As delivery catheter for a radially expandable intraluminal stent. The delivery catheter comprises an elongate outer tube defining proximal and distal ends and a lumen extending longitudinally therethrough. In addition to the outer tube, the delivery catheter includes an elongate inner tube defining proximal and distal ends and a guidewire lumen extending longitudinally therethrough. The inner tube is movably disposed within the lumen of the outer tube. The delivery catheter further includes a flexible deployment sleeve having a first end attached to the distal end of the outer tube, and a second end attached to the inner tube at a location proximal to the distal end thereof. The pressurization of the lumen of the outer tube with a fluid causes fluid pressure to be exerted on the sleeve in a manner facilitating the movement and the inner and outer tubes relative to each other such that a distal portion of the inner tube extending distally from the second end of the sleeve is deployed from the distal end of the outer tube.

The term "stent" is generally used to describe radially expandable endoluminal devices which are implanted within luminal anatomical passageways (e.g., blood vessels, gastrointestinal tract, genitourinary tract, endocrine ducts, etc. . . . ) of the body to, i.) maintain the patency or state of dilation of the passageway, ii.) reinforce the passageway, or iii.) anchor a tubular graft or other object within the passageway.
Typical cardiovascular applications of stents are to maintain dilation and patency of an occluded region of blood vessel, or to bridge a weakened or aneurysmic region of blood vessel. On the other hand, some typical non-vascular applications of such stents are for the treatment of constrictions or injuries to the gastrointestinal tract (e.g., esophagus), ducts of the biliary tree (e.g., common bile duct) or anatomical passageways of the genitourinary tract (e.g., ureter, urethra fallopian tube, etc.).
Transluminally implantable stents are initially disposed in a compact configuration of relatively small diameter, and are mounted upon or within a delivery catheter to facilitate insertion and transluminal advancement of the stent into the desired anatomical passageway. Thereafter, such stents are radially expanded to a larger operative diameter which is equal to or slightly larger than the diameter of the anatomical passageway in which the stent is to be implanted. When radially expanded to such operative diameter, the stent will typically become released or separated from the delivery catheter and anchored or frictionally engaged to the surrounding wall of the anatomical passageway.
Some stents have a pliable, continuous tubular covering, in which case they are typically referred to as a "stented graft" or "stent-graft."
In general, stents and stented grafts fall into two major categories--a) self-expanding and b) pressure-expandable. Those of the self-expanding variety may be formed of resilient or shape memory material (e.g., spring steel or nitinol.TM.) which is capable of self-expanding from its first (radially compact) diameter to its second (operative) diameter without the exertion of outwardly-directed force against the stent or stented graft. Examples of such self-expanding stents and stented grafts are set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,655,771 (Wallsten, et al.); 4,954,126 (Wallsten); 5,061,275 (Wallsten, et al.); 4,580,568 (Gianturco); 4,830,003 (Wolf, et al.); 5,035,706 (Gianturco, et al.); 5,330,400 (Song) and 5,354,308 (Simon, et al.) and Foreign Patent Publication Nos. WO94/12136; WO92/06734 and EPA183372. Those of the pressure-expandable (i.e., "passive expandable") variety may be formed of plastically deformable material (e.g., stainless steel) which is initially formed in its first (radially compact) diameter and remains stable in such first diameter until such time as outwardly directed pressure is exerted upon the stent or stented graft to cause it to undergo radial expansion and resultant plastic deformation to its second (operative) diameter. Examples of such pressure-expandable stents and stented grafts are set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,135,536 (Hillstead); 5,161,547 (Tower); 5,292,331 (Boneau); 5,304,200 (Spaulding); 4,733,665 (Palmaz); 5,282,823 (Schwartz, et al.); 4,776,337 (Palmaz); and 5,403,341 (Solar) and Foreign Patent Publication Nos. EPA480667; and WO95/08966.
In many applications, careful positioning and sound anchoring of the stent or stented graft is critical to the successful treatment of the underlying medical problem. In this regard, the delivery catheter which is utilized to insert and position the stent or stented graft may be an important aspect of the overall system. Various types of delivery catheters for stents and stented grafts have been previously known, including those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,665,918 (Garza, et al.); 4,733,665 (Palmaz); 4,739,762 (Palmaz); 4,762,125 (Leiman, et al.); 4,776,337 (Palmaz); 4,838,269 (Robinson, et al.); 4,994,071 (MacGregor); 5,037,427 (Harada, et al.); 5,089,005 (Harada); 5,102,417 (Palmaz); 5,108,416 (Ryan, et al.); 5,141,498 (Christian); 5,181,920 (Mueller, et al.); 5,195,984 (Schatz); 5,201,901 (Harada, et al.); 5,269,763 (Boehmer, et al.); 5,275,622 (Lazarus, et al.); 5,290,295 (Querals, et al.); 5,306,294 (Winston, et al.); 5,318,588 (Horzewski, et al.); 5,344,426 (Lau, et al.); 5,350,363 (Goode, et al.); 5,360,401 (Turnland); 5,391,172 (Williams, et al.); 5,397,345 (Lazarus); 5,405,380 (Gianotti, et al.); 5,443,452 (Hart, et al.); 5,453,090 (Martinez, et al.); 5,456,284 (Ryan, et al.); and 5,456,694 (Marin, et al.) and Foreign Patent Publication Nos. EP-0308-815-A2; EP-0335-341-A1; EP-364-787-A; EP-0442-657-A2; EP-482976-A; EP-0505-686-A1; EP-0611-556-A1; EP-0638-290-A1; WO94/15549; WO95/01761; GB2196-857-A; DE3042-229; and DE3737-121-A.
None of the previously-known delivery catheter systems have been clearly optimal for all types of stents and stented grafts. Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for a design and development of improved delivery catheter systems for at least some types of stents and stented grafts.

Radially expandable intraluminal stent and delivery catheter therefore and method of using the same


A housing is arranged to include a plurality of rows of projecting cutting wheels for projection into a bush to be cut, with the housing further including cutter knives mounted between adjacent coplanar pairs of the cutting wheels to effect the comminuting of brush and the like directed within the housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention relates to bush cutting apparatus, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved bush cutting apparatus wherein the same is arranged for the mulching of bushes and the like for their trimming.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Brush cutting structure of various types are utilized throughout the prior art and wherein cutting blades for such cutting is indicated in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,012. U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,257 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,996,830 are examples of prior art mulling and brush cutting structure respectively.
The instant invention attempts to overcome deficiencies of the prior art by providing for a compact portable housing arranged for ease of mobility and for orientation relative to bushes for a trimming and cropping procedure and in this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


A machine includes a frame, a plurality of traction devices supporting the frame, an engine and an operator cab mounted to the frame, an implement system configured to move the work tool to a desired position, position sensors, a tilt-rotate system to move the work tool to a desired orientation, orientation sensors, an operator interface, and a control module. The control module is configured to receive a model of the work tool, receive boundary inputs defining a virtual boundary, receive signals from the position sensors and the orientation sensors, receive implement control inputs from the operator interface, determine a position and orientation of the work tool based on the signals and the model, determine whether the work tool is approaching the virtual boundary based on the position and orientation, the boundary inputs, and the implement control inputs, and automatically prevent the work tool from crossing the virtual boundary.

Excavators and other similar work machines must frequently operate in close proximity to obstacles and hazards such as walls, electrical lines, roads, and buried utilities. These machines, which may include any number of construction, excavating, agricultural and industrial work machines, including but not limited to excavators, bulldozers, tractors, and the like, often have work tools with a wide range of movement which may potentially come in contact with these hazards. The need to work in a restricted area poses an increased risk of damage to the machine or its surroundings. In addition, the need to constantly restrict the movement of the machine also puts a strain on operators.
The prior art has failed to adequately address this issue. Although systems such as that disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 9,725,874 to Meguriya et al. provide some forms of automatic movement limitation, these systems are focused on automating the creation of a level surface at a specific grade. Furthermore, they do not take into account the three-dimensional orientation of the work tool or allow for complex three-dimensional boundaries. In addition, previous boundary systems required assuming a spherical shape of the work tool which limits the precision.
Therefore, there is a need for a work machine having a more refined boundary system.

Virtual boundary system for work machine


A reducing sleeve for fastening a machining tool in a tool holder is described. Said reducing sleeve comprises a reducing sleeve body, which comprises a first tool-side end and a second tool holder-side end. In addition, at least one coolant supply channel is provided in the reducing sleeve body. Furthermore, a multifunctional interface is arranged at the second end and is designed for coupling to a sealing unit and a safety unit. Additionally presented is a modular system for providing a reducing sleeve assembly, which comprises such a reducing sleeve, a sealing unit, and a safety unit. In addition, a machining assembly with a tool holder, a reducing sleeve, and a machining tool is presented.

