Cryptographic communication between communication terminals can be realized even when a plurality of cryptographic algorithms are present, and secure cryptographic communication for a longer time is realized without increasing a processing overhead at each of the communication terminals. A key management server manages cryptographic algorithms that can be used by each of the communication terminal, and searches for a cryptographic algorithm common to the communication terminals, and notifies each of the communication terminals of the cryptographic algorithm found by the search together with plural key generation informations, each piece containing a key to be used in the cryptographic algorithm or a key type for generating the key. Each of the communication terminals sequentially switches the plural key generation informations notified from the key management server, and performs the cryptographic communication with a communication counterpart in accordance with the cryptographic algorithm notified from the key management server.

The present invention relates to a cryptographic communication technique, in particular, a technique of enabling communication terminals to perform cryptographic communication on a cryptographic communication network on which a plurality of cryptographic algorithms are available.
Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. H7-327029 (hereinafter, referred to as Document 1) discloses an cryptographic communication system having a plurality of cryptographic keys selectively used for enciphering data. In the enciphered communication system described in Document 1, a transmitter has a cryptographic key table recorded with a plurality of cryptographic keys, appendant data affixing means which affixes some appendant data to data to be encrypted, and means which sequentially selects the cryptographic keys from the cryptographic key table to encipher data, to which the appendant data is affixed, by using the selected cryptographic keys. On the other hand, a receiver includes the same cryptographic key table as that of the transmitter, decrypting means which selects the cryptographic key from the cryptographic key table and decrypts the encrypted data with the selected cryptographic key, appendant data detecting means which detects the appendant data from the decrypted data, and cryptographic key changing means which sequentially changes the cryptographic key to be selected from the cryptographic key data when the appendant data is not accurately detected. With such a configuration, when the cryptographic key is changed or the like, the reception side can restore data by itself even if the cryptographic key number is not correctly transmitted.
Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2000-295209 (hereinafter, referred to as Document 2) also discloses a cryptographic communication system having a plurality of encryption keys selectively used for encrypting data as in the Document 1. In the cryptographic communication system described in the Document 2, a communication terminal on a transmission side uses any one of encryption keys to generate encryption data and counts the number of times of use of the encryption key. When the accumulated count reaches the limit of the allowable number of times of use, the communication terminal switches the encryption key to another one and notifies a communication terminal on the reception side of switching information of the encryption key. On the other hand, the communication terminal on the reception side uses any one of a plurality of decryption keys respectively corresponding to the plurality of encryption keys. Upon reception of the switching information from the communication terminal on the transmission side, the communication terminal on the reception side switches the decryption key actually in use to another decryption key corresponding to the new encryption key. With such a configuration, as compared with the case where only one key is prepared, it becomes difficult to decrypt encrypted data by a key brute force attack or a known plaintext attack. Furthermore, since the plurality of keys are prepared, it is not necessary to create a new key for each encryption.
In Internet RFC/STD/FYI/BCP Archives, "RFC 3740—The Multicast Group Security Architecture", URL: http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc3740.html (hereinafter, referred to as Document 3), a technique of sharing keys and setting information (Security Association) for cryptographic communication between a plurality of terminals is disclosed. In this technique, a server distributes the keys and the setting information for the cryptographic communication to the plurality of terminals.

Cryptographic communication system and method


A sexual aid device comprising a main body (100) and a cervical void (110), sized and shaped to shield a cervix (350) during intercourse. This self-retaining device comprises a means to prevent a penis from colliding with the cervix (350), a means to shield the anterior vagina wall from frictional contact during sexual intercourse and at least one means to retain the sexual aid device within the vagina. This device provides a non-surgical, cost-effective solution to allow for more comfortable deeper penetration by guiding the penis away from the cervix.

Field
This application relates to sexual aids. In particular, a cervical shield device to be worn during intercourse to prevent an artificial or real human penis from colliding with a human cervix and to provide a guide to channel the penis away from the cervix to allow for more comfortable deeper penetration.
All instances of penis below refer to an artificial or real human penis.
Prior Art
There is little prior art pertaining to sexual aid devices used by individuals or couples to prevent collision dyspareunia (pain in the pelvic area from the penis colliding with the cervix during intercourse). The following prior art demonstrates the state of the art closest to the cervical shield sexual aid device and method.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,986, issued May 1, 1990 to Biswas, URINARY INCONTINENCE DEVICE, illustrates an intra-vaginal device to aid in controlling urinary incontinence. This device lines the vagina with a spongy material, thereby effectively shortening the depth of the vagina, preventing or restricting deeper penetration. The Biswas device distributes the impact from the penis over the cervix and the vaginal walls, exacerbating pain in the pelvic area instead of guiding the penis in a channel away from the cervix.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,503,190 B1, issued Jan. 7, 2003 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,645,137 B2, issued Nov. 11, 2003 to Ulmsten et al., VAGINAL PESSARY, describe a flexible body in the form of a belt or a split cylinder that may be coiled to be inserted into a vagina and as the flexible body expands, the body presses against the vaginal wall. While this pessary takes advantage of the resiliency of the material to self-retain, it does not cradle the cervix and does not create a channel to guide the penis away from the cervix for more comfortable deeper penetration. Furthermore, this pessary is not designed for intercourse; it creates unnatural sensations for the male and limits the wearer's sexual experience from a lack of sensations on the vaginal walls.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,931,605, issued Apr. 26, 2011, ELECTRO-MECHANICAL SEXUAL STIMULATION DEVICE, USD605779 issued Dec. 8, 2009 and USD652942 issued Jan. 24, 2012, to Murison, describe a stimulation device that has an inner arm dimensioned for insertion into the vagina, and an outer arm for contact with the clitoris. Murison's device does not extend past the anterior fornix and does not cradle the cervix in a void of material nor does the device channel the penis away from colliding with the cervix to allow for more comfortable deeper penetration. Murison's device does not unfurl within the vagina and nor does it allow the device to be self-retained exclusively by the vagina. Murison's device lacks shape geometry to utilize the cervix to locate and position the device and furthermore lacks shape geometry to prevent movement of the device during intercourse. Murison's device does not initiate a natural tendency to refurl when an external force is applied to the device allowing for ease of removal.
Pub. No. US 2009/0281373 A1, filed Dec. 20, 2007, to Mark, SEXUAL AID DEVICE AND METHOD, discloses a device to occupy space within a vagina. Mark's device does not comfortably locate and position itself on the cervix. Marks's device does not cradle the cervix in a void of material, minimizing pressure on the cervix, allowing the penis to go past the cervix for more comfortable deeper penetration. Additionally, Mark's device lacks shape geometry to utilize the cervix to locate and position the device and furthermore lacks shape geometry to prevent movement of the device during intercourse. Mark's device does not furl for ease of insertion into the vagina nor does Mark's device initiate a natural tendency to refurl when an external force is applied for ease of removal.
Pat. No. CA 2691663, issued Nov. 15, 2011, to Maurette, FEMALE POSTERIOR WALL PROSTHESIS, discloses a prosthesis that shields the posterior vaginal wall. This prosthesis is not designed to fit on the anterior vaginal wall and to locate and position itself on the cervix. Wearing this prosthesis on the anterior vaginal wall causes shifting of the prosthesis about the cervix, irritating the cervix. The prosthesis applies additional pressure to the cervix as there is no material void to cradle the cervix and support the device from movement during intercourse. Furthermore, the prosthesis lacks shape geometry to utilize the cervix for locating, positioning and retaining the prosthesis within the vagina, eliminating the need for a specialized flared flattened handle, which would simplify and improve the prosthesis.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,996,930, issued Dec. 14, 1976, to Sekulich, SELF-CONTAINED GYNECOLOGIC STIMULATOR, describes a resilient V-shaped stimulator with a posterior leg with an elongated trough for receipt of the clitoris. Sekulich's stimulator does not shield the cervix or comfortably guide the penis past the cervix with the least amount of pressure applied to the cervix to allow for more comfortable deeper penetration intercourse. Sekulich's stimulator lacks shape geometry to prevent it from sliding from side to side over the cervix within the vagina, irritating the cervix. Sekulich's device does not cradle the cervix or create a channel to guide the penis away from the cervix allowing for more comfortable deeper penetration. Sekulich's device does not furl for ease of insertion into the vagina nor does Sekulich's device initiate a natural tendency to refurl when an external force is applied to the device allowing for ease of removal.
Pat. No. GB 2413768B, issued Jun. 12, 2006, to Foks and Dawe, SEX AID TO PREVENT FULL PENETRATION DURING SEXUAL INTERCOURSE, describes a sex aid worn outside the body on the male, limiting the depth of penetration during intercourse. It serves as a spacer between the penis base and a vaginal entrance. This sex aid does not cradle the cervix or create a channel to guide the penis away from the cervix allowing for more comfortable deeper penetration.
There is a need for a shielding device that can be worn on the anterior vaginal wall during coitus to shield against collision contact between the penis and the cervix and to provide a guide to channel the penis away from the cervix to allow for more comfortable deeper penetration.

Cervical shield sexual aid device and method for use during intercourse


A system for substrate deposition is disclosed. The system includes a wafer pallet and an anode. The wafer pallet has a bottom and a top. The top of the wafer pallet is configured to hold a substrate wafer. The anode has a substantially fixed position relative to the wafer pallet and is configured to move with the wafer pallet through the deposition chamber. The anode is electrically isolated from the substrate wafer.

