A plasmid has been isolated from Rhodococcus erythropolis strain AN12 comprising a unique replication protein. The replication protein may be used in a variety of cloning and expression vectors and particularly in shuttle vectors for the expression of heterologous genes in Rhodococcus sp.

Gram-positive bacteria belonging to the genus Rhodococcus, some of which were formerly classified as Nocardia, Mycobacterium, Gordona, or Jensenia spp., or as members of the "rhodochrous" complex, are widely distributed in the environment. Members of the genus Rhodococcus exhibit a wide range of metabolic activities, including antibiotic and amino acid production, biosurfactant production, and biodegradation and biotransformation of a large variety of organic and xenobiotic compounds (see Vogt Singer and Finnerty, 1988, J. Bacteriol., 170:638-645; Quan and Dabbs, 1993, Plasmid, 29: 74-79; Warhurst and Fewson, 1994, Crit. Rev. Biotechnol., 14:29-73). Unfortunately, few appropriate genetic tools exist to investigate and exploit these metabolic activities in Rhodococcus and like organisms (see Finnerty, 1992, Annu. Rev. Microbiol., 46:193-218).
Recently, several Rhodococcus plasmids and Rhodococcus-Escherichia coli shuttle vectors have been described. These plasmids and vectors can be divided into five different derivation groups: a) plasmids derived from Rhodococcus fascians (Desomer et al., 1988, J. Bacteriol., 170:2401-2405; and Desomer et al., 1990, Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 56:2818-2815); b) plasmids derived from Rhodococcus erythropolis (JP 10248578; EP 757101; JP 09028379; U.S. Pat. No. 5,705,386; Dabbs et al., 1990, Plasmid, 23:242-247; Quan and Dabbs, 1993, Plasmid, 29:74-79; Dabbs et al., 1995, Biotekhnologiya, 7-8:129-135; De Mot, et al., 1997, Microbiol., 143:3137-3147); c) plasmids derived from Rhodococcus rhodochrous (EP 482426; U.S. Pat. No. 5,246,857; JP 1990-270377; JP 07255484; JP 08038184; U.S. Pat. No. 5,776,771; EP 704530; JP 08056669; Hashimoto et al., 1992, J. Gen. Microbiol., 138:1003-1010; Bigey et al., 1995, Gene, 154:77-79; Kulakov et al., 1997, Plasmid, 38:61-69); d) plasmids derived from Rhodococcus equi (U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,054; Zheng et al., 1997, Plasmid, 38:180-187) and e) plasmids derived from a Rhodococcus sp. (WO 89/07151; U.S. Pat. No. 4,952,500; Vogt Singer et al., 1988, J. Bacteriol., 170:638-645; Shao et al., 1995, Lett. Appl. Microbiol., 21:261-266; Duran, 1998, J. Basic Microbiol., 38:101-106; Denis-Larose et al., 1998, Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 64:4363-4367).
While these prior studies describe several plasmids and shuttle vectors, the relative number of commercially available tools that exist for the genetic manipulation of Rhodococcus and like organisms remains limited. One of the difficulties in developing a suitable expression vector for Rhodococcus is the limited number of sequences encoding replicase or replication proteins (rep) which allow for plasmid replication in this host. Knowledge of such sequences is needed to design a useful expression or shuttle vector. Although replication sequences are known for other shuttle vectors that function in Rhodococcus (see for example Denis-Larose et al., 1998, Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 64:4363-4367); Billington, et al., J. Bacteriol. 180 (12), 3233-3236 (1998); Dasen, G. H. GI:3212128; and Mendes, et al, GI:6523480) they are rare.
Similarly, another concern in the design of shuttle expression and shuttle vectors in Rhodococcus is plasmid stability. The stability of any plasmid is often variably and maintaining plasmid stability in a particular host usually requires the antibiotic selection, which is neither an economical nor a safe practice in the industrial scale production. Little is known about genes or proteins that function to increase or maintain plasmid stability without antibiotic selection.
The problem to be solved, therefore is to provide additional useful plasmid and shuttle vectors for use in genetically engineering Rhodococcus and like organisms. Such a vector will need to have a robust replication protein and must be able to be stably maintained in the host.
Applicants have solved the stated problem by isolating and characterizing a novel cryptic plasmid, pAN12, from Rhodococcus erythropolis strain AN12 and constructing a novel Escherichia coli-Rhodococcus shuttle vector using pAN12. Applicants' invention provides important tools for use in genetically engineering Rhodococcus species (sp.) and like organisms. The instant vectors contain a replication sequence that is required for replication of the plasmid and may be used to isolate or design other suitable replication sequences for plasmid replication. Additionally, the instant plasmids contain a sequence having homology to a cell division protein which is required for plasmid stability. Applicants' shuttle vectors are particularly desirable because they are able to coexist with other shuttle vectors in the same Rhodococcus host cell. Therefore, Applicants' vectors may also be used in combination with other compatible plasmids for co-expression in a single host cell.


