Two-layered or three-layered polymer tubing for use as a pressurized fluid conduit in automobiles can be either walled or have walls continuously or partially corrugated. The tubing has an outer layer of a hard polymer molding material and an inner layer of a soft rubber-like polymer or a polymer mixture. The inner layer can be provided on the innerside with a layer of a thermoplastic adhesion-modified elastomer composition. The a materials are selected for the layers to provide a so-called “hard-soft-combination”. The rubber-like polymer composition has a hardness in the range of 30 Shore A to 60 Shore D, especially of about 30 Shore A to 90 Shore A, the compositions being selected so that they are processable by coextrusion or the so-called conex method and adhere directly to each other non-positively or positively fitted, i. e. without additional bonding agent, without delaminating.

Air ducts and liquid conduits, such as for example cooling liquid conduits, are still commonly fabricated from textile-armored rubber pipes and rubber hoses. Pipes and hoses of thermoplastics present in contrast thereto a significant reduction of costs and weight and additionally possess an improved recycling potential. However, comparable flexural flexibility such as achieved with rubber pipes is required for the thermoplastic pipes in this material substitution.
Especially, the higher material stiffness of the relevant thermoplastics can be compensated by providing the pipe with a corrugated structure. This geometry, which is known simply as corrugated pipe, exists in different embodiments. But the flexural flexibility achieved in this way deteriorates the tensile stiffness, i.e. a higher extension of the pipe has to be accepted for a tensile load.
From DE 44 32 584 C1 (Ems-Inventa AG), there is known a corrugated pipe, wherein the corrugations extend over all radial sectors in the longitudinal direction. EP 0 671 582 A1, DE 43 21 575 C1 as well as GB 12 09 569 describe further known corrugated pipes. These known constructions have external contours which ensure a corrugated line in all radial sectors on the pipe surface area.
A corrugated pipe which has corrugations formed in zones facing each other and being otherwise free of corrugations is known from GB 12 20 975.
In contrast thereto, EP 863 351 B1 (Ems-Inventa AG) describes a pressurizable one-lumic corrugated pipe having a high flexural flexibility and high bursting pressure strength, which does not require additional reinforcing means and has a low extension in pressurizing. The external contours of the corrugated pipe described in EP 863 351 B1 are formed so that, in two zones on the pipe surface area approximately facing each other, a corrugation of the pipe can be abandoned completely. The zones free of corrugation are continuous in the longitudinal direction and can have in principle the shape of any curve. Preferably, they are arranged continuously straight, helically or sectionally straight in varying angular positions. However, the geometry described in EP 863 351 B1 is very costly to produce; and thus great quantities of corrugated pipes are today still produced with a conventional, symmetric, circular corrugated pipe profile.
The production of the aforementioned polymer hose lines or tubings is performed by coextrusion of a polymer pipe or by the so-called conex method, and then formation of the corrugations by blow or vacuum molding. Alternatively, these conduits can be produced by coextrusion blow molding. In principle, such production takes place as a continuous hollow body blow molding. The cylindrical portion of the pipe die extends into the closed region of a circulating molding chain. The plastic hose is pressed by inner overpressure or by a vacuum to the profiled circulating molding followers so that the desired corrugated pipe profile is achieved. By the further passage up to the opening of the mold closure, the plastic hose has to be cooled down sufficiently so that it leaves the circulating mold followers in a dimensionally stable state. For example, EP 368 096 A1 (Lupke) describes a device for producing plastic pipes having spirally corrugated sections.
EP 754 898 B1 (Ems-Inventa AG) describes an uncorrugated three-layer flexible cooling liquid conduit having high hydrolysis and burst pressure resistance, which consists of an outer layer of polyamide 12, hereinafter sometimes PA12, an inner layer of cross-linked HDPE and an intermediate layer of grafted maleic anhydride HDPE. Such intermediate layer serves exclusively for the purposes of coupling so that no delamination of the layers occurs. Of course, the need for such intermediate layer make the production of this three-layer tubing more expensive.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,191,916-A describes pipes having a spiral geometry, the helixes of which are reinforced with metal insertions. This reinforcement is necessary for freely laid subterranean tubings to provide strength against high outer and inner pressures. However, the production of such pipes is very costly and thus the resultant pipes are very expensive.
WO 97/39270 (Valeo) describes a multilayer plastic conduit for fluids having a polyamide outer layer, an inner layer of polyethylene and an intermediate bonding layer to prevent delamination. The conduit described in WO 97/39270 has a continuously corrugated wall more particularly a spirally corrugated wall. As a result, the screws or helixes on the outside of the pipe are broader than those on the inside. Further, the screws or helixes on the outside are flattened.
EP 486 962 A1 describes a corrugated pipe having spiral geometry which is provided at the ends on the outside with threads and which extends conically on the inside towards the ends. Therefore, the subject matter of the EP 486 962 is a flexible sleeve for use in the field of protective coverings for cables to ensure the pushing-through of cables in a better way.
EP 574 449 A1 describes a corrugated pipe having corrugations in the longitudinal and the transversal directions to the pipe axis, wherein the latter can also extend spirally. A special feature of the EP 574 449 A1 is that the thickness of the corrugated wall on the inside, i.e. on the inner bend, is reduced. A narrower bending radius is thus achieved at mild material stressing, wherein stiffness and compression resistance are maintained. However, this construction does not solve the problem endemic among plastic pipes of elongating when hot, i.e. the problems to reduce the extension in the hot state is not solved by this construction.
EP 671 582 B1 (Ems-Inventa AG) describes cooling liquid conduits of several polymer layers having polymers which are compatible with one another on the contact surfaces of the layers, wherein single adjacent corrugations of a corrugated section are connected to each other by at least one rib on the inner contour of the corrugations, and the webs are formed by a bead-like deformation of the pipe wall, and wherein successive webs are displaced continuously in the longitudinal direction of the conduit about a defined angle, and the webs are oriented parallel to the longitudinal axis of the conduit. Also, this construction does not solve the problem to reduce the extension in hot state.
DE 43 21 575 C1 (Rasmussen) describes a corrugated pipe of thermoplastic or a thermoplastic elastomer, wherein the corrugations are formed eccentrically in such a way that the inside of the wall portion is free of corrugations and it has at each site a circular cylindrical cross-section. In this manner liquids are said to be prevented from accumulating in the corrugated pipe in bottom portions of the depressions. This construction is very expensive to produce; and also it does not solve the problem of extension in the hot state.
DE 44 28 236 C1 (Rasmussen) describes a three-layer corrugated pipe which is intended for use as cooling liquid hose in automobiles. The inner layer of the multi-layer tubing according to DE 44 28 236 C1 consists of a plastic layer comprising a modified thermoplastic elastomer having a fully cross-linked rubber phase. A layer of polyamide and a further layer of a thermoplastic elastomer connect thereto, which comprises a copolymer of a functionalized polyolefin as main component and a polyamide as a compatibilizing agent. However, no details are given in relation to the selection of the polyamide material and those skilled in the art know that no tightly connection is present depending on the selection of the polyamide material, because incompatibilities occur, for example for polyamide 6 with polyamide 12; therefore, enablement is lacking. Also, the pipes described in DE 44 28 336 C1 do not solve the problem of reducing extension in the hot state.
FR 28 02 274 (Nobel Plastiques) describes a cooling liquid conduit for the field of automobiles which is formed by a layer of thermoplastic elastomer material and a thermoplastic layer of a blend of polyamide and polypropylene. Additionally, an outer protective layer of impact-resistant modified polyamide which encloses the layer of the polyamide-polypropylene blend is provided. The protective layer consists of impact-resistant modified polyamide.

Multilayer polymer hose line or tubing having reduced length variations


An intravenous securing device and secondary wound dressing for holding intravenous needle tubing and catheter tubing in place in a variety of anatomic locations on the human body. The securing device and secondary wound dressing is used without the need of adhesives. The intravenous securing device and secondary wound dressing consists of an elongated bi-directional wrap stretchable in opposite directions along a length of the wrap. The wrap includes a window opening therethrough which is sufficient in size to allow for visual inspection of the skin entry site of a needle or a catheter without having to remove the wrap. The wrap is washable and reusable. The bi-directional wrap is adaptable for conforming to various parts of the anatomy of a patient and includes releasable hook fasteners at one end of the wrap for securing the wrap around an arm, a hand, a chest, a neck and other parts of the anatomy. The wrap also includes a pair of parallel strips of hook and loop fasteners disposed on opposite sides of the window opening. Intravenous tubing, which is connected to the needle or catheter, is placed between the two parallel strips. When the openings of the two strips are opposed to each other, the strips trap the tubing therebetween for securing the tubing in place without the use of adhesives. By separating the hook and loop fastener parallel strips, the tubing is released.