Deposition systems are used to deposit a substance on a substrate. Several types of conventional deposition systems are currently implemented. One type of conventional deposition system implements magnetron sputtering. Sputtering, in general, is the process of ejecting atoms from a solid target material, the target or cathode, to deposit a thin film on a substrate. A magnetron enhances this operation by generating strong electric and magnetic fields to trap electrons and improve the formation of ions from gaseous neutrals such as argon. The ions impact the target and cause target material to eject and deposit on the substrate. During operation, an electric current may flow from the sputtering cathode to anode assemblies within the deposition system.
While some sputtering deposition systems use a cathode with a fixed anode (i.e., in a fixed position relative to the cathode), other sputtering deposition systems implement an anode that moves relative to the cathode. It should be noted that, while there may be multiple components of the deposition system which act as anodes, there may be a primary anode based on its relative area and proximity to the cathode. Hence, references herein to the anode generally refer to this type of primary anode, unless indicated otherwise. As an example of a moving primary anode, some deposition systems use a moving pallet to hold the substrates, and this pallet also acts as the primary anode during operation. In this way, the primary anode moves relative to the cathode, because the cathode is stationery within the deposition chamber, as the wafer pallet acting as anode moves into and out of the deposition chamber. In this type of system, where the anode moves relative to the cathode, several problems can occur.
One problem occurs where the substrate and the pallet, which carries the substrate, act as the primary anode. This problem derives from the failure to provide a consistent anode within the deposition chamber which results in a damaged substrate and in unstable cathode operation. The inconsistency is apparent where the wafer pallet and substrates form the primary anode and where there is intermittent electrical contact between the wafer pallet and the substrate, usually through the edge of the substrate. In this scenario, the pallet is typically coupled to ground and an intermittent electrical current may flow from the substrate to the pallet in the form of an electrical arc, resulting in heat. This discharge can damage the substrate, damage a device on the substrate, melt a deposited layer, or create a metal alloy from multiple deposition layers on the substrate. Consequently, the original material does not function in the same manner as the altered material. As an example, the altered material cannot be chemically processed (i.e., it does not etch away) so that subsequent patterning techniques fail. This failure of the patterning techniques results in failure of the device as exemplified by electrical shorts within the device.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Deposition system with electrically isolated pallet and anode assemblies


Provided is a method of manufacturing a substrate for a light emitting diode including a convex section forming step and a crystallization/crystallizing step. According to the method and the substrate for the light emitting diode, light extraction is significantly improved and nano to micron sized pattern, economically formed.

A light emitting diode is receiving attention as a light source for future lighting and widely used as a light source in various fields at present due to a long lifespan, small power consumption, and environment-friendliness in comparison with lighting fixtures such as conventional fluorescent lamp, incandescent lamp, and so on. In particular, since the nitride-based light emitting diode having a large bandgap has an advantage capable of emitting light of a region from green to blue and a region of near ultraviolet rays, application fields such as LCDs and mobile phone backlights, lightings for automobiles, traffic lights, general lightings, and so on, are being widely enlarged. However, performance of the nitride-based light emitting diode is not being sufficiently improved to satisfy such needs.
The performance of the light emitting diode is generally determined based on internal quantum efficiency according to how many photons are generated by injected (injection) electrons and light extraction efficiency according to how many photons can be emitted to an outside of a light emitting diode device.
In recent times, while the internal photon efficiency of the nitride-based light emitting diode has been largely improved due to development of the epitaxial growth technique, the light extraction efficiency is very low in comparison with the internal photon efficiency. When light generated in a multi quantum well (MQW) region, which is an active layer (a light emitting layer) of the light emitting diode, is emitted, total reflection is generated at a boundary between the light emitting diode device, external air, and an external sealing material such as epoxy, sapphire substrate, or the like. Since GaN has a refractive index of about 2.5, which is relatively larger than those of air (nair=1), epoxy (nepoxy=1.5), and sapphire (nsap.=1.77), critical angle regions in which the light generated in the MQW can exit to the outside of the device are θGaN/air=23°, θGaN/epoxy=37°, and θGaN/sap.=45°, which are very limited. Accordingly, the light departing from the critical angle range and entering in a direction toward the outside of the device cannot advance to the outside but is totally reflected until the light is absorbed in the device, and thus, the light extraction efficiency is merely several percent (%), which is very low. In addition, this causes problems leading to generation of heat in/of the device.
In order to overcome the limitation of the nitride-based light emitting diode, a research has been attempted for effectively reducing total reflection through diffused reflection of light by inserting a pattern into a p-GaN layer or a transparent electrode layer of a surface of the device. In particular, it is known that, when a sub-micron photonic crystal pattern in which patterns having a uniform size are regularly and densely arranged is introduced in a light emitting diode manufacturing process, the light extraction efficiency is largely increased. However, in consideration of formation of a p-type electrode after patterning, a manufacturing process of the light emitting diode such as a packaging process or the like and production yield, it is difficult to actually commercialize the patterning process of the p-GaN layer and the transparent electrode layer. Alternatively, when the epitaxial layer is grown on a patterned sapphire substrate (PSS), similarly, the light extraction efficiency may be effectively improved due to the diffused reflection effect of the light. In the case of the PSS, essentially, the technique developed to reduce a treading dislocation density due to lattice mismatch between the sapphire substrate and the GaN epitaxial layer and increase the internal photon efficiency, or the light extraction efficiency may also be significantly improved, and may be applied to the manufacturing process of the light emitting diode. Currently, in manufacturing companies of the light emitting diodes in domestic and foreign countries, products to which the PSS are applied are in a mass production stage.

Method for fabricating nano-patterned substrate for high-efficiency nitride-based light-emitting diode


A detection device for a CT system comprises a low-energy detector assembly; and a high-energy detector assembly disposed under the low-energy detector assembly. The high-energy detector assembly comprises: a plurality of rows of high-energy detectors arranged at predetermined intervals. With the detection device, detectors and data acquisition units are greatly reduced. A high-resolution three-dimensional CT image is acquired while high-accuracy hazardous article alarm is achieved. The cost of manufacture of the system is greatly decreased while high system performance is ensured.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a CT system and a detection device for the CT system.
Description of the Related Art
In order to solve the problem of a scanning speed of a CT system, in a conventional method, a surface-array detector is adopted so that data can be acquired in rows simultaneously every time to improve the scanning speed. With requirement for a high accuracy of identification of hazardous articles in the field of safety inspection, a demand for dual-energy technique becomes increasingly desirable. In order to achieve high-speed scan and a high-resolution three-dimensional dual-energy image, conventionally a surface-array arrangement is adopted in both a high-energy detector and a low-energy detector. Numbers of detectors and data acquisition units of such a system requires are enormous. As a result, the cost for manufacturing the system is too high.

CT system and detection device for CT system


A spatial light modulator comprises an integrated optical compensation structure, e.g., an optical compensation structure arranged between a substrate and a plurality of individually addressable light-modulating elements, or an optical compensation structure located on the opposite side of the light-modulating elements from the substrate. The individually addressable light-modulating elements are configured to modulate light transmitted through or reflected from the transparent substrate. Methods for making such spatial light modulators involve fabricating an optical compensation structure over a substrate and fabricating a plurality of individually addressable light-modulating elements over the optical compensation structure. The optical compensation structure may be a passive optical compensation structure. The optical compensation structure may include one or more of a supplemental frontlighting source, a diffuser, a black mask, a diffractive optical element, a color filter, an anti-reflective layer, a structure that scatters light, a microlens array, and a holographic film.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in the manufacturing and performance of spatial light modulators such as interferometric modulators.
2. Description of the Related Art
Spatial light modulators are display devices that contain arrays of individually addressable light modulating elements. Examples of spatial light modulators include liquid crystal displays and interferometric modulator arrays. The light modulating elements in such devices typically function by altering the characteristics of light reflected or transmitted through the individual elements, thus altering the appearance of the display.

Spatial light modulator with integrated optical compensation structure


A flare monitoring system that receives real-time data associated with the release of a processing facility's combustible fluids to a flare stack and analyzes the data in conjunction with parameters of the processing facility's flare-through elements such as manual valves, control valves, restriction orifices, flow meters, and the like. The results of the analysis are provided to operators in the form of reports that indicate: whether flaring events are of a routine or non-routine nature; the flared volume; the contribution of the flare-through elements to the flared volume; and so forth. The results can aid operators in reducing combustible fluid losses due to flaring and in mitigating emissions of sulfur, nitrogen and carbon dioxide.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to flare network monitoring systems and methods.
2. Description of Related Art
Flaring is a process by which excess fluids (gases and in some circumstances liquids) are released and combusted at a flare stack. These excess fluids are derived from multiple sources within commercial and industrial processing facilities, e.g., petroleum refineries.
Flare sources can be based on process control design in which flaring events are routine and anticipated and occur for equipment and personal safety. Flare sources can also result from unplanned events such as operational upsets, plant emergencies, equipment failures, plant start-ups, plant shut-downs, turn-around and inspect activities, human error and the like.
There is considerable motivation to reduce losses in petroleum refinery operations; particularly losses associated with flaring.
Conventional flare systems are limited by their ability to obtain flare measurements that are adequate in the number of sources, of suitable quality and of useful frequency. This typically leads to inadequate monitoring of flare sources that relies on manual and inaccurate flare estimation methods, e.g., John Zink's Flare Estimation Charts based on flame length.
Therefore, there is a significant need to improve flare monitoring systems in commercial and industrial processing facilities. Current flare monitoring systems typically monitor flare conditions via a flowmeter located at the flare. This configuration makes it difficult to determine the source of non-routine flare events, which often have significant impact on plant operations.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to improve flare monitoring systems so as to provide more accurate and useful data as well as minimize the impact of non-routine flare events.
To facilitate an understanding of the invention, the same reference numerals have been used, when appropriate, to designate the same or similar elements that are common to the figures. Unless stated otherwise, the features shown and described in the figures are not drawn to scale, but are shown for illustrative purposes only.