Such reducing sleeves and the machining assemblies equipped with them are known from the prior art. The tool holders can be hydraulically actuatable tool holders, which are also referred to as hydraulic tool holders in short.
A reducing sleeve usually serves to reliably hold a machining tool in an associated tool holder of a machining assembly. This is essentially done by clamping a tool shaft via the reducing sleeve in the tool holder. The reducing sleeve bridges the differences in diameter or thickness between the machining tool and the tool holder. In this connection, reducing sleeves can be designed according to numerous variants. Known are in particular reducing sleeves which have an additional pull-out safety geometry so that the tool shaft can be clamped in the tool holder on the one hand and on the other hand is secured via the pull-out safety geometry in a form-fitting manner against being pulled out of the reducing sleeve and/or the tool holder. Such reducing sleeves are also known under the term "safe lock" so that a safe lock mechanism or safe lock reducing sleeves are also often mentioned.
A coolant supply channel in the reducing sleeve body can be used to conduct coolant to a machining zone. For this purpose, it is not necessary that coolant supply channels are also provided on the machining tool itself. The reducing sleeve can therefore also serve to supply the coolant. Of course, reducing sleeves without coolant supply channels are also known in this connection. These sleeves can be used, for example, together with machining tools in which coolant supply channels are integrated.
In summary, numerous variants of reducing sleeves are known. Depending on the machining task to be performed, the most suitable one can be selected from these variants. However, this results in a certain amount of costs for storage, which has the goal of always being able to keep the appropriate reducing sleeve available for a certain spectrum of machining tasks.
This applies on the one hand to manufacturing environments in which the reducing sleeve and the machining tools held by means of it are used to produce other components. On the other hand, this also applies to a manufacturing environment in which reducing sleeves are produced in high variance. In both manufacturing environments, known reducing sleeves thus cause costs that result from the large number of variants mentioned and the associated storage.

Reducing sleeve, modular system for providing a reducing sleeve assembly, and machining assembly


Disclosed is a method for assessing a severity of rheumatoid arthritis. The method involves measuring in a patient sample a concentration of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptides (anti-CCP) and serum amyloid A, combining the concentrations determined to obtain a combined value, and comparing the combined value to a cut-off value established from a reference population. In another method, a marker selected from the group consisting of C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin 6 (IL-6), S100 protein, osteopontin, rheumatoid factor (RF), matrix metalloprotease 1 (MMP-1), matrix metalloprotease 3 (MMP-3), hyaluronic acid, and soluble CD14 (sCD14) may also be determined along with the anti-CCP and serum amyloid A.

Rheumatoid arthritis ("RA") is a chronic, inflammatory, systemic disease that produces its most prominent manifestations in affected joints, particularly those of the hands and feet. The onset of rheumatoid arthritis can occur slowly, ranging from a few weeks to a few months, or the condition can surface rapidly in an acute manner.
RA has a worldwide distribution and involves all ethnic groups. Although the disease can occur at any age, the prevalence increases with age and the peak incidence is between the fourth and sixth decade. The prevalence estimates for the North American population vary from 0.3% to 1.5%. Today, over 2,500,000 individuals are diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in the United States alone, with some statistics indicating from 6.5 to 8 million potentially afflicted with the disease. Women are affected 2-3 times more often than men.
The early symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis are mostly joint specific such as painful joints with joint swelling or tenderness, but may also include rather non-specific manifestations like stiffness, fever, subcutaneous nodules, and fatigue. Very characteristic is the symmetric involvement of joints. The joints of the hands, feet, knees and wrists are most commonly affected, with eventual involvement of the hips, elbows and shoulders. As the disease progresses, any type of motion becomes very painful and difficult leading eventually to a loss of function of the involved joints The more severe cases of rheumatoid arthritis can lead to intense pain and joint destruction. Some 300,000 bone and joint replacement surgical procedures are performed annually in an effort to alleviate the pain and mobility loss resultant from arthritis related joint destruction.
The most widely used system to classify RA is the American College of Rheumatology 1987 revised criteria for the classification of RA. (Arnett F C, et al., Arthritis Rheum 31 (1988) 315-324: "The American Rheumatism Association 1987 revised criteria for the classification of rheumatoid arthritis."). According to these criteria (known as ARA-criteria), a patient is said to have RA if the patient satisfies at least four of the following seven criteria, wherein criteria 1-4 must be present for at least six weeks: 1) morning stiffness for at least one hour, 2) arthritis of three or more joint areas, 3) arthritis of hand joints, 4) symmetrical arthritis, 5) rheumatoid nodules, 6) serum rheumatoid factor ("RF"), and 7) radiographic changes. These criteria have a sensitivity and specificity of approximately 90%.
The only biochemical marker generally accepted (see the above ARA-criteria) and aiding in the diagnosis of RA is the rheumatoid factor (RF) as detected in serum.
The histological changes in RA are not disease-specific but largely depend on the organ involved. The primary inflammatory joint lesion involves the synovium. The earliest changes are injury to the synovial microvasculature with occlusion of the lumen, swelling of endothelial cells, and gaps between endothelial cells, as documented by electron microscopy. This stage is usually associated with mild proliferation of the superficial lining cell layer. Two cell types constitute the synovial lining: bone marrow derived type A synoviocyte, which has macrophage features, and mesenchymal type B synoviocyte. Both cell types contribute to synovial hyperplasia, suggesting a paracrine interaction between these two cell types. This stage of inflammation is associated with congestion, oedema, and fibrin exudation. Cellular infiltration occurs in early disease and initially consists mainly of T lymphocytes. As a consequence of inflammation, the synovium becomes hypertrophic from the proliferation of blood vessels and synovial fibroblasts and from multiplication and enlargement of the synovial lining layers.
Granulation tissue extends to the cartilage and is known as pannus. The tissue actively invades and destroys the periarticular bone and cartilage at the margin between synovium and bone, known as erosive RA.
The articular manifestations of RA can be placed in two categories: reversible signs and symptoms related to inflammatory synovitis and irreversible structural damage caused by synovitis. This concept is useful not only for staging disease and determining prognosis but also for selecting medical or surgical treatment. Structural damage in the typical patient usually begins sometime between the first and second year of the disease (Van der Heijde, D. M., Br J Rheumatol 34 (1995) 74-8). Although synovitis tends to follow a fluctuating pattern, structural damage progresses as a linear function of the amount of prior synovitis.
The aetiology of the early events in RA remains elusive. An autoimmune component is widely accepted today but other factors are still disputed. The possibility of a bacterial or viral infection has been vigorously pursued. All efforts to associate an infectious agent with RA by isolation, electron microscopy, or molecular biology have failed. It is possible that there is no single primary cause of RA and that different mechanisms may lead to the initial tissue injury and precipitate synovial inflammation.
Clinical signs of synovitis may be subtle and are often subjective. Warm, swollen, obviously inflamed joints are usually seen only in the most active phases of inflammatory synovitis. Cartilage loss and erosion of periarticular bone are the characteristic features of structural damage. The clinical features related to structural damage are marked by progressive deterioration functionally and anatomically. Structural damage to the joint is irreversible and additive.
The effective treatment of rheumatoid arthritis has generally comprised a combination of medication, exercise, rest and proper joint protection therapy. The therapy for a particular patient depends on the severity of the disease and the joints that are involved. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, corticosteroids, gold salts, methotrexate and systemic immunosuppressants are widely used to reduce inflammation and joint destruction. The use of steroids and immunosuppressants, however, has significant risks and side effects both in terms of toxicity and vulnerability to potentially lethal conditions. More recently therapeutics based on "biologicals" have been introduced into RA-therapy. Such therapeutics, e.g., are soluble receptors or antibodies directed against TNF− that significantly reduce inflammation. Though very promising, biologicals are still in limited use due to high costs.
Data from longitudinal clinical and epidemiologic studies provide guidelines for treatment. These studies emphasize 1) the need for early diagnosis, 2) identification of prognostic factors, and 3) early aggressive treatment. Earlier diagnosis and treatment, preferably within the first several months after onset of symptoms, may help prevent irreversible joint damage.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method to assess the severity of rheumatoid arthritis by measuring anti-CCP and serum amyloid A


A police tester to detect the presence of a target substance includes a housing adapted to be mounted in a police cruiser; a chemical reservoir insertable into the housing; a test swipe in a disc or an automated cartridge, the test swipe adapted to receive a chemical from the chemical reservoir, the test swipe including one or more chemically treated pads; a camera to capture an image from the test swipe; a processor coupled to the camera to process the image to detect the target substance; and a transmitter coupled to the processor to transmit a test result to a remote computer at a police headquarter.

This invention relates to systems for the detection of explosives and other controlled substances such as drugs or narcotics as well as other chemicals used in clandestine activities.
Recent terror attacks have changed the dynamics of the explosive detection systems across the globe. Terrorists, acting singly or in concert, instill immense fear and apprehension in civilians and governments alike with their technical knowledge about explosives. In parallel, the world has experienced an increase in the transportation of contraband substances such as drugs or narcotics.
However, the field drug tests used by police around the country are wildly inaccurate leading to false arrests. According to a Dallas criminal defense lawyer at http://www.dallascriminaldefenselawyerblog.com/2009/03/police field drug tests garbag.html, there were over 500 cases over a two year period in Dallas county in which a suspected was arrested for drug possession and lab tests proved the substance was not drugs. Due to the significant implications of a false positive (an arrest based on wrong drug test result) or the possibility that a suspect with explosives or contraband substance is not detected by the field drug test, a reliable field drug tester is needed.

Explosive or drug detection reporting system


Disclosed is a fiber amplifier system in which a gain fiber is operatively combined with a fiber optic coupler having first and second coupler optical fibers. The coupler fibers are fused together along a portion of their lengths to form a wavelength dependent coupling region whereby most of the light power of a wavelength .lambda..sub.S couples between them, and most of the light power of a wavelength .lambda..sub.P that is introduced into the first fiber remains in it. The mode field diameter of the first coupler fiber is substantially matched to that of the gain fiber and is smaller than that of the second coupler fiber. One end of the first coupler fiber is spliced to the gain fiber. The difference in mode field diameters between said couplers is sufficient create a difference in coupler fiber propagation constants in the coupling region which degrades the coupling of the .lambda..sub.S signal. To overcome the difference in coupler fiber propagation constants in the coupling region, and thereby increase the coupled signal power to an acceptable level, a fiber characteristic, whose affect on MFD is insignificant, is modified in one of the coupler fibers.

