The invention discloses a trocar seal membrane with concave-channel structure. Said seal membrane comprises a proximal opening, a distal aperture, and a sealing wall from the distal aperture extending to the proximal opening, said sealing wall comprising a proximal surface and a distal surface, said distal aperture formed by a scaling-lip for accommodating the inserted instrument and formed a gas-tight seal, said sealing-lip comprising a longitudinal axis and a transverse plane substantially perpendicular to said axis. In the lip-adjacent area, said sealing wall comprises the main rotary-wall and a plurality of concave-channel each of the concave-channels includes two side sealing-walls, which are defined by both edges and extending laterally outward from the sealing-lip and gradually widening. Said concave-channels have the functions of enlarging hoop circumference, reducing the wrapped area, improving lubrication reliability, increasing the axial tensile stiffness, etc., thereby, greatly reducing the frictional resistance and the stick-slip.

A trocar is a surgical instrument, that is used to establish an artificial access in minimally invasive surgery (especially in rigid endoscopy). Trocars comprise in general a cannula and an obturator. The surgical use of trocars generally known as: first make the initial skin incision at the trocar insertion site, then insert the obturator into the cannula, and then together they facilitated penetration of the abdominal wall through, incision into the body cavity. Once penetrated into the body cavity, the obturator is removed, and the cannula will be left as access for the instrument get in/out of the body cavity.
In rigid endoscopy surgery it is usually necessary to establish and maintain a stable pneumoperitoneum for the sufficient surgical operation space. The cannula comprises a sleeve, an outer body, a seal membrane (also known as instrument seal) and a duck bill (also known as closure valve). Said cannula providing a channel for the instrumentation in/out of the body cavity, said outer body connecting the sleeve, the duck bill and the seal membrane into a sealing system; said duck bill normally not providing sealing for the inserted instrument, but automatically closing and forming a seal when the instrument is removed; said seal membrane accomplishing a gas-tight seal against the instrument when it is inserted.
In a typical endoscopic procedure, it is usually set up 4 trocars (access), i.e. 2 sets of small diameter cannula (normally 5 mm in diameter), and 2 sets of large diameter cannula (normally 10˜15 mm in diameter). Instruments, in general passing through a small cannula are only for ancillary works; herein one large cannula as an endoscope channel, and the other large cannula as the main channel for surgeon to perform surgical procedures. Through said main channel thereof, 5 mm diameter instruments used in approximately 80% of the procedure, and said large cannula used in approximately 20% of the procedure; furthermore, 5 mm instruments and large diameter instruments need to be switched frequently. The small instruments are mostly used, so that the sealing reliability of which is more important. The large instruments are more preferably used in a critical stage of surgery (Such as vascular closure and tissue suturing), therein switching convenience and operational comfort are more important.
FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 depict a typical 12 mm diameter cannula 700. Said cannula 700 comprises a lower housing 710, an upper housing 720, a seal membrane 730 which sandwiched between the lower housing 710 and the upper housing 720, and a duckbill seal 750. Said lower housing 710 including center hole 713 defined by an, elongated tube 711. Said upper housing 720 including the proximal hole 723 defined by the inner wall 721. Said membrane 730 including a proximal opening 732, a distal aperture 733, a sealing-lip 734, a frustum sealing wall 735, a flange 736 and an outer floating portion 737. Said distal opening 733 formed by a sealing-lip 734. Said sealing-lip 734 defining a longitudinal axis 741, transverse plane 742 substantially perpendicular to said axis 741; define the angle between the rotary-generating line (or generatrix) of the frustum sealing wall 735 and the transverse plane 742 as a guide angle ANG1.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, when a 5 mm diameter instrument inserted, it is approximately considered that only hoop force generated by the deformation, of the sealing-lip 734, ensures a reliable seal for the instrument. It is nevertheless favorable to operate the instrument from various extreme angles in surgery. (here's a lot space left for the 5 mm-instrument to move radially in the 12 mm diameter cannula, so that greater, radial force would be taken by the sealing-lip 734. Therefore, the sealing-lip 734 should have sufficient hoop force for the inserted 5 mm diameter instrument to ensure its sealing reliability thereof.
As illustrated, in FIG. 2, drawing a cylinder of Di (Di>5 mm) to cut the sealing wall 735 forms an intersecting line 738. It is easy to understand for those skilled in the art, when an Di diameter instrument, is inserted, the strain (stress) of said sealing wall 735 in the area from the sealing-lip 734 to the intersecting line 738 will be larger, so the area refer to as lip-adjacent area (or concentration stress area). While the strain (stress) of said sealing wall 735 from the intersecting line 738 to the flange 736 is small. However, the different diameter (Di value) makes the boundary range of the lip-adjacent area (or concentration stress area) change larger or smaller. For the convenience of quantification, it is defined when designed as the maximum diameter of the surgical instrument passing through the seal membrane, the area from the sealing-lip 734 to the intersection line 738 is the lip-adjacent area.
As illustrated in FIG. 3, when a large diameter instrument is inserted (e.g. 12.8 mm), the sealing-lip 734 will expand to a suitable size to accommodate the inserted instrument; said, sealing wall 735 is divided into two portions: a conical wall 735c and a cylindrical wall 735d; said cylindrical wall 735d wrapped around the outer surface of the instrument to form a wrapped area with a high concentration of stress. Defining the intersecting line of the conical wall 735c and the cylindrical wall 735d as intersecting line 738a. When the instrument is removed, said sealing wall 735 return to natural state, and said intersecting line 738a spring-back to a ring radius of Dx, defined as intersecting line 735b, (not shown in FIG); said intersecting line 738b is a bending boundary line when inserting a large diameter instrument. The angle between the rotary generating line of said conical wall 735c and the transverse plane 742 defines as ANG2, ANG2>ANG1; that is, when the large-diameter instrument is inserted, said sealing wall 735 rotates and stretch around its intersection line of said flange 736. Defining the height of the cylindrical wall 735d as Ha, not a fixed value; the factors such as different size of said distal aperture, different size of said sealing-lip, different thickness of said sealing wall, different said guide angle or different diameter of inserted instrument, make Ha different.
The instrument inserted into the sealing membrane and moved during surgical procedure, there is large frictional resistance between the wrapped area and the inserted instrument. Said large frictional resistance is normally easy to cause the seal inversion, poor comfort of performance, fatigue performance, even result in cannula insecurely fixed on the patients abdominal wall etc., such that the performance of cannula assembly is affected.
Among the defects caused by the large frictional resistance, the seal inversion, is one of the most serious problems that affecting the performance of the cannula. As illustrated in FIG. 4, when a large diameter instrument is removed, easily cause seal inversion. When inversion happened, said sealing wall 735 divided into a cylindrical wall 735e, a conical wall 735f, and a conical wall 735g; said cylindrical wall 735e wrapped around the outer surface of the instrument to form a wrapped area with a high concentration of stress. Defining the height of the cylindrical wall 735e to be Hb, normally Hb>Ha; that is, the frictional resistance when the instrument is removed greater than it when the instrument is inserted, this difference affects the surgeon's operating feeling and even make the surgeon confused. More seriously, the inversion of the seal membrane may stretch into the proximal hole 723, that is the seal membrane positioned between the instrument and the inner wall 721 gets completely jammed. Measures for preventing the seal inversion are respectively disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,112,185 and 7,591,802, and those measures can effectively reduce the probability of inversion but not completely solve the problem.
The simplest way to reduce the frictional resistance is reducing the coefficient of friction between the two contacting surfaces with grease, but the reliability of this way is not good. During procedures, due to instruments long-term repeated scraping with the seal membrane and repeated switching, it is easy to erase the grease off and carried away, resulting in bad lubrication.
A protector assembly adjoined by a seal membrane is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,342,315. Said protector to permit the sharp edge of the instrument to pass through the opening in the seal membrane without causing damage to the seal membrane, and the surface friction coefficient of the protector assembly is smaller than the surface friction coefficient of the seal membrane, which results in less frictional drag, but the lip-adjacent area is normally not completely covered by the protector assembly.
A seal member with ribs (or projections) is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,827,228, that is a plurality of spaced ribs provided to extend outwardly from center hole to reduce surface contact between the inserted instrument and the seal member, and thereby reducing the frictional resistance, a similar ribs which disclosed in EP 0994740 also reducing surface contact and strengthen the tensile of the seal member oriented to axial.
A sealing element comprising a flexible wall closed annularly with the edges foldable in a wave-like manner is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,842,014, wherein the wall bears a wave-like sealing-lip and is a wavy pleated seal body, in such manner it can enlarge hoop circumference, and reduce the hoop force to a certain extent.
Chinese invention application CN 101480354 A (currently rejected) discloses a seal member containing an easily deformable gmove, wherein is characterized in that it has a plurality of easily deformable, grooves on the conical surface of the seal member from the sealing-lip; said the thickness of the deformable groove wall is much smaller than the thickness of the conical surface wall, primary take advantage of the elongation of the deformable groove to accommodate the inserted large diameter instrument.
Although, in the prior art many solutions for reducing the frictional resistance have been disclosed, these solutions basically only propose measures from one certain factor affecting frictional resistance, the effect of which is small or not obvious. Some modifications solved a certain defects may lead to cause another bug. Such as, reinforcing ribs on the seal membrane to reduce surface contact, meanwhile strengthen the tensile of the seal membrane; or a deformable groove with a thickness much smaller than that of a truncated conical surface can cause the deformable groove to be easily damaged; due to the adoption of said wave-like sealing-lip which enlarge hoop circumference, the sealing reliability will be sacrificed when a 5 mm diameter instrument is inserted, if the wave-like sealing-lip is used but without enlarge hoop circumference, the wave-like sealing-lip will lose its improvement effect. In summary there are many factors affecting the frictional resistance, and the comprehensive effects of various factors must be considered in the perspective of mechanics and tribology.
The seal membrane is preferably produced from rubber such as natural rubber, silicone or polyisoprene, its mechanical properties including super elastic and viscoelastic Although the mechanical model of the rubber deformation process is complicated, it can still apply the generalized Hooke's law to describe approximatively its elastic behavior; and Newton's internal friction law to describe the viscous behavior. Research suggests that the main factors affecting the friction of the two surfaces in contact between the rubber and the instrument include: the smaller the friction coefficient of said two surfaces, the smaller the friction is; the better lubrication condition of said two surfaces in contact, the friction smaller is; the smaller normal pressure of said two surfaces, the friction smaller is. Comprehensively considering the above factors the present invention proposes better solutions for reducing the frictional resistance between the seal membrane and the inserted instrument.
In addition to said frictional resistance greatly affecting the performance of the cannula assembly, the stick-slip of the seal membrane is another main factor affecting the performance of trocar. Said stick-slip means that when the instrument moves longitudinally in the sleeve, the sealing-lip and lip-adjacent area sometimes are relatively statically attached to the instrument (at this point, the friction between the instrument and the seal membrane is mainly static friction.); but sometimes it produced a relatively slippery phenomenon with the instrument (at this point, the friction between the instrument and the seal membrane is mainly dynamic friction.); and said static friction is much greater than said dynamic friction. The two frictions alternately occur, which causes the movement resistance and speed of the instrument in the seal membrane to be unstable. It is easy to be understood for those skilled in the art, that in minimally invasive, surgery the surgeon can only use surgical instruments to touch (feel) the patient's organs and observe a part of the working head of the instruments through endoscopic image system. In this case where the vision is limited and it cannot be touched, the surgeon typically uses the feedback of the resistance when moving instruments as one of the information to judge whether the operation is abnormal nor not. The stick-slip affects the comfort of operation, the accuracy of positioning, and even induces the surgeon to make false judgment.
During the surgical application of the cannula, the stick-slip is difficult to avoid, but can be reduced. Researches have shown that said stick-slip is, affected by two main factors: one is that the smaller the difference between the maximum static friction and the dynamic friction, the weaker the stick-slip is; the other is that the larger the axial tensile stiffness of the seal membrane, the weaker the stick-slip is. Avoiding excessive the hoop force between the seal membrane and the instrument, reducing the two surfaces contacted, maintaining good lubrication, respectively, can reduce the difference between the maximum static friction and the dynamic friction, thereby reducing stick-slip, meanwhile, increasing the axial tensile stiffness of the seal membrane also helps to reduce the stick-slip phenomenon. The invention also proposes measures for improving stick-slip.
In summary, so far, there is, no cannula that can effectively solve the said problems.

