A method and a device for sorting identification objects is described, wherein identification objects are fed in a defined sequence, one after the other, to a first transfer position and inspected for defects. Identification objects identified as defect-free are transferred in the first transfer position by a first transfer arrangement to a transfer buffer, and identification objects identified as defective are transported away by a first transport arrangement. The defect-free identification objects are then fed to a first magazine, which is then transported to a second transfer position by a second transport arrangement. The first magazine is then aligned in a first position with a first buffer of a rotatable sorting arrangement, and the defect-free identification objects following the defective identification objects are transported by the first transport arrangement to the second transfer position and transferred by a second transfer arrangement to the first buffer.

In the personalisation of identification objects, these objects are inspected for defects after the personalisation or after other processing steps. Personalised identification objects have, for example, identification numbers (e.g. insurance number, staff number, membership number, etc.) as well as the name and address of a person or a picture of the person associated with the corresponding data. In addition, identification objects may also have a chip or a magnetic strip, on which chip or magnetic strip person-specific data (e.g. age, address, department, access authorisation, account number, etc.) or other data are stored. For a plurality of identification objects, the data are collected in a so-called job.
Identification objects of a production lot which comprises all the identification objects of a job have a defined sequence after the personalisation. The identification objects are then also to be fed in this sequence to a magazine. If, however, in an inspection of the identification objects it is found that an identification object is defective, i.e. that either the chip and/or the magnetic strip has not been written on or has been incorrectly written on, or the number or name is not readable or the picture not adequately displayed, a new identification object which replaces the defective one is produced in a processing station upstream of the inspection. The defective identification object is discarded after the inspection.
The difficulty arising here is that the new identification object replacing the defective identification object is fed after the identification objects of the production lot. However, the new identification object has to occupy the position of the defective identification object in the sequence of the identification objects.
Therefore, new identification objects replacing defective identification objects have to be inserted into the defined sequence of the production lot in such a way that the identification objects can be transferred in the defined sequence to a magazine.

Method and device for sorting identification objects


A heat exchanger block including at least two heat exchangers each including a pair of longitudinal headers with tubes extending between the headers, at least some of which are aluminum cast parts. Adjacent heat exchangers are detachably connected at adjacent ends of their headers wherein one of the adjacent headers includes a recessed portion in the adjacent end and the other of the adjacent headers includes a flange receivable in the recess of the one header. Matching holes extend through the flange and the one header end, and a fastener extends through the matching holes in the ends of at least one set of adjacent headers. Shroud attachments are along a longitudinal wall of at least one of the longitudinal headers.

Heat exchanger blocks are known, for example, from European Patent Application 0 515 924 A, in which multiple heat exchangers are screwed to each other in a manner not further shown, with the collecting tank or header for the coolant cooler integrated in the collecting tank or header for the oil cooler. Detachably assembled heat exchanger blocks are advantageous because detachable connection of the heat exchangers can be relatively stable, with no additional frame parts, rails, or the like being required. However, such connections can be difficult in a variety of applications, for example when the heat exchanger block consists of heat exchangers which are different in size, configuration and/or purpose.
DE 4 009 726 A1 and also in DE 195 09 654 A1 are also material prior art for heat exchanger blocks. For example, DE 195 09 654 A1 show use of two common (i.e., one-piece) collecting tanks or headers which are allocated to the different heat exchangers. While this may be advantageously used with heat exchanger blocks in which the heat exchangers do not vary in size, it also poses problems when the heat exchanger block is to be assembled from heat exchangers of different sizes. Further, the heat exchangers in DE 195 09 654 A1 also appear not to be thermally separated from each other, and as a result the heat from one heat exchanger can readily reach the adjacent heat exchanger, which is not desirable in many cases (e.g., where the heat exchangers are intended to operate in different temperature ranges).
A heat exchanger block consisting of a water cooler and an oil cooler is disclosed in 1946 U.S. Pat. No. 2,505,790, in which the two coolers are joined in the region of the narrow sides of the collecting tanks or headers, either detachably by screws through protruding shoulders, or by undetachably joining the sides (i.e., in one variant depicted there, two collecting tanks are combined as a single part, which was fastened detachably on the tube plate). A profiled support is arranged (see its FIGS. 1-2) as a single part between the narrow sides of the collecting tanks or headers, which support extends between the opposite collecting tanks and is additionally screwed to the long walls of the collecting tanks. The design layout of the connection appears to be demanding and no longer timely. Moreover, the profiled support hampers the development of the standardized joining technique.
The present invention is directed toward overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above.


A shielded connector achieving sufficient contact load between a shielded conductor and a crimp portion of an outer conductor shell without influence such as deformation of cross sections on signal wires when the crimp portion is crimped onto the conductor, and enhanced pull-out strength of a shielded cable against the shell. The shell includes a tubular connection portion having an arc-shaped cross section and arranged to be inserted into the conductor end portion exposed by stripping off a sheath portion at the cable end portion, shielded conductor crimping portions opposed to the connection portion and arranged to be crimped onto the conductor end portion into which the connection portion has been inserted, and fitting spaces provided to an inside of the conductor crimping portions at positions opposed to the tubular connection portion. Upper ends of the connection portion and the conductor are inserted into the spaces during crimping process.

Generally, a shielded twisted-pair wire called STP has a shielded conductor in which a twisted wire of two signal wires is used. It is characterized in that the two signal wires are arranged to be adjacent to each other by being twisted so that a loop is formed at which a magnetic field of opposite polarities is generated and the thus-generated polarities are cancelled with each other, whereby an influence of electromagnetic induction can be reduced. It is known that if the wire is covered with a shielded conductor, the wire radiates less electromagnetic induction noise to the outside and receives less noise from the outside, and therefore, the wire is widely used as a LAN cable for high-speed transmission.
This kind of shielded twisted-pair wire is usually subjected to terminal processing and is connected to a dedicated connector called a modular connector. In recent years, there is a case in which a vehicle-mounted network of an electronic appliance such as a vehicle-mounted car navigation system is provided by using this kind of shielded twisted-pair wire.
An example of a shield connection between a shielded conductor of the shielded twisted-pair wire and an outer conductor shell of a shielded connector usually used in an automobile or others is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-open Publication No. Hei07-018379.


A current rectifier-excited synchronous electrical machine includes a rotor defining an axis of rotation. The rotor includes a rotor shaft, a stator housing, and a central disk. The rotor shaft is mounted in the stator housing. The central disk extends radially outward from the rotor and defines an outer circumference. At least one ring-shaped pole structure is secured to the disk outer circumference and disposed coaxial to the axis of rotation. The pole structure includes a plurality of permanent magnets, soft iron elements and insulators. The permanent magnets and soft iron elements are disposed in interleaved fashion. The insulators are formed of magnetically and electrically nonconductive material and are disposed between each of the magnets and iron elements. The magnets, iron elements and insulators are disposed in two side-by-side rows. Each pole structure is opposed by a stator assembly comprising an outside stator and an inside stator. The outside stator is disposed radially outward of the pole structure, and the inside stator is disposed radially inward of the pole structure. The outside and inside stators are armature elements of a general U-shape defining a pair of ends disposed adjacent and facing the pole structure. A single armature winding operably excites the stator. The armature winding is disposed only in one of the outside stator and inside stator, and the other of the outside and inside stator is void of a winding.

The invention concerns an electrical machine, specifically a rectifier-energized synchronous machine on the transversal flow principle. A machine designed according to this operating principle is known from DE-PS 37 05 089.
The so-called transversal flow concept is based on exciting the stator field not in the longitudinal direction of the machine--i.e., parallel to the axis of rotation of the rotor--but in peripheral direction, that is, along the direction of movement as the rotor rotates. To that end, the rotor has at least a pole structure of two side-by-side rows of permanent magnets alternately magnetized in peripheral direction and soft iron elements, the two rows being separated by an intermediate layer of magnetically and electrically nonconductive material. In principle, this pole structure is of drum shape.
The stator consists essentially of two parts, namely an outer stator arranged radially outside the pole structure and an inside stator arranged radially within the pole structure. Each stator part features soft iron armature elements which essentially are fashioned U-shaped and whose open shanks are opposed in magnets of the rotors, from radially inside or radially outside, across an air gap. The prior machine features for excitation, for each stator part, an annular winding extending in peripheral direction.
With this arrangement characterized by a simple winding structure and with a direction of magnetic flux extending transverse to the direction of movement, high power densities can be achieved, especially when selecting small pole pitches. The electrical lead to the two annular windings of the stator halves must be passed through the armature elements. For removal of the heat accuring in the windings there are as well only the spaces between the armature elements available. On the inside stator, however, the spaces between the armature elements are at identical pole number and smaller radius considerably smaller than on the outside stator. Thus, the space conditions are especially unfavorable for the inside stator, entailing problems in the feed line design, winding structure and assembly of the inside stator.