Flare network monitorng system and method


A releasing device for rocket fuel lines, arranged between a tank outlet and a shutoff valve, which releases the flow path at a defined, tank-side overpressure, with a piston-like bursting element. A disk is provided with a predetermined breaking point and with a clamping flange, as well as a guide rod that is rigidly attached to the disk, and a catching basket that is permeable to flow and fixes the disk in a positive-locking manner after rupture and axial movement. The bursting element is assembled by welding from two parts, namely, the disk with the clamping flange and the predetermined breaking point as one part, and the guide rod with the disk seat as the other part, the disk with the clamping flange is manufactured by machining from a cold-worked, weldable plate material with low breaking strength, the guide rod is manufactured by machining from the rod stock of which the disk was made or of a weldable material having a higher strength, and the predetermined breaking point is manufactured by machining as a one-sided notch on the side of the bursting element facing away from the tank.

Rocket fuel lines operating according to the bursting principle, which release a flow cross section due to irreversible rupture of material, have been known from a number of publications.
Thus, German Auslegeschrift No. DE-AS 29 13 463 describes a combination of a bursting foil releasing means and a spring-loaded safety valve for securing tanks. etc., against overpressure. The bursting foil arrangement is arranged downstream of the safety valve, and the flow path leads to the atmosphere on the discharge side. The elements are coordinated with one another such that the shearing off of the bursting foil takes place at approximately the same overpressure as the opening of the safety valve against spring force. The bursting foil arrangement in this combination has actually only the task of maintaining the system absolutely tight until the safety valve responds. The fact that the massive rupture disk (called a plate here) clamping the bursting foil is held by a catching device (locking arms) in a positive-locking manner in the shorn-off state after axial displacement can be considered to be an advantageous design feature. A large, defined, low-resistance flow cross section is thus left after a relatively short displacement of the disk.
However, the bursting foil principle described also has drawbacks. As is expressly mentioned in the text, bursting foils tend to form fragments during shearing off. If the flow path formed following the bursting foil leads to further functional elements, such as valves, pumps, nozzles, etc., rather than to the atmosphere, the fragments may lead to serious disturbances and even to system failure. Furthermore, the foils prepared by rolling have relatively great tolerances in terms of their mechanical properties (breaking strength, breaking elongation, etc.), depending on the degree of deformation during manufacture. The incalculable internal stresses generated in the process are also disadvantageous. The clamping of the foil between massive components leads to additional internal stresses, so that the bursting parameters (pressure difference, deformation, etc.) will ultimately have relatively great dispersions. For reasons of tightness, the foils are usually welded to the massive components, as a result of which internal stresses and internal deformations will additionally develop. This makes it clear that a relatively exactly calculable rupture behavior cannot usually be achieved with bursting foils.
Bursting foils usually also have low resistance to aggressive media, and the structural changes and internal stresses resulting from the high degree of deformation have an unfavorable effect. In the case of designs with welded foil, the weld seams, which are correspondingly small, represent areas with especially high risk of corrosion. Finally, it should also be mentioned that the bursting foil arrangement according to the Auslegeschrift in question inherently facilitates the local corrosive attack due to the double-sided notching, which inherently results from the design.
German Patent No. 24 27 790 describes a release valve for pressure tanks, which can be triggered by an explosive force. The element (rupture plate) to be destroyed is separated here in the area of a reduced cross section by igniting a circumferential hollow charge. Since the destruction is brought about here by the explosive force rather than by the inner pressure in the tank, it is possible to use relatively great wall thicknesses, which are unproblematic with respect to corrosion, and the properties of the material of the rupture element also play a less significant role. This is contrasted by the drawbacks that such a solution is absolutely unsuitable in connection with inflammable and explosive media, e.g., rocket fuels, and, in addition, it generates extreme contamination (fragments, remnants of explosive, etc.) in the system.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,842,598 describes a rocket engine for military missiles, which is designed for being able to be stored for a long time and for readiness in a short time. A large part of the volume of the fuel tank is filled with an essentially liquid mixture of a fuel with low oxidant content and an oxidant. It also contains a flexible, sealed tank with additional oxidant. The flexible container is caused to burst in the case of use by means of a pressurized gas (nitrogen) from another tank, and the oxidant released is distributed in the fuel mixture, as a result of which a high-energy, stoichiometric fuel is formed. It is burned in a downstream thrust chamber.
One bursting membrane each is arranged between the pressurized gas tank and the fuel tank as well as between the fuel tank and the thrust chamber for reasons of hermetic sealing during the phase of storage, but no information is given concerning the design of these bursting membranes.
A valve with a bursting element for a rocket fuel system, which is installed in addition to the isolation valve proper, has been known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,714,777. The fuel (here: oxidant) is pressed out of the tank by means of pressurized gas via a tight, flexible membrane or expulsion bladder. If the pressure difference between the pressurized gas and the oxidant is too high, the membrane may be destroyed, and pressurized gas will unintentionally enter the fuel system. The said additional valve regulates the pressure difference to an allowable maximum by automatically throttling the oxidant flow to a variable extent. The bursting element is destroyed by the oxidant pressure at the beginning of the phase of operation, and it releases a pressurized gas line for the control process.
The drawbacks explained at the beginning, such as inaccurate response behavior, disturbances in operation due to fragments, etc., also apply to the designs known from these U.S. patent specifications.


A process for dressing a tool, a honing tool in particular, introduced into a machine for fine machining of the tooth profiles of gear workpieces, with a dressing wheel which is engaged with the tool to be dressed in place of a gear workpiece and is caused to rotate. To achieve optimum cutting conditions the use is provided of a dressing wheel with a helix angle differing from that of the gear workpiece, an axis intersection angle different from that for fine machining of gear workpieces being set for dressing in order to obtain the assigned helix angle of the tool.

The invention relates to a process for dressing an internal or external gear tool, in particular a honing tool, mounted in a machine for fine machining of the tooth profiles of gear workpieces, with a dressing wheel which is engaged with the tool to be dressed in place of a gear workpiece and is set in rotation.
In conventional fine machining, known among other things also as tooth honing, of the tooth profiles of specially hardened workpieces in the form of gears with a tool whose flanks have an abrasive surface, that is, no uniformly oriented cutting edges, the tool must be dressed at specific time intervals. For this purpose the tool is generated with a dressing wheel whose tooth profiles are provided with a coating of granular diamond or other hard material. It is customary to leave the tool in the fine finishing machine and to replace the workpiece to be machined with a dressing wheel possessing the identical basic gear data. However, even if the greatest possible care is taken in dressing, the result and accordingly the quality of the gear workpieces subsequently machined with the dressed tool often are not satisfactory. The conventional generic process (DE 195 00 801 C2) provides for use of a dressing gear with a number of teeth greater than those of the gear workpiece. The modulus and helix angle are, however, identical to those of the gear workpiece, and the axis intersection angle (i.e. cross axis angle) in the dressing of the tool corresponds more or less to that employed in fine machining of the gear workpiece.
In machining of gear workpieces with a so-called disruptive profile, such as a shoulder projecting radially, limits are naturally imposed on the axis intersection angle. If this limit of the axis intersection angle is exceeded, the tool is engaged with the radially projecting area or areas of the gear workpiece and damages it or is itself damaged. Because of the disruptive profile of the gear workpiece, the permissible axis intersection angle in fine machining may be very small in these instances. But the cutting relationships deteriorate increasingly with decrease in the axis intersection angle, since the axial component of relative movement of the tool and gear workpiece becomes increasingly smaller. Since the helix angle of the dressing wheel is the same as that of the gear workpiece, the same helix angle is used in dressing of the tool as in machining of the gear workpiece, so that unfavorable cutting conditions also prevail. The quality of the dressed tool and accordingly that of the gear workpieces subsequently machined with it are as a result often unsatisfactory.
The object of the invention is to improve the process indicated above so as to make it possible to achieve more favorable cutting conditions during dressing of the tool.
The achievement of more favorable cutting conditions during dressing is attained by use of a dressing wheel with a helix angle differing from that of the gear workpiece, an axis intersection angle being set for the dressing wheel which differs from that for fine machining of the gear workpieces, in order to obtain the assigned helix angle of the tool.
The invention makes use of the fact that in order to achieve the desired helix angle it is not necessary for the helix angle of the dressing wheel to coincide with that of the gear workpiece and for the axis intersection angle to be the same as in fine machining of the gear workpiece. Since the dressing wheel and the tool have no disruptive profile, no limit is imposed on the axis intersection angle during dressing. Consequently, the tool may be dressed with an axis intersection angle which is more favorable, that is, a larger axis intersection angle with respect to the cutting conditions than in fine machining of a gear workpiece. This results in a dressed tool, and accordingly gear workpieces machined with it, of better quality. With a larger axis intersection angle the axial velocity component on the rolling circles increases, something which generally enhances transfer of the flank geometry of the dressing wheel to the tool and results in more uniform results and in longer tool life. The forces arising during dressing are reduced in the rolling circle area in particular. Hence the life of the dressing wheel is increased. The improved dressing result achieved under the more favorable cutting conditions is transferred to the gear workpiece during machining. Generally, then, more gear workpieces can be machined before dressing of the tool becomes necessary.
As was stated in the foregoing, the invention makes it possible to improve the cutting conditions in dressing of a tool in comparison to those prevailing during machining of the gear workpiece. This improvement in cutting conditions may be based not only on increase in the axis intersection angle but also on modification of the helix angle of the dressing wheel. For example, a tool used for fine machining of spur-toothed gear workpieces may be dressed by suitable selection of the axis intersection angle in dressing with a helical dressing wheel. A helical dressing wheel is more favorable than a spur-toothed dressing wheel from the viewpoint of machining conditions.
The axis intersection angle required for achievement of an assigned tool helix angle may be calculated on the basis of the helix angle of the dressing wheel and set manually. By preference, however, the axis intersection angle necessary for dressing is calculated by the machine control unit on the basis of the toothing data of tool and dressing wheel and is assigned by the unit.

