of the insulating tape is provided on the second surface; in the length direction, at least one end of the insulating tape exceeds the electrode plate.

With the rapid development of portable electronic equipment, the requirement on the energy density of the battery is higher and higher. In a secondary battery, it may use a pouch made of an aluminum-plastic film or a steel-plastic film instead of a metal case, so as to reduce the weight of the battery and improve the energy density.
The pouch generally forms a cavity by stamping to receive an electrode assembly of the secondary battery. However, when stamping, the pouch will be stretched to a larger extent at a corner region, which leads to the corner region thinner. After the secondary battery is packaged, the pouch is kept in a low negative pressure state inside, a distance between the corner region of the pouch and the electrode assembly is small, so the corner region is easy to be pierced by an end portion of an electrode plate of the electrode assembly, thereby influencing the sealing performance of the pouch.

JIANGSU CONTEMPORARY AMPEREX TECHNOLOGY LIMITED


A method and icing effects mitigation system are provided. The icing effects mitigation system includes a fluid duct configured to channel a first flow of fluid through the fluid duct from a duct opening to a rotatable member at least partially positioned within the fluid duct. The rotatable member includes a radially inner rotatable portion and a radially outer rotatable portion. The icing effects mitigation system also includes a duct member extending through the fluid duct in a direction approximately orthogonal to a direction of the first flow of fluid. The duct member is configured to channel a second flow of a second fluid therethrough that causes ice accreted on the duct member to shed on a trajectory that impacts the rotatable member at the radially inner portion.

This description relates to gas turbine engines, and, more particularly, to a method and a system for mitigating the effects of gas turbine engine icing.
At least some known commercial turbofan engines bleed air from an inner flow path aft of the fan outlet guide vanes (OGVs) and upstream from the booster or low pressure compressor to supply loads, such as, an active clearance control (ACC) system. More specifically, a bleed scoop in the stator assembly outer band channels the extracted air to a bleed plenum for the clearance control system. However, the effectiveness of the clearance control system may be reduced because of the long-duct-mixed-flow architecture and because the pressure of the extracted air drops as it passes through the bleed scoop, the flow path from the OGVs of some engines does not have a pressure that is high enough to satisfy requirements of the active clearance control (ACC) system. In some known engines, the bleed off-take was moved to a higher pressure location downstream of the booster or low pressure compressor to improve the low pressure condition, however the solution may introduce a potential for ice to accrete on the bleed scoop. An improved ice tolerant bleed takeoff is desired.

Method and system for ice tolerant bleed takeoff


A wireless telecommunications system is disclosed that is capable of providing both public wireless service and virtual private network service on existing IS-95 CDMA facilities without changes to the air interface, the hardware design or the protocols for interacting with home location registers. An illustrative embodiment of the present invention comprises: broadcasting from a radio a first SID/NID signal and a FOR.sub.-- NID.sub.-- REG signal to a wireless terminal, wherein the first SID/NID signal is associated with a first set of user zones; receiving from the wireless terminal: (1) a indicium of the wireless terminal's identity, and (2) a request to register the wireless terminal based on a second SID/NID signal, wherein the second SID/NID signal is associated with a second set of user zones; transmitting the indicium of the wireless terminal's identity to a database; receiving from the database a prioritized list of user zones based on the indicium of the wireless terminal's identity; transmitting to the home location register a pseudo directory number that is based on a first user zone, which first user zone is the user zone that has the highest priority in the prioritized list of user zones and that is also a member of the second set of user zones; and receiving from the database a feature set based on the pseudo directory number.

As public wireless telecommunications service based on CDMA becomes available, wireless service providers are increasingly interested in offering private wireless network service to select customers. To do this, the wireless service providers have two apparent options: (1) install a separate wireless network to service each private network, or (2) change the existing air interface standards to support both public and private networks and make the concomitant hardware modifications to support the changes in the air interface. Both options are considered undesirable because of the huge expense associated with implementing either option.
Furthermore, the establishment of virtual private networks requires the capability to query various home location registers for information regarding what feature sets should be afforded to the users of those private networks. Unfortunately, neither the home location registers nor the protocols used for querying them are designed to provide that capability, and the cost of retrofitting them for that purpose is generally considered prohibitive.