The present invention relates to optical fiber couplers and, more particularly, to couplers that are adapted for use in optical fiber amplifiers.
In many couplers, it is desired to obtain substantially 100% coupling at a particular wavelength or band of wavelengths. It is also sometimes desirable to use two fibers in a 1.times.2 or 2.times.2 coupler which differ substantially in core index, core diameter, and/or cutoff. For example, published European patent application EP-A-0504479 teaches a fiber amplifier including a gain fiber 10 (see FIG. 1 hereof). A wavelength division multiplexer (WDM) fiber optic coupler 20 couples pump power of wavelength .lambda..sub.P from laser diode 15 and the signal of wavelength .lambda..sub.S from input telecommunication fiber 14 to gain fiber 10. The fiber pigtails extending from coupler 20 are connected to other optical fibers by fusion splices or butt joint connectors, splices 16, 22 being preferred because of their lower reflection and insertion loss. For optimal amplifier operation, the input signal splice loss at splice 16 should be small in order to maximize signal-to-noise (S/N) of the amplifier because in the signal-spontaneous beat noise limit, the electrical S/N of the amplifier depends linearly on the optical coupling efficiency. Also, the loss at splice 22 should be low for both good coupling efficiency (for the same S/N reason stated above) and pump coupling efficiency since amplifier gain is related to the amount of pump power coupled to the gain fiber. A coupling means 24 such as a tapering fiber or a coupler similar to coupler 20 can provide a relatively low loss connection between the gain fiber and an outgoing telecommunication fiber 25.
Gain fibers operate best when the intensities of both the pump and signal beams are high. This can be accomplished by providing the gain fiber with a relatively small mode field diameter (MFD), a characteristic that causes the optical power to be concentrated in a relatively small area along the fiber axis. Such a "high gain" or "high efficiency" fiber can be achieved by employing a relatively large value of .DELTA..sub.1-2 and a relatively small core diameter. The term .DELTA..sub.1-2 is equal to (n.sub.1.sup.2 -n.sub.x.sup.2)/2n.sub.1.sup.2, where n.sub.1 and n.sub.2 are the refractive indices of the fiber core and cladding, respectively. It is also desirable that the cutoff wavelength of the small mode field diameter fiber be below wavelength .lambda..sub.P of the pump source in order to achieve optimal pump signal energy coupling and low noise.
If a conventional WDM coupler were used for coupler 20 and both coupler fibers were commercially available telecommunication fibers, the mode field mismatch between the small MFD high gain fiber and the large MFD fiber would cause high insertion losses at the splice between those fibers. Consider, for example, a telecommunication system employing an erbium doped gain fiber having MFDs of 6.4 .mu.m and 3.7 .mu.m at 1550 nm and 1000 nm, respectively. The gain fiber is capable of amplifying signals at wavelengths between 1530 and 1560 nm; of the various possible pump wavelengths, 980 nm is preferred. If coupler 20 were a conventional WDM coupler, it would typically be formed of matched commercially available telecommunication fibers having MFDs of 10.5 .mu.m and 5.7 .mu.m at 1550 nm and 1000 nm, respectively, for example. Such coupler fibers are chosen to minimize the splice loss to telecommunication fibers. However, a splice between the aforementioned gain and telecommunication fibers would exhibit splice losses of 0.5 dB and 1.7 dB at 1536 nm and 980 nm, respectively. Such splice losses reduce amplifier gain, and they reduce the useable output power of the amplifier.
In accordance with the teachings of EP-A-0504479, the fiber amplifier of FIG. 1 employs a WDM coupler 20 which is formed of two different optical fibers 21 and 13. Fiber 13 is an optical fiber, the MFD of which substantially matches that of telecommunication fiber 14, and fiber 21 is an optical fiber, the MFD of which matches that of gain fiber 10. In fiber amplifier systems wherein the MFD of the gain fiber is sufficiently small to achieve suitable power density, the ratio of the MFD of fiber 13 to the MFD of fiber 21 is typically at least 1.5:1.
The relatively large difference between the MFD's and cutoff wavelengths of coupler fibers 21 and 13 result in a relatively large difference between the propagation constants (.DELTA..beta.) of the fundamental modes propagating in those fibers outside the coupling region. It is noted that a relatively large difference between the cutoff wavelengths of coupler fibers 21 and 13 can also result in a relatively large .DELTA..beta.. The effect of an MFD or cuoff wavelength difference on the propagation constants of the fundamental modes propagating in those fibers inside the coupling region (.DELTA..beta..sub.CR) is not as great. The cores of the coupler fibers can become so small in the coupling region that their effect on propagation becomes very small. When the fiber cladding diameter becomes sufficiently small, the composite of the core and cladding functions as the light guiding portion of the waveguide in the coupling region, and the surrounding low index matrix material functions as the cladding. Power therefore transfers between the adjacent fiber claddings in the coupling region. By controlling the length of the coupling region and the steepness of the transition region between the stretched and unstretched regions of the coupler fibers, if the .DELTA..beta..sub.CR is small enough, the spectral coupling characteristics of the coupler can be made to be such that a high percentage of the signal light propagating in the large MFD fiber is coupled to the low MFD fiber and a low percentage of the pump source light propagating in the small MFD fiber is coupled to the large MFD fiber.
A similar effect occurs in fused biconically tapered couplers wherein the fibers are surrounded by air rather than matrix glass in the coupling region.
In the system of FIG. 1, there is some maximum acceptable value of .DELTA..beta..sub.CR associated with the coupler fiber mismatch that is sufficiently small that coupling is not seriously degraded. A 1540 nm input signal coupled by such a coupler would be greater than some given minimum acceptable value, for example 95%.
However, in order to enhance gain fiber quantum efficiency, gain fibers having a .DELTA..sub.1-2 of at least 2.0% may be required. Assume that the coupler, referred to herein as Coupler A, utilized with that gain fiber comprised the above-identified commercially available telecommunication fiber and a small MFD fiber having a 2.0% .DELTA..sub.1-2 and a cutoff wavelength of approximately 1300 nm. Only 30 to 40% of the 1540 nm input power would couple from the input telecommunication fiber to the small MFD fiber at maximum coupling (see curve 35 of FIG. 3).
It is noted that coupler fiber .DELTA..beta..sub.CR can be caused by differences in fiber characteristics other than .DELTA..sub.1-2, cutoff wavelength and core diameter. A .DELTA..beta..sub.CR sufficiently large to degrade coupling can also occur if (a) the outside diameters of the coupler fibers differ, or (b) the coupler fibers are sufficiently different in composition or geometry that they are deformed differently upon collapse of the tubing during the manufacture of an overclad coupler.
It has been known that varying the refractive index of the fiber cladding in a fused biconically-tapered WDM coupler enhances the wavelength selectivity of the coupler. Also, the coupling from one fiber to the other in a 1.times.2 or 2.times.2 fused coupler increases with wavelength because diffractive mode field expansion increases with wavelength. The rate of change of this coupling with respect to wavelength limits how narrow a wavelength separation can be obtained between maximum and minimum coupling. By adjusting the indices of refraction, the .beta. curves of the fundamental modes of the two fibers in the coupling region can be made to cross at a high angle at some particular wavelength. Because complete coupling can only be obtained when .DELTA..beta..sub.CR <<C, this causes coupling at a wavelength remote from the .beta. "crossover wavelength" to be reduced, thereby sharpening the wavelength dependence of the coupling. The coupling constant C is discussed later (see equation 2). This principle is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,020 (M. Shigematsu et al.) and in the publication: O. Parriaux et al., J. Optical Commun. 2 (1981) 3, pp. 105-109.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,251 (Miller et al.) the use of cladding index modifiers is discussed in the context of achromatic couplers. The principle taught there is that a .DELTA..beta..sub.CR between otherwise identical fibers can be created by such a means, and that this can be used to improve the achromaticity (wavelength flatness) of such a coupler. The .DELTA..beta..sub.CR discussed in that patent may be wavelength dependent, but no crossing (where .DELTA..beta..sub.CR .fwdarw.0) is discussed.


A method, apparatus, system, and signal-bearing medium that in an embodiment represent previously-accessed data items as nodes in a tree or trees and display the tree or trees with the access time on an axis. The root node of a tree represents a data item accessed via an address entered by a user while a child node of the tree represents a data item selected from a parent node of the child node. In an embodiment, data items that were displayed in the same window as their parents have different connectors between their associated nodes than do data items that were displayed in different windows from their parents.

The World Wide Web, which is a collection of interconnected and cross-linked web pages located on computers, has become an important source of information. Users employ applications known as browsers to access these web pages. Since users frequently access the same web pages repeatedly, especially web pages that they have recently used, most browsers keep track of the web pages that the user has previously accessed using a technique known as a history. Previous browsers have used a linear history in chronological order that the user could navigate through using forward and back buttons, which are analogous to the rewind and fast-forward buttons on a VCR (video cassette recorder).
For example, a user might first visit the home page of a favorite baseball team and then follow a link on that home page to a second page with a particular player's batting average, and then follow another link on the second page to a third page containing an magazine article about the player. Subsequently, the user selects the back button on the browser twice to return to the home page of the baseball team instead of needing to type in the address of the home page.
A problem with this linear history is that users can visit a large number of web pages, which are confusing to view in a linear history, and the forward and back buttons are inefficient and cumbersome way to navigate through multiple web pages. Further, the problems of a linear history are not confined to pages accessed via a web browser, but also apply when a succession of data of other types is accessed over a period of time.