An apparatus reproduces an information signal modulating a carrier signal recorded on a magnetic tape. A portion of the signal being boosted in accordance with a characteristic of the information signal. The apparatus comprises a playback device for reproducing the information signal from the magnetic tape, a detector for detecting the levels of the portion of the signal and the rest of the signal respectively and comparing the levels with each other, and a judging circuit for judging the characteristics of the signal in accordance with the output of the detector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to reproducing apparatus and more particularly to a reproducing apparatus for use with, for example, a so-called 8-mm video tape recorder (8-mm VTR) or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional video tape recorders, such as an 8-mm video tape recorder and so on are designed so as to process either a monaural audio signal in which a carrier of an audio signal is 1.5 MHz or a stereo audio signal in which a carrier of one audio signal is 1.5 MHz and a carrier of the other audio signal is 1.7 MHz. In the 8-mm video tape recorder which records and/or reproduces the stereo audio signal, if an audio signal in the signal to be recorded is a stereo signal, then such audio signal is not processed and directly recorded on a magnetic tape. If the audio signal in the signal is a bilingual signal (e.g., Japanese, English, etc.), then the vertical blanking period, for example, of the audio signal is boosted by about 7 dB above the normal level and then recorded on the magnetic tape. A recording format for recording a television signal is represented in FIG. 1, wherein a left audio signal (hereinafter simply referred to as an AFM (audio FM) signal) utilizes a carrier of 1.5 MHz and a right audio signal (AFM signal) utilizes a carrier of 1.7 MHz. These left and right audio signals are FM-modulated together with a pilot signal, a chroma signal and a luminance signal and then recorded on a magnetic tape.
When the thus recorded signals are reproduced from the magnetic tape, it is determined by comparing the average level of the vertical blanking periods of the reproduced AFM signal (RF signal) with the average level of the AFM signal of one field period whether the AFM signal is the bilingual signal or the stereo audio signal. If it is determined that the AFM signal is the bilingual signal on the basis of the detected result, then the bilingual signal is not subjected to the addition and subtraction processings. On the other hand, if it is determined that the AFM signal is the stereo audio signal, then the stereo audio signal, i.e., the sum and difference signals of the left and right audio signals are subjected to the addition and subtraction processings to thereby obtain left and right audio signals.
In the above method in which the average level of the AFM signal of the vertical blanking period and the average level of the AFM signal of one field period are compared with each other, if the level of the AFM signal fluctuates, then the level difference between the average level of the AFM signal of the vertical blanking period and the average level of the AFM signal of one field period is decreased. As a consequence, even though the vertical blanking period of the AFM signal is boosted, it is erroneously determined that the AFM signal is the stereo audio signal. Further, even though the vertical blanking period of the AFM signal is not boosted, it is also erroneously determined that the AFM signal is the bilingual signal. There is then the disadvantage that a boosted pilot signal cannot be detected satisfactorily.