Trocar seal membrane with concave-channel structure


A display device, a front frame used therein, and a method of manufacture thereof are provided. The display device includes a display panel and the front frame. The display panel has a display surface which is partially covered by the front frame. The front frame includes a side wall corresponding to the sides of the display panel, a top plate extending from the side wall towards the center of the display panel, and cushion filler. The top plate has an inner surface featuring a groove distributed along the side wall. The cushion filler is contained within the groove while its top protrudes from the groove and contacts the display surface outside an active area.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a display device, a front frame used therein, and a method of manufacture thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Display panels such as LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) panels and OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) panel and display device using the display panel are becoming the mainstream in the field of display device. Products such as various types of display screens, home flat screen television, flat panel monitors of the personal computer and of the laptop, display screen of the mobile phone and the digital camera, use display panels as one of the essential components.
FIG. 1a shows a conventional display device using display panel. As FIG. 1a shows, the display device includes a display panel 10, an outer frame 30, a back light module 25 and a substrate 20. The back light module 25 is disposed above the substrate 20 and the display panel 10 is disposed above the back light module 25. The outer frame 30 covers the edge of the display panel 10 and covers the lateral side of the substrate 20. Conventionally the outer frame 30 and the back light module 25, disposed between the substrate 20 and the display panel 10, are fastened by screwing the outer frame 30 on the lateral side of the substrate 20 with a screw 50. However, due to bad assembly or external forces, the stress exerted by the screw 50 may create local deformation in the outer frame 30. The outer frame 30 then presses the display surface of the display panel 10 and influences the displayed images on the display surface.
In order to solve this problem, conventionally a pad 40 is pasted on inner side of the outer frame 30. As shown in FIG. 1b, the pad 40 contacts the edge of the display area of the display panel 10. This step reduces the pressing forces on the tip of the outer frame on the display surface due to the stress of the screw 50. However, the step of pasting the pad 40 is done manually and may increase the overall work time and costs required. Furthermore, problem of insufficient accuracy in pad pasting may arise which further influences the overall quality of the products.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Display device, a front frame used therein, and a method of manufacture thereof


Embodiments of the invention relate to a fiber application method and a fiber application machine for producing parts in composite material, such as for the application of a band of fibers on convex surfaces and/or with edges. The machine comprises a fiber application head and a moving system for moving the application head. The application head comprises a compacting system including a compacting roller intended to come in contact against the application surface to apply the band, and a compacting member placed downstream from the compacting roller and exhibiting a substantially planar contact surface, said compacting member being capable of being pressed by its contact surface, against an application surface, substantially on the entire width of a band, by at least one contact line.

There have been known fiber application machines, so-called fiber placement machines, for applying on a male or female mold a wide band formed by several flat ribbon-type fibers, impregnated with a resin, particularly carbon fibers impregnated with a thermosetting or thermoplastic resin. These machines, such as described in patent document WO2006/092514, typically comprise a fiber application head, capable of applying on a mold application surface a band formed of several flat fibers, and a moving system for moving said fiber application head.
The fiber application head, also called a fiber placement head, typically comprises a compacting roller intended to come in contact with the mold along a contact line for applying the band of fibers, and fiber guiding means for guiding fibers in the form of a band on said compacting roller.
The moving system ensures the movement of the application head along at least three directions perpendicular to each other. The moving system may be formed by a standard six-axis robot-type polyarticulated arm, placed on the ground or mounted on a linear axis, with an end wrist joint to which the application head is fixed, or by a portal-frame type cartesian-coordinate robot equipped with an end wrist joint carrying the application head.
During the application or the deposit of the fibers by the compacting roller, the latter maintains a continuous pressure on the application surface of the mold to progressively evacuate the air trapped between the deposited bands of fibers. Following the application of several layers of superposed bands, the resulting part is vacuum-hardened by passing through an oven, generally a autoclave oven.
This compacting operation during the deposit makes it possible to obtain a part before the hardening operation, the dimensions of which substantially correspond to those of the final part obtained after hardening.
In the case of the application of the band formed of a large number of fibers, for example, of eight fibers, application machines and programming software for fiber placement currently proposed do not make it possible to deposit a band of fibers on edges or convex surfaces with a low radius of curvature, for example less than 10 mm, while compacting all the band fibers, and with orientations of about 45° or 135° with respect to the edge or the generatrix line of the convex surface.
In the absence of compacting, the evacuation of air bubbles is only carried out during the vacuum hardening, and the final part thus exhibits folds of surplus material at said edges or convex surfaces.
To date, these different parts with edges and/or convex surfaces are obtained by producing plane parts by means of an application machine of the aforementioned type, then by a folding and/or bending operation of the plane parts before hardening. Apart from the fact that this folding or bending step requires an additional complex operation, it also leads to the formation of folds at the internal layers, which affects the resistance properties of the final part.
As a result, the application machines proposed to date are not used for essential parts, particularly in the aeronautics sector, such as the spars of an airplane wing, beams of wind turbine blades, aerodynamic profiles, so called L-shaped fittings or reinforcements.

Method and machine for applying a band of fibers on convex surfaces and/or with edges


This invention relates to building blocks, and more particularly to building blocks having greater strength in the individual blocks, and which are capable of embodying greater strength between side edges of the blocks. The inside vertical edges of the blocks are slotted with rounded end portions to receive on the inside portions of the wall to provide the contoured side ends of the cross members to provide a strong rigid support, and firm connection between the side members and the connection between the cross pieces. In this way the outer edges of the wall members can be formed smooth with no interruptions except for the side edges of the blocks. Another important aspect of this development is that with respect to a single story construction or even a multistory unit, a single reinforcing metal rod can extend vertically through the center of the wall to anchor the wall at the bottom and at the top in freshly poured concrete to solidify and hold the wall firmly in place, against lateral shifting, it being understood that if desired more than one metal rod can be employed to strengthen the walls at spaced points.

Heretofore it has been an accepted custom to build buildings and other structures of blocks or bricks. By that construction the walls were not as strong as was desired.
By the use of this construction, it is possible to provide a firm connection between the horizontally and vertically extending walls and the cross pieces that connect the side walls together. To achieve this in a way that the units will be securely fastened together, I have found that it is only necessary to put a fresh concrete mixture at the ends of the horizontally and vertically extending rods and slide them into the grooved members of the side walls. When the concrete mixture sets up, it hardens and securely locks the rod members together. If desired the vertically extending rods can be threaded to provide adjustable connections to add adjustability to the fact that the rods can be tightened to permit adjusting the tension of the vertically and horizontally extending rods.