A managing structure for an umbilical member of an industrial robot, the umbilical member being for supplying air and electric energy to a work tool attached to an end of a wrist of the robot, in which the umbilical member is properly moved and interference between the umbilical member and a peripheral object or a forearm of the robot is prevented. The umbilical member elastically contacts a guide surface of a guide plate attached to a second wrist element of the robot without widely projecting from the robot. The umbilical member is guided such that the extending direction of the umbilical member generally coincides with the longitudinal direction of the guide plate before the umbilical member is connected to the work tool. The thickness of the guide plate may be gradually reduced or constant toward a free end of the guide plate. The rotational motion about a third axis of the work tool by a final axis of the robot is converted to the rotational motion about a fourth axis via a transmission, so as to rotate the work tool. Even when the work tool is rotated, the umbilical member is properly moved. The work tool may also be rotated about the third axis.

1. Technical Field
The preset invention relates to a managing structure for an umbilical member of an industrial robot.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an industrial robot (hereinafter referred to simply as a robot), a work tool is attached to an end of a wrist of the robot. In many cases, an umbilical member for the work tool (a cable and/or a tube; hereinafter referred to simply as umbilical member) for supplying material, energy or a signal (for example, air, electric energy, light energy or an electric signal) is arranged over a forearm of the robot and is connected to the work tool. Such an example of prior art is shown in FIG. 1.
In FIG. 1, numeral 1 denotes a robot controlled by a robot controller 2. A first wrist element 11 is mounted to a forearm 10 of the robot 1 and is rotatable about a first axis A extending in the longitudinal direction of the forearm. A second wrist element 12 is mounted to the first wrist element 11 and is rotatable about a second axis B generally perpendicular to the first axis A. Further, a third wrist element 13 is mounted to the second wrist element 12 and is rotatable about a third axis C1 generally perpendicular to the second axis B. A work tool H is attached to an end flange of the third wrist element 13. In this case, the work tool is a hand having suckers. Numeral 3 denotes an air delivery/suction device. An air tube 31 connected to the device 3 is joined in place to a cable 21 for supplying a power and an electric signal to the robot and is connected to a solenoid valve box 4. Delivery and suction of air between the solenoid valve box 4 and the hand H may be carried out by means of a tube (an umbilical member) 7. The robot controller 2 controls the air delivery/suction device 3 and the solenoid valve box 4 in a known manner, thereby delivery (grip-OFF) and suction (grip-ON) of air to and from the suckers of the hand H may be alternately changed.
In this case, disadvantageously, due to the rotation about each of the axes A, B and C1 by the motion of the robot, the umbilical member 7 may contact the forearm 10, may twine about the wrist elements 11 or 12, and/or may be strongly pulled. In order to avoid these disadvantages, in prior art, the umbilical member 7 has been widely outwardly projected before connected to the hand H, as shown in FIG. 1.
However, when the umbilical member 7 is widely outwardly projected, the action of the umbilical member 7 may be unstable when the wrist axis of the robot is activated. As a result, the umbilical member 7 may contact or interfere with a peripheral equipment and damage the equipment or the umbilical member itself. Another structure, in which an L-shape member 5 and an elastic body 6 are used so as to hang the umbilical member 7 above the forearm 10 and to limit the movement of the umbilical member, may be possible. However, the structure has in sufficient effect to avoid the interference.

Managing structure for umbilical member of industrial robot


Dilute, aqueous solutions of lower organic peracids are rapidly prepared by reacting the anhydride of the organic acid corresponding to the peracid with concentrated hydrogen peroxide to form an aqueous peracid mixture. Before equilibrium is attained, the mixture is diluted with water and hydrogen peroxide to produce an equilibrium mixture of organic acid, peracid, hydrogen peroxide, and water. The process can be carried out in 60 minutes or less and can be run either as a batch or as a continuous process.

Dilute, aqueous solutions of lower organic peracids, especially of peracetic acid, are effective against a wide spectrum of microorganisms, including algae, fungi, bacteria, and viruses. Because they leave only the corresponding lower organic acids as residues, they are particularly suited for applications in which a non-environmentally-polluting disinfectant is required.
Dilution of concentrated solutions of organic peracids to form dilute peracid solutions is undesirable. Concentrated solutions of organic peracids not only present a risk of fire and rapid decomposition with the liberation of gases but also are a potential risk to the user due to attack on the skin and nasal mucous membranes by the peracid. Dilution also causes a disequilibrium that, over time, reduces peracid concentration and the antimicrobicidal efficiency.
An organic peracid can be formed from the corresponding acid and hydrogen peroxide by the following equilibrium reaction: EQU R--CO--OH+H.sub.2 O.sub.2 .revreaction.R--CO--OOH+H.sub.2 O(I)
where R is an organic radical, typically a lower organic radical of 1 to 5 carbon atoms.
In dilute solutions a relatively long period of time is required to attain equilibrium because of the low concentration of the reactants. The increase in peracid concentration slows considerably as the equilibrium concentration is approached, even when concentrated solutions are used. Although an equilibrium solution containing 35% by weight peracetic acid can be prepared in about one to two days, preparation of an about 5% by weight solution of peracetic acid requires about 11 to 14 days, even in the presence of acid catalysts. Consequently, preparation of a dilute, aqueous solution of lower organic peracids by the equilibrium method is time consuming, resulting in inefficient use of plant and equipment.
Various attempts to prepare peracids have been disclosed. Greenspan, U.S. Pat. No. 2,90,800, prepared concentrated peracetic acid by reaction of concentrated hydrogen peroxide with glacial acetic acid in the presence of an acid catalyst, followed by addition of acetic anhydride to remove water.
Oringer, U.S. Pat. No. 3,432,546, discloses a process for the production of an aqueous peracetic acid solution by the reaction of hydrogen peroxide with acetic anhydride in a tubular reaction zone. However, a non-equilibrium mixture of acid, peracetic acid, hydrogen peroxide, and water, which is not suitable for storage and shipment, was produced.
Crommelynck, U.S. Pat. No. 4,297,298, discloses a process for formation of dilute solutions of organic peracids in which a concentrated solution of peracid is diluted with water and permitted to hydrolyze in the presence of an acid catalyst and then diluted with at least one of the reagents used to prepare the concentrated solution. However, this process can require up to 48 hours to attain equilibrium.
Brougham, U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,083, discloses a process in which a dilute solution having an equilibrium composition is produced by contacting concentrated hydrogen peroxide with a concentrated lower aliphatic acid to rapidly form an aqueous reaction mixture rich in peracid and diluting the reaction mixture with water and the quantities of acid and hydrogen peroxide required to reproduce the equilibrium composition of the dilute solution. Dilution is carried out before the reaction mixture has reached equilibrium. Although this process reduces the time to produce the dilute peracid solution, several hours is still required to produce a solution that contains about 21-25% by weight peracetic acid, the preferred concentration for dilution.
Thus, a need exists for a faster process for producing dilute, aqueous solutions of lower organic peracids suitable for storage and shipment.

Method for the production of lower organic peracids


The invention relates to human TNF delta and TNF epsilon polypeptides, polynucleotides encoding the polypeptides, methods for producing the polypeptides, in particular by expressing the polynucleotides, and agonists and antagonists of the polypeptides. The invention further relates to methods for utilizing such polynucleotides, polypeptides, agonists and antagonists for applications, which relate, in part, to research, diagnostic and clinical arts.