A charging device includes a discharge electrode configured to charge a surface of an image carrier; a charging device body including an opening portion that is provided so as to surround the discharge electrode and be opposed to a surface of the image carrier across a longitudinal direction of the discharge electrode; a charging duct member that is provided so as to surround at least the entire opening portion and configured to introduce and exhaust an airflow within the surrounded area; an intake unit configured to generate an airflow to be guided into the charging duct member; and an exhaust unit configured to exhaust the airflow guided. The charging duct member includes an airflow wall forming unit for covering, with an airflow wall, the entire opening portion from an upstream end to a downstream end in a rotation direction of the image carrier at the opening portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a charging device, an image forming apparatus, and a charging unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Known as an electrophotographic image forming apparatus is one which uses a photosensitive drum as an image carrier to charge its surface, exposes the surface to light, and accordingly forms an electrostatic latent image, attaches toner to the electrostatic latent image to make the image visible, and transfers the image onto paper to form an image.
In such an image forming apparatus, a corotron and a scorotron charging device that use a corona discharge is in practical use as a charging device that charges a photosensitive drum. In these devices, a corona discharge member/discharge electrode functions, for example, to generate a corona discharge and charge the surface of the photosensitive drum by ions produced by the discharge by tightly stretching (meaning providing in a stretched state) a discharge wire with a small diameter and applying a high voltage thereto. When a positive or negative high voltage is applied to the discharge wire, fine particles floating in the air, which have been reversely charged, for example, foreign objects such as toner particles and paper powder are attracted and attached to the discharge wire. Hence, there is a problem that if a high voltage is continued to be applied to the discharge wire, the discharge wire becomes dirty due to the accumulation of the attached foreign objects, which leads to that a corona discharge does not occur normally.
In order to deal with the above problem, some image forming apparatuses including a constant-current power supply to apply a voltage to a corona discharge wire, a unit to detect the applied voltage to the corona discharge wire, and a cleaning control unit have also a mechanism for cleaning the corona discharge wire. In such image forming apparatuses, the surface of the wire becomes damaged over time due to the influence of the cleaning, which results in the shortening of the life of the wire.
In order to deal with the above problem, the following technologies are known (for example, see Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 61-015163 and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 61-084665). In other words, a known electrophotographic image forming apparatus has a feature that an airflow to a charging device generates an air curtain from the flow of an airflow flowing from an upper opening portion of a shield plate to a discharge wire, a flow on an exhaust side is inhibited, and foreign object contamination into the charging device is prevented. Moreover, there is a feature that only a flow velocity in the vicinity of an insulation block supporting the discharge wire is higher than the other places, as a feature of the flow of an airflow.
Moreover, apart from the above, it is configured to prevent foreign object contamination of the discharge wire only with a configuration to flow an airflow from the upper side of a charger (for example, see Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 7-134532). In this technology, the flow of an airflow by a difference in flow velocity and the area and position to which air is flown are not specified.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a charging device having a configuration with an airflow effect where foreign objects are not attracted and attached to a discharge wire by making good use of an airflow to deal with reduction in the life of the discharge wire due to foreign object contamination.

Charging device, image forming apparatus, and charging unit


A sheet feeding device to feed a sheet in a sheet feeding path is provided. The sheet feeding device includes a plurality of feeding rollers to feed a sheet in the sheet feeding path, and a dust remover unit to remove dust adhered onto a surface of the sheet. The dust remover unit includes a dust absorber roller to absorb dust from a surface of the sheet, a dust remover member arranged to be in contact with a surface of the dust absorber roller to remove the dust from the surface of the dust absorber roller, a conveyer member, arranged to be opposed to the dust remover member, to convey the dust removed by the dust remover member, and a cutter member, arranged in an intervening position between the dust remover roller and the conveyer member, to cut the dust removed by the dust remover member into smaller pieces.

1. Technical Field
An aspect of the present invention relates to a dust remover unit for a sheet feeding device and an image forming apparatus.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, a sheet feeder employed in, for example, an image forming apparatus is provided with a dust remover unit, which removes fine paper dust from a surface of a sheet of paper, on a feeding path of the sheet. Such a sheet feeder is illustrated in FIG. 10, which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 2002-108153. The dust remover unit includes, for example, a feed roller 53a, a remover roller 54a, a sponge member 55a, and an auger 56a.
The dust adhered onto the surface of the sheet being fed is removed therefrom when the sheet becomes in contact with a surface of the remover roller 54a, which is charged triboelectrically by the sponge member 55a. The dust is thus electrostatically absorbed by the remover roller 54a to be removed from the surface of the sheet.
The dust adhered to the remover roller 54a is thereafter scraped off by the sponge member 55a. The removed dust retains in space 68a between the sponge member 55a and the remover roller 54a, and develops to make a lump.
When the lump becomes larger to a certain size and falls due to its own weight, the lump can be guided to become in contact with the auger 56a. The auger 56a can involve the lump of dust to transport the same out of the sheet feeder. Thus, the paper dust is required to be accumulated to make a certain size of a lump in order to be carried by the auger 56a.