For the purpose of reducing artifacts caused by a scan plane tilted with respect to a rotation plane when a multi-row detector is employed, a j-th detector row which an X-ray passing through a pixel point g(x, y) enters is selected based on the distance Δz from a scan center plane to an image reconstruction plane in a z-axis direction and the position (x, y) of the pixel point g in the image reconstruction plane, and data of the j-th detector row is used to determine the pixel value of the pixel point g, where the scan center plane at a certain view angle is defined as an x-y plane, and a direction normal to the x-y plane, i.e., a detector row direction, is defined as the z-axis direction.

The present invention relates to an image reconstruction method and X-ray CT (computed tomography) apparatus, and more particularly to an image reconstruction method and X-ray CT apparatus capable of providing an image reduced in artifacts caused by a scan plane tilted with respect to a rotation plane when a multi-row detector is employed.
FIG. 6 is an prior art diagram showing an image reconstruction method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. H8-187241.
An X-ray tube 11 and an X-ray detector 53 rotate around a center of rotation IC to collect data at different view angles. The scan plane is defined as an x-y plane.
Image production is basically conducted as follows:    (0) The pixel values for all pixel points g(x, y) in an image reconstruction plane are initialized to zero;    (1) A channel i is determined which detects an X-ray passing through a pixel point g(x, y) in the image reconstruction plane P at a view angle β;    (2) Data of the channel i is added to the pixel value of the pixel point g(x, y);    (3) (1) and (2) are repeated for each view angle β within a required angular range (e.g., 360°) to obtain the pixel value for the pixel point g(x, y); and    (4) (0)–(3) are repeated for every pixel point g(x, y) in the image reconstruction plane P.
The channel i can be uniquely determined once an angle γ that the X-ray passing through the pixel point g(x, y) forms with a center axis Bc of the X-ray beam is known.
The angle γ can be calculated by the following equation:
      γ    =          arc                                      tan                    {                  t                      D            +            s                          }              ,                where                    s=x·cos β−y·sin β, and            t=x·sin β−y·cos βwhere x, y, β, s and t are positive in a direction indicated by arrows shown in FIG. 6; the distance from the X-ray tube 11 to the center of rotation IC is represented by D; s denotes the distance from the foot of the perpendicular dropped from the pixel point g toward the center axis Bc of the X-ray beam, to the center of rotation; and t denotes the length of the perpendicular dropped from the pixel point g toward the center axis Bc of the X-ray beam.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing which detector row the X-ray passing through the pixel point g(x, y) enters when a multi-row detector 13 having more than one detector row is employed. The direction normal to the x-y plane, i.e., a detector row direction, is referred to as a z-axis direction. It should be noted that FIG. 7 is a view from a direction orthogonal to the center axis Bc of the X-ray beam.
The larger the width of the multi-row detector 13 in the z-axis direction, i.e., in the row direction, the greater the tilt of the scan plane with respect to the rotation plane.
Conventionally, the tilt is ignored and an image of the image reconstruction plane P is produced by selecting an m-th detector row corresponding to the z-axis position of the image reconstruction plane P and using data of the m-th detector row.
However, the X-ray passing through the pixel point g(x, y) shown in FIG. 7 enters a j-th detector row, instead of the m-th detector row. Thus, there has been a problem that this results in artifacts.
That is, there has been a problem that artifacts (cone angle artifacts) appear which are caused by a scan plane tilted with respect to the rotation plane when a multi-row detector is employed.

Image reconstruction method and X-ray CT apparatus

GE Medical Systems Global Technology LLC


A portable power meter is provided for measuring and displaying the real instantaneous power and consumed power of a portable or permanently mounted electrical device. The power meter (10) is provided which can plug into a electric wall socket and is provided with its own socket (14) for receiving the plug of an electrical device. In alternative embodiments, the power meter can be configured to monitor electrical devices which are permanently wired.

Electrical appliances and devices differ widely with respect to the amounts of electricity they consume, which, in turn determines the cost of running the appliances. However, in most cases, the amount of electricity consumed by an appliance is not readily apparent. Many devices are equipped with an information tag which states the power consumption, but this is typically an average or maximum, and does not allow straightforward monitoring of most devices such as solid state TVs which often draw power even when "off". Electrical power consumed by loads which vary such as breadmakers, microwave ovens, dishwashers, compressors, etc, are even more difficult to monitor accurately. In addition, many common appliances utilize reactive elements, such as motors and transformers, which further complicate power measurement since power factor must be taken into account.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a power meter which readily and accurately provides data regarding the real instantaneous power and consumed power by an electrical device.
The accurate measurement of real power is possible using expensive lab and commercial use type instruments, but these are not very economical or typically designed for easy use by an untrained individual. Several patents have been granted for devices similar to the present invention, however, they share several significant shortcomings. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,401,943 to Morris (1983) and 5,315,236 to Lee (1994) both disclose devices designed to easily monitor power consumption by electrical devices, however, neither device corrects for power factor, instead reading apparent power. Using either device to monitor the power consumption of a common device such as an air conditioner or refrigerator would present inaccurate results. Neither device displays both instantaneous and consumed power. The device disclosed by Morris is very simple and easy to use, however the display is analog meter which would be hard to accurately interpret over a wide range of values. Lee's device uses a digital display, however, current is sensed by an inductive coil which is expensive, if accurate and sensitive to a wide range of currents. An article in Radio-Electronics, December 1991 issue, by Paul Brule discloses a Energy Consumption Monitor which uses resistive current sensing (for accuracy and span) and corrects for power factor. However, Brules device suffers from excessive heatup of the resistors at high loads, relatively inaccurate measurement of inductive loads, and a relatively high sensing threshold. Furthermore, Brules device uses a transformer to increase the voltage induced across the load resistors. This transformer element results in several disadvantages: The transformer is relatively expensive and bulky and is subject to induced noise from the device's power supply transformer when placed in close proximity. In addition, the device requires additional equipment to monitor instantaneous power.
Thus, the prior art includes devices which include one or more of the following disadvantages:
a) Measure only apparent power, leading to large inaccuracy when measuring reactive devices. PA1 b) Do not display both instantaneous and consumed power. PA1 c) Have poor accuracy and high threshold. PA1 d) Use an inductive element to sense current which is not suitable for low cost and high accuracy. PA1 e) Not designed for easy use. PA1 f) Are not economical to manufacture or purchase. PA1 a) to provide a power measuring device which will measure real power; PA1 b) to provide a power measuring device which will display both instantaneous and consumed power; PA1 c) to provide a power measuring device which will have high accuracy and low threshold; PA1 d) to provide a power measuring device which will use resistive elements to sense current; PA1 e) to provide a power measuring device which will is designed for easy use; and PA1 f) to provide a power measuring device which will b economical to produce and market.

Digital power consumption meter for displaying instantaneous and consumed electric power of an electrical device


A magnetic medium is magnetized in the relative movement direction at a predefined pitch km and a magnetic sensor includes plural magnetoresistive elements whose electrical resistance value changes depending on a magnetic field at a place where the magnetoresistive element is disposed. A position where the magnetoresistive element is disposed is defined as a reference position and, in addition to the magnetoresistive element of this reference position, the magnetoresistive elements as harmonic reducing patterns are disposed at the following positions, with P(n) defined as the n-th prime: a position offset by λm/(2·P(n)) from the reference position toward at least one side of the relative movement direction, wherein N≧n>1 and N is a natural number satisfying N>3, and a position further offset by λm/(2·P(L+1)) from a position offset by λm/(2·P(L)), wherein 1<L<N.

An encoder of a magnetic system is known that uses a magnetic medium in which N-poles and S-poles are so disposed as to alternately line and detects the amount of movement by detecting change in the leakage magnetic field from a magnetic medium by a magnetic sensor that moves relative to this magnetic medium (Patent Document 1).
The detection accuracy of this encoder becomes higher as a pitch λ at which the magnetization direction is made different is set shorter. However, when the pitch λ is set short, the leakage magnetic field from the magnetic medium surface becomes small. Thus, it becomes difficult to obtain a sufficient output signal unless the magnetic sensor is brought so close to the magnetic medium as to get contact with the magnetic medium and slide thereon.
An example of the output signal when the magnetic sensor moves on the magnetic medium is shown in FIG. 15A. When this signal is represented with orders of included signal components, as shown in FIG. 15B, signals of odd-order harmonics are included besides the primary signal (fundamental) originally required. Although the component of the harmonic becomes smaller as the order thereof becomes higher, the detection accuracy of the signal deteriorates due to this harmonic in some cases. In a certain example, when the amplitude of the primary signal (fundamental) is defined as 100%, the amplitudes of harmonics are as follows: the amplitude of the third-order harmonic is 30% of the amplitude of the fundamental; the amplitude of the fifth-order harmonic is 10% of the amplitude of the fundamental; and the signal of the seventh-order harmonic is 5% in turn.
Conventionally, in order to cancel such harmonics, as shown in FIG. 16, a harmonic cancelling pattern for cancelling out the harmonics is provided at a position offset from a first magnetoresistive element as a magneto-sensitive element by a predetermined distance (λ/(2n) in the case of the n-th-order harmonic, wherein λ is the magnetization pitch of the magnetic medium). Specifically, in Patent Document 2, an example of a position detector that reads position information whose cycle changes with a fundamental wavelength λ written to a scale by a magnetic sensor is disclosed. The magnetic sensor includes first, second, and third magnetoresistive elements that output the position information by a predetermined signal, and the second and third magnetoresistive elements are disposed on both sides of the first magnetoresistive element at an interval δ and are connected in series. In this example, based on the idea that the n-th-order harmonic is canceled by satisfying a condition of r+2 cos(2nπδ/λ)=0 (n is an odd number equal to or larger than 3) when the ratio of the outputs of the first magnetoresistive element and the second and third magnetoresistive elements is r, the output ratio r of the respective magnetoresistive elements is adjusted.
In Patent Document 3, an example is disclosed in which MR elements are used as magnetoresistive elements and the MR elements are disposed with offset of positions by an interval of (n/2±m/(2k))×λ, wherein the pitch of NS of the signal magnetic field is λ, n is an integer, m is an odd number, and the order of the harmonic is k (e.g. a configuration of FIG. 14 intended to cancel the seventh-order harmonic). However, in this Patent Document 3, no disclosure is made about the spin-valve GMR element. The MR element is referred to also as the AMR element.