Human tumor necrosis factors alpha (TNF-alpha) and beta (TNF-beta or lymphotoxin) are related members of a broad class of polypeptide mediators, which includes the interferons, interleukins and growth factors, collectively called cytokines (Beutler, B. and Cerami, A., Annu. Rev. Immunol., 7:625–655, 1989).
Tumor necrosis factor (TNF-alpha and TNF-beta) was originally discovered as a result of its anti-tumor activity, however, now it is recognized as a pleiotropic cytokine capable of numerous biological activities including apoptosis of some transformed cell lines, mediation of cell activation and proliferation and also as playing important roles in immune regulation and inflammation.
To date, there are nine known members of the TNF-ligand superfamily, TNF-alpha, TNF-beta (lymphatoxin-alpha), LT-beta, OX40L, FASL, CD30L, CD27L, CD40L and 4-1BBL. The ligands of the TNF ligand superfamily are acidic, TNF-like molecules with approximately 20% sequence homology in the extracellular domains (range, 12%–36%) and exist mainly as membrane-bound forms with the biologically active form being a trimeric/multimeric complex. Soluble forms of the TNF ligand superfamily have only been identified so far for TNF, LT-alpha, and FasL (for a general review, see Gruss, H. and Dower, S. K., Blood, 85 (12):3378–3404 (1995)), which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
These proteins are involved in regulation of cell proliferation, activation, and differentiation, including control of cell survival or death by apoptosis or cytotoxicity (Armitage, R. J., Curr. Opin. Immunol., 6:407 (1994) and Smith, C. A., Cell, 75:959 1994).
TNF is produced by a number of cell types, including monocytes, fibroblasts, T cells, natural killer (NK) cells and predominately by activated machrophages. TNF-alpha has been reported to have a role in the rapid necrosis of tumors, immunostimulation, autoimmune disease, graft rejection, resistance to parasites, producing an anti-viral response, septic shock, growth regulation, vascular endothelium effects and metabolic effects. TNF-alpha also triggers endothelial cells to secrete various factors, including PAF-1, IL-1, GM-CSF and IL-6 to promote cell proliferation. In addition, TNF-alpha up-regulates various cell adhesion molecules such as E-Selectin, ICAM-1 and VCAM-1.
The first step in the induction of the various cellular responses mediated by the members of the TNF ligand superfamily is their binding to specific cell surface receptors. The TNF receptor superfamily contains at present ten known membrane proteins and several viral open reading frames encoding TNFR-related molecules. The p75 low-affinity Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) receptor was the first cloned receptor of this family (Johnson, D. et al. Cell, 47:545 (1986). Subsequently, cloning of two specific receptors for TNF show that they were related to the NGF receptor (Loetscher, H. et al., Cell, 61:351 (1990)). In recent years, a new type I-transmembrane TNF receptor superfamily has been established. This family includes the p75 nerve growth factor receptor, p60 TNFR-I, p80 TNFR-II, TNFR-RP/TNFR-III, CD27, CD30, CD40, 4-1BB, OX40 and FAS/APO-1. In addition, several viral open reading frames encoding soluble TNF receptors have been identified, such as SFV-T2 in Shope fibroma virus (Smith, C. A. et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 176:335, 1991) and Va53 or SaIF19R in vaccinia virus (Howard, S. T., Virology, 180:633, 1991). These receptors are characterized by multiple cysteine-rich domains in the extracellular (amino-terminal) domain, which have been shown to be involved in ligand binding. The average homology in the cysteine-rich extracellular region between the human family members are in the range of 25 to 30%.
Inflammation, which is characterized by redness, swelling, heat, and pain, is an essential immune response which occurs following tissue injury or infection. The initial event triggers an elaborate signaling cascade which results in increased local blood flow, blood clotting, and vascular permeability. These acute changes facilitate the recruitment of phagocytic leukocytes to the site of injury or infection. Once at the affected site, the immune cells can begin to neutralize pathogens and contribute to tissue repair.
Among the many protein classes involved in the inflammatory response are blood clotting factors, vasodilating substances (such as histamine and bradykinin), cell adhesion molecules, cytokines (such as interleukins and chemokines), and immune system effector cells (such as neutrophils, macrophages, and lymphocytes).
Although the inflammatory response is an important defense mechanism against infection by foreign substances, inappropriate or excessive activation of inflammation can lead to tissue damage and even death. Medical conditions resulting from inflammation include, but are not limited to, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, asthma, allergies, sarcoidosis, septic shock, gastrointestinal cancers, pancreatitis, dermatitis, gout, systemic lupus erythematosis, and Grave's disease. Inflammation is also a potentially life-threatening complication of cardiopulmonary bypass surgery, renal ischemia-reperfusion, and traumatic injury.
Several steroidal and nonsteroidal drugs have been used to control inflammation or to provide symptomatic relief. However, these therapies can be accompanied by numerous side effects which limit their usefulness. Therefore, there is a continuing need for more effective and less toxic alternatives for modulating the inflammatory response.
Clearly, there is also a need for factors that regulate activation, and differentiation of normal and abnormal cells. There is a need, therefore, for identification and characterization of such factors that modulate activation and differentiation of cells, both normally and in disease states. In particular, there is a need to isolate and characterize additional TNF ligands akin to members of the TNF ligand super-family that control apoptosis of transformed cell lines, mediate cell activation and proliferation and are functionally linked as primary mediators of immune regulation and inflammatory response, and, among other things, can play a role in preventing, ameliorating or correcting dysfunctions or diseases.

Human tumor necrosis factor delta polypeptides


Disclosed are a plasma processing apparatus and a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device using the same. The plasma processing apparatus comprises a chamber, an electrostatic chuck in the chamber and loading a substrate, a plasma electrode generating an upper plasma on the electrostatic chuck; and a hollow cathode between the plasma electrode and the electrostatic chuck, wherein the hollow cathode generates a lower plasma below the upper plasma. The hollow cathode comprises cathode holes each having a size less than a thickness of a plasma sheath of the upper plasma.

Inventive concepts relate to apparatus for and method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, and more particularly, to a plasma processing apparatus and a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device using the same.
In general, a semiconductor device is manufactured by employing a plurality of unit processes. The unit processes may include a thin-layer deposition process, a lithography process, and an etching process. Plasma may be mainly used to perform the thin-layer deposition process and the etching process. The plasma may treat substrates at high temperatures. High frequency power is generally used to produce the plasma.

Plasma processing apparatus and method of manufacturing semiconductor device using the same


A surgical robotic user input apparatus has a fiber optic cable with a handheld user input device attached at one end, and a connector attached at another end. Multiple intrinsic sensors, such as fiber Bragg grating sensors, are in the fiber optic cable. The intrinsic sensors are used to detect a pose of the handheld user input device. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.

In surgical robotic systems for teleoperation purposes, user input device tracking provides accurate sensing of user intent and control a stable and robust motion of a surgical robotic arm and an attached surgical robotic tool. Mechanisms for spatial tracking of a user input device known as electromagnetic trackers have been used, but do not fulfill the precision (e.g., noise problem) and latency requirements of surgical robotic systems. If the resulting information is not free of noise, drift and immune to magnetic interference from the environment, the error of the pose estimate of the user input device may generate undesired movement of the arm or tool, especially when sub-mm (for position or translation) and sub-degree (for orientation) precision may be needed. To reduce noise, the signal from the user input devices can be filtered, though at the expense of introducing latency, which also is not desirable.

Surgical robotic user input apparatus having optical fiber-based intrinsic sensors


A device including a center core, an outer layer that is configured to encase the center core, an artificial grass implement that is into engagement with the outer layer and that is configured to simulate a grass turf, and wherein the device is configured to be operable for practicing golf putting strategies or techniques.

One or more embodiments of the invention generally relate to golf balls. More particularly, certain embodiments of the invention relates to golf balls for practicing.
The following background information may present examples of specific aspects of the prior art (e.g., without limitation, approaches, facts, or common wisdom) that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon.
The following is an example of a specific aspect in the prior art that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon. By way of educational background, an aspect of the prior art generally useful to be aware of is that there are several ways a person may practice golfing while away from a golf course and indoors. A person may practice on wood floors, carpets or rugs, but that doesn't help a user get used to how it feels to golf on actual grass. Another way to practice is to purchase a rug/carpet of artificial grass that may resemble golfing on actual grass. Often though these are meant to just look like grass, not resemble the feeling of golfing on actual grass. Furthermore, these are less likely to resemble golfing on specific parts of a golf course such as the important green part of a golf course. Furthermore still, these artificial green spaces are often very large and may require complex installations.
In view of the foregoing, it is clear that these traditional techniques are not perfect and leave room for more optimal approaches.
Unless otherwise indicated illustrations in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.

Combined golf ball and turf for putting practice


A method of copying content in a computing device includes detecting a gesture of an input tool which selects content to be copied that is displayed on a display of the computing device while the input tool operates within a sensing range of a proximity sensor of the computing device, and automatically copying the selected content to a clipboard in response to detecting removal of the input tool from within the sensing range of the proximity sensor.

With recent developments in information communication technology and semiconductor technology, distribution and use of various portable terminals are rapidly increasing. In particular, portable terminals, which in the past have been limited to a single function or limited functionality, have recently been developed to provide multiple functions. For example, mobile communication terminals may provide various multimedia functions such as a TV watching function (digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB), digital video broadcasting (DVB), etc.), a music playback function (MPEG audio layer-3 (MP3) files), an image capturing function, an Internet accessing function, and a dictionary searching function, in addition to their own functions such as voice calling or text messaging.
A display unit of a portable terminal is one of the output units that visually outputs information stored in the portable terminal, information received from the outside, or information input by a user. Accordingly, the display unit is a part that a user most frequently interacts with and directly impacts a user's satisfaction. Furthermore, as a multimedia function, an Internet function, or a clipboard function is added to a portable terminal, the importance and usability of the display unit is increased.
Furthermore, a touch screen display is currently widely used as a display unit and the touch screen display not only displays information to a user but also functions as an input unit for receiving input from the user. In addition to the touch screen display, a variety of types of sensors are under development for the portable terminals.

Apparatus and method of copying and pasting content in a computing device


An environment-friendly active cloth includes a fiber layer and a active cloth layer, and its manufacturing method. The active-cloth has a rough, properly soft and irregular surface, made of a first catalyst, a second catalyst, paste plant starch, liquid non-grain PVA, and a foam agent of proper weight mixed together. The active cloth layer has many percolating air holes, forming a single unit.

This invention concerns an environment-friendly active cloth and its manufacturing method, particularly having strong dirt removing force, good structure, proper softness, and being easy to wash and quick to dry.
Generally common rubbing or cleansing cloths have to use detergent at the same time for cleaning tables, tableware, glass, mirrors, etc. to permit their surfaces to be bright and shining.
However, a conventional rubbing cloth or cleansing cloth generally has rather weak dirt removing force, needing to use detergent at the same time. Sometimes a bit of cotton or string from the rubbing cloth may remain on things washed. In addition, they do not last long, having to be replaced with a new one, owing to its structure. Moreover, in washing, the rubbing cloth may be clogged with dirt, which is hard to remove, and become black and untidy, and taking some time to dry. Besides, its water absorbing feature is not good and water may remain on things washed by it, which then have to be wiped with a dry cloth again, which makes it inconvenient to use, In addition, conventional rubbing cloths have wide ranges of softness, some are so soft like a sponge and easily broken, and some very coarse and hard to damage things being washed, limiting its scope of usage.

Environment-friendly active cloth and its manufacturing method

3F, No. 14, Alley19, Lane76, Hao-Tong Road


An ink jet printhead that is manufactured in accordance with an integrated circuit fabrication technique includes a substrate. A plurality of nozzle arrangements are positioned on the substrate. Each nozzle arrangement includes nozzle chamber walls that define a nozzle chamber having an inlet that is in fluid communication with a pulsed ink supply. A closure mechanism is positioned on the substrate and is operable between a closed condition in which the closure mechanism serves to close the inlet and an open condition in which ink is permitted to pass into the nozzle chamber.