The process comprises delivering a spray solution comprising at least one solute in a solvent to a spray-drying apparatus, using a flash nozzle to atomize the spray solution into droplets within the spray-drying apparatus to remove at least a portion of the solvent from the droplets to form a plurality of particles, and collecting the particles. The spray solution is directed to a heat exchanger, thereby increasing the temperature of the spray solution to a temperature T2, wherein T2 is greater than T1. The flash nozzle comprises a central tube through which the spray solution is delivered and an outer tube through which a sweep gas is delivered. The central tube may have a first outer diameter at an inlet and a second outer diameter at an outlet, wherein the first outer diameter is greater than the second outer diameter.

The use of spray drying to produce powders from fluid feed stocks is well known, with applications ranging from powdered milk to bulk chemicals and pharmaceuticals. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,187,617 and Mujumbar et al., Drying 91, pages 56-73 (1991). See also Masters, Spray Drying Handbook, pages 263-268 (4th edition, 1985). The use of spray drying to form solid amorphous dispersions of drugs or active agents and concentration-enhancing polymers is also known. See commonly owned U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,763,607 and 6,973,741, which are incorporated herein by reference.
When it is desired to form a spray-dried product in which the drug or active agent is amorphous, it is desirable to have the active agent fully dissolved in the spray solution when it is atomized into droplets. Specifically, when it is desired to form a spray-dried product in which the amorphous active agent is dispersed in one or more excipients, it is generally desired to have at least a part and often all of the excipients also dissolved in the spray solution. In such cases, the throughput of a conventional spray-drying process is often limited by the amount of active agent and excipient that can be dissolved in the spray solution. It is generally known that the solubility of many substances, such as active agents and excipients, often increases as the temperature of the solvent is increased. However, industry avoids using elevated temperatures when using organic solvents, due to the inherent dangers and safety concerns when processing organic solvents, which are often flammable at high temperatures. In addition, conventional spray-drying processes avoid use of elevated temperatures out of concern for the thermal stability of the solute—degradation of the solute (e.g., an active agent and/or an excipient) can lead to unwanted breakdown products in the particles produced.
Because of this, conventional spray-drying solutions are generally kept at or near room temperature when entering the spray nozzle. This limits the throughput of the process due to the often low solubility of the solute(s) in the solvents used. In addition, when the solubility of the solute in the spray solution is low, the solute is often dissolved to near its solubility limit to achieve as high a throughput as possible. The spray-dried products obtained from such solutions are often not homogeneous. Finally, conventional spray-dried processes often produce products that suffer from not being homogeneous because the rate of solvent removal is not sufficiently fast, and broad ranges of particle sizes are produced because the atomization means produces a wide range of droplet sizes.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0248117A1 describes the production of solid solutions containing poorly-soluble active substances using a spray-drying process utilizing short-term heating and rapid drying. The process avoids organic solvents by utilizing a feed stream that is an aqueous suspension of the active. The aqueous suspension is heated to allow dissolution of the active in the spray solution. However, this process is limited to actives that have a high solubility in water at elevated temperature.
What is needed is a spray-drying process that results in improved properties of the spray-dried product, such as a higher degree of homogeneity and more uniform particle size, and that improves the throughput of spray-drying equipment while spraying solutions of a solute, and provides a safe, reproducible process to produce high-quality product. Such a process promises to increase the quality and decrease manufacturing costs for spray-dried products.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

High-temperature spray drying process and apparatus


To provide a vehicle information transmitting device capable of resolving the bothersome that occurs when the light is strong. According to the present embodiment, a plurality of light sources 10a is arranged in an array form of plural rows or plural columns in the light source panel 10 so that light can be irradiated in a horizontal direction (right and left direction) and vertical direction (height direction, up and down direction). The light source panel 10 includes a diffusion plate 10b and a shaft member 10c for entirely or partially adjusting the transmitting degree (blurring degree of light) of the light of the light source 10a in association with the arrangement position of the light source 10a, and a plurality of springs 10d that plays the role of a fail safe for maintaining the distance between the light source 10a and the diffusion plate 10b in a maximum state at the time of malfunctioning.

Patent Literature 1 discloses a vehicle displaying device that reflects the light of an LED on a front window glass to transmit the information to a driver. Patent Literature 2 discloses a vehicle drive supporting system that notifies a driver of danger by irradiating light of a light source installed in the vehicle to a position on a front glass surface corresponding to the detected position of danger at the exterior of the vehicle as the light reflecting on the background of the front glass.
Other conventional art literatures include patent Literatures 3 to 5. Patent Literature 3 discloses a vehicle head-up displaying device that irradiates the light of the LED on the front window through a diffusion plate. Patent Literature 4 discloses a vehicle displaying device that lowers the alarm level of an alarm when a driver confirms the alarm displayed on the window shield. Patent Literature 5 discloses a vehicle information presenting device that switches the display of the information to lower visual inducing property when the driver confirms the displayed information.


A content providing device may receive an indication to stream real-time content. The real-time content may include content captured by the content providing device. The content providing device may identify a dynamic content address, associated with the content providing device, to be used by a content receiving device to access the real-time content. The dynamic content address may identify an address of the content providing device from which the real-time content is to be streamed. The content providing device may provide the dynamic content address. The content providing device may receive, from the content receiving device, a request to access the real-time content, via the dynamic content address, based on providing the dynamic content address. The content providing device may stream the real-time content to the content receiving device, using the dynamic content address, based on receiving the request.

Streaming media may refer to multimedia content (e.g., audio, video, streaming text, etc.) that is constantly received by and presented to an end user while being delivered by a provider. A client media player may begin playing the multimedia content before an entire file, containing the multimedia content, has been transmitted to and/or received by the client media player.

Mobile-to-mobile streaming of real-time content for presentation by an output device


This application provides a network configuration method, apparatus, and system. The method includes: determining, based on a mapping relationship, that a first data node in a first YANG data model corresponds to a second data node in a second YANG data model, where the first data node and the second data node include a same indication operation, and the mapping relationship includes a correspondence between a data node in the first YANG data model and a data node in the second YANG data model; and generating a first packet based on the second data node.

YANG is a data modeling language. Modeling may be performed on configuration data of a network configuration protocol (NETCONF), state data, remote procedure call, network management protocol event notification, and the like by using the YANG language. A NETCONF and a YANG data model may be used to implement automatic operations on a network device.
An automatic network configuration system includes a control device and a network device. The NETCONF data model and the YANG data model are loaded on each of the control device and the network device, and a user automatically configures the network device by using the control device. In a practical application process, the YANG data model may be defined by each organization, so that there are a plurality of types of YANG data models in the industry. Therefore, the YANG data model loaded on the control device may be different from the YANG data model loaded on the network device. When the YANG data model on the control device is different from the YANG data model on the network device, the user cannot perform automatic network configuration on the network device by using the control device. Currently, a staff member usually learns the YANG data model on the network device and the YANG data model on the control device, to write a translation script between the YANG data model on the network device and the YANG data model on the control device, and then perform network configuration on the network device by using the control device.
However, to manually write the translation script, the staff member needs to first thoroughly learn the YANG data models. In addition, a speed of manually writing the translation script is very low. Consequently, efficiency of conversion between the YANG data models is low, and then efficiency of network configuration is low.

Network configuration method, apparatus, and system


A system and method for automatically advertising items put on display, as well as protecting those items against theft. The system and method include an event sensor associated with the item and connected to a monitoring and alarm transmitter for initiating an advertising experience on an associated and local graphic display whenever the item is manipulated or approached by a patron. Should the item be removed or taken from its display stand, a wireless alarm is automatically transmitted to a receiver of an authorized person. The system and method also perform a logging function when a patron approaches the item or removes it without taking it away. The system and method also include the ability to provide power to electronic items that are on display.