A new memory tuple is described that creates both a handle as well as a reference to an item within the handle. The reference is created using an offset value that defines the physical offset of the data within the memory block. Thereafter, if references are passed in terms of their offset value, this value will be the same in any copy of the handle regardless of the machine. In a distributed computing environment, equivalence between handles is established in a single transaction between two communicating machines. Thereafter, the two machines can communicate about specific handle contents simply by using offsets.

The Macintosh® Operating system ("OS"), like all OS layers, provides an API where applications can allocate and de-allocate arbitrary sized blocks of memory from a heap. There are two basic types of allocation, viz: handles and pointers. A pointer is a non-relocatable block of memory in heap (referred to as *p in the C programming language, hereinafter "C"), while a handle is a non-relocatable reference to a relocatable block of memory in heap (referred to as **h in C). In general, handles are used in situations where the size of an allocation may grow, as it is possible that an attempt to grow a pointer allocation may fail due to the presence of other pointers above it. In many operating systems (including OS X on the Macintosh® the need for a handle is removed entirely as a programmer may use the memory management hardware to convert all logical addresses to and from physical addresses.
The most difficult aspect of using handle based memory, however, is that unless the handle is 'locked', the physical memory allocation for the handle can move around in memory by the memory manager at any time. Movement of the physical memory allocation is often necessary in order to create a large enough contiguous chunk for the new block size. The change in the physical memory location, however, means that one cannot 'de-reference' a handle to obtain a pointer to some structure within the handle and pass the pointer to other systems as the physical address will inevitably become invalid. Even if the handle is locked, any pointer value(s) are only valid in the current machine's memory. If the structure is passed to another machine, it will be instantiated at a different logical address in memory and all pointer references from elsewhere will be invalid. This makes it very difficult to efficiently pass references to data. What is needed, then, is a method for managing memory references such that a reference can be passed to another machine and the machine would be able to retrieve or store the necessary data even if the physical address of the data has been changed when transferred to the new machine or otherwise altered as a result of changes to the data.


A device and method for identifying each set of wire from a multiple of substantially identical sets of wires at the distributed end includes of a multiple of substantially identical resistors connected in series, metal wire holder connected to the each junctions and to the each ends and an electrically non-conducting housing with a multiple of openings for inserting wires to connect to each wire holder. The resistance between the first wire holder at one end and each successive wire holder increases in a finite step and corresponds to the markings on the housing. When all ground wires are connected to the first wire holder and each hot wire are connected the successive wire holders at the distributing end, the resistance between the ground wire and the hot wire identifies each set at the distributed end.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device and method for identifying each set of wires among multiple of substantially identical sets of wires at the distributed ends.
2. Descriptions of the Prior Arts
During installation of electric service in a new building, renovation of electric wiring in an old building or installation of telephone wires for a residential or a small commercial building, an electrician connects a power source, sometimes, a vibrating buzzer, to a selected pair of wires at the central distributing end and then he identifies that particular pair at the distributed terminal end by detecting a light or sound, respectively.
Another method is simply to short a select pair of wire at one end and hunt for the pair at the other end with a portable power source and indicator such as a flash light with connecting clips. The time for traveling between two ends for repeating this process is minimized by two persons, one at each end, communicating, usually by shouting.
A telephone cable uses color-coded wires. Combinations of colors and spacing between the colored stripes can provide a large number of distinct wires in a bundle. However, in a small apartment or a large residential building, several identical sets of wires are used to distribute further to the individual rooms from the color-coded feed wires. Thus, it is necessary to identify each distributed set of wires at their terminals.
In prior arts, many improvements of above basic methods are found in US patents. They use improved power supplies, LED indicators and detectors, sophisticated wave forms for distinction and multiplexing, specially designed connectors, and network switching to perform part of tasks in the above basic methods. Most of these improvements are intended for communications and related wiring.
Bakker (4,652,813), McCartney (4,736,158) and Fields (4,937,519) proposed very complex voltage supply schemes, two separate sets of selector switches, and pulse generators, respectively. Fincher and Randall (5,847,557) proposed use of many LEDs as an indicators but the process still requires two persons. None of these improvements brought a simple, reliable and robust tool which an electrician can carry in his pocket and save time and money in his work.


Disclosed herein are systems and methods that relate to a modular protective system designed to be worn or incorporated into a helmet that prevent collisions with other stationary or moving objects by providing a visual and/or audible signal to the user. The system is composed of sensors that provide both directional and velocity information related to objects within the device/wearers surroundings. A computer device receives this information and translates it into a collision path and notifies the wearer of a possible collision and its trajectory.

In many activities and sports there is a high probability of an impact occurring between a person and another or a person and a stationary object. In ice hockey for example a player may be skating and not be aware of an impending body check because of the trajectory of the oncoming player. A player is exposed on their side and back and can subject to impacts in these locations. A player can also be hit in the same manner from the front if they are not skating with their head up. The surprise nature of the impact can lead to a traumatic brain injury such as a concussion or other bodily injuries. The ability of a player to avoid an impact or be able to prepare for an impact can greatly reduce the potential for injury.
As another example a motorcyclist may be unaware of an impending collision from the side or back and be subject to a vehicle impact. The simple fact that motorcycles offer far less protection to the rider from oncoming vehicles then other modes of transportation makes them vulnerable to serious impact forces. Gravitational loads on the rider can easily exceed those that can cause injury or death. The ability of a motorcyclist to avoid a collision greatly enhances their survivability. Most four wheeled vehicles are now available with a variety of electronic safety systems but motorcycles are still very limited in this application. Further there are a significant number of legacy motorcycles on the roads that could benefit through an add-on technology.
This technology is design to be utilized in several ways; it can be incorporated directly into a sports or riding helmet or it can be utilized as a standalone system for people in motion without helmets such as bicycles or as an add-in system for legacy vehicles.


Multispectral imaging systems are provided including an illumination control module configured to image a sample and provide an imaging output sequence including images and data; a multi-spectral physiologic visualization (MSPV) module, a peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) module and a physiologic status parameters (PSP) module configured to receive the imaging output sequence of the illumination control module simultaneously. The MSPV module is configured to provide real-time blood flow distribution visualization of a field of view (FOV) responsive to the received imaging output sequence. The SpO2 module is configured to provide real-time SpO2 information at a tissue surface level for the FOV responsive to the received imaging and output sequence. The PSP module is configured to derive status parameters in real-time from metadata associated with the received imaging and output sequence of the FOV. The system further includes a processing engine configured to integrate and analyze the real-time blood flow distribution visualization, SpO2 information and derived status parameters.

Peripheral vascular disease (PVD) and peripheral arterial disease (PAD) are and enormous healthcare burden in the United States. An estimated 8.0-8.5 million (M) (approximately 1 in 20) US adults have PAD. The associated risks of adverse cardiovascular events and limb-related outcomes are markedly increased in these patients, resulting in a dramatic excess morbidity and mortality.
PAD can be detected through, for example, a noninvasive measurement of the ankle-brachial index (ABI). This conventional ABI (cABI) test correlates the measured ankle/brachial systolic blood pressure threshold ratio with the likelihood of an anatomic stenosis compromising blood inflow to the lower extremities. But while cABI has been validated as an accurate test in symptomatic patients with PAD, its performance in asymptomatic patients has been questioned. Unfortunately, only approximately 10% of patients with PAD have classic symptoms of claudication; the rest are asymptomatic (50%) or have atypical symptoms (40%). A better evaluation process for these asymptomatic/atypical patients is an acute unmet need in US healthcare.

Systems for detecting vascular and arterial disease in asymptomatic patients and related methods


An array substrate includes a plurality of data lines, a plurality of gamma lines, a repair pad, a repair line, an inspection pad and an inspection line. The data lines transmit a data voltage to an active region. The gamma lines apply a gamma reference voltage to generate the data voltage. The repair pad repairs the data line. The repair line extends from the repair pad. The repair line is disposed adjacent to the gamma line. The inspection pad applies an inspection signal. The inspection line extends from the inspection pad. The inspection line is connected to the data lines. The gamma lines are connected to the inspection line.