This invention relates to ink jet printheads. More particularly, this invention relates to an ink jet printhead that incorporates closure mechanisms.
The Applicant has invented an ink jet printhead that is capable of generating text and images at a resolution of up to 1600 dpi.
In order to achieve this, the Applicant has made extensive use of micro electro-mechanical systems technology. In particular, the Applicant has developed integrated circuit fabrication techniques suitable for the manufacture of such printheads. The Applicant has filed a large number of patent applications in this field, many of which have now been allowed.
The printheads developed by the Applicant can include up to 84000 nozzle arrangements. Each nozzle arrangement has at least one moving component that serves to eject ink from a nozzle chamber. The components usually either act directly on the ink or act on a closure which serves to permit or inhibit the ejection of ink from the nozzle chamber.
The moving components within the printheads are microscopically dimensioned. This is necessary, given the large number of nozzle arrangements per printhead. The Applicant has spent a substantial amount of time and effort developing configurations for such printheads.
One of the reasons for this is that, as is known in the field of integrated circuit fabrication, cost of on-chip real estate is extremely high. Furthermore, it is important that levels of complexity are kept to a minimum since these significantly increase the cost of fabrication.
Integrated circuit fabrication techniques involve what is generally a deposition and etching process. As a result, devices which are manufactured in accordance with such techniques are usually, of necessity, in a layered construction. Furthermore, it is important to develop a configuration where a high number of devices can be fabricated per unit area of chip surface.
A problem associated with such a high number of nozzle arrangements is that ink must be selectively physically ejected from each of the nozzle arrangements. This can result in excessive expenditure of energy. Furthermore, the requirement of having an ink mover in each nozzle chamber can result in a printhead with an unacceptably high level of complexity. Applicant has conceived the present invention in order to address this issue.
According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided an ink jet printhead that is manufactured in accordance with an integrated circuit fabrication technique, the ink jet printhead comprising:
a substrate; and
a plurality of nozzle arrangements positioned on the substrate, each nozzle arrangement comprising:
nozzle chamber walls that define a nozzle chamber having an inlet for fluid communication with a pulsed ink supply; and
a closure mechanism that is positioned on the substrate and is operable between a closed condition in which the closure mechanism serves to close the inlet and an open condition in which ink is permitted to pass into the nozzle chamber.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided an ink jet printhead that comprises
a substrate;
an ink reservoir arranged on the substrate;
a plurality of nozzle arrangements positioned on the substrate, each nozzle arrangement comprising nozzle chamber walls that define a nozzle chamber having an inlet that is in fluid communication with the ink reservoir and a closure mechanism that is positioned on the substrate and is operable between a closed condition in which the closure mechanism serves to close the inlet and an open condition in which ink is permitted to pass into the nozzle chamber; and
a pressurizing mechanism that is operatively arranged with respect to the ink reservoir, the pressurizing mechanism being configured to pressurize ink within the reservoir in a pulsed manner to generate pressure pulses to eject ink from the nozzle chambers on operation of the pressurizing mechanism, when the closure mechanisms are in the open condition.
According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of printing with an ink jet printhead having a substrate, a plurality of nozzle arrangements positioned on the substrate, each nozzle arrangement having nozzle chamber walls that define a nozzle chamber having an inlet, a closure mechanism that is positioned on the substrate and that is operable between a closed condition in which the closure mechanism serves to close the inlet and an open condition in which ink is permitted to pass into the nozzle chamber, the method comprising the steps of:
applying pressure pulses to ink supplied to each nozzle arrangement; and
activating closure mechanisms of selected nozzle arrangements while applying such pressure pulses, so that the closure mechanisms are moved into their open conditions permitting ink to be ejected from the nozzle chambers of the selected nozzle arrangements.

Inkjet printhead that incorporates closure mechanisms


An audio test apparatus, and an exemplary audio test method that includes: processing an audio file through two independent channels; outputting no signals from a left channel and from a right channel in a first time period; receiving noise signals from the left and right channels; outputting single-frequency signals from the left channel only in a second time period; receiving the single-frequency signals from the left channel and crosstalk signals from the right channel; outputting multi-frequency signals from the left and right channels in a third time period; receiving the multi-frequency signals from the left and right channels; outputting single-frequency signals from the right channel only in a fourth time period; receiving the crosstalk signals from the left channel and the single-frequency signals from the right channel; and testing parameters according to the signals received during the four time periods.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an audio test apparatus capable of decreasing test time in audio devices and a test method thereof.
2. General Background
Nowadays, handheld devices (e.g., mobile phones) are becoming more popular and multifunctional. Although mobile phones are primarily used as a means of communication, people typically use the mobile phone to listen to music. As a result, the sound quality outputted by handheld devices is an important factor in determining user satisfaction. The quality of the audio port of the mobile phone, such as an earphone port, directly correlates to the overall sound quality. Therefore, it is necessary to test and verify the quality of the mobile phone's audio port.
In general, testing the quality of the audio port is accomplished by receiving the audio signal outputted by the audio port and analyzing parameters of the audio signal. These parameters include signal to noise ratio (SNR), total harmonic distortion (THD), and frequency response (FR). The general method is to test different parameters by outputting different audio signals for the different tests. The general method is time consuming.
Therefore, an audio test apparatus that reduces test time and a test method are desired to overcome the above-identified deficiencies.

Audio test apparatus and test method thereof

Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (ShenZhen) Co., Ltd.


A multilayer ceramic composition showing good characteristics, even when electric intensity on dielectric layers is high and a stacked number of a multilayer ceramic capacitor is increased, and an electronic device thereof. Said composition comprises: a perovskite compound ABO3, and with respect to 100 moles of said compound, 0.6 or more to 1.4 or less moles of Ra2O3 in which Ra is at least one of Dy, Gd and Tb, 0.2 or more to 0.7 or less moles of Rb2O3 in which Rb is at least one of Ho and Y, and 0.2 or more to 0.7 or less moles of Rc2O3 in which Rc is at least one of Yb and Lu, in terms of each oxide, 0.6 or more to 1.6 or less moles of Mg oxide in terms of Mg, and 0.6 or more to less than 1.2 moles of Si included compound in terms of Si.

The multilayer ceramic capacitor as an example of a ceramic electronic device is widely used as a size-reduced electronic device showing a high performance and a high reliability. Large numbers are used for an electric equipment or an electronic equipment. In recent years, as the electric equipment and the electronic equipment are size-reduced or show higher performance, further reduction in size, higher performance and further improvement in reliability are requested. The multilayer ceramic capacitors in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H10-223471 and in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-201761 are described as multilayer ceramic capacitors which respond to such requests.
However, in recent years, further reduction in size and higher performance of the multilayer ceramic capacitor are requested; and thus, thin and multilayer of dielectric layers are essential.
Therefore, a demand for a dielectric ceramic composition which can provide an efficient reliability and a good temperature characteristic even with said thin and multilayer of dielectric layers, is increasing.

Dielectric ceramic composition and an electronic device thereof


A counterbalanced door assembly particularly suited for heavy-duty load bearing applications such as sidewalk access doors, and for precasting into concrete slabs, comprises a door, a frame surrounding the door, a hinge connecting the door to the frame for rotation about a first axis, a torque rod arm mounted to rotate about a second axis displaced from the first axis, and one or more torque rods. One end of the torque rod arm is connected to the torque rod to twist the torque rod as the torque rod arm rotates about the second axis thereby generating a counterbalance force. A force control mechanism, which may be a cam with a properly shaped cam surface or a link hinged at either end, receives the counterbalance force from the torque rod arm and applies it in a controlled direction over a controlled effective moment arm relative to the first axis to generate the desired counterbalance torque.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to door assemblies in which a door is hinged to a frame along a non-vertical hinge line and torque rods are used to counterbalance the door so that it can easily be lifted against the force of gravity. The invention particularly relates to large, heavy load-bearing doors such as flush-mounted sidewalk or floor access doors where it is desirable to precast the door and frame into a concrete slab.
2. Description of Related Art
There are numerous applications in which a door is hinged along a non-vertical hinge line and must be opened and closed against the force of gravity. Such applications include sidewalk access doors, floor hatches, roof hatches, elevator and machinery access panels and the like. Such doors are often used in areas where foot traffic is expected, or where vehicle traffic may occur, and therefore must be extremely strong and are usually quite heavy.
Doors of this type can be dangerous due to their tendency to close rapidly and with great force when released, and it has been common to provide some means of counterbalancing to eliminate this danger. An additional benefit obtained by counterbalancing is that the door can be opened more easily by individuals with less risk of back strain, or can be motorized and opened with less power and with smaller motors.
In doors of this type, the counterbalancing has usually been provided by tubular compression spring operators. Where the doors are particularly heavy, multiple compression spring operators have been used.
Multiple compression spring operators have been preferred for heavy applications because of the force which can be generated and the simplicity with which they can be ganged together to provide the necessary counterbalancing. However, to achieve the necessary counterbalancing force over the required distance, compression springs must extend significantly below the level of the door and frame. A typical spring length has been twelve (12) inches (30 centimeters), while door frames are usually only 3-4 inches (8-10 centimeters) high and concrete slabs are usually only 6 inches (15 centimeters) thick.
Thus, compression springs have disadvantages in certain applications, particularly where the door is to be precast into a concrete slab, or where the space below the door will be used as a work space and the headroom is limited. In precasting operations where the standard slab is six (6) inches (15 centimeters) thick, the compression springs do not fit into the precaster's molds and holes must be cut into the mold to accommodate the length of the spring.
For lighter doors, torque rods have occasionally been used in the counterbalancing mechanism. However, there is a problem in that torque rods provide a counterbalancing torque which is a linear function of their twist, while a non-vertically hinged door requires a counterbalancing torque which is a sinusoidal function of the opening angle.
Nonetheless, previous torque rod counterbalancing systems were designed to directly twist the rod by the same amount as the opening angle of the door by connecting one end of the rod to the door and one end to the frame. This was a convenient way to twist the rod and apply some counterbalancing torque, but it resulted in only partial counterbalancing. Usually the door was undercompensated at the center of its range which made the torque rod system poorly suited for counterbalancing heavy doors where the amount of uncompensated weight was high.
Bearing in mind these and other deficiencies of the prior art, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a counterbalanced door and frame assembly suitable for use with large, heavy non-vertically hinged doors in which the door is substantially counterbalanced by torque rods over its entire opening range.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a means of coupling multiple torque rods to increase the torque available and counterbalance heavier doors.
Another object of the invention is to provide a simple yet strong method for engaging the rods to be twisted and for shaping the rods with bent ends such that different left and right-hand versions of the rods are not required.
A further object of the invention is to provide a counterbalanced door and frame assembly wherein the frame forms a continuous wall around the door and wherein the counterbalance mechanism does not project below the level of the frame such that the assembly is suitable for precasting into a concrete slab.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a torque rod arm and cam counterbalancing mechanism wherein the cam is provided with a track for guiding and stabilizing the torque rod arm under heavy counterbalancing loads.