1. Field of Invention
The current invention relates generally to displaying of items for merchandising purposes and more specifically to a system and method for displaying items on a counter or some other structure in a commercial environment and providing a graphic display of information relating to the items at the counter or other structure so that persons approaching or touching such items can receive information relevant to the item, while protecting the item from theft.
2. Description of Related Art
The surveillance of freely presented objects to protect them against theft by means of a sensor that is connected to a monitoring and alarm device via an electrical line is known in the art. Such items are commonly displayed on a counter or other structure for viewing by prospective purchasers. When the line or the anti-theft installation is manipulated or the sensor is removed, the monitoring and alarm device sets off an audible and visual alarm. Moreover, sales-promoting systems are known using, for example, endless-loop audiovisual advertising. They suffer however from the disadvantage of not allowing perfectly timed advertising geared to the specific information needs, accordingly resulting in high coverage losses. It has been proposed to provide a method and an apparatus of the type initially referred to, which enables specific, product-related advertising while at the same time providing for reliable surveillance of the displayed object and requiring a comparatively small outlay particularly in equipment and installation, by providing an audible alarm at the counter or a visual alarm at the display device when the item is attempted to be removed. The product information about the item on display is by means of audiovisual devices, since this allows a comprehensive information in a particularly intensive, fast and effective way. The audiovisual product information may be output preferably by means of a product information device including a video data base with a digital player and a connected visual display unit for visual display and, as the case may be, a loudspeaker and/or headset for listening.
Typically, a free presentation includes a plurality of objects. When, as a further action, events are counted and/or date and/or time of the day are saved, the detections may be stored with date and time of the day for later reference in statistical analyses in order to obtain information about the attractiveness of the object put on display. For this purpose, the monitoring and alarm device includes a storage memory for storing the event count and/or date and/or time of the event.
In the absence of a current event being detected, no product-related promotion will be shown, instead general advertising may be shown in the meantime. This may include manufacturer advertising of the displayed object or market advertising. These advertising periods as well as the aforementioned statistical data obtained may be evaluated and/or sold to the manufacturers, for example.
Particularly electronic products in the fields of information technology and audio/video equipment are as a rule freely presented in substantial quantities. When a theft alarm is set off, it is therefore difficult to be able to locate the site of the theft promptly.
Therefore, it may be useful when, in the case of a theft, an audible alarm is set off and an at least visual alarm concerning the object to be secured is produced by the device provided for audiovisual product information.
In the case of a theft alarm it is thus possible to output on the visual display unit associated with the stolen object a product-related alarm notification, thereby enabling the site of the theft to be located promptly. Using the same infrastructure, it is also possible to place the freely presented items under surveillance, allowing a fast, product-related visualization of the alarm on the one hand and promotion of the items on the other hand, which results in significant cost reductions in investment and the obtainment/sale of statistical data. The logging sensor is also capable of tripping further promotional actions including, for example, actions that also address the remaining sense organs, such as scents, wind and the like. The sensor of the logging device may be a motion sensor. It operates to start the product information when a prospective buyer approaches or stands in front of the item on display. No additional action is required in this case. However, the possibility also exists for the sensor of the logging device to be a removal sensor. In this event the product information is not started until the prospective buyer takes the item in his/her hand, showing an apparent interest in it. False activations as may be caused by a passing customer are thereby avoided. In either event, the product information is activated when the prospective buyer is within a predetermined range in the region of the displayed item.
The sensor of the logging device may be a switch, in particular a mechanical or capacitive or inductive or optoelectronic or magnetic switch. Particularly advantageously, the sensor of the logging device is part of the anti-theft sensor arrangement, because this enables multiple use to be made of existing equipment. Moreover, the anti-theft sensor arrangement preferably includes a sensor affixed to the item to be secured, which sensor is connected to the monitoring and alarm device through a cable wound on a cable retractor, with the sensor of the logging device being configured to detect when the wound-up cable is being pulled off the cable retractor. The cable retractor provides for a "neat" presentation. The sensor may be configured as a magnetic switch comprising a reed contact mounted on the enclosure of the cable retractor and a magnet fitted to the pull-out type cable. In this arrangement it is suitable for the magnet fitted to the cable to be constructed as a cable stop resting against an abutment with the cable in roughly wound-up condition. Such a sensor arrangement affords, among other things, the advantage of being able to be retrofitted with ease.
While the aforementioned apparatus and method are primarily concerned with the securing of items of merchandise, they may also find utility in exhibitions, galleries, for example, to provide the viewer with explanations/information, and, on the other hand, in the securing of the exhibits, such as paintings, against theft. The theft detection sensor may be affixed preferably to the frame or the like, while the logging sensor is preferably a motion sensor that, on recording a viewer's presence, starts the output of information.
As should be appreciated by those skilled in the art, that while the foregoing proposed method and apparatus appears generally suitable for its purposes, it still leaves something to be desired from the standpoint of effective advertising and promotion of the items. In this regard, while the provision of an audible alarm at the counter (or even a visual alarm on the display device on or adjacent the counter), may have the effect of deterring or preventing theft, it creates a negative atmosphere, e.g., other potential customers in the vicinity of the display may be frightened or otherwise put off by a sounding alarm indicating a theft has occurred. Thus, a need exists for a system and method which provides the advantages of enabling persons to readily examine an item, to receive information relevant to that item when they pick up or touch the item, while providing against theft by producing a wireless signal to authorized personnel located remotely from the display.
All references cited herein are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

System and method for securing and displaying items for merchandising


A device and method for retrieving a stent from the vessel of a patient includes a catheter which is formed with a central lumen that defines a passageway having a diameter. A deformable distal tip is attached to the catheter to establish an extension of the passageway. In the operation of the device, the distal tip is initially maintained in a first configuration wherein the stent can be received into and through the passageway. While the distal tip is maintained in this first configuration, a portion of the stent to be retrieved is withdrawn into the passageway of the distal tip. The distal tip is then distended or deformed into a second configuration wherein the diameter of the passageway is reduced to grip the stent. The catheter and the gripped stent are then retrieved from the vessel of the patient.

Many kinds of stents are quite frequently used in cardio-vascular surgery for the purpose of providing a supporting structure for anatomical vessels. More specifically, stents are often placed at the site of a stenosis in a vessel to establish and maintain the patency of the vessel. This, of course, may be necessary in order to allow for the continued flow of blood through the vessel. Not surprisingly, the deployment and accurate placement of a stent in the vessel of a patient requires a great deal of skill.
As difficult as it may be to deploy and emplace a stent, the effort required to retrieve a misplaced stent can be equally as difficult, if not more so. To appreciate this, first consider how a stent is placed in a vessel such as an artery. Typically, the stent is deployed into the vessel of a patient with the stent mounted over the balloon of a balloon catheter. As so mounted, the stent is passed through a previously positioned guiding catheter and to the desired location in the vessel. Actual placement of the stent in the vessel is then accomplished by extending the stent and balloon catheter beyond the distal end of the guiding catheter where the balloon can then be inflated at the target site. This balloon inflation extends the stent and then separates the stent from the balloon upon balloon deflation. At this point, if, as sometimes can happen, trouble is encountered in delivering the stent to the target site prior to deployment, the stent should be retrieved. The retrieval of a stent from a body vessel necessarily requires the engagement of a retrieval instrument with the stent. Ideally, because the placement catheter is already in place, the stent can be withdrawn into the placement catheter and then removed from the vessel without stent dislodgement. Engagement of the placement catheter with the stent, however, can be troublesome. Specifically, during withdrawal of the stent into the placement catheter, it can happen that the stent snags on the catheter. Most often, this snagging occurs at or near the distal end of the placement catheter. Further, the problem can be aggravated by the presence of a relatively soft distal tip which is typically attached to the distal end of the catheter to reduce trauma to the patient.
Should the stent become snagged or the distal end of the catheter, the balloon, which has only the ability to expand the stent, will be of little value in retrieving the stent. On the other hand, the present invention recognizes that the placement catheter may, itself, be helpful in accomplishing the task of retrieving the stent.
In light of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device for retrieving a stent from the vessel of a patient which can grip onto and hold the stent during its removal from the vessel. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a device for retrieving a stent from the vessel of a patient which is simple to use, relatively easy to manufacture and comparatively cost effective.


The field of the invention relates to system and methods for video compression, and more particularly to systems and methods for video compression for low bit rate and low latency video communications. In one embodiment, a video communication system includes a first electronic device enabled to receive and display video data and a second electronic device configured to transmit video data to the first electronic device and be communicatively accessible by the first electronic device. The video data includes a plurality of frames, each frame having a plurality of macroblocks. The second electronic device includes a video encoder having a sub-system configured to progressively refresh the macroblocks of the frames in substantially uniform segments, determine whether there are macroblocks encoded with data from an unrefreshed macroblock in the segment last refreshed, and refresh the macroblocks encoded with data from an unrefreshed macroblock in the segment last refreshed.