Field
Exemplary embodiments of the present inventive concept relate to an array substrate and a display apparatus including the array substrate. More particularly, exemplary embodiments of the present inventive concept relate to an array substrate capable of reducing the rate of defects and improving a yield rate, and a display apparatus including the array substrate.
Discussion of the Background
Generally, a liquid crystal display ("LCD") apparatus may include a first substrate including a pixel electrode, a second substrate including a common electrode, and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the first and second substrate. An electric field may be generated by applying voltages to the pixel electrode and the common electrode. By adjusting the intensity of the electric field, a transmittance of a light passing through the liquid crystal layer may be adjusted, so that an image may be displayed.
Generally, the display apparatus may include a display panel and a panel drive. The display panel may include a plurality of gate lines and a plurality of data lines. The panel driver may include a gate driver providing gate signals to the gate lines and a data driver providing data voltages to the data lines.
For example, the data driver may be formed on the display panel in a chip-on-glass ("COG") type. Accordingly, the data line, a gamma line, a repair line to repair the data line, and an inspection line to inspect a defect may be disposed on an array substrate of the display panel.
The gamma line may be cut due to static electricity applied to the repair line so that a display defect may be generated. The display defect due to the cut in the gamma line is not easily detected prior to connecting a driving chip and a printed circuit, so that the driving chip and the printed circuit may be connected to the defected substrate. Thus, the manufacturing cost of the display panel may increase since the driving chip and printed circuit must be removed to repair the display defect.

Array substrate and display apparatus having the same


A high-pressure vessel that includes a cylinder, at least one half-shell, and a substantially rotationally symmetrical insert member. The cylinder, forming a middle region of the high-pressure vessel, is composed of a multilayer composite plastic having a first barrier layer. The at least one half-shell is formed at an axial end of the cylinder, and is composed of a multilayer composite plastic having a second barrier layer. The substantially rotationally symmetrical insert member has a foot member at an end thereof which faces an interior of the high-pressure vessel. The foot member has a diameter that is greater than a diameter of a middle region of the insert member. The foot member is configured to substantially form a hollow cone or hollow cylinder and at least a first groove or recess filled with the multilayer composite plastic of the at least one half-shell, and which is configured to extend around at least in certain portions on an inner circumference of the foot member.

It is known that high-pressure vessels, for example, for the storage of hydrogen as fuel for motor vehicles, can be constructed from an internal layer, the so-called "liner," and a winding of fibre material around the liner.
To produce a vessel, it is known to employ blow moulding and thermoforming technologies. The production is then based on the forming of tube-shaped or plate-shaped semi-finished products. The semi-finished products are brought into their final form by way of negative pressure and/or positive pressure. By way of example, it is possible for two half-shells to be generated which are joined to one another in order to form a vessel.
For the application of gas-tight liners for type IV vessels, which are used to store gases under pressure, there are two common production methods. Firstly, the blow moulding of entire liners, and secondly, the method of producing segments of the vessel in injection-moulding and extrusion processes and subsequently connecting the components by way of a joining process.
The materials used here are usually based on HDPE (high-density polyethylene) or polyamides. The mechanical low-temperature properties and the emission properties are important distinguishing features for liner materials. Monolayer materials such as polyamide have a good barrier property for gases but do not have optimal low-temperature properties. By contrast, HDPE does not have a suitable barrier action but has very good low-temperature properties.
For this reason, use is currently primarily made of polyamide particularly for applications in the field of hydrogen. However, as a result, limits with regard to component size are set in particular for blow moulding technology. Moreover, the available suitable types, on account of their complex additivation, are expensive and problematic for use at low temperatures.
High-pressure vessels for gases are subjected to large temperature fluctuations in the course of their operation (filling, storing and emptying). This presents high requirements on the materials and especially on the liner.
In conjunction with the lightweight construction and the use of composite materials, in this context the challenge is to connect the different materials to one another at the joining point in a gas-tight manner.


A combined microalgae and mycorrhizal fungi granular formulation includes a microalgae inoculant combined with a mycorrhizal fungi inoculant with demineralized water to maintain moisture and applied to carrier granules such as a natural clay-based or mineral-based material. The coated granules are dried and may be applied to agricultural areas in dried granular form.

Today with ever-increasing needs for the production of food crops one of the serious issues of worldwide concern is the ability to produce sufficient volumes and quality of food to meet the demands of increasing populations while at the same time doing so with less land and fewer resources. With the advent of Green Revolution in the 1960s, intensive agricultural practices now include use of high-yielding, disease-resistant crop varieties, and the constant input of agrochemicals such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The application of such chemicals can adversely affect the dynamic equilibrium of the soil and environment and affects agricultural biodiversity by destroying non-target useful microorganisms that provide critical nutrition and active natural compounds to promote crop growth and development.
Algae are ubiquitous in almost all terrestrial and aquatic environments, and are one of the most characteristic organisms on the Earth with potential applications in human and animal nutrition food ingredients, in agriculture as biofertilizers and amelioration of sodic soils, in waste water treatment, and as source of biofuel. Filamentous, heterocystous, nitrogen fixing, photosynthetic cyanobacteria (BGA) are part of an agriculture field ecosystem assumed as an excellent source of useable nitrogen for crop production in global nitrogen economy and embraced as a better alternative to agrochemicals with significant economic and environmental benefits.
Algal biofertilizers like BGA, such as Nostoc sp., Anabaena sp., Tolypothrix sp., Aulosira sp., and others, have the potential to fix atmospheric nitrogen. Better nitrogen fixing ability of BGA under flooded conditions has been determined when compared under dry land conditions, which might be correlated with relatively stable yield of rice under flooded conditions. Key roles played by cyanobacteria include the maintenance and build-up of soil fertility, which further results in increasing rice growth and yield. The contributions of these algae include (1) enhancement of soil porosity by a group of cyanobacteria having filamentous structure and production of adhesive substances; (2) excretion of growth-promoting substances such as plant hormones (e.g., auxin, gibberellin), vitamins, antioxidants and amino acids; (3) increase in water holding capacity through their gelatinous structure; (4) increase in soil biomass following their death and decomposition; (5) decrease in soil salinity; (6) prevention of weed growth; and (7) increase in soil phosphate availability by excretion of organic acids.
A mycorrhiza is a symbiotic association between a fungus and the roots of a vascular plant. In this association, the fungus colonizes the host plant's roots, either intracellularly or extracellularly. Mycorrhizal fungi are commonly divided into "ectomycorrhiza" (the hypha of fungi do not penetrate individual cells with in the root) and "endomycorrhiza" (the hypha of fungi penetrate the cell wall and invaginate the cell membrane). Endomycorrhiza are variable and are further classified as arbuscular, ericoid, arbutoid, monotropoid and orchid mycorhizae. They are an important component of soil life and soil chemistry. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are ubiquitous in soil habitats and form beneficial symbiosis with the roots of angiosperms and other plants. Of the symbiotic associations of plant and fungi, those involving an association between plants and Glomeromycota fungi has the widest distribution in the nature. Arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi inhabit a variety of ecosystems including agricultural lands, forests, grasslands and many stressed environments, and these fungi colonize the roots of most plants, including bryophytes, pteridophytes, gymnosperms and angiosperms. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi belong to the family Endogonaceae, of the order Muccorales, of the class Zygomycetes. The arbuscular mycorrhizal forming genera of the family includes Acaulospora, Entrophospora, Gigaspora, Glomus, Sclerocystis and Scutellospora.
Currently, microalgae is most readily available as an aqueous inoculant in HDPE pouches that must be stored at ambient temperature not directly exposed to sunlight. This application process has proved somewhat successful; however, the product can generally only be applied by drenching or foliar spray and not through solid application such as by broadcasting to the field or paddy. Further, due to the difference in formulation types and liquid types used to apply microalgae and mycorrhizae, these two beneficial products are applied separately and are often applied inconsistently, leading to less than ideal results.

Microalgae enhanced biological crop nutrition granules


There is provided a liquid developer containing a toner that has a ratio G′(65)/G′(90) of a storage modulus G′(65) at 65° C. to a storage modulus G′(90) at 90° C. of from 1×10 to 1×103, and a carrier liquid that has a difference ΔSP(tc) of SP value between the carrier liquid and the toner of from 1.5 to 7.0, and an image forming apparatus containing an electrostatic latent image holding member, a charging device, a latent image forming device, a developing device, a transfer device and a fixing device.

1. Field
The present invention relates to a liquid developer, an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, a liquid developer cartridge, and a process cartridge.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, an electrophotographic image forming apparatus and an electrophotographic image forming method which use a liquid developer including a toner dispersed in a carrier liquid as a developer have been known.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-98864 discloses an image forming apparatus which is provided with a non-contact heating unit configured to heat an unfixed image on a recording medium in a non-contact manner, that is, an image fixing device configured to heat and fix the unfixed image formed using a liquid developer including a toner dispersed in a non-volatile solvent, on the recording medium, and a solvent removing unit configured to remove a precipitated solvent precipitated by heating of the non-contact heating unit from the surface of the image.
Also, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-62466 discloses an image forming apparatus using an electrostatic image developing liquid developer in which the electrostatic image developing liquid developer contains toner particles (containing a coloring agent and a resin) dispersed in a carrier liquid, and the resin component contains, as a main component, a crystalline polyester resin of which melt mass flow rate measured at 150±0.4° C. under a load of 2160±10 g in accordance with JIS K7210 ranges from 10 g/10 min to 1200 g/10 min.