(a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to wound dressing wraps and intravenous needle and catheter holding devices and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to an intravenous securing device for holding an intravenous needle or catheter tubing in place in a variety of anatomic locations.
(b) Discussion of Prior Art
An intravenous catheter or needle is often a life-saving device, and its maintenance is carefully protected since loss of the access to the patient's circulatory system will interrupt necessary nutrition, fluids, medications, cancer fighting substances, and portals of entry for diagnostic procedures. Often the patient's condition, either due to chronic disease or the nature of the medical condition itself, result in a situation where the possibility of finding a new entry site for the IV is limited or impossible. For this reason, the ability to safely secure the intravenous device is a primary concern of the health care provider.
Once the site is located, and the intravenous device hopefully secured to prevent dislodgement, the other essential concern is maintenance of a germ-free environment so infection will not enter the patient via the intravenous portal.
Traditionally, adhesive tape is used to secure the intravenous device in place. This simple method of securing the IV has a significant number of inadequacies and limitations which make an alternative method desirable. These limitations include:
(a) difficulty with conforming to some anatomic locations and contours, particularly in areas of motion. PA1 (b) adhesive allergies resulting in blisters, rashes, open wounds, scars and permanent pigmentation problems. PA1 (c) inability to adhere in areas of raw tissue. PA1 (d) lack of satisfactory adherence in hair-bearing areas. PA1 (e) not reusable. PA1 (f) pain associated with adhesive material removal. PA1 (g) difficult to maintain in a combative patient. PA1 (h) many patients are wet from blood, weather or sweat in an emergency situations, reducing the effectiveness of using adhesive tape. PA1 (i) difficult to apply in areas with adjacent injuries. PA1 (j) complications increase with repeated application of tape. PA1 (a) a reusable, washable, lightweight and non-allergic IV needle tubing and catheter tubing securing system. PA1 (b) ease in application and removal by the health-care provider which is an absolute necessity in an emergency setting. PA1 (c) adaptable and available in different configurations to accommodate a variety of intravenous access sites. PA1 (d) allows visualization of the needle or catheter insertion without having to disrupt the components which secure the needle or catheter. PA1 (e) preserves the integrity of the local skin by avoiding adhesives or abrasive materials. PA1 (f) allows frequent replacement of an occlusive barrier over the needle site with minimal disruption to the site. PA1 (g) provides a method to secure the intravenous tubing without the need for adhesive tapes. PA1 (h) is adaptable to provide a means for securing a secondary dressing, such as gauze, over the insertion site by means of supplemental hook tabs.
There are a limited number of alternatives available to secure intravenous devices to avoid adhesives, but none of them address the second major concern, maintaining the sterility and integrity of the insertion site with one device. The intravenous securing device is unique in its ability to meet both concerns with a one unit device. This combination of structure and function results in a novel and superior means of securing intravenous devices.
The subject invention eliminates the deficiencies of other prior art dressing systems by providing in one device the following features:
All of the above features are included in a one unit device.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,456,660 issued to two of the subject inventors, a wound dressing support device is described for holding a variety of standard dressings in place on top of an open wound. The support device includes an elongated elastic unidirectional wrap with a window opening therein. This support device does not address the holding of the tubing of an intravenous needle or catheter in place in a variety of anatomic locations.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,732,146 to Fasline et al. discloses a surgical wound dressing device having a frame with an opening for receiving different types of wound dressings. A dressing is held in place by straps attached to one side of the frame with one end of the straps including releasable Velcro fasteners.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,112 to Kalt describes a bandage having an opening with the opening covered with a transparent membrane. The membrane is designed to allow air and vapors to permeate outward from the wound and prevent contaminants from entering in the opposite direction.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,243 to Frank et al., a two piece wound dressing is shown having an adhesive layer on one side of a baseplate with an opening in the baseplate to expose the wound and the epithelium area around the wound. A second adhesive layer on one side of a wound pad secures a wound dressing above the opening in the baseplate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,579 to Kum, U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,613 to Karami et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 3,779,242 to McCullough disclosed different types of adhesive bandages for providing open areas to wounds to enhance healing. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,838 to Sherman, a foam plastic orthopedic fabric is described having a Velcro tab at one end of the fabric.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,470,410 to Elliott a stretchable sleeve is shown with Velcro fasteners at the ends of the sleeve. The sleeve includes a central opening with a releasable flap for retaining an intravenous tube or the like.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,709,695 to Kohn et al., 4,399,816 to Spangler, 5,086,763 to Hathman, and 4,926,883 to Strock all describe different types of wound surrounding dressings and bandages. Also U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,190,054 to Brennan and 4,658,811 to Beaird disclose stretchable bandages having loop and hook type attachment ends for encircling the head of a patient.
None of the above mentioned prior art patents disclose the unique structure and advantages of the subject invention as described herein when addressing the need of an intravenous securing device for holding intravenous needle tubing and catheter tubing as well as simultaneously providing a secondary wound dressing.

Intravenous securing device and secondary wound dressing


System and methods for flexible attribute tracking and report generation for a workflow. One embodiment is a workflow server that receives a selection of attributes to track for print jobs as the print jobs are processed in a print system, and generates print reports based on the attributes being tracked. The workflow server receives an indication to remove a first attribute from tracking, receives an instruction to include data for the first attribute in a print report, retrieves the data for the first attribute that was recorded before removal of the first attribute from tracking, and includes the data for the first attribute in the print report while the first attribute remains removed from tracking.

Many businesses have a need to track and report data relating to their services, either for internal reports, industry-specific regulations, or other accounting needs. Tracking software records large volumes of data pertaining to documents that are processed within an organization's workflow, such as which documents were printed for a customer, what information is included in the documents, and to which address the documents were sent. A print report may then summarize the collected data.
Current tracking software is limited in options for customizing the attributes which are tracked and reported. Most organizations simply track as many attributes as allowed in the tracking software. However, this method of data collection requires an inordinate amount of storage space and overcomplicates report generation for the user.

Flexible attribute tracking and report generation for a workflow


An apparatus comprised of a first portion comprising a generally flexible fabric, and a second portion or layer comprising a gel material formed in a generally planar rectangular shape. Positioned below the second layer is a third portion or a damping layer having a series of dampers positioned thereon, where the dampers are elastomeric flexible and compressible. The three portions are laminated together.

The following background information may present examples of specific aspects of the prior art (e.g., without limitation, approaches, facts, or common wisdom) that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon.
The following is an example of a specific aspect in the prior art that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon. By way of educational background, another aspect of the prior art generally useful to be aware of is that a shock absorber is a mechanical device designed to smooth out or damp shock impulse and dissipate kinetic energy.
Typically, shock absorbers are an important part of automobile and motorcycle suspensions, aircraft landing gear, footwear, safety wearables, and the supports for many industrial machines. Large shock absorbers have also been used in structural engineering to reduce the susceptibility of structures to earthquake damage and resonance.
In view of the foregoing, it is clear that these traditional techniques are not perfect and leave room for more optimal approaches.
Unless otherwise indicated, illustrations in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.