Method for assigning feature sets on virtual private telecommunications networks


An interlocked roll type apparatus comprises: a first spool, two first flanges, a second spool, and two second flanges. The first flange has a first surface, a second surface, and a first periphery surface. The first surface has a first round protruding part. The first periphery surface has at least a first arc part, and the first arc part has a first arc protruding part protruding from the first surface. The second flange has a third surface, a fourth surface, and a second periphery surface. The second periphery surface has at least a second arc part having a second arc protruding part protruding from the third surface. The second arc part and the second arc protruding part are fastened with the first round protruding part of the first flange. The fourth surface has a second arc trench part for fastened with the first arc protruding part of the first flange.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an interlocked roll type apparatus, and more particularly, to an interlocked roll type apparatus which can be applied to a non-cassette package of ribbon of thermal dye-sublimation photo printer, and has advantages of low cost, small volume, convenient to carry, and capable of avoiding rolling.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, there are two kinds of packages for ribbon of thermal dye-sublimation photo printer: cassette package and non-cassette package. The cassette package has a larger volume and higher cost. However, conventional non-cassette package has disadvantages of hard to fasten the ribbon and not able to avoid ribbon loaded spool from rolling.


A motor-vehicle door has an outer door panel, an annular inner door panel including a front frame member fixed to the outer door panel, a lower frame member fixed to the outer door panel, a separate upper frame member, and a rear frame member fixed to the outer door panel. The front, lower, and rear members together form an opening and the front frame member is formed with a pair of vertically spaced hinge holes each having a horizontal front part and a downwardly and rearwardly inclined rear part. An insert plate carries the upper frame member, fits in the opening, and is provided with hinge lugs engaged in the openings. The insert plate is pivotal about the lugs in the hinge holes between a raised position projecting inward from the door and a lowered position fitting in the opening. Mechanical, electromechanical, and electronic subassemblies are fixed on the insert plate, and fasteners retain the insert plate on the inner door panel in the lowered position of the plate.

A standard motor-vehicle door has an outer door panel, an annular inner door panel including a front, rear, upper, and lower frame members fixed to the outer door panel and defining an opening. An insert fits in the opening and carries mechanical, electromechanical, and electronic subassemblies. Fasteners retain the insert on the inner door panel. The subassemblies can include the door latch, an air bag, a controller, the inside door handle, the window and its operating mechanism, and one or more loudspeakers.
It is standard to use a so called window cassette as the insert. This is therefore a fairly complex assembly that must be meticulously fitted and secured to the inner door panel. This job is particularly complex because the window part must be fitted up through the slot formed between the upper frame member of the inner panel and the outer panel.
German patent 4,426,426 of Morando described a system where the window and its mounting hardware are pivotally mounted on the insert. Such an arrangement facilitates assembly, but substantially increases the cost of the window cassette.
In another system described in German patent document 195 24 232 of Rodermund the insert is fitted in the annular inner door panel, normally slipped up from below. The door latch is subsequently passed through a hole in the insert and special seals and the like are provided to subdivide the interior of the door into an outer so-called wet compartment into which water may gain entry along the lower edge of the window and an inner dry compartment holding the fragile and moisture-sensitive electrical and mechanical components. Assembling such a door is a multistep operation involving fitting in the insert, securing it in place, then mounting the latch and seals and securing them in place.