Liquid developer, image forming apparatus, image forming method, liquid developer cartridge, and process cartridge


A set top box (STB) providing enhanced Wi-Fi coverage. The STB downloads and configures an extender service agent for implementing extender capability at the STB. pairing the extender service agent with a router, and providing extended wireless IP connectivity using a fronthaul connection via the antenna to clients in range of IP signals radiated by the antenna. When the STB uses a wired backhaul connection all of an available bandwidth is used for the fronthaul connection, and when a wireless backhaul connection is used, the available bandwidth is split between the backhaul connection and the fronthaul connection.

The subject matter of the present disclosure relates generally to downloading and configuring an extender service agent for implementing extender capability to a set top box.
Wi-Fi need is increasing enormously, and user generally expects the coverage the entire home. Unfortunately having coverage to the entire home using a single Wi-Fi router is challenging due to obstacles that attenuates coverage to at least certain areas of a building. Currently user solves this problem by purchasing and installing extenders where Wi-Fi signals are poor. The installation of the extender in such places also require that the backhaul cable be laid out or extended to the desired place in the home.

Set top box having downloaded extender service agent to provide enhanced Wi-Fi coverage


A slider having an improved atmospheric pressure variation characteristic can be provided by ensuring the desired amount of inflow of air flowing to the air bearing surface in a region where it is difficult to ensure the desired air inflow amount, e.g., a region where the slider/disk relative speed is low or a region where the area of the air bearing surface is small by forming a groove configuration surface in a specified shape. In the negative pressure utilization type slider, a groove configuration surface lower in height than an air in flow surface is formed between the disk inner peripheral end and the disk outer peripheral end of the air inflow surface in the air flow incoming end side of a pressure generating surface, separately from a negative pressure generating surface.

In recent years, the data recording density in magnetic disk devices has been remarkably increased. The rate of increase in recording density in magnetic disk devices is said to be 100% per year. With the remarkable increase in data recording density, a quantum leap has been achieved in data recording capacity of magnetic disk devices. The increase in data recording capacity has accelerated the reduction in size of magnetic disk devices, and cost-effective magnetic disk devices have also been made practical which may replace semiconductor memories in various electronic devices such as cameras, facsimile machines, portable telephones, modems, pagers, handheld computers, printing machines and copying machines.
An actuator arm of a magnetic disk device has a slider attached to its distal end, and a read/write magnetic head is incorporated in the slider. The magnetic head is ordinarily placed in the vicinity of an air flow outgoing end of an air bearing surface of the slider facing a disk. An air flow generated with the rotation of the disk is drawn into the gap between the air bearing surface and the disk surface to float the slider above the disk. Thus, the slider floats above the rotating disk. The floating altitude is the thickness of the air lubrication film, i.e., the distance between the disk surface and the slider.
Thus, an air bearing surface is formed in the surface of the slider facing the disk, and a self-pressurizing air lubrication film is formed between the slider and the disk storage surface and is maintained. This film inhibits mechanical contact between the slider and the disk during disk rotation to limit friction and wear.
In magnetic disk devices, the amount of floating of the slider from the disk during recording or reproduction tends to decrease with the increase in recording density. This decrease in the amount of floating is achieved by a negative pressure utilization type of slider in which a slider air bearing surface is formed of a plurality of generally flat surfaces differing in height; a positive pressure is generated at the generally flat surface formed higher so that the gap between the slider and the disk is smaller; and a negative pressure is generated at the generally flat surface formed lower so that the gap between the slider and the disk is larger, and which floats by the positive and negative pressures balancing with each other. Such a negative pressure utilization type of slider has already been disclosed (see, for example, JP1505878B, JP2778518B, and JP2803639B).
In magnetic disk devices today, a rotary actuator similar to a tone arm of a record player is provided in order to obtain a high access speed. If such a rotary actuator is used, slide between the slider and the disk and the air flow below the slider are no longer unidirectional but widely varying in angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the slider. Also, the high-speed search operation of the actuator during access acts as a cause of inclination of the direction of slide between the slider and the disk and the direction of the air flow below the slider from the longitudinal axis. Therefore, it is no longer thought that in rotary actuator magnetic disk devices in recent years the sliding direction corresponds to the direction of the longitudinal axis of the slider from the front to the rear or deviates only slightly from the longitudinal axis direction.
The angle of the disk sliding direction with respect to the longitudinal axis of the slider is called a skew angle. When the actuator arm is positioned so that the sliding direction passes through an outer end of the slider or a point outside the slider, the skew angle is positive. When the actuator arm is positioned so that the sliding direction passes through an inner end of the slider or a point at a hub, the skew angle is negative.
When data access is made, the slider is moved through a range from the disk inner periphery to the disk outer periphery. In this movement, the amount of floating of the slider and the floating attitude of the slider are changed, for the reason described below. In the rotary actuator magnetic disk device, not only the relative speed between the slider and the disk but also the skew angle changes with respect to the disk radial position, so that the distribution of the pressure of air produced on the air bearing surface is changed. Due to the change in the amount of floating of the slider, the electromagnetic conversion efficiency of the magnetic head is reduced. It is therefore required that, in a magnetic disk device of which high recording density is required, the amount of floating at the magnetic head position be uniform from the disk inner periphery to the disk outer periphery. With the reduction in the amount of floating of the slider, the requirement with respect to variation in the amount of floating becomes stricter.
In the slider of which constant floating at the magnetic head position is required, there is a risk of the amount of floating being reduced at the minimum-floating-amount position due to a change in the floating attitude of the slider to cause contact between the slider and the disk, i.e., a so-called head crash. Therefore there is a need to maintain the floating attitude of the slider with stability.
FIG. 20 shows an example of an air bearing surface 30. The air bearing surface 30 is fixed in a lower surface of a slider and facing a disk. The air bearing surface 30 is formed in a certain configuration by molding, etching, laser cutting, ion crushing, general-purpose machining or any of other various methods. The air bearing surface 30 is constituted of three flat surfaces forming three stages substantially parallel to each other: an upper stage surface 31, a middle stage surface 32 and a lower stage surface 33. In FIG. 20, the upper stage surface 31 is indicated by a blank area, the middle stage surface 32 by coarse hatching, and the lower stage surface 33 by dense hatching. A head 99 is incorporated on the upper stage surface 31 in vicinity to the air out going end 42. Thus, the air bearing surface is formed in a complicated geometric configuration to limit variation in the disk radius position (variation in relative speed) and to limit the change in the amount of floating and to maintain the floating attitude at the position of the head 99 with the change in the skew angle.
As a background to the air bearing surface configuration becoming complicated, the fact may be mentioned that, in air bearing surfaces in recent years, as shown in FIG. 20, the middle stage surface 32 formed on the air flow incoming end 41 side of the air bearing surface 30 is extended to the air flow incoming end 41 and, therefore, the effect of tapering disclosed in U.S. patents (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,673,996 B, 5,404,256 B and 5,936,800 B) is reduced and the amount of air inflow to the air bearing surface 30 is limited. The arrangement in which the middle stage surface 32 is extended to the air flow incoming end 41 in spite of the reduction in the effect of tapering is adopted for the purpose of limiting the change in the amount of floating due to variation in thickness of a wafer provided as a substrate for the slider. Variation of +/−20 um exists in the wafer thickness. Therefore, if the lower stage surface 33 is formed at the air flow incoming end 41 to obtain the effect of tapering, the length of the lower stage surface 33 formed at the air flow incoming end 41 varies due to variation in the wafer thickness (the length from the air flow incoming end 41 to an air flow outgoing end 42 when the slider is formed). The amount of air inflow is thereby changed largely, resulting in considerable variation in the amount of floating of the slider (see, for example, JP2001-325707A). FIG. 21 is a citation of a diagram of the relationship between variation in substrate thickness and variation in the amount of floating shown in JP2001-325707A. In FIG. 21, symbol ♦ indicates the amount of floating of a slider having a lower stage surface 33 formed at the air flow incoming end 41, and symbol ▪ U indicates the amount of floating of a slider having no lower stage surface 33 formed at the air flow incoming end 41. It can be understood from FIG. 21 that variation in the amount of floating of the slider having no lower stage surface 33 formed at the air flow incoming end 41 is markedly improved in comparison with that in the case where the lower stage surface 33 is formed at the air flow incoming end 41. The air bearing surface today is formed in a complicated configuration to improve the floating characteristics of a slider, which are reduced by limitation to the effect of tapering. The formation of such a complicated air bearing surface ensures that working unevenness is limited and that a slider having the desired floating characteristics can be provided.
The configuration of the air bearing surface is ordinarily determined by repeating computation using a special-purpose numerical analysis solver capable of analysis of the amount of floating and the floating attitude of the slider. Each time the design of a magnetic disk device is changed, there is a need to change the design of the air bearing surface configuration according to the disk rotation speed, the skew angle and the amount of floating in the magnetic disk device.
Operations for this kind of design change are time-consuming and the designer needs to have knowledge about fluid dynamics and to be skilled in slider design. In recent years, the recording density has been remarkably increased and the model cycle of magnetic disk devices has become shorter. With these changes, the design cycle of the slider air bearing surface has also become shorter. There is a serious problem that the load on designers is increasing.
Magnetic disk devices using small-diameter disks having diameters of, for example, 27 mm and 20 mm are presently under development. The disk diameter of such magnetic disk devices differs largely from that of the conventional magnetic disk device using a disk having a diameter of, for example, 95 mm or 65 mm. Magnetic disk devices using small-diameter disks are incorporated in portable devices in many cases and those designed to reduce the rotational speed of the spindle motor from the viewpoint of power consumption and noise have been put to practical use. The relative speed between the slider and the disk is therefore increased in comparison with that in the conventional design, so that the desired characteristics ensuring stability of the amount of floating of the slider or air film rigidity for example cannot be obtained as long as the slider design techniques accumulated in the conventional design are used. This is also a cause of an increase in the load on designers. In addition, it is greatly important to consider use of portable devices on high ground, and it is required that the change in the amount of floating of the slider be small with respect to a change in atmospheric pressure. It is extremely difficult to ensure the desired atmospheric pressure variation characteristic in the case of using a smaller disk, since the usable amount of air is reduced in comparison with that in the conventional type.
Further, it is also difficult to ensure the desired slider floating characteristics, including an atmospheric pressure variation characteristic, of sliders of a small air bearing surface area such as femto-type sliders, which are presently being introduced, because the amount of air inflow on the air bearing surface is reduced.