An improved method and system for developing a reinsurance administration system. Developers may build application programs for reinsurance administration with increased re-use of existing functionality and decreased development time. A business process framework may include common functionality for a plurality of business processes and a template for executing steps in the business processes. The common functionality may include behavior for GUI elements such as windows and buttons, error logging, and database commit and rollback transactions. One or more business process subclasses may be derived from abstract business process classes in the business process framework. One or more support processes in the business process framework may be specified for a business process. The support processes may include support processes for data or syntax validation, GUI, persistent data storage, security, and/or precondition checks. One or more hook methods in the business process framework may be overridden by a business process to identify methods to be performed at various points during execution of the business process. The business processes may be combined to build one or more application programs.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to computer software. More particularly, the present invention relates to software frameworks for developing financial services software.
2. Description of the Related Art
Financial services organizations have come to rely on complex software systems to administer their businesses. Financial service organizations may include, for example, reinsurance organizations. Reinsurance may include the transfer by a first insurer of all or part of a risk to a second insurer to provide protection against the risk, as well as any associated transactions. In other words, reinsurance can be thought of as "insurance for insurance companies." When catastrophic events such as earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, airline accidents, etc. occur the insured often file for damage claims to reduce the impact of the loss of property and/or life. The insurance companies, which offer policies to cover for such catastrophic losses, come under severe financial strain to absorb the losses and still maintain the required surplus. The surplus is an insurance company's net worth, i.e. its assets minus its liabilities. Some insurance companies may deplete their surplus too far to be unable to fulfill their obligations to their policyholders. To protect policyholders against insolvency of an insurance company, government regulations may require insurance companies to maintain a minimum surplus. The size of an insurance companies surplus is thus considered as an important factor to rate insurance companies. To maintain a surplus and protect against insolvency insurance companies may purchase their own insurance policies, i.e. reinsurance policies.
An insurance company, also known as primary or ceding company, may purchase a reinsurance policy from a reinsurance company, also known as reinsurer, in much the same way that direct or primary insurance is purchased. The primary or the first insurer may also be called a cedent, and the secondary or the second insurer may be called a reinsurer. Reinsurance organizations may include cedents, reinsurers, and any other entities involved in reinsurance transactions. Reinsurance may protect a cedent against catastrophes and cumulative losses and also enable it to accept risks that exceed its own underwriting capacity.
The complexity of the reinsurance field tends to require software for reinsurance administration to be complex as well. Generally speaking, software for reinsurance administration may be expected to handle risk selection, portfolio analysis, policy administration, claims, accounting, and other areas vital to the reinsurance field. Reinsurance profits may depend on analysis of historical information, the ability to predict trends, and the ability to identify cumulative exposures within a current portfolio, and reinsurance software may therefore be expected to meet requirements relating to those functions. Consequently, the development of a software system for reinsurance administration to meet the above-identified needs may require great time and expense.
In a changing reinsurance market, a reinsurance company may quickly fall behind its competitors. For example, as reinsurers begin taking on direct risks, the market may demand integrated solutions. Some reinsurance computer systems may not be able to easily and quickly migrate the graphical user interfaces from a text based display to a color, graphical display. Some reinsurance computer systems may be unable to modify and customize a reinsurance contract, such as adjustment of an insurance period, changing premium limits, etc. to meet a customer requirement in a prompt manner. A reinsurer may need to move quickly against competitors to meet the changing needs of the market or to revitalize a reinsurance product line. Therefore, it would be advantageous for a reinsurer to reduce the time, expense, and risk associated with a complex product development effort that may require more than one hundred person-years of development time. Even during development, technical and functional requirements may evolve as dozens of potential customers instruct the reinsurer of their customized needs. It would be further advantageous for a reinsurer to have a flexible development process that can meet evolving customer requirements in the middle of a development effort.
Utilization of object-oriented software design techniques is one approach towards reducing development time. Object-oriented software design may include the use of objects and classes. An object may include an encapsulation of data and methods for manipulating the data. A class may include a template for an object. An object is therefore an instance of a class, and an object is created by instantiating it from a class. Object-oriented techniques, when used properly, may permit the re-use of previously written program code such as classes. The use of development frameworks is a related approach towards reducing development time. As used herein, a "framework" may include a set of classes or templates that embodies an abstract design for solutions to a number of related problems.
Therefore, there is a need for a system and method for developing computer programs for reinsurance administration with decreased development time and increased flexibility.

Business process framework for reinsurance


A table-top football kicking game includes a substantially planar and rectangular playing surface having at least two lines extending laterally, and at least one set of goal post uprights attached substantially perpendicular to and proximal ends of the rectangular playing surface. Also included are a toy oblong football of proportional length and a kicking device movably placed on the rectangular playing surface for propelling the toy oblong football off of said playing surface toward and preferably through the goal post uprights.

Prior to the conception and development of the present invention, table-top sports games simulating real sports action have been in existence for many decades. A number of these are for simulating American football. Wittstein in U.S. Pat. No. 1,145,955 discloses a mechanical football player for a tabletop football game that uses spinners to simulate playing football wherein kicking is just an occasional part of the game. There are various versions of table-top football that involve players using fingers to flick a small item representing a football for the kicking part of the game. Examples of this can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,733,867, 5,451,050, 5,570,888 and 6,209,876. The game disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,867 patent also can be adapted for rugby play. None of the aforementioned prior art incorporates a mechanical kicker used in a kicking only football contest.


An optical signal processing device has nonlinear optical medium, first and second power controllers, and polarization controllers. To the nonlinear optical medium, signal light, and first and second pumping lights having wavelengths different from the signal light are input. The first and the second power controllers are provided at the input side of the nonlinear optical medium, and control the powers of the first and the second pumping lights so that a predetermined gain is obtained in the nonlinear optical medium. The polarization controllers are provided at the input side of the nonlinear optical medium, and adjust the first and the second pumping lights so that the polarization states of the first and the second pumping lights are mutually orthogonal.

In an optical communication system, the limits of a transmission speed (bit rate of data) or a total data transmission capacity (transmission speed per channel×number of channels), and a possible transmission distance depend on an optical S/N ratio (Optical Signal-to-Noise Ratio), and the waveform distortion or the phase distortion of an optical signal. The waveform distortion and the phase distortion of an optical signal significantly depend on the chromatic dispersion (including high-order dispersion) of a transmission line optical fiber, a nonlinear optical effect, etc. Moreover, the optical S/N ratio depends on an amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise caused by an optical amplifier for compensating for the loss of an optical fiber, or a noise characteristic, etc. within a transmitter or a receiver.
The following techniques for compensating for the waveform distortion of an optical signal, which is caused by chromatic dispersion, are known.
(1) A transmission line where a normal dispersion fiber and an anomalous dispersion fiber are alternately provided.
(2) A chromatic dispersion compensator such as a dispersion compensation fiber, etc.
(3) A configuration for executing electric signal processing after converting a received optical signal into an electric signal.
Up to now, an optical fiber transmission system for making a 10-Gbps long-distance data transmission while compensating for a transmission loss with an optical amplifier has been developed. Moreover, a higher-speed long-distance data transmission (such as 40 Gbps, 160 Gbps) and a method for providing an expandable system margin to a photonic network have been developed.
However, waveform distortion remains and the optical S/N ratio is seriously degraded by an ASE noise that is caused by an optical amplifier even if dispersion compensation of high precision and an optical amplifier of high quality are combined. Therefore, a practical transmission distance is limited. To realize a long-distance optical fiber transmission of a high-speed signal, the demand for an optical signal recovery device equipped with a technique for shaping a distorted optical waveform, a technique for correcting a phase distortion, and a technique for suppressing accumulated ASE noise, phase noise, etc. has been rising.
Additionally, in an optical network that functions as a communication backbone for future ultra-large capacity information, optical node processing that is implemented by combining techniques for elements such as an optical switch, a wavelength converter, etc., and can flexibly process the above described high-speed signal light is essential, and an optical signal processing device less degrading an optical S/N, and a device for improving the optical S/N are required.
An optical switch having a polarization controller, a nonlinear optical medium, and a polarizer is known as a related technique. The polarization controller controls the polarization direction of signal light. To the nonlinear optical medium, signal light the polarization direction of which is controlled by the polarization controller is input. The polarizer is provided at the output side of the nonlinear optical medium, and has a polarization axis orthogonal to the polarization direction of the signal light output from the nonlinear optical medium. The signal light is parametrically amplified by a control light pulse around the polarization direction of the control light pulse in the nonlinear optical medium. As a result, an optical signal overlapping with the control light pulse in time domain passes through the polarizer.
As a technique for shaping the waveform of an optical signal, an optical waveform shaping device having first and second power controllers and a nonlinear optical medium is known. The first power controller controls the power of signal light. The second power controller controls the power of pumping light having a wavelength different from the signal light. To the nonlinear optical medium, signal light the power of which is controlled by the first power controller, and pumping light the power of which is controlled by the second power controller are input. The first power controller controls the power of the signal light so that a gain generated by the pumping light becomes saturated in the nonlinear optical medium. As a result, an optical limiter function is realized, and an optical waveform is shaped.
A configuration having a polarization beam splitter and a polarization maintaining fiber is known as a wavelength converter. To a first port of the polarization beam splitter, signal light and pumping light are provided. The polarization maintaining fiber connects between second and third ports of the polarization beam splitter. Wavelength-converted light is generated by four-wave mixing within the polarization maintaining fiber. The wavelength-converted light is output from the first port of the polarization beam splitter.
The related techniques are recited, for example, in the following Patent Documents 1 to 3.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2006-184851    Patent Document 2: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2007-264319    Patent Document 3: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2000-75330
The characteristics of optical signal processing (waveform shaping, noise suppression, etc.) depend on the polarization state of signal light. With the conventional technology, however, the configuration of an optical circuit that does not depend on the polarization state of signal light is complicated, and its loss is large. Therefore, the efficiency of optical signal processing is low. Especially, in an optical signal processing device that collectively processes the waveforms of a plurality of optical signals transmitted with wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM), such a loss exerts considerable influences.