Transmitting real-time video data over a wireless network is a challenge because wireless networks typically have lower bandwidth and experience high bit error rates due to factors such as long and short fades, shadowing and environmental noise, none of which are conducive to the transmission of time sensitive data, such as real-time video. A common approach to compensate for these factors is to compress the video data, thus reducing the amount of data being transmitted. However, existing compression schemes, such as those defined by the Motion Picture Expert Group (MPEG), tend to aggravate the errors caused by transmission by propagating the errors throughout the video data.
Typical video compression schemes generally involve storing only changes from one video frame to another. These are commonly referred to as predictive video coding schemes, wherein the coding of one frame depends upon information from another. These schemes tend to introduce further data loss at least in part because if errors are introduced into the coding of the first frame, the error propagates to others due to the interdependency between one frame and another. This is generally referred to as "temporal error propagation." This may cause noticeably low quality video frames.
One approach known in the art to stop the propagation of errors is to refresh or intra-code frames, which are referred to as intra-frames ("I-frames") within the video data. An I-frame is a single frame of digital content that is encoded independent of the frames that precede and follow it, i.e., all of the data needed to display that frame by itself is stored. These frames are typically interspersed with inter-frames, also referred to as predictive frames (P-frames), which are the frames that include changes compared to the previous frames and are interdependent between one another. Each I-frame is usually followed by a sequence of P-frames, and the group of frames are collectively known as a group of picture ("GOP"). One GOP is an independent decodable entity.
An advantage of using I-frames is that the propagation of errors terminates at the beginning of each GOP with the I-frame. However, for low-bandwidth (especially wireless) video transmission (e.g. 128 kbit/s) environments, the use of I-frames creates obstacles. Because I-frames are self-contained, I-frames require a larger number of bits for representation, compared to P-frames. This, in turn, may cause a higher delay in transmission. To compensate for this delay, subsequent P-frames are skipped, which may cause "motion jerkiness" in the video. Therefore, in most encoders designed for wireless use, only one I-frame is used at the beginning of the sequence, followed by all P-frames. However, because only one I-frame is used, errors introduced into the data during encoding may propagate throughout the encoding of the P-frames, jeopardizing the fidelity of the decoded video. Thus, some form of data refreshing, i.e., intra-coding, may be required to take place continually to halt the propagation of errors, particularly temporal errors.
Over the past few years, researchers have proposed a variety of approaches to increase the robustness of low bit-rate video communications, such as those described in "Error control and concealment for video communication: A review" by Y. Wang and Q.-F. Zhu, Proc. IEEE, vol. 86, pp. 974-997, May 1998 and "Resynchronization of Motion Compensated Video Affected by ATM Cell Loss" by P. Haskell and D. Messerschmitt, Proc. International Conference of Acoustic, Speech, and Signal Processing, San Francisco, pp. 545-548, March 1992. One approach involves selectively refreshing, or intra-coding, a number of macroblocks ("MBs"), which are essentially blocks of a frame, which can have any size but are often 16×16 pixels in size. Intra-MBs, similar to I-frames, are self-contained blocks of data that do not depend upon information from MBs in other frames. Subsequent MBs may then be inter-MBs, which include only changes from the corresponding MBs in the previous frame video frame. This approach avoids the use and the disadvantages of I-frames; however, some techniques randomly select MBs to intra-code, while others indiscriminately intra-code MBs without any type of error monitoring system. Thus, these techniques tend to still allow the propagation of errors throughout the frames. Accordingly, an improved video compression system is desirable.

Systems and methods for video compression for low bit rate and low latency video communications

THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA


An atherectomy system for coring, ingesting and removing plaque from within a patient's vessel having a flexible guide wire defining a void for holding plaque during the atherectomy process and for accurately guiding a flexible catheter in the vessel. Coupling means at the proximal end of the flexible catheter for coupling it to drive means. The insertion of the guidewire may be assisted by suspending a body part in a decompression chamber to dilate the vessel.

With age a large percentage of the population develops atherosclerotic arterial obstructions causing a diminished blood circulation and blood clots 7hich further diminish or block the blood flow. When this process occurs in a coronary artery it is referred to as a heart attack. Commonly such conditions are treated surgically by grafting a bypass, or by less invasive procedures such as angioplasty or atherectomy. These less invasive procedures are less traumatic to the patient, are usually performed under local anesthesia, a brief hospitalization is usually sufficient and their direct and indirect costs are a fraction as compared to by-pass surgery. A major shortcoming of angioplasty is a high rate of re-closure of the artery or "restenosis". Angioplasty does not remove the obstruction but instead it radially displaces the atherosclerotic plaque and often tears the arterial wall. This triggers excessive proliferation of smooth muscle cell in the medial arterial layer (hyperplasia) and blood clotting, which are the major causes of restenosis of the newly created lumen (neolumen). Additionally elastic recoil of the arterial wall partially negates the effect of angioplasty.
An objective of the present invention minimizes restenosis by: A) Extracting the plaque, thereby minimize the elastic recoil B) Forming a smooth continuous lumen, thereby minimizing blood clotting C) Minimizing injury to the arterial wall, thereby minimizing hyperplasia D) Applying restenosis inhibiting drugs to the atherectomy site which inhibit blood clotting and hyperplasia proliferation. Drugs which are currently accepted, or being evaluated, for such purpose are, for example: 1) Hirudin, which blocks thrombin-platelet receptors preventing platelet aggregation and subsequent release of platelet derived growth factor (PDGF) which stimulates hyperplasia 2) Low-molecular weight heparin, the non-anticoagulant fragment of heparin believed to directly alter the smooth muscle cells' life cycle 3) Glucocorticoids, which are steroids believed to inhibit the production of PDGF-like material by smooth muscle cells and the radial migration of smooth muscle cells through the arterial wall 4) Angiopeptin, a peptitde analogue of Somatostatin believed to inhibit smooth muscle cell production of a hyperplasia causing growth factor 5) Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, which is believed to inhibit hyperplasia 6) Anti-mitogenics, which directly inhibit hyperplasia 7) Antiplatelets antibodies, which reduce the release of PDGF 8) Endotilin neutralizer which inhibits the vasoconstriction and cell proliferation caused by Endotilin which is secreted by injured endothal cells. It can be appreciated that there is on-going research in this area which periodically suggests that additional drugs would fit this category of restenosis inhibiting drugs, and such drugs may also be applied to the atherectomy site by this system. Additional information on such research may be found in the abstracts published by the Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor covering a conference held in May 17-18, 1990 Titled the Restenosis Summit II.
Another objective is to provide a system that can be made in large and small diameters, down to approximately 1 mm (millimeter) and a length of approximately a meter, to reach and enter small and remote arteries. A further objective is to utilize the physician's existing skills accessing the artery and placing a guide wire through the obstruction.
The above and other objectives of the invention will become apparent from the following discussion and the accompanying drawings.


A method and system for describing image region based on color histogram is provided. The method for describing an image region based on color histogram comprising: a color quantization step for quantizing said image region into a quantized color region, wherein a specific color range and colors outside the specific color range are differently treated in the quantizing; a color histogram calculation step for computing one or more color histograms according to said quantized color region; and a histogram assembling step for generating a unique vector by using said one or more color histograms.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to image processing, more specifically, to a method and system for describing an image region based on color histogram, a method and system for registering an object from one or more images, and a method and system for detecting an object from an image based on the registration.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image description technique is a basis for content-based image detection or content-based image retrieval. Since the visual feature of an image extracted automatically by a computer is dramatically different from the image content sensed by a human, the image description technique is needed for the computer to extract features from the image, which can be processed and used by the computer to distinguish one image from others.
In the prior art, traditional low-level visual features such as color, texture, shape and etc. can be used for image description. However, this invention mainly focuses on image description based on color information.
Image description based on color information is useful in a number of applications such as digital image libraries wherein the image description is used as a basis for image indexing and retrieval.
For the image description to be practical and effective, the outcome of extracting features (color information) from the image should be: (1) sufficient to distinguish between different images, (2) invariant to certain types of transformations of image, (3) insensitive to noise, (4) easy to compute.
However, image description based on color information is rarely applied to object detection, because the color feature is usually disturbed by many factors, such as light source, photosensitive devices of camera and etc. For example, in the image description method using color information as image feature as disclosed in US application published as U.S. Pat. No. 6,850,639, the color feature is disturbed by lighting and parameters setting (white balance, focal length, etc.) of camera. The same objects in images captured in different lighting or with different camera settings might not be distinguished from each other.
Therefore, there is a need for a technique that is capable of precisely describing an image region based on color information without being largely affected by lighting, camera setting and etc. Based on the image description technique of the present invention that are less affected by lighting, camera setting and etc., naturally, a high detection precision will be obtained.

Method and system for describing image region based on color histogram


This invention provides a process within an optimizing compiler for transforming code to take advantage of update instructions available on some computer architectures. On architectures which implement some form of autoindexing instructions or addressing modes, this process will improve the code generated for looping constructs which manipulate arrays in memory. The process is achieved by selecting memory referencing instructions inside loops for conversion to update forms, modifying those instructions to an update form available on a particular processor, and applying an offset compensation to other memory referencing instructions in the loop so as to enable the program to still address the appropriate locations while using the available autoindexing instructions. The improved compiler and compiler process enables the compiler to convert those program instructions that would otherwise convert to autoindexing instructions not supported by the processor to autoindexing instructions that are supported.