Process for dressing an internal or external gear tool for fine machining of tooth profiles


A fractional frequency synthesizer (100) includes a symmetrical divider (165) having an output frequency signal (135) fractionalized based on half cycles of its input frequency signal (130). The divider (165) is provided with a divisor (145) that varies based on half cycles of the output signal. Preferably, the divider (165) operates to selectively add or subtract an increment, corresponding to one half cycle of the input frequency signal (130), to a half cycle of the output frequency signal (135).

Frequency synthesizers have traditionally made use of loop dividers which are designed to operate on an output frequency signal of a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO). Integer frequency synthesizers generally use loop dividers which divide an input frequency to a lower output frequency using a complete input frequency cycle period, or two pi (2.pi.) radians, as the minimum unit of resolution. Fractional frequency synthesizers also employ frequency loop dividers which use 2.pi. radians as the minimum unit of resolution. Typically, the loop dividers used in fractional frequency synthesizers obtain a fractional frequency divide value by periodically changing the integer value of loop divider so that, over several cycles of the output waveform, the average divide includes a fractional component. While the method of averaging a loop divider value does produce an output signal at the desired divided down frequency, lower frequency subharmonics are also present in the output. The subharmonic frequency components are not desirable in frequency synthesizers since they introduce unwanted noise energy in the output spectrum. Often, the subharmonic frequency components must be attenuated by low pass filtering within the frequency synthesizer, which consequently increases the lock time, and decreases VCO sideband noise attenuation. The practice of dividing, and fractionalizing a divided value in units of complete input clock cycles results in low frequency, and relatively large amplitude subharmonic spurs, which require such filtering. It would be beneficial to develop a method by which a fractional frequency synthesizer would produce subharmonic spurs that occur at higher frequencies and at smaller amplitudes. This would reduce filtering requirements and improve synthesizer performance.

Frequency synthesizer using double resolution fractional frequency division


A paint spray gun and range finder for positioning the gun with respect to a target surface to be sprayed. The range finder provides a user of the gun with information about the distance between the gun and the target surface, with different indications when the gun is too close, too far or distanced properly from the target surface to be sprayed. A visual or acoustic range finder provides visual or audible indications of the proximity of the gun to the target surface. One range finder has either a single laser diode and a beam splitter or a pair of laser diodes providing a pair of collimated optical beams which indicate distance to the target surface by the relative location of a pair of illuminated spots on the target surface. The spots may be offset when the gun is at the desired distance to the target surface.

This invention relates to the field of spray guns, particularly, hand held spray guns suitable for spraying paint and similar coatings. Prior art spray guns relied upon user judgment to position the gun with respect to a target surface to be painted. Typically, user manuals advised the user to hold the gun such that a central axis of the spray pattern remains perpendicular to and at a constant distance from the target surface to be sprayed. The vast majority of target surfaces to be sprayed are at least generally planar. Varying the distance between the spray gun and the target surface ordinarily results in uneven coverage and may result in some regions having less than full coverage, while other regions receive excess sprayed material, which may result in sags and or runs.
The present invention provides an aid to a user in maintaining the proper distance between the spray gun and the target surface by providing a range finder with the spray gun to provide the user with information regarding the distance between the gun and the target surface.


A transaction protocol is described that allows a database transaction to begin as a local, lightweight transaction without involving a distributed transaction coordinator and then be promoted to a distributed transaction only when required, e.g. when more than one database connection is required. A promotable enlistment allows a first resource to begin processing a promotable transaction. If the resource is notified that the transaction is being promoted to a distributed transaction, the resource is configured to promote the enlistment to a distributed transaction coordinator which coordinates processing of the transaction between the first resource and at least a second resource.

A common system topology in a database system is an application or component utilizing a single connection to a database or other resource that is a set of data desired to be transactionally consistent. Such application components are typically specialized code that can take advantage of intrinsic transaction mechanisms of the database to optimize processing performance. While this technique enhances performance, it can severely limit re-use of the component in other applications—especially if the other applications involve topologies having more than one database connection. It can also result in a more complex environment for a developer.
One way in which this problem has been handled is to construct more generalized components that are able to handle various topologies. This typically means handling a single connection topology in a similar way that a multiple connection topology is handled. But this model degrades performance by requiring a simpler topology to perform processing steps that are really only necessary with processing in a more complex topology. When such a component is used in a single connection topology, unnecessary overhead costs are thus incurred.

Promotable transactions with promotable single phase enlistments


Methods of screening for ligands of the GPR40 receptor are provided, including methods utilizing fatty acid GPR40 ligands.

The membrane protein gene superfamily of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) has been characterized as having seven putative transmembrane domains. The domains are believed to represent transmembrane α-helices connected by extracellular and cytoplasmic loops. G-protein coupled receptors include a wide range of biologically active receptors, such as hormone, viral, growth factor and neuroreceptors.
G-protein coupled receptors have been characterized as including these seven conserved hydrophobic stretches of about 20 to 30 amino acids, connecting at least eight divergent hydrophilic loops. The G-protein family of coupled receptors includes dopamine receptors which bind to neuroleptic drugs used for treating psychotic and neurological disorders. Other examples of members of this family include, but are not limited to, calcitonin, adrenergic, endothelin, cAMP, adenosine, muscarinic, acetylcholine, serotonin, histamine, thrombin, kinin, follicle stimulating hormone, opsins, endothelial differentiation gene-1 receptor, rhodopsins, odorant, cytomegalovirus receptors.
Most G-protein coupled receptors have single conserved cysteine residues in each of the first two extracellular loops which form disulfide bonds that are believed to stabilize functional protein structure. The 7 transmembrane regions are designated as TM1, TM2, TM3, TM4, TM5, TM6, and TM7. TM3 has been implicated in signal transduction.
Phosphorylation and lipidation (palmitylation or farnesylation) of cysteine residues can influence signal transduction of some G-protein coupled receptors. Most G-protein coupled receptors contain potential phosphorylation sites within the third cytoplasmic loop and/or the carboxy terminus. For several G-protein coupled receptors, such as the b-adrenoreceptor, phosphorylation by protein kinase A and/or specific receptor kinases mediates receptor desensitization.
For some receptors, the ligand binding sites of G-protein coupled receptors are believed to comprise a hydrophilic socket formed by several G-protein coupled receptor transmembrane domains, which socket is surrounded by hydrophobic residues of the G-protein coupled receptors. The hydrophilic side of each G-protein coupled receptor transmembrane helix is postulated to face inward and form a polar ligand binding site. TM3 has been implicated in several G-protein coupled receptors as having a ligand binding site, such as the TM3 aspartate residue. TM5 serines, a TM6 asparagine and TM6 or TM7 phenylalanines or tyrosines are also implicated in ligand binding.
G-protein coupled receptors can be intracellularly coupled by heterotrimeric G-proteins to various intracellular enzymes, ion channels and transporters. See Johnson, et al., Endoc. Rev., (1989) 10: 317–331). Different G-protein a-subunits preferentially stimulate particular effectors to modulate various biological functions in a cell. Phosphorylation of cytoplasmic residues of G-protein coupled receptors have been identified as an important mechanism for the regulation of G-protein coupling of some G-protein coupled receptors. G-protein coupled receptors are found at numerous sites within a mammalian host.
Over the past 15 years, nearly 150 therapeutic agents targeting 7 transmembrane (7 TM) receptors have been successfully introduced onto the market, thereby establishing their value as therapeutic targets.


An element for the attachment of a spoke in a bicycle wheel at a seat hole has a body, an axial hole, and can engage a tool. The body is of greater transverse size than a seat hole, and abuts the seat hole at a first end of the body. The axial hole extends from the first end in the body and engages a spoke. The element engages a tool at a second end of the body opposite the first end. Finally, the maximum transverse size of said body is defined by side surface portions of said body other than the area of the second end that engages the tool.