A memory device is provided, the memory device comprising a contact pillar in a dielectric layer. A magnetic tunnel junction may be provided over the contact pillar. A barrier layer may be provided on a sidewall of the magnetic tunnel junction and extending over a horizontal surface of the dielectric layer. A spacer may be provided over the barrier layer.

A magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) device comprises an MTJ whose resistance can be adjusted to represent a logic state "0" or "1". An MTJ comprises two ferromagnetic layers, each of which can hold a magnetic moment, separated by an insulating layer. One of the two layers may be pinned by an anti-ferromagnetic layer (hereinafter "fixed layer") set to a particular polarity. The polarization of the other layer (hereinafter "free layer) may be changed by a particular current direction or application of a sufficiently strong external magnetic field. If the two layers have the same polarization, the resistance of the MTJ will be low whereas if the two layers are of opposite polarization, the resistance will be high.
As integrated circuits continue to scale down, it becomes increasingly difficult to isolate adjacent MTJ stacks in MRAM devices. A space between adjacent MTJ stacks may be filled by a dielectric material. However, the increasingly smaller space between the adjacent MTJ stacks may not be effectively filled due to gapfill issues potentially affecting upper metallization levels. Thus, there is an urgent need for an improved MRAM device to overcome the challenges mentioned above.

Magnetic tunnel junction structure and integration schemes


A method for removing a stem portion of an orthopedic implant from a bone comprises exposing an implanted orthopedic implant having a body portion, a stem portion interconnected to the body and a porous metal section forming an interconnection between the body and the stem portion. A cutting tool is mounted on a holder connected to an exposed surface of the orthopedic implant. The porous section is aligned with the cutting tool mounted on the holder. The entire porous section is cut by moving the cutting tool therethrough in a direction transverse to the stem portion axis. The implant body portion is then removed and then the stem portion is removed from the bone. The cutting tool may be a saw or chisel which may be mounted on a guide fixed to the body portion.

Current keel implant devices, such as tibial components, are solid with high stiffness are commonly associated with diaphyseal load transfer or stress shielding. This invention provides a porous section for allowing bone ingrowth and a reduced stiffness keel device for more anatomical load transfer. In addition, the porous section allows easier removal of the implant during revision procedure.
The present invention also relates to a device having two different porous surfaces attached directly or indirectly to one another and a method for forming the same. The two porous surfaces may be separated by a solid or fully dense (non-porous) layer.
The present application is particularly directed toward a method of forming porous or partially porous metallic structures having different porosities for bone ingrowth and soft tissue ingrowth or attachment. Porous structures may also be formed for polymer attachment.
One method of producing the different porous structures uses rapid prototyping to produce low density three-dimensional structures. This is useful in applications where porous and partially porous metallic structures, and more particularly metal porous structures with interconnective porosity are advantageous for use. In addition, composite structures of metal and porous ceramics or porous polymer can be used.
Many structures, especially in the medical arts, require two different surfaces, each adapted for their own purposes. Along this line, a structure may have a first surface which needs to be porous for tissue ingrowth and a second surface which could have porosity adapted to be a bearing surface. Those structures can be produced by Selective Laser Melting (SLM). See for example U.S. Patent Publication No. 2007/0142914, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The field of free-form fabrication has seen many important recent advances in the fabrication of articles directly from computer-controlled databases. These advances, many of which are in the field of rapid prototyping of articles such as prototype parts and mold dies, have greatly reduced the time and expense required to fabricate articles, particularly in contrast to conventional machining processes in which a block of material, such as a metal, is machined according to the engineering drawings. One example of a modern rapid prototyping technology is the selective laser sintering process practiced by systems available from 3D Systems, Valencia, Calif. According to this technology, articles are produced in a layer-wise fashion, from a laser-fusible powder that is dispensed one layer at a time. The powder is fused, remelted or sintered, by the application of laser energy that is directed in raster-scan fashion to portions of the powder layer corresponding to a cross-section of the article. After fusing of the powder on one particular layer, an additional layer of powder is dispensed, and the process repeated with fusion taking place between the current layer and the previously laid layers, until the article is complete. In a first step of such process, a CAD file of an acetabular cup component is loaded into the Magics software package as a single part. The file may then be divided into three separate solid volumes having a 1.1 mm thick outer layer—this layer will be used to create the 80% porous bone ingrowth surface; 0.1 mm thick intermediate layer—this layer will be a fully dense layer that supports the bone ingrowth surface; and 0.8 mm thick inner layer—this will be used to create an interlock surface for a polymer injection molding. The three layers, when completed, will comprise the metal insert of the acetabular cup. Further, the first surface or portion may include different layers having different gradients of porosity. For example, the first surface may include an outer region having a porosity of approximately 80%. Moving more inwardly normal, with regard to the first surface, the porosity may alter such that the porosity is increased or in a preferred embodiment, the porosity decreases even until the porosity is almost zero. Of course, the present invention contemplates a situation where the porosity changes from position to position depending on the requirements of the device.
Cementless bone implant technologies provide a variety of porous surfaces that allows for bone ingrowth into the implant. This ingrowth allows for a better transfer of mechanical loads to the surrounding bone tissues and decreases bone resorption due to stress shielding. As with all primary implants sometimes a revision surgery is necessary to remove the implant. With non-cemented implants osseointegration blurs the bore/implant interface. This allows for the potential to lose large quantities of bone stock, when the implant is removed under conventional means. Other disadvantages of the current removal techniques include increased metal debris at and around the surgical site, increased heat and increased time in the operating room (OR). The proposed system addresses these issues and provides a method to remove porous material from cementless implants.
The porous material and manufacturing methods of the present invention can be used for other applications. One of the current concerns with modern total knee arthroplasty is the issue of femoral bone resorption due to stress shielding. This is most commonly found in the distal/anterior region behind the patellar groove of the implant. As femoral components are most commonly manufactured from Cobalt Chromium or titanium alloy, they have a significantly higher modulus of elasticity than the bone. Additionally, most femoral components are substantially rigid due to the amount of solid material that encompasses the space between the articular surface and the surfaces that mate with the resected femur. Bone remodels in the presence of load and in the natural knee, the articular surfaces are loaded by the patella and tibia. The replacement of that bearing with a stiff metal component shields the bone from much of the load in the anterior and posterior regions, leading to a lack of remodeling and ultimately, resorption. By making the femoral component essentially "hollow" and filling the space with foam, it becomes a more flexible component, which is better able to transfer the loads from the articular surfaces to the resected bone. This allows for remodeling of the bone in all regions and prevents stress shielding.
Current literature suggests several surgical methods to remove cementless implants during revision surgeries. These methods include the use of an oscillating cutting system such as oscillating saws and instruments which apply blunt striking force. Both methods have yielded positive effects, but present obvious disadvantages when used with solid implants.
Oscillating cutting systems are used to quickly cut up to the bone/implant interface and remove enough bone to allow the implant to be pulled from the bone. However, if the implant is not completely free, this results in large amounts of bone stock loss when the implant is extracted. With the oscillating system, when the blade reaches the porous coating of the otherwise solid implant, the high frequency motion can cause porous material to be dispersed throughout the surgical site. This may lead to subsequent revisions due to host response from debris particles or degradation of articulating surfaces due to body wear caused by the debris. Furthermore, friction between the blade and the implant can cause heat generation, in which the implant will act as a heat sink. The distribution of heat throughout the implant can transfer to the bone and cause bone tissue necrosis.
Blunt striking with an osteotome is also an effective means for separating the anchoring mechanisms of an implant from the planar force bearing surfaces. This allows access to the smaller anchoring point, which requires smaller, more precise tools to extract, or the surgeon can choose to leave them in. However, without a counter force, the bone provides the only resistance to implant movement. As such, the force from blunt striking may cause inadvertent damage to the bone surrounding the implant.
As used herein when referring to bones or other parts of the body, the term "proximal" means close to the heart and the term "distal" means more distant from the heart. The term "inferior" means toward the feet and the term "superior" means toward the head. The term "anterior" means toward the front part or the face and the term "posterior" means toward the back of the body. The term "medial" means toward the midline of the body and the term "lateral" means away from the midline of the body.