A compiler maps a higher-order computer language into an assembly or machine language. The higher-order computer language must be translated into machine language before it can be executed.
A compiler supports the analysis-synthesis paradigm. The source language is first analyzed into its lexical, grammatical, and semantic components, and after the completion of a number of phases is finally synthesized into functionally equivalent constructs in the target language. When compiling code for a computer program, optimization techniques are used within the compiler to improve the quality of the generated code. The improved quality relates to either a direct saving in the size of the code needed for the program or an increase in the execution performance of the program.
A typical compiler structure is shown in FIG. 1 and illustrates six major phases. The higher-order source code is input to the compiler and the resulting output is assembly code. Each compiler phase may have additional minor subphases. For example, it is not unusual in an optimizing compiler to divide the many optimization strategies into separate modules. If we remove the optimizer phase from the typical compiler structure, as shown in FIG. 1, then the intermediate level text is transformed into assembly language in a straight forward manner. Here the assembly language would not be as efficient with respect to execution time or storage space.
Consider the C computer program fragment as shown in FIG. 2. This portion of a computer program stores a value of zero into successive memory locations pointed to by the pointer p. The straight forward assembly code is shown in FIG. 3 for it target machine of a Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-11 computer. The first instruction updates the memory location with a value of zero, and the second instruction adjusts the memory pointer to the next memory location. The optimized assembly code is shown in FIG. 4 for the same target machine. Here this single instruction moves the value of zero into memory and then updates the pointer to the next memory location, taking advantage of the autoindexing capability of the PDP-11 architecture. This is an addressing mode that references a memory location and then adjusts the register used as the memory pointer. Some instruction architectures provide pre- and post-increment or decrement forms of memory referencing instructions. These instructions have the characteristic of referencing memory and modifying the contents of an address register used in the memory address calculation. The address register side effect is to automatically add or subtract a specified or implied amount to or from the amount in the address register. This class of memory referencing operation may be considered either as special instructions or addressing modes. These operations have been called `Update Instructions`, autoindexing operations, and autoincrement or autodecrement addressing modes. The autoincrement and autodecrement addressing modes provide automatic stepping of an index register value through a sequence of addresses and offer a significant increase in performance.
Some optimization strategies depend on a particular target machine or architectural feature such as autoindexing. The Digital Equipment Corp. VAX-11 and Motorola MC68000 have architectures with some form of autoindexing.
Other optimization strategies are designed specifically independent of the target architecture. An example is moving some computations from inside the bounds of a loop to the outside of the loop.
Source language features may also be designed to improve the quality of code, especially in the absence of optimization. For example, the use of pointers and the increment and decrement operators in the C language provide an alternative to using indexed arrays and indicate opportunities for autoindexing.

Method for improving the efficiency of arithmetic code generation in an optimizing compiler using machine independent update instruction generation

International Business Machines Corporation


A mud valve having a plug seat which is made of a resilient material, and which forms the seal at an angle of approximately 28.degree. from the vertical. The valve seat is formed with a matching 28.degree. inclination to mate with the resilient seat.

Mud Valves are a kind of valve which are used primarily as drain valves for large containers of liquid, such as the various tanks used in sewage treatment plants or the like. They are mounted flat upon one surface of a tank for holding fluids, typically inside the tank on the bottom, and are usually used to prevent or enable a liquid in the tank from draining into pipes.
Mud valves have long been known to the art. They have the advantage of being inexpensive and simple to operate, and, since they mount within the tank, can shut off the tank and allow removal and maintenance of the pipes leading to the tank without loss of liquid. Despite these advantages, mud valves have been declining in popularity in recent years.
In all figures, identical reference numbers refer to identical features.
The prior art mud valve, as illustrated in FIG. 3, has a circular frame 2 mounting flat upon the bottom of a tank 13 over an opening in the bottom. The center of the frame 2 is open, forming the valve opening 14, through which liquids may pass. The frame 2 has a valve seat 32 surrounding the valve opening 14 in the middle of the frame 2. A horseshoe-shaped yoke 1 is attached to the frame, typically by means of bolts 11, and extends above the frame, and perpendicular to it, up into the tank. A stem 3 extends through the yoke 6 above the center of the valve opening 14. The stem is free to rotate around its long axis. The bottom end of the stem extends into the center of horizontal circular plug 4. The plug 4 has a portion around its bottom edge which acts as a plug seat 31, matching the valve seat 32 on the frame 2. The plug 4 usually has flanges 6 which ride along the sides of the yoke 1 to prevent the plug 4 from turning relative to the yoke. The top end of the stem 3 is adapted to mate with a valve handle, perhaps by being attached to a hex-shaped cap 5 which will fit a wrench or the like.
In the "non-rising-stem" type mud valves shown in all of the figures, the portion 10 of the stem 3 which passes through the yoke 1 is not threaded, but the stem is threaded along its lower portion 10 where it mates with an extended part 7 of the plug which is threaded to match the stem. The stem is held into the yoke by a cap 9 bolted to the yoke 1. As the stem is turned, it remains in position relative to the yoke, but the plug is drawn vertically up or down by the threads on the stem, carrying the plug seat toward or away from the valve seat, and thus opening or closing the valve.
In an alternative "rising stem" design (not shown), the portion of the stem which passes through the yoke is threaded, but the plug itself is not threaded, so that the stem may turn freely within the plug (while remaining affixed to the plug for vertical movement). As the stem rises and falls, the plug is drawn up or down. It will be understood by one skilled in the art that this variation does not affect the operation of the seal, which is the focus of this invention.
The plug seat-to-valve seat seal, as shown in FIG. 4, has traditionally been nothing more than a flat seat area 42 upon which the a portion of the plug 41 is pressed. An improvement in this (FIG. 3) has the plug formed with a seat area 31 which tapers at 45.degree., mating with a recessed seat area 32 in the frame which also is tapered at 45.degree.. In all prior art designs of which the inventor is aware, both the valve seat and plug seat areas are made of a nonresilient material such as bronze or the like, for long wear.
This has caused mud valves to develop a reputation for leakage, as it is difficult to impossible to attain a bubble-tight seal with non-resilient seats and current valve designs.
With the increasing strictness of environmental controls, it has become more important to be able to shut off valves without leakage. Designers have been forced by this to abandon the simple, inexpensive mud valve in favor of more expensive and complicated in-line valves such as butterfly, plug or gate valves. These valves are capable of bubble-tight seals, but they must mount in piping, which means that the tank itself cannot be sealed off, as it could with an in-tank mud valve.
It is thus an object of this invention to provide a mud valve which is capable of a bubble-tight seal.
The prior art mud valves, whether flat sealed or 45 degree sealed, are also strictly unidirectional--that is, they seal against pressure from within the tank, but not against back pressure from the pipe.
It is thus a further object of the invention to provide a mud valve which is capable of a bidirectional seal.
Waterman Industries, Inc, of Exeter, Calif., has attempted to improve the valve and provide a bubble-tight seal by setting a resilient O-ring into a slot in the valve seat. This has the disadvantage of O-ring wear, makes the valve more susceptible to dirt in the seal, and adds the necessity of adding an appropriately sized slot into the seat, which greatly increases the expense of manufacturing the valve.
It is thus a further object of the invention to provide a mud valve which does not use O-rings or other separate inset seal elements.
Finally, the prior art mud valves with their nonresilient seals and flat or 45 degree seats, tended to require relatively high torques to effectuate the best seal of which they were capable.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a mud valve which will effect a bubble-tight seal with relatively low torque required.


The present invention intends to provide an acid type carboxylated cellulose nanofiber having a high viscosity in a low shear region, or to provide an acid type carboxylated cellulose nanofiber having a very short fiber length, and the acid type carboxylated cellulose nanofiber has a carboxy group at least in part of a constituent unit constituting a cellulose molecular chain, wherein a viscosity of water dispersion with a content from 0.95 to 1.05% by mass is 400 Pa·s or higher at a shear velocity from 0.003 to 0.01 s−1 at 30° C., or an average fiber length is from 50 to 500 nm and a ratio of fibers having a fiber length of 300 nm or shorter is 50% or higher.

When a cellulose raw material is treated in the copresence of 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidine-N-oxy radical (thereinafter, this is also called "TEMPO") and sodium hypochlorite being a cheap oxidant, the carboxy groups can be efficiently introduced onto the surface of the cellulose microfibril. When the cellulose to which the carboxy groups are introduced is processed in water by using a mixer or the like, highly viscous and transparent water dispersion of the cellulose nanofiber can be obtained.
Since the carboxy groups are introduced onto the surface of the cellulose nanofiber as described above, the reforming can be freely performed at these carboxy groups taking as starting points. In addition, since the cellulose nanofiber is in the form of dispersion liquid, the reforming can be also performed by blending it with a water-soluble polymer or by compounding it with an organic or an inorganic pigment. Furthermore, the cellulose nanofiber can be formed to a sheet or a fiber. Because of these characteristics, the development of the novel high-functional goods such as a high-functional packaging material, a transparent organic substrate member, a high-functional fiber, a separation membrane, and a regenerative medicinal material has been studied by applying the cellulose nanofiber thereto.
As one example of the novel high-functional goods, Patent document 1 disclosed a spray composition including the carboxylated cellulose fiber and water. Since the manufacturing process thereof does not involve a desalting process, the carboxylated cellulose fiber included in the spray composition described in the Patent document 1 is presumed to be sodium type salt in view of the manufacturing process.
With an aim to reduce an energy required for fibrillating the cellulose to which the carboxy groups are introduced, it was proposed to carry out an alkali hydrolysis treatment before the fibrillation treatment (see, for example, Patent document 2). Furthermore, with an aim to further reduce energy required for the fibrillation, in addition to the alkali hydrolysis treatment before the fibrillation treatment, it was proposed to carry out a viscosity lowering process (see, for example, Patent document 3).