A spoked bicycle wheel comprises a peripheral crown or rim for assembling a tire, a central hub to be rotationally assembled on the bicycle frame and a plurality of spokes extending between the rim and the hub.
A bicycle spoke has an elongated body having two ends. In order to be able to assemble the spoke tensioned between the hub and the rim, each of the two ends has a head transversally projecting from the elongated body or else a threading. Typically, an end of the spoke has a projecting head and the opposite end has an outer threading. This configuration is, indeed, preferable since, whereas the end of the spoke provided with the head engages in a suitably shaped seat, on the side of the hub or of the rim, respectively, the screwing depth of the threaded end in an internally threaded seat hole on the side of the rim or of the hub, respectively, allows the fine adjustment of the spoke tension during the assembly step and in the use of the bicycle.
A first type of spoke commonly used is made of steel. The threaded end has a diameter on the order of 2–3 mm. A second type of spoke commonly used is made of aluminum. In this case, the threaded end must have a diameter on the order of 4–6 mm to have characteristics of mechanical strength equal to those of a steel spoke.
Bicycle rims shaped as a single channel are known, with the side walls or fins of which the beads of the tire are coupled through lips protruding from the fins, and on the bottom of which a plurality of seat holes for the attachment of the spokes are made. Rims of such a type have little structural stiffness and thus greater deformability from lateral loads.
To increase the structural stiffness and reduce the deformability from lateral loads, bicycle rims are also known whose cross section defines a radially outer circumferential channel for coupling with a tire and an essentially hollow radially inner circumferential body region, hereafter referred to as "spoke attachment chamber". The tire coupling channel and the body region are separated by a wall referred to in the field and hereafter as "upper bridge".
Whereas the channel is subject to standards or restrictions in shape and tolerance in view of its coupling with the tire, the radially inner region can have the most various configurations, provided that it offers an attachment surface for the spokes that is suitable in shape and orientation with respect to the axis of the wheel.
Typical configurations of a bicycle rim of this second known type include an upturned A-shaped cross section, i.e. where the radially inner body region is formed from a single chamber, defined by the upper bridge, two side walls and a radially inner circumferential wall, also referred to as "lower bridge". The chamber can have an essentially rectangular cross section, i.e. wherein the side walls are substantially parallel to the middle plane of the rim, essentially trapezoidal, symmetrical with respect to the middle plane of the rim, i.e. in which the side walls are oblique, or else asymmetrical, essentially trapezoidal, i.e. wherein a first side wall substantially extends in a plane parallel to the middle plane of the rim and a second wall extends obliquely. In other configurations, the radially inner region is provided with one or more partition walls, extending substantially parallel to the upper bridge or substantially normal to it, so as to define two or more circumferential spoke attachment chambers.
Rims of this type can be made by casting of carbon fiber or by extrusion, calandering and joining the ends of a metallic profile, typically made of aluminum.
The seat holes in the rim and in the hub of a wheel can be configured for direct attachment of the spoke, by respectively having an inner threading for engagement of the threaded end of the spoke, or a shaping matching the projecting head of the spoke, as a seat for engagement thereof. However, more typically a spoke attachment element is used with the spoke and a seat hole at the rim and/or the hub.

Attachment system for the spokes of a bicycle wheel


A semiconductor device comprises a semiconductor substrate, an electrically rewritable semiconductor memory cell provided on the semiconductor substrate, the memory cell comprising an island semiconductor portion provided on the surface of the semiconductor substrate or above the semiconductor substrate, a first insulating film provided on a top surface of the island semiconductor portion, a second insulating film provided on a side surface of the island semiconductor portion and being smaller in thickness than the first insulating film, and a charge storage layer provided on the side surface of the island semiconductor portion with the second insulating film interposed therebetween and on a side surface of the first insulating film, a third insulating film provided on the charge storage layer, and a control gate electrode provided on the third insulating film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device including electrically rewritable semiconductor memory cells and a method of manufacture thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
A nonvolatile semiconductor memory is one of the semiconductor memory devices. In recent years, the nonvolatile semiconductor devices are in increasing demand as data storage devices. As the typical electrically rewritable nonvolatile memories using floating-gate (FG) electrodes, NOR-type flash memory and NAND-type flash memory are known.
In order to increase the storage capacity of these flash memories, the dimensions of devices have been scaled down. However, shrinking the dimensions of devices have caused various problems, such as the increased aspect ratio of device structure, the effect on interference between adjacent FG electrodes, and the effect of variations in process on the injection of electrons into FG electrodes.
Since the NAND-type flash memory is advantageous to shrinking of the dimensions of devices, their storage capacity has been progressively increased. However, increasing the storage capacity has made problems of the short-channel effect (SCE) of transistors, the interaction (Yupin effect) due to coupling capacitance between adjacent FG electrodes, the reduced cell current by the miniaturization, and the difficulty in ensuring a sufficient coupling ratio between the control gate (CG) electrode-to-FG electrode capacitance (C2) and the FG electrode-to-substrate capacitance (C1). The coupling ratio is represented by C2/(C1+C2). Therefore, attempts are being made to contrive new memory cell structures.
In one of the conventional NAND-type flash memory cell structures, the coupling capacitance (C2) between FG and CG electrodes is made to increase by exposing the side of the FG electrode.
However, as the dimensions of devices shrink, the FG electrode becomes narrower in width and smaller in top surface area. As the result, it becomes difficult to ensure a sufficient coupling ratio.
There are variations in the process for exposing the side of the FG electrode. This produces variations in the width of the active area (AA). The variations in the AA width cause the coupling capacitance C1 between the FG electrode and the silicon substrate and the coupling capacitance C2 between the FG electrode and the CG electrode to vary. The variations of the coupling capacitances C1 and C2 result in a reduction in the yield of products.
With the conventional memory cell structure, in order to increase the cell current, it is required to increase the height of and the area of the side of the FG electrode. Increasing the height of the FG electrode leads to an increasing of the aspect ratio in the FG process. In terms of process, therefore, it is difficult to realize a high FG electrode. With the above method, therefore, it is difficult to increase the cell current.
In order to reduce the variations in the coupling capacitances C1 and C2 and to increase the cell current, a device structure has been proposed in which an FG electrode is formed on the side surface of a trench formed in the surface of a silicon substrate with a tunnel insulating film interposed therebetween (Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 5-291586). With this device structure, however, limitations are encountered in increasing the coupling ratio. Moreover, since there are corners in the channel region, the writing (injecting electrons into the FG electrode) characteristics vary greatly according to their shape. Furthermore, in processing the CG and FG electrodes on the sidewall of the trench in the surface of the silicon substrate, there arises a problem in that the surface of the silicon substrate suffers etching.
As described above, the conventional flash memories have a problem that, with shrinking of device dimensions, it becomes more difficult to achieve a sufficient coupling ratio.

Semiconductor device and method of manufacture thereof


A zoom lens system has first to fifth lens units from the object side. The second lens unit has a negative optical power. The other lens units have each a positive optical power. During zooming, the first, third and fourth lens units move along the optical axis to vary the distances between the lens units. The zoom lens system fulfills the conditions 0.01.ltoreq..vertline.f2/fT.vertline..ltoreq.0.20 and 25.ltoreq.(fT/f34W).times.Z.ltoreq.300, where f2 represents the focal length of the second lens unit, fT represents the focal length of the entire zoom lens system at the longest focal length condition, f34W represents the composite focal length of the third and fourth lens units at the shortest focal length condition, and Z represents the zoom ratio.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a zoom lens system, and more particularly, to a high-zoom-ratio and small-size zoom lens system suitable for use as a taking lens.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Previously disclosed high-zoom-ratio zoom lens systems having a zoom ratio of as high as 10.times. include one having positive, negative, positive, negative, positive configuration (Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. S63-205629, etc.), one having positive, negative, positive, negative, positive, negative configuration (Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H4-146407, etc.) and one having positive, negative, negative, positive, positive configuration (Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H2-208619, etc.).
However, the above-mentioned zoom lens systems, which are large in total length at the shortest focal length condition, cannot be said to be handy for use as standard zoom lens systems.