Door assembly with multiple torque rod counterbalancing


The present invention is for more optimally performing recording and reproduction of stereoscopic video. In the present invention, parallax information is utilized to store, in a recording medium, stereoscopic video including left-eye images and right-eye images. Particularly, for video content that contains stereoscopic images, information is obtained regarding the amount of variation in parallactic angle having a given or larger value, a variation time that the variation in parallactic angle takes, and the number of times that the variation in parallactic angle occurs. An evaluation value is calculated that corresponds to the degree of eye fatigue on the basis of the amount of variation, the variation time, and the number of times of the variation. According to the present invention, the video content is encoded in such a manner that the evaluation value is within a given range, and then recorded in the recording medium.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stereoscopic video recording method, a stereoscopic video recording medium, a stereoscopic video reproducing method, a stereoscopic video recording apparatus, and a stereoscopic video reproducing apparatus.
2. Description of the Background Art
With the progress of encoding techniques for compressing digital video signals, it has become possible to implement optical disk apparatuses with excellent searchability and operability by recording compressed video signals to optical disks. Such optical disk apparatuses are free from degradation caused by dubbing, because they record digital video signals instead of analog video signals, and such optical disk apparatuses offer improved reliability because they employ non-contact optical recording and reproduction.
Encoding methods for compressing such digital video signals include the MPEG (Moving Picture coding Experts Group) standards, for example. The MPEG compression offers improved compression efficiency as compared with "intra" compression methods such as motion JPEG, but it still has restrictions due to the use of motion-compensated prediction in the temporal direction; for example, searches can be made only in units of groups of multiple pictures (GOPs), and access on the disk requires accessing an intra-compressed I picture first. Accordingly, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-260988 (Patent Document 1) suggests a devised data format on an optical disk.
However, the data format of Patent Document 1 has been made only for filing of two-dimensional, flat images. For filing of stereoscopic images, the method of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-166651 has to be adopted, in which a right-eye image and a left-eye image are separately displayed in the first and second fields of a TV signal, and the two individual field images are viewed by the respective eyes through the use of means such as polarizing eyeglasses.
Viewing stereoscopic (hereinafter referred to also as 3D) video for many hours causes discomforts such as eye fatigue and 3D motion sickness, because the viewer moves the eyes in the focal direction with increased frequency. Three-dimensional viewing will be problematic especially when the point of attention busily moves in the depth direction. Also, in particular, the display of subtitles and the like requires continuously switching the eye focus, and may cause more intense discomforts like eye fatigue and 3D motion sickness than the viewing of ordinary 3D video.
Also, as to the recording of stereoscopic video information, when filing a stereoscopic video that employs parallax between right-eye images and left-eye images on an optical disk, it was not possible to handle a video stream including a mixture of flat (hereinafter referred to also as 2D) images and stereoscopic (3D) images. Particularly, for example, when the display apparatus is switched while the reproducing apparatus is reproducing stereoscopic video, or when a display apparatus is newly connected, information required for 3D display cannot be sent to the display apparatus side in a linked manner, and so the settings in the display apparatus cannot be changed instantaneously.
Also, as to the recording of stereoscopic video information, when filing a stereoscopic video employing parallax between right-eye and left-eye images on an optical disk, there is no video control information that allows recording of broadcasted stereoscopic video and that enables settings in the display apparatus and the reproducing apparatus.
Also, distributed content, such as movies, are usually released at different times, for preferentially releasing businesses such as movie theaters and for the distribution as media, and therefore "code" is provided to limit the region where the movie can be viewed, according to the conditions of distribution of the movie. Also, the distribution of stereoscopic video content is affected by the extent of proliferation of compatible display apparatuses, and it is necessary to further set separate regional restrictions for 3D video and for 2D video. However, conventional systems do not meet such requirements.
Also, it was not possible to superimpose information about the content, copyright information, 3D display scheme information, OSD information, multi-angle information, etc. on a stereoscopic video stream, and therefore it was not possible to instantaneously change the settings on the display apparatus side, not on the reproducing apparatus side.
Also, unlike ordinary 2D video information, 3D video information utilizing parallax includes information for the left-eye and information for the right eye, and the amount of information is doubled and filing efficiency is deteriorated.
Also, while increased eye fatigue occurs during the reproduction of 3D video with an increased degree of three-dimensionality, it was not possible to give a warning to the user in advance according to the degree of three-dimensionality, or to restrict the viewing according to the age of the user. Also, while increased eye fatigue occurs during the reproduction of 3D video with an increased degree of three-dimensionality, it was not possible to alleviate the three-dimensionality of the content on the reproducing apparatus side.

Stereoscopic video recording method, stereoscopic video recording medium, stereoscopic video reproducing method, stereoscopic video recording apparatus, stereoscopic video reproducing apparatus


A semiconductor device includes a substrate on which a plurality of contact regions are defined, a plurality of transistors formed in the plurality of contact regions, a support body formed over the plurality of transistors and including a top surface, portions of which have different heights in the plurality of contact regions, a plurality of stacked structures including a plurality of conductive layers stacked over the support body, slits located between the plurality of stacked structures, first lines coupled to first junctions of the plurality of transistors through the slits, and second lines coupled to second junctions of the plurality of transistors through the slits.

1. Technical Field
Various embodiments relate generally to an electronic device and a method of manufacturing the same and, more particularly, to a semiconductor device including three-dimensionally stacked memory cells and a method manufacturing the same.
2. Related Art
A non-volatile memory device preserves the stored data even when the power is cut off. Two-dimensional memory devices in which memory cells are fabricated in a single layer over a silicon substrate have reached physical limits in increasing their degree of integration. Accordingly, three-dimensional (3D) non-volatile memory devices in which memory cells are stacked in a vertical direction over a silicon substrate have been proposed.
A conventional 3D non-volatile memory device includes a plurality of word lines that are stacked on top of one another. Therefore, in order to select a desired one of the stacked word lines, a plurality of contact plugs may be formed so that each of the contact plugs may be coupled to each of the word lines. To this end, conventionally, the stacked word lines may be patterned into a stepped shape, and subsequently, the plurality of contact plugs may be formed. However, it may be difficult to pattern word lines into a stepped shape, and the number of processes may increase as the number of stacked word lines increases.
The conventional 3D non-volatile memory device may include global word lines and local word lines in order to apply a voltage to the stacked word lines and pass transistors in order to apply a voltage to the desired word line. However, since the pass transistors are formed over a substrate, a separate area for these pass transistors needs to be provided. Therefore, the memory device may be limited in increasing its integration degree.

Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same


A method of producing inner parts of a tripod joint followed by a tubular shaft has one end of the tubular shaft deformed in a non-chip-forming way. The deforming increases the wall thickness. Radial arms are connected to the thickened region of the tubular shaft end, preferably by friction welding.

The present invention relates to a method of producing inner parts of a tripod joint. The inner parts include radial arms followed by a tubular shaft.
It is common practice to produce inner parts of tripod joints by forging or forming the parts with an annular member with inner teeth and subsequent, integrally producing radial arms to receive tripod rollers. An externally toothed tubular shaft is inserted into the inner teeth and axially secured by securing means to the annular member. Furthermore, it is known to form inner parts with an annular member and integral radial arms and to connect the annular member, via an end face, to a tubular shaft by welding. Friction welding is a particularly suitable process for this type of connection. At its end facing away from the tubular shaft, the annular member may be closed by a bottom part. Both above types of forming are described in EP 0 115 232 B1, published Aug. 8, 1984. Machining of the inner parts of both the above described joint designs is relatively complicated since they include three joint arms with deviating axes.
The first mentioned method has a weak point in the region where the arms are connected to the internally toothed annular member. This weak point is due to the joint size and its relatively small wall thickness. In addition, it is relatively expensive to produce the teeth on the tubular shaft and in the annular member.
When selecting material for the inner joint part of the second above mentioned method, a compromise must be made between the wear resistance of the arms and the mechanical load bearing capacity of the inner part, e.g. fracture strength, of the annular member.

Method of producing the inner part of a tripod joint


A thickness, shear crystal resonator and a method of manufacturing therefor in which a natural crystal surface is appeared on at least a part of surfaces of crystal plate thereof to the extent that the part is made substantially transparent, the impedance of the crystal resonator is made small thereby and a large Q factor can be obtained. And, there is found no dip in the temperature characteristics of the impedance and the vibrating frequency of the crystal resonator.