Acid type carboxylated cellulose nanofiber


A display device includes a display panel and a parallax barrier bonded together with an adhesive layer made of a light-curing resin (for example, ultraviolet curing resin). The display device allows 3D display or multiple-image display. The parallax barrier includes a pattern-formed light-shielding layer on barrier glass. The parallax barrier has an area that does not include the light-shielding layer on the periphery portions thereof. Thus, with the display device including the parallax barrier and the display panel bonded together, peeling on adhesive planes of the parallax barrier and display panel is less likely to occur.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device including a display panel and a parallax barrier in combination and is capable of displaying different images towards a plurality of display directions, respectively.
2. Description of the Related Art
Display devices displaying different images towards a plurality of viewpoints have been proposed as 3D display devices in which an image generation unit and a viewing angle control unit such as a parallax barrier are used in combination. With these 3D display devices, as illustrated in FIG. 6, a certain viewing angle is provided by viewing angle control units 102 arranged outside image generation unit 101. The viewing angle control units 102 are provided for the right-eye image and left-eye image generated by image generation unit 101. Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 7, if the display is viewed from a certain observation area, only the images corresponding to each eye is visually perceived, and a 3D image is recognized by the observer.
Also, by combining the image generation unit and the viewing angle control unit, the use of the display device being able to display different images towards a plurality of viewpoints is not limited to such 3D displays. For example, it is also applicable for use in displays that display different images towards a plurality of observers (hereafter referred as multiple-image display). In other words, with 3D displays, as illustrated in FIG. 8A, the right-eye image and the left-eye image separated by the viewing angle, is observed by the observer's right-eye and left-eye, respectively. On the other hand, with multiple-image display, as illustrated in FIG. 8B, a first image and a second image separated by the viewing angle are observed by different observers, respectively.
FIG. 9 is a schematic cross sectional view illustrating an example of a display device in which an image generation unit and a viewing angle control unit are combined. The display device described in this diagram includes a display panel 110, a parallax barrier 120, a backlight 130, and polarizers 141 and 142. FIG. 9 illustrates a structure using a transmissive type liquid crystal display panel as a display panel 110.
The backlight 130, as described in FIG. 9, includes a light source 131 and a reflection plate 132, and by reflecting the light irradiated from a light source 131 with a reflection plate 132, light is irradiated towards a display panel 110.
The display panel 110 is an active-matrix type liquid crystal display panel, including a liquid crystal layer 113 sandwiched between two glass substrates 111 and 112 facing each other.
The pixels each, as described in FIG. 9, are arranged parallel to the extending direction of the data signal lines (not illustrated), with pixel column L for the left-side image display (image display towards the left side of the display device) and pixel column R for the right-side image display (image display towards the right side of the display device) arranged alternately.
Also, on the surfaces of the glass substrates 111 and 112, which face each other, an alignment film (not illustrated) is provided. The alignment film has been subjected to an alignment process in directions orthogonal to each other at right angles. Each alignment film has been rubbed in each direction parallel to the surface of the substrate. The polarizer 141 is provided on the side of the glass substrate 111 that faces the backlight 130. The polarizer 142 is provided on a displaying side of the parallax barrier 120 which is opposite to the side thereof which is opposite to (backlight 130).
The parallax barrier 120 includes a barrier glass 121 and a light-shielding layer 122. The light-shielding layer 122 is irradiated by the backlight 130, and by blocking a portion of the light transmitted through display panel 110, the light-shielding layer 122 is specific to the display images.
Also, the parallax barrier 120 and display panel 110 are bonded with a resin layer 151 with a certain space therebetween.
However, the conventional structure has a problem in that after the bonding of parallax barrier 120 and display panel 110, peeling of the parallax barrier 120 readily occurs. The explanation of the problem is as follows.
Firstly, the parallax barrier 120 is generally smaller in size than a bonding substrate of the display panel 110 to which the parallax barrier 120 is bonded, so that the parallax barrier 120 can be bonded together with the display panel 110 without protruding from an outer edge of the display panel 110 (in order to prevent hooking and cracks).
Also, a barrier pattern in parallax barrier 120 is required to be larger than or about the same size (area) as a display area of liquid crystal panel 110 (the area where pixels will be displayed). Therefore, with the conventional parallax barrier 120, the barrier pattern is fully formed over the whole parallax barrier 120.
However, in the conventional display device including the parallax barrier 120 and display panel 110 bonded together, as described in FIG. 10, peeling of parallax barrier 120 at the edge portions of the bonding surface occur. The reasons for this can be surmised as follows.
Firstly, the strength is different between the parallax barrier 120 with one substrate and the display panel 110 with two substrates bonded together. Furthermore, the parallax barrier 120 and display panel 110 are bonded by using resin layer 151 including an ultraviolet curing resin, and the resin layer 151 hardens by being irradiated by ultraviolet rays from above the parallax barrier 120. At this time, there is a portion in the resin layer 151 where ultraviolet rays inadequately irradiate due to the light-shielding layer 122 in the parallax barrier 120, and in this portion, resin layer 151 does not harden adequately and a lack in adhesion occurs.
After bonding the parallax barrier 120 and display panel 110, external influences such as heat cause strain due to the difference in thermal contraction rate between materials. If this strain is great, peeling occurs in the weakest portion of the bonding surface, in other words the edge portions of the bonding portions.
For example, if the polarizer 142 bonded with the parallax barrier 120 contracts, the barrier substrate 121 is pulled, thereby generating a warp at the edge portion of this barrier substrate 121. At this time, since the display panel 110 including two substrates bonded together has a certain strength, the display panel 110 is unlikely to be warped, but the adhesive layer 151 being the interface between the parallax barrier 120 and display panel 110 peels off.

Display device including a parallax barrier


A method and apparatus for input data selection for content addressable memory. In one embodiment, the apparatus includes an array of CAM cells, a select circuit adapted to generate a plurality of select signals each indicative of a segment of input data provided to the CAM apparatus, and switch circuitry including a plurality of programmable switch circuits each programmable to output a respective bit of the input data as a comparand bit for the array of CAM cells in response to one of the select signals.

Networks contain a collection of computing systems (e.g., clients and servers) that are interconnected by transmission lines to enable the transfer of data between them. A network typically includes multiple access points (e.g., routers and servers) that may switch and/or route data between transmission lines to transfer data from a source to a destination. Data is typically transmitted in the form of packets that are made up of smaller data cells. A packet is a unit of data that is routed between a source and a destination on a packet-switched network. When a file (e.g., e-mail, graphics, etc.) is sent from one place to another on a network, the file is divided into such smaller packets making them more efficient for transmission. The individual packets for a given file may travel different routes throughout networks with each packet containing both data and transmission information associated with the routing of data. As such, a packet may be described as having a payload containing the data, and one or more headers that contain the routing information (e.g., a destination address).
When all the packets have arrived at a destination, they are reassembled into the original file at the receiving end. Such a packet switching scheme is an efficient way to handle transmission on a connectionless network. This is in contrast to a circuit switching scheme where a connection (e.g., a voice connection) requires the dedication of a particular path for the duration of the connection.
A router is a device (e.g., hardware, firmware, software) that determines the next network segment to which a packet should be forwarded towards its destination. A router may be positioned at points within a network or where one network meets another, referred to as a gateway. A router may create and maintain tables of the available routes and their conditions for use with other information to determine the best route for a given packet. Typically, a packet may travel through a number of network points having routers before arriving at its destination.
When a data packet arrives at the input of a router, several lookups may be performed to determine the subsequent handling of the packet, as illustrated in FIG. 1. The lookups may include, for examples, where to send the packet next (Next Hop), the quality of service requirement (QoS), the Ethernet port address, etc. Consider, for example, a packet arriving at Router-A. Router-A needs to determine whether the packet is destined for local servers connected directly to Router-A, or if the packet should go to the next router on a route (Router-B) to a destination. Additionally, Router-A may assign a priority based on the destination address (DA) and the source address (SA) of the packet.
The packet header may first be parsed or processed to get the values from different fields (e.g., SA, DA, protocol type, QoS, etc) in order to perform the various lookups. A packet classification lookup, for example, may be performed using SA, DA and other relevant fields in the packet header. The Next Hop lookup, for example, may also be performed to determine whether the packet is meant for local servers or for Router-B. If the packet is destined for Router-B, the packet is then put in a queue for Router-B. If the packet is destined for a local server (e.g., Server-1 or Server-2), then a media access control (MAC) lookup is performed to send the packet to the appropriate server. In the preceding example, three lookups are necessary for sending the packet on its way: Packet Classification, Next Hop, and MAC. However, often there are other lookups performed on the packet header, with the number of lookups exceeding five or more.
Routers may use processors and content addressable memory (CAM) devices to perform the various lookups on packets. The CAM device can be instructed by a processor to compare a search key, also referred to as comparand data (e.g., packet header data), with data stored in its associative memory array, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The CAM simultaneously examines all of its entries and selects the stored data that matches the key.
When the entire CAM device, or blocks thereof, is searched simultaneously for a match of the stored data with the key comparand data, the CAM device indicates the existence of a match by asserting a match flag. Multiple matches may also be indicated by asserting a multiple match flag. The CAM device typically includes a priority encoder to translate the matched location into a match address or CAM index and outputs this address to a status register so that the matched data may be accessed. The priority encoder may also sort out which matching memory location has the top priority if there is more than one matching entry.
Data may be represented in the form of strings of binary digits ("bits") having a low ("0") logic state and a high ("1") logic state. Different types of CAMs may be used with different data formats. A binary CAM is designed to operate with "0" and "1" states, while a ternary CAM is designed to operate with "0", "1", and "don't care" states. The bits may be organized into groups such as a word (e.g., 64 or 72 bits wide) and stored in different segments of a CAM. The keys used for different data fields may have different word sizes, for example, the key for a Classification lookup may be 128 bits wide and the key for a Next Hop lookup may be 32 bits wide.
A router may include multiple CAMs, with each CAM having a different table or, alternatively, a single CAM having multiple blocks for each of the different tables, for performing the different lookups. For example, a router may include a 32 bit wide Next Hop CAM, a 128 bit Classification CAM, and a 48 bit MAC CAM. With routers having multiple CAMs, each of the multiple CAMs are typically connected to common buses that are used to communicate the various keys and other input and output data with each of the CAM devices. Similarly, with routers having a single CAM with multiple blocks, each of the blocks is accessed using common buses. Thus, lookups are typically performed sequentially before a packet is processed (e.g., routed to the next destination or classified). Because the buses are shared with so many input and output functions of all the CAMs or CAM blocks, many clock cycles are required to multiplex data on the bus. This generally limits the search rate and overall throughput of conventional CAM devices. As the number of ports, segments, or devices that are supported by routers and as the number of lookups increase, conventional CAM devices and architectures can undesirably limit the system's overall throughput.