A nonvolatile semiconductor memory device for use as a flash EEPROM includes a plurality of sectors each comprising a plurality of main memory cell regions each composed of a matrix of nonvolatile memory cells and at least one redundant memory cell region composed of a matrix of nonvolatile memory cells. When one of said nonvolatile memory cells in any one of the sectors is found defective and is selected by addressing, it is replaced with one of the nonvolatile memory cells in the redundant memory cell region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device, and more particularly to a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device known as EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory).
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings shows, in block form, memory cells and associated circuit components of a flash EEPROM which can erase all data stored in memory cells at one time. The circuit arrangement shown in FIG. 1 corresponds to one bit of an output signal. If the flash EEPROM is of an 8-bit output configuration, it has eight circuits each identical to that shown in FIG. 1 which are arranged parallel to each other.
The flash EEPROM has terminals PP connected to an external voltage supply Vpp for supplying the high voltage required when the EEPROM writes or erases data. The flash EEPROM also has a plurality of column address lines Y.sub.11, . . . , Y.sub.1, Y.sub.s21, . . . , Y.sub.s2j for indicating the row address of a memory cell, and a plurality of row address lines X.sub.1, . . . , X.sub.k for indicating the row address of a memory cell. In write mode, a data input line D.sub.IN supplies a memory cell which has been selected by a column address line and row address line with data "0" that indicates a high voltage of VPG for actually writing data, or with data "1" that indicates a voltage of 0 V for writing no data. A signal ER is of a high level "H" in erase mode and of a low level "L" in other modes.
An N-channel enhancement MOSFET (hereinafter referred to as "NE-MOSFET") Q.sub.Y1W for writing data has a gate controlled by the data input line D.sub.IN. The flash EEPROM also includes a plurality of NE-MOSFETs Q.sub.YS211, . . . , Q.sub.YS21j, Q.sub.Y111, . . . , Q.sub.Y1l, . . . , Q.sub.Y1jl for selecting row addresses. Memory cells M.sub.111l, . . . , M.sub.lk1l have respective drains connected in common to a digit line D.sub.11l, respective sources connected in common to a common source terminal CS, and respective gates connected respectively to the row address lines X.sub.1, . . . , X.sub.k. Memory cells M.sub.1111, . . . , M.sub.1k11 have respective drains connected in common to a digit line D.sub.111, respective sources connected in common to the common source terminal CS, and respective gates connected respectively to the row address lines X.sub.1, . . . , X.sub.k. Memory cells M.sub.11jl, . . . , M.sub.1kjl have respective drains connected in common to a digit line D.sub.1j1, respective sources connected in common to the common source terminal CS, and respective gates connected respectively to the row address lines X.sub.1, . . . , X.sub.k. Memory cells M.sub.11jl, . . . , M.sub.1kjl have respective drains connected in common to a digit line D.sub.1jl, respective sources connected in common to the common source terminal CS, and respective gates connected respectively to the row address lines X.sub.1, . . . , X.sub.k. The memory cells M.sub.111l, . . . , M.sub.1k11, M.sub.111l, . . . , M.sub.1k1l are arranged as a memory cell matrix MX.sub.1l having an output node N.sub.1l, and the memory cells M.sub.1ljl, . . . , M.sub.1kjl, M.sub.11jl, . . . , M.sub.1kjl are arranged as a memory cell matrix MX.sub.1j having an output node N.sub.1j.
In read mode, a sensing amplifier SA1 serves to detect whether a memory cell which has been selected by a row address line and a column address line stores "0" (i.e., the memory cell has written data) or "1" (i.e., the memory cell has no written data or has erased data). The sensing amplifier SA1 can amplify a change in the voltage at a data bus SC.sub.1. The sensing amplifier SA1 produces an output signal S.sub.out1 indicative of the detected result. A source switch SS applies a voltage of 0 V to the common source terminal CS in write and read modes, and an erase voltage V.sub.pp to the common source terminal CS in erase mode.
The following table shows voltages at the signal lines and nodes at the time the memory cell M.sub.1111 is selected by row and column address lines in write, erase, and read modes:
______________________________________ Node YS.sub.21 Mode PP X.sub.1 Y.sub.11 (Y.sub.21) D.sub.IN D.sub.111 CS ______________________________________ Data "0" VPG - Write 12 V 12 V 12 V 12 V VPG VTN 0 V Date "1" Erase 12 V 0 V 0 V 0 V 0 V Float- 12 V ing Read 5 V 5 V 5 V 5 V 0 V 1.5 V 0 V ______________________________________
Operation of the flash EEPROM in the above three modes will be briefly described below with reference to FIG. 1 and the above table.

Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device with redundancy circuit


Compositions and methods for modulating activity of store-operated calcium entry in cells or tissues are provided. The compositions comprise the P311 protein, fused to a cell-penetrating peptide and formulated for delivery to tissues and cells. This protein has been shown to increase the levels of store-operated calcium entry (SOCE) in gingival cells, skeletal muscle cells, and prostate epithelial cells. Also provided are methods for preventing and treating diseases that involve administration of the P311 fusion protein, as well as methods for increasing levels of SOCE in cells.

Calcium (Ca) ions act as a regulatory signal for a myriad of cellular processes, and disruption of calcium homeostasis within cells results in numerous pathological conditions. Ca is a messenger molecule in cell signaling that is released in response to numerous stimuli in nearly all cell types. Maintenance of intracellular Ca homeostasis is essential for effective cellular function and perturbation of Ca handling can result in cell death and tissue degeneration. Indeed, disruption of Ca homeostasis has been implicated in the pathogenesis of a variety of diseases including cancer, heart disease, diabetes and neurodegenerative disorders.
Two principal sources of Ca participate in regulating intracellular Ca homeostasis; a) the store of Ca located within sequestering organelles, primarily the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and b) the vast reservoir of extracellular Ca. Ca stored within the ER is released in a controlled fashion through Ca channels, which are usually proteins from the Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) receptor or ryanodine receptor (RyR) families. The Ca is then returned into the ER through the action of Ca pumps. The intracellular stores of Ca are replenished from the extracellular reservoir through store-operated Ca entry (SOCE). SOCE is a fairly ubiquitous phenomenon. It has been observed in operation in skeletal muscle (Pan, Z. et al. 2002. Nat. Cell. Biol. 4:379-383), in fibroblasts (Miyakawa, T. et al. 1998. Biochem. J. 329:107-114), and in epithelial cells (Vanden Abeele, F. et al. 2003. J. Biol. Chem. 278:15381-15389).
Gingivitis is an inflammatory disease that results primarily from pathogenic bacteria found within the mouth. It is a condition that arises due to poor oral hygiene but also as a result of certain disease states, in particular those associated with inflammatory states. Although treatment with antibiotics and oral intervention are usual treatments, even aggressive treatment of the bacterial infection fails to reduce gingival symptoms in some patients. Several lines of evidence suggest that alteration to Ca homeostasis, and disruption of SOCE in particular, in various cell types found in the mouth effect dental health.
Several reports in the literature reveal that various Ca channel blocker drugs influence dental health. For example, nifedipine and diltiazem, both Ca channel blocking agents used in the treatment of cardiovascular disease, have been linked to an increased risk of gingival enlargement (Miranda, J. et al. 2001. J. Periodontol. 72:605-611; Miranda, J. et al. 2005. J. Clin. Periodontol. 32:294-298). In an attempt to understand the mechanism underlying the association between gingivitis and Ca channel blocking drugs, it was found that the periodontal inflammatory infiltrate in patients treated with nifedipine had elevated numbers of lymphocytes, in particular B lymphocytes, and these cells decreased significantly in number following periodontal treatment (Bullon, P. et al. 2001. J. Clin. Periodontol. 28:897-903). Population-based observational studies have shown that the use of Ca channel blockers in the treatment of heart disease leads to an increased incidence of dental disorders in patients (Ellis, J. S. et al. 1999. J. Periodontal. 70:63-67; Miranda, J. et al. 2001. J. Periodontol. 72:605-611). These data concerning use of drugs that affect Ca homeostasis in cells are direct evidence for a role of Ca ion movement in the pathogenesis of gingivitis.
Specific evidence also suggests that SOCE in particular is involved in the pathogenesis of gingivitis, particularly in response to the presence of bacteria. SOCE has been implicated during infection of the spirochete Treponema denticola, a periodontal pathogen. Protein fractions including outer membrane from T. denticola inhibit inositol phosphate (Yang, P. F. et al. 1998. Infect. Immun. 66:696-702) and intracellular Ca flux in human gingival fibroblasts (Ko, K. et al. 1998. Infect. Immun. 66:703-709). Later research demonstrated that the major surface protein of T. denticola forms complexes on human gingival fibroblast plasma membranes, inhibiting SOCE and reducing ER Ca stores (Wang, Q et al. 2001. J. Biol. Chem. 276:23056-23064). Furthermore, dental disease with an inherited component, such as localized juvenile periodontitis (LJP), is a disease that is associated with an increased risk of gingivitis, as well as being linked to the presence of defective SOCE (Shibata, K. et al. 2000. J. Periodontol. 71:797-802). Therefore, data suggest that SOCE activity modulation is linked to pathogenesis of periodontal disease, specifically gingivitis.
It has now been found that the SOCE pathway is altered in a specific dose- and time-dependent manner in conditions modeling gingivitis. Further, a peptide derived from a mammalian gene has been found capable of restoring operation of SOCE, preventing the effects of gingivitis and other dental diseases.
In addition to an association of dental disease and gingivitis to SOCE activity, homeostasis of intracellular Ca is critical to cell survival. Many apoptotic stimuli are known to alter concentrations of Ca in the cytosol, storage of Ca in the ER, and/or uptake of Ca into the mitochondria (Pan, Z. et al. 2004. J. Biol. Chem. 279:19387-19390). In non-excitable cells, such as the prostate epithelia, elevation of cytosolic Ca usually results from release through Ca stores in the ER or entry from the extracellular Ca reservoir through activation of SOCE. Depletion of ER Ca stores serves as a signal to activate SOCE. Since Ca storage inside the ER is an essential indicator of a cell's proliferative, metabolic and apoptotic status, the retrograde signaling process from ER Ca depletion to SOCE activation is central to a broad range of cellular and physiological functions. As such, coordinated regulatory mechanisms must exist in the cell to ensure tight control of SOCE function. Aberrant function of SOCE could contribute to either the degenerative or tumorigenic nature of human diseases.
Therefore, in addition to applications in the prevention and treatment of dental diseases, any disease process where SOCE is integral to the pathogenic mechanisms could potentially be targeted by agents that modulate activity of SOCE, diseases related to apoptosis, such as cancer. It has now been found that SOCE activity is decreased in aged skeletal muscle and prostate cancer epithelial cells. The peptide of the present invention, which modulates activity of SOCE, would be useful for the treatment of diseases associated with apoptotic processes (e.g., aging, cancer). Moreover, the peptide of the present invention has application to a number of different human pathologies, across a wide variety of different tissues, as long as the pathology involves altered activity of SOCE.