Sheet feeding device and image forming apparatus


A surfing device is provided comprising a board-like body having a foam core, an upper side, and a lower side. The foam core is encased in laminate, wherein at least an edge region of at least one of the front longitudinal end, the rear longitudinal end, the left side, and the right side of the board-like body is provided with at least two woven laminate plies, at least one of which extends from the upper side to the lower side, or vice versa, about a profile of the corresponding end or side.

The invention relates to a surfing device or the like, especially a surfboard, having a board-like body that is provided with a foam core, which is encased with a laminate, and an upper side and a lower side.
Normally, surfing devices having a board-like body, so-called surfboards, are provided with a foam core that is encased with laminate and have an upper side and a lower side. If the resin of the laminates is made of a polyester, the foam cores are provided with a slat-shaped device, the so-called "stringer", generally made of wood for stabilizing the surfboard.
However, the drawback in this regard is the fact that such surfboards are generally subjected to a high rate of wear, which is manifested in irreversible unevenness of the surface all the way to breaking of the boards.
Surfboards are also known where the laminate layers generally contain glass fiber fabric and epoxy resin, whereby, however, these can only be produced in prefabricated shapes without being able to address the requirements of individual surfers. These surfboards generally have no stringer, since due to the epoxy resin, in conjunction with glass fiber fabric that is normally used, an adequate strength can be realized.
However, a drawback in this regard is the fact that due to the joining of two molded parts over the foam core to form a surfboard, there classically occurs at the seam between the two halves a weak spot such that with little surface damage in this region the foam core can absorb up to about 10% water, which due to the rapid distribution in the foam body itself can only be removed or carried away with great difficulty, which leads to long repair and down times, and repairs are possible only to a very limited extent.
The object of the present invention is to at least partially avoid the aforementioned drawbacks, and in particular to provide devices and methods for producing devices of the aforementioned type, especially for surfing with a board-like body, which in comparison to conventional surfboards have a considerably longer service life, thereby greatly reducing the danger of a board breaking, whereby an individual adaptation to the individual surfer is possible.


Features are disclosed for enabling servers to initiate the opening of connections with clients, initiate transfers of data to clients, and provide clients with hints regarding which content retrieval, connection establishment, and other network operations will likely improve user-perceived performance on the client. A token may be transmitted from a client to a server, and the server may utilize the token to initiate a network connection with the client and send data to the client. The token may also be passed to a third party for similar use. Hints may be provided to the client, indicating actions that the client may perform in order to improve content processing efficiency and enhance a user experience with the content. The disclosed features may, for example, be incorporated into web browser and server software.

In a network communication environment, such as the Internet, a client computing device (client) may utilize a software browser application to initiate network connections with server computing devices (servers), and subsequently request content from those servers. Servers may respond to client requests for content, but in typical Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) based communications, servers do not initiate transfers of content to clients. A request from the client is typically required in order to initiate any transfer of data from the server to the client. Other protocols, such as SPDY, enable a server to initiate a data transfer to a client over a connection initiated by the client device.
Servers may provide indications to clients regarding which network resources to retrieve to improve the performance of future content requests and processing. Such predicted or anticipatory retrieval, also known as prefetching, may be implemented through use of a prefetch hint embedded within a Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) file. In a typical implementation, servers can determine which content a client is likely to request next, and include a prefetch hint identifying which linked content to proactively fetch. Clients receiving an HTML file with a prefetch hint may request the indicated content before it is requested by a user.