Input data selection for content addressable memory


According to an aspect, there is provided a method of sending a message to a subject, the method comprising obtaining (30; 502) measurements of one or more physiological characteristics of a subject over time; determining (32; 504) a psychological state of the subject for a plurality of time periods from the measurements; and in the event that it is determined that the subject is in a psychological state of interest in a first time period, sending (34; 514) a message to the subject in a time period subsequent to the first time period in which it is determined that the subject is not in the psychological state of interest.

Applications (apps) are increasingly being used to track different aspects of our daily lives. One area of interest is apps that make people aware of their mental balance by measuring and monitoring their body, behaviour and mind data. The aim of such apps is to make people more aware of their stress levels via objective measured data (such as galvanic skin response and physical activity), as well as through the use of subjective data (such as user annotated logs of emotional state).
Such apps can track physiological characteristics such as the person's skin conductance, also known as the galvanic skin response, GSR, (i.e. sweat levels) and the person's physical activity (e.g. sitting, walking, running, cycling, in transport). The apps can also enable the person to log how they feel in daily moments (e.g. according to the type of activity that they are doing, their location and/or who they are with e.g. working at the office with colleagues, playing at home with children, cooking at home with a partner, etc).
Based on this data the user's mental balance can be calculated. The goal is to make the person more aware of moments of tension or relaxation that are experienced every day. This understanding might help the person to take control of the tense or stressed moments in a day, which might prevent repetitive short term stress moments from turning into long term stress issues.
One of the problems of determining mental balance through measures like GSR, is that although the measurements give information on the occurrence, duration and intensity of psychological states of interest (such as stressed or excited states), the underlying nature of the psychological state often cannot be determined from the data (for example, it is difficult to distinguish between the physiological readings of someone who is stressed and someone who is excited).
Therefore, to assign meaning to psychological data that is gained from physiological data, input (e.g. annotation) from the person is needed.

Method and apparatus for sending a message to a subject


A modular jack (100) has a housing (10), a magnetic module (200) having a printed circuit board (21), a first and a second set of terminals (26, 221) mounted to the printed circuit board. The magnetic module includes a set of toroidal coil units (2) having a first core (23), a second core (24) and a third core (25), a number of first wires (233) wound around the first core and the third core, and a second wire (243) wound around the second core and the third core.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a modular jack, and more particularly to a modular jack having improved magnetic module efficiently eliminating electromagnetic interference to signal transmitted therethrough.
2. Description of Prior Arts
U.S. Pat. No. 5,736,910 issued to Townsend et al on Apr. 7, 1998 discloses a modular jack mounted onto a mother printed circuit board and adapted for receiving a plug. The modular jack includes a housing defining a receptacle, a daughter printed circuit board attached to a rear portion of the housing, a first set of contacts mounted to the housing for engaging with the plug and a second set of contacts assembled to the printed circuit board for connecting to the mother printed circuit board. A plurality of groups of toroidal coil pairs are interposed between the first contacts and the second contacts for eliminating high frequency noise. Each toroidal coil pair has a first toroidal core functioning as a common mode filter, a second toroidal core functioning as a transformer. Each toroidal coil pair has at least a coil wound around the first toroidal core and the second toroidal core for electrically connecting the first core and the second toroidal cores together.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,641 issued to Sakamoto et al. disclose a modular jack to be mounted on a circuit board, and the modular jack has a printed board containing a noise suppressing electronic element in a housing. The printed board is fitted with contactors for contacting with plugs and terminals to be used for mounting the modular jack on the circuit board. The contactors and the terminals are electrically connected with the noise suppressing electronic element by wires on the printed board.
In general, it need more space for locating such a large number of the toroidal coil pairs between the first and the second set of contacts, which increase the cost of manufacture.
Hence, it is desirable to provide an improved modular jack to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages.

Modular jack having an improved magnetic module


A connector has been designed that incorporates a ground EMI/RFI shield spacer in conjunction with an attached grounded multi-coplanar capacitor board to achieve an EMI/RFI tight grounded connection. The shield spacer may be provided with further RF suppression core members which surrounds all of the signal lines and power connections connected via the plug.

I. Cross-Reference to Related Application
Cross reference is made to related applications Ser. No. 08/002,296 to Timothy J. Wilhelm entitled "MULTI-COPLANAR CAPACITOR FOR ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR", and Ser. No. 08/002,197 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,268,810) to Mario DiMarco and Timothy J. Wilhelm entitled "ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR INCORPORATING EMI FILTER" and both filed of even date and assigned to the same assignee as the present application.
II. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to electrical connectors for connecting electrical devices or parts to a cable harness, and more particularly to a connector assembly incorporating active and passive circuit elements for effectively isolating the electrical assembly with which the connector is used from electromagnetic interference (EMI), radio frequency interference (RFI), and particularly high intensity radio frequency (HIRF).
III. Discussion of the Prior Art
Present-day commercial and military aircraft incorporate highly complex electronic control systems incorporating numerous sensors and force transducers and servo systems as well as the electronics necessary for processing the sensor signals and developing the requisite control signals for the transducers and the like so that the aircraft can be flown in a controlled manner. Typically, the electronic assemblies involved will be housed in metallic shielding enclosures or boxes which are adapted to slide into equipment racks on the aircraft. Each of the electronic modules will typically incorporate a receptacle having a large number of terminal pins arranged in a grid pattern and which are appropriately wired to the electronic componentry within the shielded enclosure. Incorporated into the rack assembly is a plug member which is adapted to mate with the receptacle on the box housing the electronics module. The pins of the plug are typically connected to conductors in a wiring harness leading off to other electronic equipment which may be spread throughout the aircraft.
One standard plug used throughout the aircraft industry is referred to as the ARINC 600 plug, which meets the ARINC specifications for air transport avionics equipment interfaces. That specification, among other things, defines the number of pins, their location, the pin spacing and the shell dimensions for the plug. Those desiring more specific information relative to the plug are referred to the ARINC 600 specification itself.
The ARINC 600 plug is designed to mate with a receptacle attached to or formed into a wall of the shielding enclosure in which the electronics are contained. The ARINC 600 plug includes three sections with sections A and B incorporating 150 male pins, each disposed in a grid array of rows and columns. Section C includes a smaller number of pins which, generally speaking, provide the power connections to the electronics module. The existing receptacle, designed to accept the plug, includes a plurality of terminal pins having female sockets on one end and male wire wrap terminals or solder points on the other end. The pins are arranged in the same grid array, such that when the plug is inserted into the receptacle, the male pins of the plug engage the female sockets of the receptacle's terminal pins. The male portion of the receptacle's terminal pins then connect to the wiring for the electronics within the shielded enclosure.
One drawback of the prior art connectors such as the ARINC 600 connector design is that they do not provide the necessary immunity of the electronic circuitry from the effects of EMI and RFI and more particularly HIRF radiation. EMI/RFI and HIRF radiation in proximity to the module may find its way into the interior of the shielded enclosure via the connector assembly. These RFI/EMI sources may result in the electronic controls issuing erroneous data to the other electronic equipment with which it is associated, resulting in loss of control over the aircraft.
While filtering and transient suppression circuits have been devised for dealing with RFI/EMI radiation, physical space constraints may preclude inclusion of such circuitry within the electronics module. A need, therefore, exists for a connector plug receptacle assembly which has an efficient high energy ground associated with a shield or filtering device which combines an efficient shield for the EMI/RFI frequencies and HIRF of interest with an excellent chassis ground.