The present invention encompasses methods for producing a modified polynucleotide sequence that comprises a (e.g., one or more) phosphorothiolate linkage, methods for determining a polynucleotide sequence comprising a (e.g., one or more) phosphorothiolate linkage, and methods for separating forward and reverse extension products that comprise a (e.g., one or more) phosphorothiolate linkage. The invention also encompasses kits for producing and/or determining the sequence of a modified polynucleotide that comprises a (e.g., one or more) phosphorothiolate linkage.

Widespread efforts have been made in recent years to determine the sequence of the human genome, as well as the genomes of various other organisms. The advent of genomics has relied upon accurate and efficient DNA sequencing techniques, and the ability to determine the nucleotide sequence of a gene remains an essential component of molecular genetic research. The widespread use of DNA sequencing in biological research necessitates the development of new DNA sequencing techniques that are simpler and more efficient than traditional, commonly-used techniques.
Classical DNA sequencing techniques, such as the Sanger chain termination method (Sanger, F., et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 74: 5463-5467 (1977); incorporated herein by reference) and the Maxam and Gilbert chemical cleavage method (Maxam, A. M. and Gilbert, W. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 74: 560-564 (1977); incorporated herein by reference), are somewhat cumbersome and inefficient, as both of these approaches require researchers to perform multiple reactions in order to derive a nucleotide sequence. Attempts to simplify DNA sequencing by coupling a single DNA amplification/synthesis reaction with sequence analysis (i.e., direct sequencing) have shown limited success, because these techniques often result in DNA damage and/or degradation (Das et al., Physiol Genomics 6: 57-80 (2001)), as well as low fidelity DNA synthesis (Lin et al., Biochemistry 40: 8749-8755 (2001); Xia et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 99: 6597-6602 (2002); U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,939,292; 6,329,178; and 6,887,690).
Presently, there is a clear need to develop improved methods of sequencing DNA. More specifically, there is a need to develop reliable and efficient direct sequencing techniques that yield accurate DNA sequence information.

Methods of producing and sequencing modified polynucleotides


In a fuel bundle for a boiling water nuclear reactor comprising a plurality of fuel rods secured within an array and extending between upper and lower tie plates, and including at least one additional fuel rod extending from the lower tie plate but terminating short of the upper tie plate, an improvement wherein a removable extension rod secured to the at least one additional fuel rod and extending substantially to the upper tie plate. The removable extension rod is in the form of a hollow tube having a plurality of openings therein and an internal flow path over an axial portion of the hollow tube, the flow path serving to cause coolant in the hollow tube to be deposited on adjacent fuel rods.

Modern boiling water nuclear reactors (BWR's) include in the core region of the reactor a core bypass volume and a fuel channel volume. The fuel channel volume includes bundles of elongated rods or cladding containing the reacting fuel. These bundles are placed within surrounding channels between lower and upper tie plates, and held in a predetermined array by spacers located axially along the bundles. In many such fuel bundle designs, one or more hollow tubes or "water rods" are also positioned in the bundle to provide an additional volume of moderating water. The core bypass volume is exterior of the channels. It is the region in which the control rods control the nuclear reaction and includes additional water moderator for efficient reaction.
Current fuel bundle design has been limited by the need to operate below thermal limits and avoid thermal hydraulic instabilities and coupled nuclear-thermal-hydraulic reactor core instabilities. The stability limits affect the degree to which the fuel assembly can be optimized for minimum fuel cycle costs.
For BWR's having discrete bundles of fuel rods confined within channel enclosed fuel assemblies, improved bundles are disclosed in commonly owned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,017,332; 5,112,570; and 5,416,812. In accordance with the disclosures in these patents, partial length rods (PLR's) are utilized which extend upwardly from the bottom of the channel (within the boiling region), but only part way to the top of the channel. In other words, these PLR's are axially shortened with respect to the remaining full length rods (FLR's) and are distributed throughout the fuel bundle, with the preferred disposition being in the interior of the bundle, away from the channel walls. The PLR's terminate at a selected spacer located in the two phase flow region of the fuel bundle assembly. Not all PLR's need be of the same length however. For example, some may terminate at one spacer, while others terminate at another spacer, upstream or downstream of the one spacer. Preferably, the length of PLR's is at least one-half of the total height of the fuel bundle.
In commonly owned co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 08/624,032, filed Nov. 23, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,450, unfueled followers or fuel rod extensions are attached to the tops of the partial length fuel rods so that, geometrically, they behave like the higher flow resistance FLR's.
In those instances where the space above the PLR's has been left vacant to facilitate removal of the PLR's and to provide a free volume so as to allow two phase mixture to bypass fuel rods and spacers and thus reduce two phase pressure drop, "swirlers" have been attached to the fuel bundle spacers for the purpose of redepositing the water droplets in the partial length bypass flow back onto adjacent fuel rods. This configuration, however, still does not allow field removal of the PLR's.
Swirlers have also been disclosed in conjunction with steam vents. Here again, however, PLR's cannot be removed in the field, and the swirlers per se are not only difficult to manufacture, but are difficult to attach to the fuel bundle spacers.
Accordingly, there remains a need for an arrangement which achieves a swirl effect above PLR's in a cost-effective way, and which also allows for field removal of the PLR's.


A sheet processing apparatus that is capable of setting a sheet conveyance distance from a first detection to a second detection according to a sheet length. A sensor unit on which first and second sensors are arranged in a sheet width direction to detect a side end of a sheet in the sheet width direction. A moving unit moves the sensor unit in the sheet width direction. A setting unit sets up a second movement speed based on the sheet length obtained. A control unit controls the moving unit so as to move the sensor unit at a first movement speed, and so as to move the sensor unit at the second movement speed until the end section is detected by the second sensor after the side end is detected by the first sensor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus that applies a post process to a sheet.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are known conventional sheet processing apparatuses each of which applies a post process like a punching process to a sheet on which an image has been formed. Such a sheet processing apparatus detects misalignment of a sheet in a sheet width direction that is perpendicular to a sheet conveyance direction (referred to as "lateral misalignment", hereafter), and corrects the lateral misalignment in order to increase accuracy of a hole position of a punching process.
There is a known method that moves an optical sensor in the sheet width direction, and obtains an amount of lateral misalignment of a conveyed sheet based on the timing at which the optical sensor detects the lateral end portion (side end) of the sheet.
However, when the sheet is skew, an error difference may occur between the amount of the lateral misalignment at the detected side end and the amount of the lateral misalignment at a portion where a punch hole will be formed (for example, a sheet rear end). Accordingly, it is necessary to obtain correctly the amount of the lateral misalignment in the sheet rear end in consideration of the skew amount of the sheet in order to increase accuracy of the punching hole position.
Incidentally, there is a known apparatus that efficiently detects a sheet side end by moving a sensor unit that consists of a plurality of photo sensors in a sheet width direction during a sheet conveyance (see U.S. Pat. No. 8,066,279).
As shown in FIG. 13, this kind of apparatus detects a sheet side end with a plurality of sensors 1104a through 1104c arranged on a lateral position sensor unit 1105 in a sheet width direction, and can calculate a skew amount and a lateral misalignment. That is, the lateral position sensor unit 1105 is moved in the sheet width direction during a sheet conveyance, and the lateral position sensor 1104a detects a side end at the first time. Then, the lateral position sensor 1104b detects the side end at the second time after the lateral position sensor unit 1105 is further moved. Then, the skew amount of the sheet etc. are calculated based on the two detection results.
Like the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, when calculating the skew amount of a sheet using a plurality of sensors, proportional calculation is performed using two sheet-side-end detection results. Accordingly, the sheet conveyance distance from the first detection to the second detection participates in calculation.
However, when the second detection timing is too early, the distance from the position of the second detection to the sheet rear end in the sheet conveyance direction becomes long, and the sheet conveyance distance from the first detection to the second detection becomes short. In that case, an error becomes large in the skew amount calculated using the proportional calculation.
On the other hand, the sensor that detects at the second time needs to reach the sheet side end before the sheet rear end passes the sensor position in order to detect the side end certainly at the second time. In order to correspond to all sheet sizes, the interval between the sensors and the moving velocity of the sensor unit have to be set with a margin so that the side end can be detected at the second time even in a sheet with the shortest sheet length among assumed sheets. However, such a uniform setting must shorten the sheet conveyance distance between the first detection and the second detection.
When the calculation accuracy of the skew amount decreases, an accuracy of a process using the skew amount (a lateral misalignment correction, for example) decreases, which decreases accuracies of a hole position on a sheet etc.