A ceramic electronic component that includes a ceramic insulator and an inner conductor layer disposed in the ceramic insulator. The inner conductor layer contains a metal and a metal oxide containing at least one first metal element selected from Ti, Mg, and Zr, first insulator regions that contain at least one second metal element selected from Ti, Mg, and Zr and that are discontinuous from the ceramic insulator and present in a dispersed state in the inner conductor layer, and a second insulator region containing a third metal element the same as the second metal element contained in the first insulator regions and present around the inner conductor layer.

A ceramic electronic component, such as a multilayer ceramic substrate or a multilayer ceramic capacitor, includes a ceramic insulator, an inner conductor buried in the ceramic insulator, and an outer conductor disposed on the outer surface of the ceramic insulator. Such a ceramic electronic component is typically obtained by forming a conductive paste film that is to be an inner conductor or an outer conductor on a green sheet containing the material powder of a ceramic insulator, forming a raw multilayer body by laminating a plurality of green sheets on which the conductive paste film is formed, and firing the raw multilayer body. In addition, to improve heat resistance and wettability, plating is performed to form a plating layer on the surface of the outer conductor.
When a ceramic electronic component is produced by the above method, the conductive paste and the green sheets may both shrink during firing. A difference in shrinking behavior may cause formation of voids between the inner conductor and the ceramic insulator. In such a case, ingress of a liquid, such as a plating solution, into the voids may occur. As a result, electrical characteristics of the ceramic electronic component may be degraded, thereby degrading the reliability.
Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 each provide a method to prevent the ingress of a liquid, such as a plating solution. Patent Document 1 provides a method in which pores in the ceramic surface portion of, for example, a sintered magnetic material or a dielectric are sealed with a synthetic resin by vacuum impregnation. Patent Document 2 provides a method including filling, with an organic solvent, voids in a ceramic body and a terminal electrode during a wet plating process and removing the organic solvent by volatilization after the process is complete.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Examined Patent Application Publication No. 1-55566    Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 8-64463

Ceramic electronic component and method for producing ceramic electronic component


A manifold for a double acting metering cylinder having a fluid tight reciprocal piston forming a pair of expandable and retractable chambers, the manifold having a housing with passageways therein and directional valves to selectively deliver fluid material to the first chamber while delivering fluid material away from the second chamber during a forward stroke of the piston and delivering fluid material to the second chamber while delivering fluid material away from the first chamber during a return stroke of the piston.

In many chemical operations and in various other industries, including liquid injection molding, metering viscous materials in predetermined quantities is a required procedure. As required by these procedures, the viscous material must be metered continuously at a steady rate. To accommodate the need for a continuous flow to the dispensing unit, double acting meters or dual meters are provided. To feed and regulate the meter or meters, extensive valving, temperature controllers and conduits from the material source as well as to the dispensing units may be required. This may result in a cumbersome package. In the case of a reciprocal metering cylinder having a continuous flow stream to a dispensing unit, it is desirable to provide a manifold for housing the conduits and valves in a single package that provides pressure controlled flow to the cylinder meter as well as temperature control of the fluid.


A loose fitting male condom which is held in place by a simple, yet reliable closure. The closure can be a continuous elastic band or a fastening strip. The loose fit makes application and removal easier, and during intercourse increases sensation for the wearer. The closure provides a seal at the base of the penis to protect from disease and pregnancy resulting from fluid leakage, and if suitably tight, can prolong erections.

1. Field of the Invention
Sexually-transmitted diseases today affect millions of people. Because of the threat of AIDS, and other sexually transmitted diseases, condoms are enjoying unprecedented popularity. Although the condom is marketed as one of the few over-the-counter, nonprescription contraceptives, it has its deficiencies. Condoms are uncomfortable. Condoms interfere with lovemaking. Condoms feel unnatural. They interrupt spontaneity. They decrease sexual arousal.
Today, the FDA continues to promote condoms as the most effective protection during intercourse against certain sexually transmitted diseases. In spite of the seriousness of the FDA warnings and the risks involved, a significant fraction of sexually active males, and females decline to use condoms, or use them only occasionally because of their deficiencies, as outlined above.
The present invention relates to a male condom which prevents insemination and the transmission of disease. More specifically, it provides improved ease of application and removal, increased sensation for the wearer, superior protection against disease and pregnancy previously caused by leakage around the base, and the ability to prolong an erection.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The nature of a condom is to form a barrier around the penis, the male organ of sexual intercourse, to prevent direct contact of body parts and fluids which might transmit disease or cause pregnancy. Unfortunately, the contact barrier and snugness of the fit limit tactile sensorial abilities. The decrease in feeling reduces the users' pleasurable sensations, and, therefore, the desire to use a condom.
The average length of an erect male penis is 6 inches. Standard condoms measure 7.5 inches long (excluding reservoir tip). This length is long enough to cover the erect penises of 90% of the male population. In fact, 95% of all men have erect penises less than 8.5 inches long. The circumference of an erect penis also varies within the population. The vast majority of males have penises with circumferences between 87.5 mm (31/2 inches) and 150 mm (6 inches).
The majority of condoms sold in the United States closely conform to the same basic shape; the condoms are designed for a snug fit around the penis from the tip, or just below the tip, down to the base. There are two common sizes of condoms sold in the United States. These common sizes are both approximately 190 mm (7.5 inches) long (including reservoir tip) by 104 mm or 108 mm (.apprxeq.4 inches) in circumference. Another condom, which is more common in Japan, is 165 mm (.apprxeq.61/2 inches) by 87.5 mm (.apprxeq.31/2 inches) in circumference.
A common feature of existing condoms is that they provide a snug fit. Many of these prior art devices have a reservoir tip which helps guard against leakage out of the base by creating a repository for ejaculate.
Conventional condoms, because they are form fitting, are hard to put on and awkward to remove. Most condoms are applied by a rolling on method. The condom is applied to the erect penis before any sexual contact. The condom is placed on the head of the penis and completely unrolled to the base of the penis, ideally using the fingers with dexterity; but many times this is a difficult process and the fingers can cause skin irritation. This process can cause the condom to catch and pull skin and hair during application (and removal), possibly causing condom breakage. Because of their necessary tight fit, condoms often develop a vacuum during the removal process, adding to the difficulty of the removal.
The utility period of a condom usually begins after the penis is erect, and ends just after ejaculation. The utility time period does not extend beyond ejaculation; following ejaculation, the penis is withdrawn while still erect. Manufacturers warn that although it may be romantic to bask in the afterglow while still enjoined, this time is the easiest for the condom to slip off or for seminal fluid to leak out. Thus, prompt removal of the condom after use is uniformly recommended by manufacturers of prior art devices in order to avoid seepage and fluid contact.
In the prior art, sensorial limitations are addressed by using thinner materials of construction. However, although a thinner material improves heat conduction and improves sensation, these thinner materials tend to be less strong, and increase the likelihood of condom failure by breakage.
Variants on the male condom have previously been developed to attempt to address the deficiencies of the prior art devices. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,600, Meadows, there is taught a male condom consisting of two segments; one segment is attached firmly to the penis and the other segment slides back and forth over the tip end of the penis as it is repeatedly repositioned during intercourse. Integral to Meadows is a solid ring ("centering means"), positioned at the juncture of these two segments, to anchor the sliding portion. A drawback of Meadow is the use of the solid ring which can be uncomfortable and can move about and inhibit and impede use.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,564,006, Pomeranz, there is shown a seal or zipper like element running substantially the length of the condom. Pomeranz, as with prior art devices, shows a full length snug fit in order to create the necessary seal. The snug fit is provided by use of a zipper which facilitates the application and removal of the condom. However, the prominent ridge created by the zipper produces an intrusive, unpleasant tactile sensation.
Materials of construction in the prior art are both natural and manmade. Because natural materials, such as animal intestine, are fairly inelastic, the natural material condom, while still designed to be snug fitting, may have added thread elastic around the base such as that found on a male condom sold as Kling-Tite.RTM. Naturalamb.RTM. Condoms, distributed by Carter Products, New York, N.Y. The Kling-Tite.RTM. condom, as with other prior art condoms, is designed to be form fitting, with the thread elastic ineffective for creating a seal; the seal is created by being generally form fitting along the length of the condom.
Still more recently, the use of adhesives has been adopted. For example, a male condom sold as Trojan.RTM. Mentor.RTM. Safety-Seal.TM. Condoms, distributed by Carter Products, New York, N.Y, is provided with a ring of adhesive at just above its mid-point. Adhesive is difficult to position and often sticks to unintended locations during application. Because of the difficulty in donning and properly positioning the adhesive ring, an applicator is necessary and is provided with the packaging. Other adhesive condoms typically have the adhesive added at the base, but application of a male condom with any adhesive is difficult and inconvenient.
Accordingly, there has existed a definite need for an improved prophylactic device. The present invention satisfies this need and provides further related advantages.