Compositions and methods for modulating store-operated calcium entry

University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey


A vibration damper comprises an attachment member and a damping mass connected by an elastomer spring with a plurality of elastic coupling elements. The coupling elements are inclined relative to the direction of the spacing between the damping mass and the attachment member. The inclination angle of the coupling elements is adjusted so that the natural vibrational frequency of the vibration damper in the spacing direction can be tuned largely independently from that in a direction perpendicular to the spacing direction.

Mechanical parts in machinery often experience unwanted vibrations during operation. The undesirable vibrations can often be reduced substantially by vibration damping means. One type of vibration damping means uses a damping mass which is coupled with a spring to a mechanical part for damping the vibrations thereof. The damping mass and the mechanical part form a system of two elastically coupled masses. The mechanical part in this system is generally referred to as the main mass. In this vibrational system, an external excitation, such as a vibration, applied to the main mass will be transmitted to the damping mass via the elastic coupling. A special case is present when the natural vibrational frequency of the damping mass, which depends on the spring rigidity of the elastic coupling, is equal to the frequency of the excitation on the main mass. In that case, if there is no energy dissipation due to inelastic damping in the vibrational system, only the damping mass vibrates in opposite phase with respect to the excitation, and the vibration of the main mass is completely damped. In practical applications, however, there is almost always some inelastic damping. The effects of inelastic damping are that the vibration of the main mass is not completely damped, and that the effective damping frequency is broadened into a band around the natural vibrational frequency of the damping mass.
A vibration damping device of the type described above may be used, for example, in motor vehicles for reducing unwanted resonance vibrations of a main mass, such as a gear part or the body of the vehicle. In such applications the natural vibrational frequency of the damping device is tuned to the resonance frequency of the main mass. The vibration damping device can be used on machine components having different shapes, such as a generally flat shape or a generally cylindrical shape. An example of a machine component with a cylindrical shape is a rotary shaft.
A vibration damping device 31 known in the prior art is represented in FIGS. 7 and 8. This device 31 comprises a cylindrical fastening part in the form of a sleeve 32, and a cylindrical damping mass 33. The fastening part is used to connect the damping device to a cylindrical machine component, such as a shaft. The fastening part 32 and the damping mass 33 are coaxially arranged, and are connected together with an elastic coupling means in the form of an elastomer spring 34. The elastomer spring 34 as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 comprises elastic coupling elements which are elastomer webs 35 with rectangular web surfaces. Opposed pairs of the webs are disposed in planes passing the axis of the cylindrical damping device.
The vibration damping device 31 can be used to reduce linear vibrations, such as bending vibrations, of a rotary machine component in either the axial direction or the radial directions. With radial vibrations the webs 35 are stressed for pressure, and with axial vibrations the webs are stressed for thrust. The pressure rigidity and thrust rigidity of a web of a given elastomer material generally has a fixed ratio, and in general the pressure rigidity is greater than the thrust rigidity. Since the natural vibrational frequencies of the damping mass depends on the rigidity of the coupling elements, the ratio of the natural vibrational frequencies of the damping mass in axial and radial directions is correspondingly fixed, and in general the natural vibrational frequency in a radial direction is higher than that in the axial direction. Due to this fixed ratio of natural vibrational frequencies, it is virtually impossible to tune the damping device 31 in the prior art to achieve simultaneous vibration damping in both the axial and radial directions. Thus the vibration damping device 31 can be optimally tuned for damping either axial or radial vibrations, but not both.
The above description of the vibration damping device 31 is mainly for illustrating the problem that prior art vibration dampers are generally optimized for one vibrational direction only. Most unwanted vibrations, however, have amplitude components in various directions. Such a case can be present, for example, in the case of a vehicle chassis which demonstrates a mixture of vibrations in all three dimensions in the resonance frequency range. Although it is sometimes possible to use several vibration damping devices on a machine component to handle vibrations in different directions, such an approach has the disadvantages of extra weight and high costs.
Other known constructions are described in, for example, German Patent 29 33 586, which discloses a vibration damping device which is provided for reducing rotary vibrations in radial directions. In order to make the vibration damping device relatively rigid with respect to torsional vibrations, the damping device has reinforcing elements in the form of sheet metal bodies.
German Patent 39 37 669 discloses a rotary vibration damper, the spring rigidity of which increases with increasing rotational speed. The adjustment of the spring rigidity is brought about by a centrifugal force adjustment of the spring elements.


An outdoor unit of an air conditioner is disclosed. The outdoor unit includes: a casing, including a portion defining an outlet through which air is discharged from the outdoor unit; an axial flow fan disposed in the casing for blowing air through the outlet, wherein the axial flow fan comprises: a hub; a plurality of main wings extending from the hub; and a rim connecting the main wings to one other and rotating integrally with the main wings; and one or more air entry blockers disposed at a clearance space between the rim and the portion of the casing defining the outlet.

1. Field of the Invention
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to an outdoor unit of an air conditioner, and more particularly, to an outdoor unit including an axial flow fan.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an air conditioner is an apparatus that provides users with a more pleasant indoor environment by cooling/heating an indoor space using a refrigeration cycle for refrigerant, constituted by a compressor, condenser, expansion unit, and an evaporator, or by filtering indoor air.
Such a typical air conditioner comprises an indoor unit installed indoors to perform heat exchange between refrigerant and indoor air to discharge hot air or cold air into the indoor space, and an outdoor unit connected to the indoor unit through a refrigerant pipe to perform heat exchange between refrigerant and outdoor air.
Here, in order to allow effective phase change of refrigerant in the outdoor unit, an axial flow fan is provided to blow air in the outdoor unit to the outside. A major limitation with blower units employing such axial flow fans is tip leakage loss, which reduces airflow and increases rotating noise.


The invention relates to an apparatus and a method for the sensing of objects moved through the field of view of an optical sensor comprising a device for the selection of regions of interest which are each associated only with a part of the field of view of the optical sensor, wherein a distance measurement device and/or a remission measurement device is/are integrated into the optical sensor or is/are connected in front of it or after it in the direction of movement of the objects, with the distance measurement device and/or the remission measurement device being designed for the determination of the spacing and/or of the remission of the object surfaces facing the distance measurement device and/or the remission measurement device and being coupled to an evaluation circuit for the calculating of the regions of interest in dependence on the determined spacings and/or remissions.

The invention relates to an apparatus and to a method for the sensing of objects moved through the field of view of an optical sensor comprising a device for the selection of regions of interest which are each only associated with a part of the field of view of the optical sensor.
With apparatus or methods of this type, which use camera systems for example, it is frequently necessary to evaluate the sensed image data in real time or at least at very high speed, which has the consequence that a high calculating power must be available to the evaluation system, which is associated with a corresponding economic effort. To reduce the required calculating power, it is known to identify those regions of the recorded images which are of special interest by means of a pre-processing stage prior to the actual evaluation of the sensed image data. Regions of interest of this type are as a rule known as "ROIs" (regions of interest).
After the ROIs have been defined by means of the pre-processing stage, it is possible to limit oneself within the framework of the actual evaluation circuit only to processing the sensed image data of these ROIs, which requires correspondingly less calculating power than the processing of the complete images recorded by the optical sensor or by the camera.
In accordance with the prior art, the ROIs are determined via a pre-processing of the complete sensed image data, with simple algorithms being used here due to the high image data flow which, for example, only determine whether the gray value of a pixel lies above a predetermined threshold value. If this is the case, the checked pixel is associated with an ROI; otherwise, it is not taken into account in the further evaluation. Algorithms of this type suffer, among other things, from the disadvantage that the respective condition—in the aforesaid example the exceeding of a predetermined threshold value—is not always reliably satisfied since, for example, an object of interest to be sensed is not necessarily always brighter than the background surrounding the object. In cases of this type, the said algorithms cannot be used or can only be used with restrictions.

Apparatus and method for monitoring moved objects


An organic light emitting diode (OLED) display includes: a substrate; a first and a second thin film transistor (TFT) both disposed on the substrate and both having an active layer, a gate, a source and a drain electrode. A gate line is connected to the gate electrode of the first TFT, and a data line is connected to the source electrode of the first TFT. A common power source line is connected to the source electrode of the second TFT, intersects the gate line, and is parallel to the data line. A pixel electrode is connected to the drain electrode of the second TFT. An organic emission layer is disposed on the first electrode. A common electrode line is disposed on the organic emission layer. A secondary common power source line is formed with the same material as and is parallel to the common electrode line.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display and a manufacturing method thereof. More particularly, the described technology relates generally to an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display with minimized generation of unnecessary parasitic capacitance, and a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Technology
Organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays have garnered much attention as a next-generation display because of their merits such as wide viewing angle, fast response rate, and relatively less power consumption, as well as a lower weight and a slim size.
An organic light emitting diode (OLED) display generally includes a thin film transistor and a capacitor, as well as an organic light emitting element. A cathode of the organic light emitting element is deposited on the whole surface such that the cathode overlaps the capacitor.
Accordingly, an unnecessary parasitic capacitance is generated between an electrode of the capacitor and the cathode.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the described technology and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Organic light emitting display device with reduced generation of parasitic capacitance and method for manufacturing the same


A method for fabricating an array of precisely shaped and located shaped elements utilizes a precisely shaped patterned abrasive to form channels in a workpiece. One or more patterned abrasives contact and abrade along one or more intersecting axes to define the shaped elements. The shaped elements may include optical elements, semiconductor elements, or both.