1. Field of the Invention and the Related Art Statement
The present invention relates to a crystal resonator vibrating in a thickness-shear mode, and more particularly to a thickness shear crystal resonator having a large Q factor with smooth temperature characteristics. The present invention also relates to a method of manufacturing said thickness shear crystal resonator.
FIG. 1 shows an electric equivalent circuit of the thickness shear crystal resonator comprising a crystal plate and a pair of electrodes directly applied on opposite surfaces thereof The Q factor (figure of merit), which represents the efficiency of vibration of such a crystal resonator, is expressed by the following equation (1): ##EQU1## wherein, f represents a vibration frequency, C.sub.1 a capacitance of the crystal resonator, and R.sub.1 an impedance of the crystal resonator, which represents a resistance against the vibration of the crystal resonator. In order to make large the Q factor of the crystal resonator vibrating at a specified frequency, it is necessary to make the capacitance C.sub.1 and/or the impedance R.sub.1 of the crystal resonator small. The vibrating frequency f of the crystal resonator, for example, a thickness shear resonator made of AT cut quartz, is expressed by f.perspectiveto.1660.times.n/t, wherein the unit of the frequency f is KHz, n represents the order of vibration, which is equal to 1 for the fundamental wave and is equal to 3, 5 . . . for the 3rd, 5th . . . overtones, and t represents a thickness of the crystal plate whose unit is expressed by mm. Since the order of vibration is predetermined, the vibrating frequency f of the thickness shear crystal resonator depends on the thickness t of the crystal plate. Therefore, in order to decrease the capacitance C.sub.1 of the crystal resonator vibrating at the given frequency for obtaining the crystal resonator having a large Q factor, the size of the electrodes arranged on opposite surfaces of the crystal plate should be made small. However, there is a limitation in reducing the size of electrodes in the thickness shear crystal resonator due to the following reason.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the general construction of a known thickness shear crystal resonator in which the electrodes are applied on the opposite surfaces of the crystal plate. In this crystal resonator, electrodes 2, 3 are provided on front and rear surfaces of a crystal plate 1 such that they are opposite to each other. The crystal plate 1 is held by supporting wires 4, 5 made of electrically conductive material and these wires are coupled with said electrodes 2, 3, respectively. These supporting wires 4, 5 are respectively connected to terminals 6, 7, which are fixed to a metal base 10a via insulators 8, 9. The base 10a is covered with a metal cover 10band the space formed by the base 10a and the cover 10b is filled with an inert gas. In general, the electrodes 2, 3 arranged on the opposite surfaces of the crystal plate 1 are formed by the vacuum evaporation. In the thickness shear crystal resonator, the crystal plate 1 vibrates or deviates in the direction parallel to the plane of the electrodes. When the crystal resonator vibrates in such thickness shear mode, a part of the crystal plate located between the opposite electrodes tends to deviate from each other by applying the electric power across the electrodes, but the remaining part of plate in the peripheral portion, on which electrodes are not arranged, works to resist against the deviation of the crystal part located between the electrodes. Therefore, in the crystal resonator having the crystal plate of a given dimension, if the size of electrodes is made small in order to decrease the capacitance C.sub.1 for obtaining the large Q factor, the impedance R.sub.1 will be naturally large, and it will be impossible to obtain the large Q factor. Thus, it is considered to make the electrodes as well as the peripheral portion of the crystal plate 1 on which the electrodes are not formed small as possible. However, in order to electrically isolate the electrode 2 formed on one surface of the crystal plate and the supporting wire 5 coupled therewith from the electrode 3 formed on the other surface of the crystal plate and the supporting wire 5 coupled therewith, the peripheral portion must have a certain width. Generally, the width of 1.about.2 mm is required for the peripheral portion of the crystal resonator. It is apparent from the above that there is a limitation to make the capacitance C.sub.1 of the crystal resonator small by reducing the size of electrodes.
On the other hand, the impedance R.sub.1 of the crystal resonator has a characteristic different from that of the resistance of general electric circuits. It represents a resistance against the mechanical vibration of the crystal plate. The causes for such resistance have not been solved completely yet, but the following four factors have been considered. The first factor is that the crystal located in the peripheral portion of the crystal resonator, on which the electrodes are not arranged, restricts the vibration of the crystal located in the central portion, on which the electrodes are provided, the second factor is that the supporting wires restrict the vibration, the third factor is that the phase of the vibration of the crystal located between the electrodes is deviated from the phase of the vibration reflected from the side edge of the crystal plate, and the fourth factor is that several kinds of defects generated in the crystal plate during the manufacturing process serve as the resistance. Under the situation mentioned above, various solutions have been suggested for making the impedance of the thickness shear crystal resonator small, hitherto. However, the fully satisfied solution has not been suggested yet, as explained in the following.
FIG. 4 shows a conventional crystal resonator, in which a crystal plate 1 is formed into a plano-convex, i.e. one surface of the crystal plate is formed as a convex surface and the other surface is formed as a plane surface, and the both surfaces are polished to become like a mirror surface. Such a plano-convex type crystal resonator is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,557. In such crystal resonator, it is possible to concentrate the vibrating energy into the center of the crystal resonator and the displacement of the peripheral portion becomes almost zero, so that the resistance caused by the first factor mentioned above can be reduced. And, since it is also possible to reduce the coupling of high-order contour signals, which is determined by the thickness and contour of the crystal plate, the resistance caused by the second factor can be decreased. Further, the both surfaces of the crystal plate are formed to become like a mirror surface, the resistance caused by the fourth factor can be also reduced. Therefore, the Q factor of this plano-convex type crystal resonator becomes high, but it has a serious drawback that the manufacturing process therefor is complex and thus the cost for manufacturing becomes high because at least one of the surface of the crystal plate should be ground into the convex shape. Therefore, the application of the plano-convex type crystal resonator is practically restricted to such an extent that the economical problem need not be discussed.
FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the conventional crystal resonator, in which the impedance R.sub.1 is made small. In this embodiment, the peripheral edge of the crystal resonator 1 is beveled to form a tapered edge by lapping. Also in such a crystal resonator having the beveled edge, the displacement of vibration is concentrated in the central portion of the crystal plate and the loss due to the supporting wires at the edge of the crystal plate can be reduced. However, there is a limitation to make the impedance R.sub.1 small by conducting the beveling treatment to the peripheral edge of the crystal plate, and in case of the crystal resonator vibrating at a higher frequency, the beveling process becomes extremely difficult and further the effect of the beveling does not appear so remarkably. As stated above, the vibrating frequency f of the crystal resonator is predominantly determined by the thickness of the crystal plate 1. For example, the thickness of the crystal plate is 1.66 mm at the fundamental frequency of 1 MHz. And if the frequency is 10 MHz, the thickness becomes 0.166 mm. As apparent from this, as the vibrating frequency becomes higher, the thickness of the crystal plate becomes thinner. Thus, the beveling treatment could not be conducted to the crystal resonator having the frequency of about 10 MHz or more, generally.
Another method of making the impedance R.sub.1 small has been suggested in which the lapping treatment is conducted for forming the both surfaces of the crystal plate into the mirror surfaces. Generally, the crystal plate is lapped by means of abrasive grains after the plate being cut in the given orientation of the crystal. In the beginning of the lapping, coarse grains are used, and in the end, fine grains are used. The mesh size of grains for use in finishing is about #2500-#4000, whose diameter is about several microns. The grain size for use in finishing is determined by taking into consideration the necessary performance of the resonator in practical use and the cost therefor. If the crystal plate is lapped by using very fine abrasive grains without considering economical efficiency to obtain the mirror finished surface, the fourth factor will be reduced and the impedance R.sub.1 will become small to some extent. However, the cost therefor will be extremely expensive and not in practice. Furthermore, in the mechanical lapping using the grains, there is generated affected ground layers in the surfaces of the crystal plate, so that there is a limitation in making the impedance R.sub.1 small.
Furthermore, it is also suggested to conduct an etching treatment on the crystal plate in such manner that the whole crystal plate is immersed in an etching liquid, for example, a solution of ammonium fluoride, in order not only to reduce the impedance R.sub.1 but also to reduce the age variation of the vibration frequency by removing the affected ground layer generated in the surface of the crystal plate or by removing dirt or stain on the surface of the crystal plate. The impedance R.sub.1 can be made small by such etching treatment. However, if the surface of the crystal plate is over etched, the surface becomes rough, and the impedance R.sub.1 is increased. Further, not only the peripheral portion but also the central portion on which the electrodes are to be arranged are etched, so that the adhesive force of the electrodes to the surfaces of the crystal plate becomes weak. Moreover, a desired thickness of the crystal plate cannot be obtained, and the vibration frequency thereof might be shifted.
The thickness shear crystal resonators manufactured in a mass production scale are produced by such a way of cutting a crystal plate into a given shape, polishing the cut crystal plate by using abrasive grains, and beveling the edge of the crystal plate, and etching the whole polished surfaces of the crystal plate, so that the impedance R.sub.1 of the crystal plate is decreased within an allowable range and the Q factor becomes large.
However, the demands of the users for the performance and cost of the crystal resonators have become severe. Therefore, it is now difficult to satisfy the user's demands, even if the manufacturing technique mentioned above is used for manufacturing the crystal resonator. That is to say, the user requires to make the impedance of the crystal resonator much smaller.
Moreover, in the temperature characteristics of the impedance R.sub.1, a non-continued variation, which is so-called dip, is found. This dip is related to a dip of the temperature characteristics of the frequency of the crystal resonator, and thus it is difficult to compensate. Therefore, it is also required by the user that the crystal resonator whose temperature characteristics of the impedance R.sub.1 or frequency has no dip is developed and that the manufacturing cost becomes low.

Thickness shear crystal resonator and manufacturing method therefor