Techniques are provided for coordinating the delivery of cardioversion therapy and overdrive pacing therapy to the heart of a patient, primarily to prevent the re-occurrence of atrial fibrillation (AF) following a cardioversion shock. Included are techniques for modulating the aggressiveness of overdrive pacing by adjusting the magnitude of overdrive pulses or by changing the electrodes with which overdrive pacing pulses are generated. In one example, three phases or “tiers” of AF suppression therapy are provided: cardioversion therapy; far-field dynamic atrial overdrive (DAO) pacing; and near-field DAO pacing. Briefly, a cardioversion shock is delivered to the heart of the patient in response to the detection of AF, then smoothed, far-field overdrive pacing pulses are delivered using widely-spaced electrodes for a period of two minutes while the magnitude of the pulses is gradually reduced. Finally, near-field overdrive pacing pulses are delivered more or les continuously until another episode of AF is detected.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a type of tachycardia wherein the atria of the heart beats chaotically, thus interfering with efficient cardiac function. Although not fatal, AF can trigger ventricular fibrillation (VF), wherein the ventricles beat chaotically such that there is little or no net flow of blood from the heart to the brain and other organs. VF, if not terminated, is fatal. Hence, it is highly desirable to prevent or terminate AF and VF.
One technique for preventing AF or VF using a pacemaker is to pace chambers of the heart at a rate somewhat faster than the intrinsic heart rate of the patient using a technique referred to as overdrive pacing. Overdrive pacing may be applied to the atria or the ventricles. A particularly effective overdrive pacing technique for the atria, referred to herein as dynamic atrial overdrive (DAO) pacing, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,519,493 of Florio et al., entitled "Methods And Apparatus For Overdrive Pacing Heart Tissue Using An Implantable Cardiac Stimulation Device", issued Feb. 11, 2003. With DAO, the overdrive pacing rate is controlled to remain generally uniform and, in the absence of a tachycardia, is adjusted upwardly or downwardly only occasionally. The aggressiveness of overdrive pacing may be modulated by adjusting the overdrive pacing rate and related control parameters. See: U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 10/093,225 and 10/092,695, both of Florio et al., entitled "Method And Apparatus For Using A Rest Mode Indicator To Automatically Adjust Control Parameters Of An Implantable Cardiac Stimulation Device", and both filed Mar. 6, 2002; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/043,781, also of Florio et al., entitled "Method And Apparatus For Dynamically Adjusting A Non-Linear Overdrive Pacing Response Function", filed Jan. 9, 2002; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/043,472, of Falkenberg et al., entitled "Method And Apparatus For Dynamically Adjusting Overdrive Pacing Parameters", filed Jan. 9, 2002. Capture of overdrive pulses may be verified as set forth in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/138,438, of Bradley et al., entitled "Method And Apparatus For Providing Atrial AutoCapture In A Dynamic Atrial Overdrive Pacing System For Use In An Implantable Cardiac Stimulation Device", filed May 2, 2002. Each of the aforementioned patent applications is incorporated herein in their entirety.
It is believed that DAO and DVO are effective for at least some patients for preventing AF and VF for the following reasons. A normal, healthy heart beats only in response to electrical pulses generated from a portion of the heart referred to as the sinus node. The sinus node pulses are conducted to the various atria and ventricles of the heart via certain, normal conduction pathways. In some patients, however, additional portions of the heart also generate electrical pulses referred to as "ectopic" pulses. Each pulse, whether a sinus node pulse or an ectopic pulse has a refractory period subsequent thereto during which time the heart tissue is not responsive to any electrical pulses. A combination of sinus pulses and ectopic pulses can result in a dispersion of the refractory periods, which, in turn, can trigger a tachycardia such as fibrillation. By overdrive pacing the heart at a generally uniform rate slightly above the intrinsic rate, the likelihood of the occurrence of ectopic pulses is reduced, the refractory periods within the heart tissue are rendered more uniform and periodic and the heart is thereby resynchronized. Hence, the dispersion of refractory periods is reduced and the risk of AF or VF is reduced.
Thus, overdrive pacing, particularly DAO and DVO, provides a useful technique for helping to prevent the onset of a tachycardia such as fibrillation. As noted, the aggressiveness of overdrive pacing may be adjusted by modulating the overdrive pacing rate and related control parameters. Circumstances may arise, however, where it is desirable to modulate the aggressiveness of overdrive pacing by instead adjusting the magnitude of the overdrive pulses or by changing the electrodes with which the pacing pulses are delivered to the heart. For example, there may be a need to ensure that the overdrive pulses are captured in a larger portion of heart tissue so as to achieve enhanced resynchronization. Aspects of the invention are directed to this end. In particular, it would be desirable to provide at least two "tiers" of overdrive pacing therapy, employing different pulse magnitudes and different electrode combinations, to thereby allow the scope of pulse capture to be controlled.
Whereas overdrive pacing is primarily directed to preventing tachycardias such as AF from arising, cardioversion is employed to terminate AF once it has occurred. Patients prone to AF may have an ICD implanted therein that is capable of detecting AF and automatically administering one or more cardioversion shocks in an effort to revert the atria to a normal sinus rhythm. Typically, the ICD administers about two joules of energy directly to the atria in each cardioversion shock. Cardioversion techniques are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,445,949 to Kroll, entitled "Implantable Cardioversion Device with a Self-Adjusting Threshold for Therapy Selection", which is incorporated by reference herein.
Although cardioversion is effective in terminating AF, in many cases fibrillation soon returns, requiring another round of shocks. Repeated shocks are quite painful and can deplete battery resources of the implanted device. One reason cardioversion shocks are painful is that the patient is typically conscious and alert at the time the shock is administered. This is in contrast with much stronger defibrillation shocks provided for terminating VF, which are typically not administered until the patient has lost consciousness. Because AF is not usually immediately life threatening, painful shocks for its treatment may be perceived by patients as worse than the disease itself and therefore not tolerated. Indeed, anxiety arising in a patient from the fear of receiving multiple, painful cardioversion shocks may be sufficient to raise the heart rate sufficiently to trigger such shocks.
As some patients have hundreds of AF episodes annually, it would be highly desirable to provide techniques for preventing the re-occurrence of AF following a cardioversion shock so as to reduce the need for multiple, repeated cardioversion shocks. It is to this end that other aspects of the invention are directed. In particular, it would be desirable to provide techniques for coordinating the delivery of cardioversion therapy and overdrive pacing therapy so as to prevent the re-occurrence of AF following a cardioversion shock.