Loose prophylactic sack device having improved closure


Methods of forming buried bit lines in a non-volatile memory device can include forming impurity regions in a substrate of a non-volatile memory device to provide immediately neighboring buried bit lines for the device and then forming a shallow trench isolation region in the substrate between the immediately neighboring buried bit lines to substantially equalize lengths of the immediately neighboring buried bit lines.

Non-volatile memory devices are widely used in various kinds of electronic products such as mobile telephones, etc. One type of non-volatile memory that has become popular is what is commonly referred to as NOR type flash memory. It is recognized that in conventional NOR flash memory, the metal contact employed in source/drain regions may use a significant area of the integrated circuit. Accordingly, one approach, sometimes referred to as buried bit line, has been used to avoid the formation of contacts in NOR type flash memory.
Non-volatile memories are also discussed in, for example, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2004/0169238 A1 to Lee et al., U.S. Patent Publication No. 2006/0180851 A1 to Lee et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,526,307 to Yiu et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,858,906 B2 to Lee et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 7,072,214 B2 to Jeong et al.

Methods of forming shallow trench isolation structures with buried bit lines in non-volatile memories


A memory management unit manages a state of a memory which is to be accessed by bank interleaving. The memory includes p banks (where p is an integer of 2 or greater). The memory management unit includes a control unit that dynamically determines a bank to be accessed from among the p banks. When predetermined conditions for a reserving state of the memory are satisfied and there is any unused bank in the p banks, the control unit performs power consumption reduction to control the memory to cause power consumption of the unused bank(s) to be less than power consumption of other banks in the p banks except the unused bank(s).

In recent years, as system Large Scale Integrations (LSIs) have been complicated and speeding up, operation frequency and power consumption of Dynamic Random Access Memories (DRAMs) have been increased. Therefore, a ratio of power consumption of a DRAM to power consumption of a system is increased, which results in a problem of preventing power saving for the DRAM.
For power saving of DRAM, Patent Literature 1 discloses a technique (hereinafter, referred to as "conventional technique A") of changing address mapping from a logical address to a physical address according to an operation mode to set a physical memory region to which no access occur, thereby stopping the physical memory region.
On the other hand, Patent Literature 2 discloses a technique (hereinafter, referred to as "conventional technique B") of performing address mapping to selectively perform, based on a logical address to be accessed, a method of accessing the same bank or a method of accessing by bank interleaving. In conventional technique B, when the method of accessing the same bank is used, it is possible to reduce power consumption.

Memory management unit for managing a state of memory, image processing device, and integrated circuit

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


Disclosed is a split computer system that includes a first housing coupled to a second housing with a multi-conductor cable. The first housing includes a first direct access storage device (DASD) having an opening for receiving a removable storage medium. The second housing is separate from the first housing and includes a central processing unit (CPU) coupled to a local bus and an expansion bus, a non-volatile storage device coupled to the local bus, a second DASD coupled to the local bus and a power supply. The system further includes first and second DASD controllers coupled to the first and second DASDs respectively. The cable has one end coupled to the first housing and another end coupled to the second housing for electrically connecting devices in the first housing to devices in the second housing. The second housing has a first interface coupled to the expansion bus and the cable. The first housing also includes a second interface coupled to the cable and the first DASD. The system is operative to detect an access to either the first or second DASD controller and disable a current DASD controller and enable the other DASD controller.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to personal computer systems and more particularly to a split system personal computer which includes a media console containing user interactive components (e.g., floppy disk drive, power switch) coupled to a processing unit having system components (e.g., central processing unit, memory, hard disk drive) via a cable and wherein a system management interrupt (SMI) is used to control devices which exist in both the media console and the processing unit.
2. Description of Related Art
Personal computer systems are well known in the art. Personal computer systems in general, and IBM Personal Computers in particular, have attained widespread use for providing computer power to many segments of today's modern society. Personal computers can typically be defined as a desktop, floor standing, or portable microcomputer that is comprised of a system unit having a single central processing unit (CPU) and associated volatile and non-volatile memory, including all RAM and BIOS ROM, a system monitor, a keyboard, one or more flexible diskette drives, a fixed disk storage drive (also known as a "hard drive"), a so-called "mouse" pointing device, and an optional printer. One of the distinguishing characteristics of these systems is the use of a motherboard or system planar to electrically connect these components together. These systems are designed primarily to give independent computing power to a single user and are inexpensively priced for purchase by individuals or small businesses. Examples of such personal computer systems are IBM's Personal Computer AT and IBM's Aptiva.
Historically, a personal computer (PC) was a relatively large box that sat on top of a desk and contained all of the electronics--the processor, memory, IO devices, floppy disk drive, etc. This was known as the system unit and required a significant amount of desktop work space. The monitor was traditionally a cathode ray tube (CRT) that was placed on top of the system unit. The keyboard and (eventually a mouse) was placed in front of the system unit to provide for user input. Accordingly, these "desktop" computer systems combined all PC functions and accessibility in one enclosure on the desktop where significant space is required and noise sources are relatively close to the user. In addition, there was no way to compact the elements when the PC was not in use.
In order to reduce the clutter that a personal computer caused on the desktop, a tower design soon emerged that moved the system unit components into a tower form-factor that sat along-side the desk. The CRT now sat directly on the desk with the keyboard and mouse in front of it. However, this "minitower" type unit is typically placed on the floor where accessibility to drives (floppy and CD-ROM), power, and system activity (LEDs) is compromised and awkward. These two form factors (the "desktop" and "minitower" systems) have endured for quite some time with just various changes in the size, shape and color.
Recently, an additional form factor has been developed. The above related applications describe a split system personal computer form factor that significantly reduces the amount of desktop space needed, reduces noise on the desktop and provides easy accessibility to removable DASD drives. For example, the above related application Ser. No. 08/721,650 describes a computer system that includes a media console coupled to a system unit with a multi-conductor cable. The media console contains at least one direct access storage device (e.g., floppy disk drive). The system unit is separate from the media console and includes a microprocessor, a non-volatile storage device and a system power supply. The multi-conductor cable has one end coupled to the media console and another end coupled to the system unit for electrically connecting devices in the media console to devices in the system unit. The system unit has a first interface coupled to the expansion bus and the cable, and the console has a second interface coupled to the cable and the direct access storage device in the console.
The above split system personal computer can contain a "split device", that is, a device which exists in both the media console and the processor unit, yet appear to be in only one place. For example, in the split system, two floppy disk drives can be installed, one in the media console and the other in the processor unit. Each floppy disk drive has its own controller. To the operating system, however, this appears as if two floppy drives are connected to the same controller.
Conventional non-split systems with two floppy disk drives only have one floppy drive controller. The floppy control register in the single floppy controller is used to select between the first floppy drive and the second floppy drive. Whenever software or BIOS accesses the floppy disk, it first selects the correct drive using the floppy control register.
However, in the above split system, each of the floppy disk drives are connected to separate floppy disk controllers. Accordingly, using the floppy control register on one controller would have no effect on the floppy disk connected to the other controller. In addition, since the processor unit and the media console both have a floppy disk controller, they each take the same resources from the system. As a result, both controllers cannot be turned on at the same time. If they were, the system unit interface and the planar floppy disk controller would both respond to floppy disk accesses causing a conflict.
It is therefore desirable to provide a split computer system which can control devices which exist in both the media console and the processor unit without having to remove or disable any of the devices in the media console.