The present invention relates to a process for manufacturing an array of shaped elements, such as optical elements and semiconductor elements.
Optical elements (i.e. shaped bodies of inorganic or organic material and faceted along at least one plane, the shaped bodies reflecting, refracting, and absorbing light and/or conducting heat) and semiconductor elements having at least one dimension of less than a few millimeters are currently fabricated by a number of processes. These processes include molding, lapping individual elements, casting the optical elements from a sol-gel followed by sintering, microreplication, and processes using surface tension or shrinkage to form desired shapes. Of these processes, only lapping allows the production of precise shapes from refractory or crystalline materials. However, lapping is one of the slowest and most expensive processes for producing a large number of optical elements, especially for ceramics with high thermal conductivity, such as diamond, silicon carbide, and sapphire. In addition, individually lapped shaped elements must be handled individually, which is difficult.

Process for manufacturing optical and semiconductor elements


Aspects of the disclosure pertain to a system and method for providing prediction based, fast routing of IP flows. A hash table-based mechanism is implemented by the system such that classification information obtained and/or utilized for a first packet of an IP flow is applied to subsequent packets of the IP flow, thereby promoting packet processing efficiency for the flow.

In hardware-based implementations of networking solutions using programmable network processors, there is a partitioning of data plane functions and control plane functions. Data plane implements packet switching and forwarding through multiple levels of lookups of combinations of different packet fields (e.g., classification). The latency involved in packet classification is often the gating factor for system throughput (e.g., packets per second).

Prediction based methods for fast routing of IP flows using communication/network processors

Avago Technologies General IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


An electronic apparatus is formed with a first module having a plurality of connectors and a plurality of second modules each connected to the first module through a different one of the connectors. The second modules are identified for each connector or as a combination corresponding to a plurality of connectors and it is checked whether they are preliminarily registered or not. If any of them is found to be not preliminarily registered, a display is made to the effect that a connection error has been committed and the start of a normal operation of the apparatus of prevented.

This invention relates to an effective method of identifying a connection error for preventing errors in electrically connecting modules having various functions. This invention relates also to electronic apparatus of various kinds such as apparatus for measurements and adjustments adapted to use such a method.
Various methods for preventing connection errors have been proposed. As a method of preventing connection errors between units having same external characteristics but different in electronic specifications, Japanese Patent Publication Tokkai 11-307180, for example, described a method of reversing the male-female relationship between the connectors of two units from that of other two pairs of units such that it will be prevented for one of the two units from having the other of the other two units erroneously connected thereto.
Since it is only a matter of reversing the male-female relationship by this prior art method, it is of no use in situations where many connectors are provided to one unit and many units can be connected to each connector since there will be many combinations with the same male-female relationship.
In Japanese Patent Application Tokugan 2002-14490 filed May 20, 2002, the present inventors proposed electronic apparatus which may be produced by having many kinds of mounting substrates prepared such as substrates for input, output, power source and communication and mounting necessary ones of these substrates to a base substrate of a common type so as to obtain apparatus of desired kinds. Since such apparatus are obtained by selecting many kinds of mounting substrates with different specifications and functions selectively and mounting them to a plurality of connectors on a common base substrate, there may be situations where mounting substrates with different specifications and functions are connected in common to a same connector. In other words, any one of a plurality of different kinds of mounting substrates is selectively mounted to a connector and it is presupposed that connecting substrates of different types are adapted to be mounted to a same connector. Thus, it is not possible to use physical means of the prior art technology described above to prevent base substrates of different kinds from being mounted. Since a substrate of an incorrect kind may be mounted for producing a desired type of apparatus, it is necessary to avoid such connection errors.

Method of identifying connection error and electronic apparatus using same


A liquid crystal display device includes an LED, a liquid crystal panel, a light guide plate, a chassis, a frame, a board attachment member, an LED board, and a holding member. The chassis is arranged on an opposite side of the light guide plate from the liquid crystal panel. The frame is arranged on a display surface side of the liquid crystal panel and in contact with the chassis. The frame and the chassis hold the liquid crystal panel, the LED, and the light guide plate therebetween. The board attachment member is mounted on the chassis and spaced apart from the frame. The LED board is in contact with the board attachment member and includes the LED mounted on a plate surface thereof. The holding member sandwiches the board attachment member and the LED board so as to hold the LED board to the board attachment member.

Displays in image display devices, such as television devices, are now being shifted from conventional cathode-ray tube displays to thin displays, such as liquid crystal displays and plasma displays. With the thin displays, thicknesses of the image display devices can be decreased. Liquid crystal panels do not emit light. Therefore, liquid crystal display devices including liquid crystal panels require backlight devices.
In the backlight devices, light sources mounted on light source boards generate heat on the light source boards while emitting light. Therefore, effective heat dissipation is required for the backlight devices to release the heat generated on the light source boards to the outside of the backlight devices. An example of edge-light type backlight devices in which heat generated on the light source boards can be effectively released to the outside is disclosed in Patent Document 1.

Display device and television device having holding member


A gaming machine includes a combination inner video display and rotatable object. The inner video display and the rotatable object may be correlated together to form a reconfigurable object. Both the inner video display and the rotatable object can have segments wherein each segment may have an indicia associated with the segment, wherein the indicia can be a prize, a bonus multiplier, a progressive jackpot, a negative value, a bonus spin character, a loss of spin character, a blank space or a null character. The player will be rewarded with the corresponding prize(s) based upon the outcome of the combination inner video display and rotatable object.

Casinos and other forms of gaming comprise a growing multi-billion dollar industry both domestically and abroad, with electronic and microprocessor based gaming machines being more popular than ever. In a typical electronic gaming machine, such as a slot machine, video poker machine, video keno machine or the like, a game play is initiated through a player wager of money or credit, whereupon the gaming machine determines a game outcome, presents the game outcome to the player and then potentially dispenses an award of some type, including a monetary award, depending upon the game outcome. Many additional gaming machine components, features and programs have been made possible in recent years through this proliferation of electronic gaming machines, including those involving linked progressive jackpots, player tracking and loyalty points programs, and various forms of cashless gaming, among other items. Many of these added components, features and programs can involve the implementation of various back-end and/or networked systems, including more hardware and software elements, as is generally known.
Electronic and microprocessor based gaming machines themselves can include various hardware and software components to provide a wide variety of game types and game playing capabilities, with such hardware and software components being generally well known in the art. A typical electronic gaming machine will have a central processing unit ("CPU") or master gaming controller ("MGC") that controls various combinations of hardware and software devices and components that encourage game play, allow a player to play a game on the gaming machine and control payouts and other awards. Software components can include, for example, boot and initialization routines, various game play programs and subroutines, credit and payout routines, image and audio generation programs, various component modules and a random number generator, among others. Hardware devices and peripherals can include, for example, bill validators, coin acceptors, card readers, keypads, buttons, levers, touch screens, coin hoppers, player tracking units and the like.
In addition, each gaming machine can have various audio and visual display components that can include, for example, speakers, display panels, belly and top glasses, exterior cabinet artwork, lights, and top box dioramas, as well as any number of video displays of various types to show game play and other assorted information, with such video display types including, for example, a cathode ray tube ("CRT"), a liquid crystal display ("LCD"), a light emitting diode ("LED"), a flat panel display and a plasma display, among others. Apparatuses and methods for providing displays in gaming machines and/or within a casino are generally well known, and instances of such apparatuses and methods can be found in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,135,884; 6,251,014; and 6,503,147, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety and for all purposes. Such video displays can be used to simulate mechanical gaming reels, whereby all elements of the displayed wheels are controlled and displayed electronically. Alternatively, physical gaming reels may be displayed behind a main display glass or other like viewing element, with the rotation and positioning of these physically present gaming reels being determined and controlled electronically, as is known in the art.
Various methods of gaining and maintaining interest in game play include designing and providing gaming machines with intriguing and different themes, game types, artwork, visual displays, sounds and the like. One attractive feature for many players is the use of a mechanical rotating bonus wheel or a virtual animated bonus wheel in a gaming machine, particularly where the bonus wheel is integrated with game play and/or other pertinent presentations to a game player and instances of such apparatuses and methods can be found in, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,788,573, 6,224,483 or in the Wheel of Fortune® Gaming Machines. The bonus wheel tends to be relatively dramatic and attracts players due to the excitement of playing the bonus round. Unfortunately, these types of mechanized wheel-based games can often be inflexible and cannot be reconfigured once the physical values are placed on the mechanized wheel. In order to reconfigure the wheel or the value on the wheels, a technician would have to take the gaming machine apart. This would create downtime for the gaming machine and the gaming machine would not generate any profit during this downtime.
While existing systems and methods for mechanized bonus wheels in gaming machines and gaming systems have been adequate in the past, improvements and better systems and methods are usually welcomed and encouraged. In light of the foregoing, it is desirable to develop gaming methods and gaming systems that involve the implementation of a combination inner video display and outer mechanized rotatable object that can be reconfigurable.

Video and mechanical spinning bonus wheel