System and method for providing cardioversion therapy and overdrive pacing using an implantable cardiac stimulation device


A method of method of allocating a protection duration of a radio subsystem for a transmitting station of a wireless communication system includes transmitting a frame to at least one receiving station of the wireless communication system, wherein the proprietary frame indicates the protection duration allocated for the radio subsystem.

In a wireless communication system complying with IEEE 802.11 standards, network allocation vector (NAV) is a timer mechanism that maintains a prediction of future traffics on a medium of the wireless communication system based on duration value information seen in previous frame transmission. The NAV may be thought of as a counter, which counts down to zero at a uniform rate. When the counter is nonzero, a station (STA) of the wireless communication system shall not access the medium because indication is busy.
Under coexistence scenario, e.g., in a wireless communication system capable of operating another radio subsystem (e.g., Bluetooth) than a current radio system (e.g., WIFI), a transmitting STA may send a frame with NAV protection to stop transmission from other STAs of interest (e.g., stations belong to a same basic service set (BSS), which is also known as intra-BSS STAs) when it is determined to yield a short time usage for another radio subsystem.
By this manner, it is more efficient than power saving mechanism to stop transmission from intra-BSS STAs as for a short time protection. However, it would cause reduction of channel utilization because any STAs including STAs not of interests (e.g., stations belong to another BSS, which is also known as inter-BSS STAs) that have listened to the frame with NAV protection shall update their NAV and stop transmission within another BSS.

Method of allocating protection duration of radio subsystem to intra-BSS stations using frames with network allocation vector