System and method for controlling device which is present in media console and system unit of a split computer system

International Business Machines Corporation


In one embodiment, a broker device receives device-identifying data to identify a device in a computer network. An ontology associated with the device-identifying data is then identified by the broker device and in response to identifying the ontology, interpretation instructions related to the identified ontology are determined. The broker device receives data from the identified device and interprets the received data based on the interpretation instructions.

Internet of Things (IoT) networks or Internet of Everything (IoE) networks (e.g., often Low power and Lossy Networks (LLNs)), have a myriad of applications, such as sensor networks, Smart Grids, and Smart Cities. In IoE networks, devices are connected over a computer network to provide data to or from an environment. In particular, applications are capable of exposing data within an environment. However, such exposure requires the applications themselves to manage the data being sent from different types of devices without any policy constraints or interpretation instructions.

Semantic data broker for dynamic association between devices and applications


An outrigger assembly for a fishing vessel to extend fishing lines away from the vessel, including a telescopic boom having a plurality of aligned ‘D’ tubes of consecutively smaller diameters that can be individually locked in place when extended and having the smaller tubes telescopically mounted inside larger tubes for storage, first embodiment provides a manually operable locking mechanism using an external shift bullet to lock the tubes in place, and second embodiment combines the locking means of the first embodiment with a cam lever operated eyelet locking system, the eyelets provide support for a fishing rigging, both embodiments protect the locking mechanism from elements found in the environment.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to outriggers that are used on fishing boats typically for fishing line separation while fishing, and specifically to an improved outrigger boom that has a variable length formed in sections that telescope and lock together.
2. Description of Related Art
The use of outriggers on fishing vessels for line separation is well known. Typically, an outrigger is pivotally anchored near the stern of the boat on each side and includes an elongated boom that can be positioned angularly relative to the hull of the vessel. A movable rigging line containing a clip to releasably hold a fishing line is attached to the elongated boom to allow moving the fishing line out along the boom of the outrigger for separation purposes. Although these outriggers work fine, storing them becomes a problem because of their length, which requires them to be positioned parallel to the hull of the boat, taking up space and often getting in the way.
The introduction and use of telescopically positionable outrigger booms is known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,196 issued to applicant shows a sport fishing outrigger apparatus that has a plurality of elongated tubular sections of progressively smaller cross sections telescopically joined to form an outrigger boom that can be adjusted between a retracted position and a fully extended position or lengths in-between. A plurality of manual spring biased tube locks, each including a locking button biased radially outward through a hole within the elongated tubular sections, with each elongated tubular section having a second hole positioned within an opposite end of each elongated tubular section is provided. The telescoping outrigger tube sections are typically locked in place by an internal spring loaded mechanism using a hair spring clip that pushes a bullet through drilled holes in the adjacent tubes.
One of the drawbacks of the internal hair spring and internal spring load design is that at least one of the punched holes in the telescoping tube sections is subjected to stress resulting in hole enlargement (wallowing-out) over time due to the repeated metal to metal pin contact during normal service. Components in the internal operating locking systems, such as the bullet, can also scratch the tubing and promote corrosion due to the internal pin rubbing against the metal tubing during operation. This is exasperated by exposure to salt water resulting in shortened component life, especially if regular maintenance is neglected.
Other prior art, patent pending by Roger Wilcox (US 2004/0016385), uses an internally supported spring pressured bullet type locking system similar to the granted U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,196 that locks the inner and outer telescoping tube sections together.
While the Wilcox design uses an internal rib inside the telescoping tubes to keep the locking holes inside the tube in alignment, it does not alleviate the potential problem of the locking holes becoming wallowed out due to undesirable movement between the extended tubes.
Furthermore, the design does not use a plastic composition bullet tip, allowing the inner spring activated metallic Bullet Lock to contact the inner metallic wall of the larger outer tube resulting in excessive wear, corrosion, and possible component failure.
Another shortcoming of the Wilcox design is that it does not include a rigging eyelet feature that is permanently indexed to the telescoping tube sections. The eyelet is instead secured by a screw that can loosen, allowing the eyelet to rotate under load and cause rigging line entanglement.
The present invention presents a telescoping outrigger system that resolves problems associated with the prior art including:                the tendency of holes punched in tubular sections used for engagement of the locking mechanism to wallow out;        the loss of material and resulting corrosion on the surface of tubular sections in direct contact with the metal tip of the bullet lock;        the intrusion of water and other contaminants between the tubular sections, resulting in premature component aging;        the undesirable movement of the telescoping sections of the outrigger boom during use in the extended position;        the difficulty of aligning, and maintaining alignment of the eyelets used for the rigging;        the difficulty in aligning and engaging the bullet lock with the telescoping section; and        the possibility of the telescoping sections disengaging from each other during use, possibly becoming lost.
Solutions to these problems and additional refinements are presented herein.

Telescoping outrigger boom with tube locking mechanisms


Uniplanar surgical screw assemblies described include: a fastener including an elongate shaft; a saddle-shaped tulip having a tulip having a bore therethrough dimensioned to allow the distal end of the elongate shaft to pass therethrough, but to prevent passage of the head therethrough; and one or more features for limiting angular movement of the shaft, relative to the tulip, to one plane.

The fixation and/or stabilization of bones and/or bone fragments is commonly required by orthopedic surgeons to treat injuries such as fractures or disease. To accomplish this, the bones/bone fragments can be joined by a rod, plate or the like, which is fixed to the bones/bone fragments via fasteners such as screws, pins or the like. The connection by the rod(s), plate(s) or the like maintains the bones/bone fragments in a desired orientation and/or at desired spacings, positions, etc. Different situations often require the adjustment of such spacings or orientations, or the removal of the apparatus, sometimes with replacement by another apparatus. For these reasons it is useful to provide fasteners that can be fixed or released, and can also articulate to adjust relative to the rod, plate, or the like, as required by the arrangement of the bones/bone fragments being treated.
In spinal surgery, it is often necessary to secure various implants to the vertebrae and interconnect the vertebrae by attaching one or more rods or plates to the implants. Due to the complex curvature of the spine, as well as irregularities of the same that often need to be treated, it is often difficult to align a rod or plate with all of the implants/fasteners fixed to the various vertebrae to be connected via the rod or plate. By providing fasteners that have some articulation ability, this allows more flexibility in joining the fasteners (and thus the vertebrae that they are attached to) to a rod or plate in the orientations needed.
In some surgeries, it is necessary to span multiple vertebrae of the spine with rods that provide stabilizing forces to the vertebrae to help maintain the desired orientations of the vertebrae to maintain a desired curvature in the spine. In these instances, uniplanar fasteners that allow pivoting in only one plane can be useful, as opposed to the more commonly used polyaxial screws, as polyaxial screws may be more likely to fail by rotating rather than withstanding a lateral force applied to the rod therethrough.
There is a continuing need for improved uniplanar fasteners for use in surgical orthopedics procedures where limitation of articulation of the fasteners to only one plane is advantageous to the needs for joining bones, bone fragments and/or joints.
There is a continuing need for improved uniplanar fasteners for use in surgical orthopedics procedures where limitation of articulation of the fasteners to only one plane is advantageous to the needs for joining bones, bone fragments and/or joints, which uniplanar fasteners can alternatively be set to allow uniplanar articulation, or to prevent all articulation and lock the fastener in a desired configuration.


An air control valve assembly for the air side of an automotive fuel evaporative emission control system incorporates two passive check valves and an active blocking valve which cooperate to divide the air filtered air inlet path from the air exit path to atmosphere. The possibility of break through vapors flowing back into the air cleaner during canister vapor fill is avoided through the use of oppositely opening check valves. By adding an active blocking valve below the freely movable air inlet check valve, the canister can be rigorously sealed from the atmosphere during a diagnostic evacuation test.