Electrical connector incorporating ground shield spacer


A caged roller bearing includes a plurality of rollers and a roller retaining cage having pockets defined therein at circumferential locations thereof for accommodating the respective rollers therein. A nickel plating layer, which is a plated backing layer, is applied to the entire surface of the roller retaining cage, and an Ni•PTFE plated layer, containing nickel and polytetrafluoroethylene, is applied to the surface of the nickel plating layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a caged roller bearing for use in, for example, a crankshaft support structure and a connecting rod support structure both employed in, for example, four wheeled vehicles, bicycles and multipurpose engines and also relates to a roller bearing assembly of a type utilizing the caged roller bearing and a cage for supporting a plurality of rollers. More specifically, the present invention relates to a technique of resolving a frictional wear and an excessive temperature rise, both of which will occur in the cage of the caged roller bearing.
2. Description of Related Art
The caged roller bearing is of a structure comprised of a plurality of rollers and a roller retaining cage, in which the outer peripheral surface of each of those rollers is held in linear contact with the raceway surface defined in each of inner and outer rings. Because of this structure, although the caged roller bearing has a small projected surface area to the bearing, it has advantages in high load bearing capacity and high rigidity. Accordingly, the caged roller bearing is largely employed in various fields of industries including, for example, automobile.
In general, for use with large and small ends of a bicycle, caged roller assemblies in the form of slide bearings or rolling bearings are employed. In the case of a two stroke combustion engine, the large and small ends are lubricated with a mist of a mixed liquid prepared by mixing a gasoline and an engine oil. Accordingly, since the slide bearing involves a frictional wear and an excessive temperature rise, roller bearings such as, for example, the caged roller bearing and a shelled radial bearing are generally utilized. It is, however, to be noted that the caged roller bearing, which is one of the rolling bearings used, has hitherto employed a copper plating or a silver plating in order to prevent an outer diameter and end faces of the roller retaining cage from being frictionally worn and/or being excessively heated.
At a high speed rotation which the copper plating or the silver plating cannot withstand against, the composite plating has been suggested, which has a base material comprised of nickel as a major element in which finely divided particles of fluorine resin are uniformly dispersed so as to represent an eutectoid structure (See the patent document 1 listed below.). The patent document 1 discloses a countermeasure for avoiding the excessive temperature rise and the frictional wear that may be brought about under the condition of high speed use.

Caged roller bearing, caged roller bearing assembly, and cage


An improved structure of serial synchronous chopper mainly includes an external synchronous rectifier power supply unit, an internal synchronous rectifier power supply unit, a synchronous voltage-stabilized control unit, an integrated driving circuit unit, a synchronous load feedback control unit, and a synchronous integrated chopping unit. While operating, the structure is serially connected to a live wire of a power supply to periodically perform synchronous chopping so as to provide a synchronous DC voltage-stabilized output as a fundamental power supply in connection with an external circuit. The structure entirely adopts a linear synchronous integral based design to greatly enhance the chopping efficiency and provide a more stable phase current reference point so that the overload protection response in a high-load operating environment is fast and secure, the loop interference and the power consumption of the chopping element can be simultaneously alleviated, the operating voltage is comparatively stable and the faulty rate is lower.

Regular electronic appliances normally use DC power as the source of their operating power, selectively use a battery to adapt to different operating environment or condition, or use the power rectified and filtered by a mains transformer. However, as the pattern using transformer occupies more space due to its huge size involved and the use of battery always incurs the inconvenience of frequent replacement or charging circuit implementation, how to directly and effectively acquire sufficient and stable DC power by chopping the AC mains electricity becomes the topics that power supply industry endeavors to develop and break through.
As for the chopping method of the current 50 Hz/60 Hz AC mains power, there are a multitude of designs and patent cases which have been disclosed already. For example, what is shown in FIG. 1 is a more advanced conventional serial chopper structure that is mainly connected with the live wire of a power supply in series to chop the power in an integrated manner and obtain a stable low-voltage DC power after rectification and voltage stabilization. The chopper structure includes: a rectification and voltage stabilization unit 91 outputting a stabilized voltage after rectifying the integrated chopped power obtained from the live wire of the power supply to provide a low-voltage DC power to internal circuit and external circuit; a stabilized voltage control unit 92 automatically outputting an integrated pulse wave when the integrated chopped power reaches a preset value; and an integrated chopping power driving unit 93 whose input end is connected with the stabilized voltage control unit 92 to receive the integrated pulse wave, thereby controlling the integrated chopping and generating an open-circuit chopped voltage with respect to the integrated pulse wave from the live wire of the power supply.
As shown in FIG. 2 which illustrates an output waveform when operating a conventional serial AC chopper, the chopping operation in the negative half cycle is still continuous. The 'a' portion on the bottom is consumed for reactive power. Temperature rise will arise while operating in a long duration. Meanwhile, the noise and interference to power will also increase. Whereas, after a capacitor stabilizes the voltage and outputs a waveform, the 'b' portion on the top will indirectly affect the voltage variation due to a load serially connected with an output power supply. As a result of the unstable DC power supply condition and the numerous limitations of peripheral products, the electromagnetic interference (EMI) out of reactive power becomes inevitable once an inductive load is connected.
Besides, most of the conventional serial AC chopping methods currently lack of the synchronous design feature, and the chopping circuit and the operation thereof still present the following drawbacks which are further to be improved anxiously:
1. In view of the chopping method without the synchronous design feature, the DC portion of the chopping output will always impact on the operational control of the subsequent connected MCU (Microcontroller Unit) to result in an abnormal operation.
2. As most of the chopping designs have no synchronous chopping development, the conversion efficiency fails to be upgraded so that a lengthy operation of the chopping components will give rise to the phenomenon of temperature rise.
3. As the operation pattern having a serial-connected load is adopted, given no good synchronous control, the 50 Hz/60 Hz serial AC chopping is usually subject to surrounding static interference and causes a resulting malfunction. This simply adds more determination conditions to the MCU, which lead to lots of inconvenience arising from heavier operational load and slower response time in operation.
4. Owing to no synchronous function, in the course of the AC chopping, phase will vary with the serial-connected load, such that a current reference point cannot be precisely set up. Therefore, when operating under a heavy load, the over-load protection fails to be brought into play and this issue becomes even more serious when connected with an inductive load.


The present invention provides a method for removing solder adhering to an LSI. In this method, a plate-shaped first member for causing molten solder to adhere thereto is mounted on top of a heater. An LSI is placed on top of the first member with the surface on which solder is attached facing downward. A second member for adding a load to the LSI is placed on top of the LSI. The heater is heated up to heat the first member and the LSI, and to melt the solder. The molten solder is transferred to the first member. A suction mechanism is positioned at a location a predetermined distance away from the top surface of the second member. The second member and the LSI are attracted by the suction mechanism, and the LSI is pulled away from the first member. The solder is thereby removed from the LSI.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for removing solder bumps, which form on a semiconductor chip (LSI).
2. Description of the Related Art
There are cases when solder bumps are used to connect an LSI onto a wiring substrate. A connection that uses solder bumps is called a ball grid array (BGA) connection. In this case, for example, approximately 5000 solder bumps will be used to connect a 20 mm LSI. Thus, there are cases when connection defects occur due to misconnections between the connection terminals of a multi-layer wiring substrate and an LSI. When connection defects such as this occur, it becomes necessary to perform repair work, by which the LSI is removed from the wiring substrate and re-connected. Solder is adhering to the connecting surface of the LSI removed from the wiring board at this time. Therefore, this solder is removed using a solder removing device, and solder bumps are once again formed on the connecting surface of the LSI.
As a solder removing device, a device comprising a mechanism for pressing the surface of an LSI to which solder bumps are attached onto a heated copper plate is well known. First, this device attracts the LSI using a suction mechanism. Next, the device uses the suction mechanism to press the surface of the LSI to which the solder bumps are attached against the copper plate. When maintained in this state for a time, the solder bumps are heated and melt. The molten solder adheres to the copper plate. Thereafter, the device raises the suction mechanism with the LSI attracted as-is, pulling the LSI away from the copper plate. In accordance therewith, the solder bumps, which had been adhering to the LSI, are removed. Furthermore, the LSI referred to here is a packaged-type LSI.
As technology related to a solder removing device such as this, there is, for example, the technologies disclosed in Japan Patent Laid-open No. 11-285814 and Japan Patent Laid-open No. 2001-7509.

Method for removing solder bumps from LSI