Sheet processing apparatus for applying post process to sheet


The present invention relates to an ink-jet recording ink, containing a pigment and a compound represented by the General formula (I):R—XYnH  General formula (I)                wherein R represents a hydrophobic group, or a group derived from a hydrophobic polymer; X represents a bivalent linking group having a hetero bond; Y may be A, C or D, and (Y)n contains 0 to 40% by mole of a structural unit represented by B; and n=10-3500; R1 represents H, or an alkyl group; R2 represents H or an alkyl groups; R3 represents H or a methyl group; and R4 represents H, —CH3, —CH2COOH, or —CN; Z1: H, —COOH, or —CONH2; Z2: —COOH, —SO3H, —OSO3H, —CH2SO3H, —CONHC(CH3)2CH2SO3H, or —CONHCH2CH2CH2N+(CH3)3Cl−.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink-jet recording ink and an image forming method, specifically, an ink-jet recording ink comprising a pigment as a coloring component, and an image forming method using the ink-jet recording ink.
2. Description of the Related Art
The ink-jet recording method has been spreading and developing rapidly due to low costs for materials, high-speed recording, little noise at the time of the recording, and easy color recording provided by the method.
The ink-jet recording method includes the method of applying pressure to ink by means of a piezoelectric element to discharge droplets, the method of generating bubbles in ink by heating to discharge droplets, the method of using ultrasonic waves, and the method of absorbing and discharging droplets by electrostatic force. Various inks are used correspondingly to these methods.
As inks for ink-jet recording, water-based ink, oil-based ink, and solid (melting-type) ink are used. As coloring matters used in these inks, dyes and pigments are known. Output image formed with the ink comprising a dye has insufficient fastness, that is, storage stability of image after image formation is insufficient. Thus, the use of pigment ink, which generally has superior fastness and is hard to decolorize, has been investigated.
Pigment ink is usually produced by dispersing a water-insoluble organic pigment into an aqueous medium. The production process thereof generally comprises the step of adding the pigment to the aqueous medium containing surfactant and dispersing polymer and pulverizing the pigment with hard beads by a disperser such as a sand mill, a ball mill or the like. In this case, pigment particles having large particle sizes provide ink having unfavorable storage stability and discharging property. Accordingly, it has been a big problem to establish technique for obtaining a fine and stable pigment dispersion.
For solving such a problem, a method of obtaining an organic pigment particle dispersion with a particle size of 100 nm or smaller by means of a high-speed mill dispersion using dispersing media having a particle size of 100 μm or smaller (such as polymer beads having a size of 50 μm) has been reported. (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 9-176543). In fact, a fine dispersed product can be obtained according to this method. However, according to the method, a large energy is consumed in the dispersion, the step of separating the dispersing liquid from the beads is necessary, and the process is complicated.
Another method for solving the problem comprises dissolving monomer molecules which constitute a pigment into a solution, and decreasing the solubility of the monomer molecules to precipitate pigment particles. This acid paste method, which is known as a method for producing pigment, comprises dissolving an organic pigment in concentrated sulfuric acid and adding this solution to water while the water is vigorously stirred to precipitate fine pigment particles. Another method for solving the problem is reported in which crude quinacridon is dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide in the presence of caustic alkali and water and water is further added thereto to yield pigment particles (see, for example, JP-A No. 54-130620). In these methods, however, it is indispensable to remove the solvent (concentrated sulfuric acid and organic solvent) after the precipitation of the pigment particles. Thus, the methods are complicated as well.
There is also a method of dissolving a hydrophobic dye into a supercritical fluid and decreasing the solubility thereof to precipitate the hydrophobic dye, thereby producing a water-based ink (see, for example, JP-A No. 2001-172532). About dye-based ink, a technique of forming a clear image without white spots and dot irregularities, is also described (see, for example, JP-A No. 10-95942).
In all the above-mentioned methods, however, the finely-dispersed particles of some kinds of pigments aggregate immediately. Even the particles of pigments which are relatively stable aggregate little by little. Various kinds of dispersion stabilizers for preventing the aggregation of pigment particles are also suggested. However, stable dispersing quality has not yet been obtained.
In the case where ink containing pigment is used as ink-jet recording ink, there arises a problem that the ink remaining in nozzles in a printer precipitates so as to cause ink-clogging. Even if the nozzle wherein the ink-clogging is caused in this way is washed, it is not easy to remove the pigment which has precipitated and hardened. The ink-clogging is more easily caused as the pigment aggregates.

Ink-jet recording ink and image forming method


A versatile label holder adapted to be stably secured in C-channels of various widths such as are found in Lozier, Madix and Streater shelves without significantly modifying the angle normally presented with each of these shelves. The label holder includes a rearwardly extending leg adapted to be captured by the lower lip of the C-channel, a portion of which is resilient and arcuate, extending first upwardly and then downwardly to provide a spring-like element, the effective length of which can vary depending on the spacing between the lips of the C-channel.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to price channels of the kind frequently used at the front of merchandise shelves in supermarkets and the like for attaching pricing labels, or signs pertaining to the merchandise on the shelves.
Steel merchandise shelves frequently are made with a C-shaped channel along the front edge in which labels or sign holders can be fitted. Where such shelves are formed without a channel, plastic fittings can be added to the shelves to provide such channels. Price channels can generally be used to accommodate snap-in price labels and sign holders or smaller adhesive backed labels.
When price channels are used, as above, for labeling merchandise on a shelf, no significant problems arise for shelves which are at a convenient viewing height for a customer. For shelves near floor level, and shelves above eye level, however, customers have trouble in reading price channel labels because the labels are generally vertically oriented.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
One known form of extruded plastic snap-in label holder is seen in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,394,632 issued Mar. 7, 1995 (the '632 patent) and illustrated herein in FIGS. 1-3. This prior art label holder 10 provides labeling panel 12 oriented at an angle when the price channel is fitted on a lowermost shelf 18 of a set of supermarket or the like shelves as seen in FIG. 3 so that a label is more readily viewed by a customer.
The known label holder 10 includes a rearwardly and downwardly extending leg 14 and a projecting barb 16 at the top of the labeling panel 12. When snapped into an existing C-channel of a metal shelf 18, the barb 16 engages behind the upper lip 20 of the C-channel, the tip of leg 14 engages behind the lower lip 22, and the labeling panel 12 is angled upwardly. As seen in the '632 patent, the price channel 10 can be inverted and snapped into a C-channel on an uppermost shelf to angle the labeling panel downwardly to facilitate viewing from below.
As is well known, label holders of this type are commonly provided with a co-extruded clear plastic front cover 24 providing a means whereby non-adhesive labels can be retained against the labeling panel. The label holder 10 of the '632 patent splits the lower lip 12b to enable the channel to hold labels behind the cover and sign holders between the lip 12b at the bottom of the labeling panel 12 and the lip 17 at the top thereof.
More recently, combination label/sign holder have been developed wherein labels can be selectively inserted and removed from the label holder pocket without removing any of the sign holders associated with related products on a merchandising shelf. Such a construction is seen in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,568,112 issued May 27, 2003 (the '112 patent), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. The sign holder portion of the combination label/sign holder of the '112 patent is carried by, and moves with, the cover member of the label holder, avoiding interfering with access to the label holder pocket. This is accomplished by providing the front surface of the cover member of the label holder with a pair of sign holder-receiving lip members which can snappingly receive edge portions of a resilient plastic or metal sign holder such as seen in the '632 patent or commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,793 for the engaging portions of a depending sign holder of the type seen in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,682,698 and 6,163,996, the subject matters of all of which are incorporated herein by reference, or other such commercially available sign holders.
For simplicity, the term "label holder" as used herein and in the appended claims is intended to include products which may or may not incorporate a sign holder according to the '112 patent.
Commercially, different merchandisers use sets of product shelves having different integral C-channels along their front edges. The most extensively used shelves of this nature are known in the art as the Lozier shelf, the Madix shelf and the Streater shelf. The C-channels of each of these shelves include the equivalent of an upper, downwardly depending lip and a lower, upwardly extending lip for receipt of upper and lower portions of fit-in accessories such as the label holder of the '632 patent. However, the distance between these lip members, as well as the angle provided by the lip members, are different in each of these types of shelves. While the price channel of the '632 patent can be engaged in the C-channels of each of the Lozier, Madix and Streater shelves, the engagement may be less than secure because of the differences in the spacing between the upper and lower lip members of these shelves, and the relative inflexibility of the rearwardly extending leg 14 which, as seen in FIGS. 1-3 of the '632 patent, extends generally at a right angle from the rear of the labeling panel 12 and arcs downwardly therefrom providing little adjustability to accommodate C-channels of different dimensions. Moreover, when engaged in the C-channels of the different shelf units, the angle of presentation of the label is significantly different from the angle of inclination of a label engaged directly in the C-channels of such shelves. In many instances, this change in the viewing angle makes it more difficult for a customer or the like to read the information on a label carried by the price channel.