New American automobiles have incorporated fuel vapor storage canisters for some time now, originally designed simply to capture fuel vapor that would otherwise have vented from the tank while it was capped. Lately, the same canisters have also been used to capture fuel vapor displaced while the tank is uncapped and being filled with liquid fuel. Regardless of source, the stored fuel vapors are purged from the canister while the engine is running, typically by a vacuum (negative pressure air flow) applied to the canister, which pulls outside air in and through the activated carbon bed of the canister to desorb previously stored fuel vapors. The desorbed vapor is ultimately pulled into the engine air induction system and burned. The process is reversed when vapors enter the canister from the fuel tank, with clean air being expelled to the outside atmosphere. Older canister designs generally incorporated a single, common port to atmosphere that provided both the outside air inlet for purge and the clean air exit for fuel adsorption. Such older designs also typically had the single atmospheric inlet/exit port located at one end of the canister, with the fuel vapor inlet and purge ports located at the opposite end. Newer canister designs often divide the activated carbon bed roughly in half with a flow division baffle, and locate the purge and fuel vapor ports on one side (vapor side) of one canister end, and the common atmospheric air inlet/exit port on the other side (air side) of the same end.
While most disclosed canister designs show the air inlet/exit port as opening directly to atmosphere, it has also been suggested for some time that the common port run through a filter. Such a filter would be useful for cleaning the atmospheric air that was pulled into the canister during purge, but of no real use for filtering the air vented to the outside during fuel adsorption, when it would merely serve as an air flow impediment. It has also been known for sometime to use the engine air cleaner housing as a convenient filter for the inlet air, since it is a filter that already exists. However, with a common inlet/exit port, fuel vapors could be inadvertently fed into the air cleaner during vapor fill of the canister, if the carbon bed's capacity were exceeded and vapors "broke through". This could lead to an over rich fuel air mixture being fed to the engine at start up.
To solve this problem, it has been proposed to divide the single air inlet/air exit port into two separate valved ports, each spring biased closed in opposite directions. An inlet port allows outside air to be pulled only through the air cleaner during purge, and the exit port allows air (and any excess break through fuel vapor) to vent directly to atmosphere, rather than to the air cleaner. An example may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,634, in FIG. 2 thereof. A so called "atmospheric valve 18" incorporates a single valve housing at the top of the air side of the canister. An air inlet port 18a is closed by a diaphragm 18b loaded thereagainst by a compression spring 18c. An air inlet line 18e from air cleaner 3 connects to the air inlet port 18a across the diaphragm 18b. An oppositely spring loaded check valve 19a in the same housing opens directly to atmosphere. The spring 18c loading the diaphragm 18b down to block the air path to the air cleaner 3 must be stronger than the spring loaded check valve 19a, in order to allow air any break through vapor to pass only through valve 19a to atmosphere, and not to air cleaner 3. Consequently, during purge, in order to successfully pull the diaphragm 18b open, a separate pipe 18g must be provided to route some of the negative pressure from the purge port back behind the diaphragm 18b to overcome the spring 18c and allow air inlet flow to begin from the air cleaner 3. So, the strength of the spring 18c represents a compromise between certain purge air entry from the air cleaner and certain exit of venting air to the atmosphere only, without reverse flow back to the air cleaner.
An even more recent development in fuel vapor control systems has been the requirement for so called "on board" or self-contained, automatic diagnostic programs to periodically assure that the systems are working as intended. Testing the system against external air leaks is an important part of that assurance. Generally, this involves sealing off any check valve type air inlets to the fuel tank, or canister, or both at once, with solenoid operated blocking valves. Next, purge vacuum is applied to the canister create a known level of negative pressure, and then measuring the pressure again at a set time interval later to see whether it has been sufficiently retained. This indicates no serious air leaks. In the system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,634 noted above, the diaphragm 18b alone is relied upon to block the air inlet to the canister during diagnostic evacuation. As a consequence, the level of negative pressure that can be applied and retained by the canister is effectively limited by the setting pressure of the diaphragm valve 18b, that is, by the strength of the spring 18c. A negative pressure greater than the strength of spring 18c, since it is deliberately routed around and behind the diaphragm 18b to open it during the normal purge operation, will also overcome spring 18c and open it during diagnostic evacuation, and thereby pull outside air back into the canister. This leak will continue until the negative pressure falls low enough to allow the spring 18c to push the diaphragm 18b closed again.

Air control valve assembly for fuel evaporative emission storage canister


A rehabilitation device for conditioning the lower extremity joints of a user includes a platform having an upper surface with spaced apart enhanced friction regions for stabilizing the users feet on a variety of side to side locations on the platform whereby tipping movements about a pivot plate connected to the platform will produce a closed chain kinetic exercising of such joints.

Various devices have been suggested for physical rehabilitation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,039 discloses a single foot platform having a pivot member on the underside thereof located between the heel and toe of a single foot of the user. The '039 patent provides for a tipping movement from the heel to the toe. While satisfactory for its intended purpose the device shown in the '039 patent does not provide for a closed kinetic chain exercise that will rehabilitate oppositely located lower extremity joints.
Exercising devices are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,253,996 to Bechman, U.S. Pat. No. 3,416,792 to Morgan et al and U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,477 to Wilkinson all of which are representative of balancing exercisers having a platform and a center mounted pivot member. In the '996 and the '792 patents the platform is a narrow member (fore to aft) that has outwardly located platform surfaces for a user's feet that require a wide separation of the users feet. The platform surfaces do not provide for positioning of a user's feet on opposite sides of a pivot point at a variety of side-to-side and fore and aft positions. Accordingly, the feet of a user cannot be positioned to produce an optimum closed kinetic chain exercise of different pairs of joints for patients having wide variety of heights and weights. The '477 patent requires a complex spring and wheel system to produce side to side rolling and tilting movement. It discloses only two foot pads that are limited in area and spaced a substantial distance from the center of the platform.
None of the aforesaid devices provide an exerciser upon which a patient's can be positioned in a variety of side to side and front to rear positions on a support platform and wherein the support platform can be connected to a pivot plate of varying height to vary the kinetic motion required for a particular joint rehabilitation.

Closed kinetic chain exercise device and method


The present invention discloses a color filter substrate comprising a substrate; and a color filter layer disposed on the substrate. The color filter layer comprises at least two color regions, and at least two alignment marks, corresponding to the at least two color regions respectively, disposed on a perimeter zone of the substrate. Each of the alignment marks is configured to have a block structure, and at least one of the alignment marks is provided with a recess in a top thereof.

Field of the Invention
The embodiments of the present invention relate to a display technology field, more particularly, relate to a color filter substrate, a method of manufacturing the same, and a display apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
A color filter substrate is one of the main structures of a liquid crystal display. Generally, the color filter substrate comprises a substrate and a color filter layer on the substrate. The color filter layer comprises a red region, a green region and a blue region. In order to precisely form the red region, the green region and the blue region on corresponding positions of the substrate, three identical cuboid alignment marks, corresponding to the red region, the green region and the blue region respectively, are disposed on a perimeter zone of the substrate.
Hereafter, it will describe a method of manufacturing the color filter layer on the substrate on which the alignment marks are provided in a case where the red region, the green region and the blue region are successively formed. The method of manufacturing the color filter layer comprises steps of: firstly, coating a red resin layer on the substrate to cover the whole substrate; secondly, detecting the gray tone on the perimeter zone of the substrate by an exposure machine, since an area where the alignment mark is located is thicker than other area of the substrate, the area where the alignment mark is located has a gray tone significantly different from that of the other area of the substrate, thereby the alignment mark is identified and aligned to a respective alignment mark on a mask; thirdly, exposing and developing the red resin layer to form a red region; and similarly, thereafter, successively forming the green region and the blue region on the substrate. In this way, the entire color filter layer is formed.
In order that the red region, the green region and the blue region formed on the substrate have the same thickness, amounts of the red resin, the green resin and the blue resin coated on the substrate are gradually reduced.
In the above method of manufacturing the color filter layer, during coating the resin (the red resin, the green resin and the blue resin are all referred to as the resin herein) on the substrate, since the resin has fluidity and viscosity, the resin coated on the alignment mark may flow to other positions on the substrate, it causes the thickness of resin on the top of the alignment mark uneven. Generally, the less the amount of the resin is coated, the more resin flows to the other positions, and the more uneven the resin on the top of the alignment mark becomes, causing the thickness of the area where the alignment mark is located become more uneven. Since the gray tone of the alignment mark is determined by the thickness of the area where the alignment mark is located, the gray tone of the alignment mark is not uniform if the thickness of the area where the alignment mark is located is not even. As a result, it may cause that the alignment mark cannot be identified by the exposure machine.

Color filter substrate and method of manufacturing the same, display apparatus

BEIJING BOE DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.