Content delivery to user devices using server-initiated connections


Provided are a hair dye composition comprising a diamide compound (1) and a dye; and a hair bleach composition comprising the diamide compound (1) and an oxidizing agent.

Dyes contained in hair dye compositions include acid dyes, basic dyes and oxidation dyes. In order to cause effective penetration of these dyes into the hair, the pH of the compositions should be adjusted to a highly acidic or alkaline condition. The hair treated with such compositions however loses moisture and becomes rough to the touch, and moreover, it is known that split or broken hair easily generates upon daily hair care such as shampooing or styling. Hair bleach compositions which decompose, by the action of an oxidizing agent contained therein, melanin in the hair under an acidic condition, thereby bleaching the hair, also cause a similar hair damage and deterioration in the touch.
Although many hair dye compositions and bleach compositions put on the market usually contain a silicone, an animal or vegetable extract, or a conditioning polymer for the purpose of lessening damage to the hair, they have not yet exhibited sufficient effects.

Abstract: wherein, R1: a C1-12 hydrocarbon group which may be substituted by a hydroxy and/or alkoxy group, R2: a divalent C1-5 hydrocarbon group, and R3: a divalent C1-22 hydrocarbon group.

Abstract: The hair dye composition or hair bleach composition according to the present invention suppresses hair damage during dyeing or bleaching, does not impair the moisture intrinsic to the hair, and provides excellent feeling upon use.


An optical display system having a lenticular array for focusing color light beams onto a plane forming a spatial mix of the colors of the beams and an optical translator for shifting the spatial mix of the colors of the plane is disclosed. The system divides white light into primary color beams. The primary color beams are directed to a lenticular array resulting in the color plane. The color plane is then reflected off a light valve and projected as a sub-frame. Multiple sub-frames, each having a permutated spatial color mix (compared to other sub-frames) are projected rapidly to generate a frame of color image.

The present invention relates to the art of optical display systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to optical display systems having light valves and color displays.
In order to reduce the cost of light valve projection systems, it is common practice to employ an optical system with a single fast-responding light valve together with some sort of color selecting means (for example, a color wheel) operating in a sequential color mode. In such systems, the light valve rapidly displays monochrome frames of primary color information (generally three times faster than the normal refresh rate used for non-sequential systems.
For instance, to display a frame of a color image, the frame is displayed by projecting three rapid sub-frames, each sub-frame being of a single primary color. That is, to project one frame of a color image, a completely red image sub-frame, a completely green image sub-frame, and a completely blue image sub-frame are projected one after the other, very rapidly.
The rapid display of the monochrome sub-frame information on the light valve is synchronized with the colors passing through the color selecting means. This rapid succession of primary color images creates the impression of a single full color image in the mind of an observer due to the phenomenon of color persistencexe2x80x94the well-known fact that the human eye averages together information received over periods of a fifteenth of a second or so.
However, if the observer""s eye is not stationary relative to the image during the display on such a device (due to natural rapid saccadic motion of the eye, for example), the relative motion will cause the successive primary color images to fail to overlap perfectly on the viewer""s retina. The viewer will perceive incorrectly colored edges to bright objects under such circumstances, which will disappear when the relative motion ceases. This creates the annoying impression of a brief flash of color in situations where none was expected xe2x80x94a situation frequently referred to as xe2x80x9csequential color visual artifacts. xe2x80x9d The phenomenon is worst for two or more small white objects spaced apart horizontally and displayed against a black background. The natural saccades of a viewer""s eyes (which are most rapid in the horizontal direction) are frequently sufficient to cause strong and nearly continuous artifacts under such circumstances.
There is a need for a technique and an apparatus to alleviate sequential color artifacts.
The need is met by the present invention. According to one aspect of the present invention, an optical display system includes a lenticular array for focusing color light beams onto a plane forming a spatial mix of the colors of the beams and an optical translator for shifting the spatial mix of the colors of the plane.
According to another aspect of the invention, a method of displaying a frame of a color image is disclosed. A first sub-frame is projected, the first sub-frame having a spatial mix of primary colors and a second sub-frame is projected, the second sub-frame having a permutated the spatial mix of the primary colors.
Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in combination with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of the invention.

Single light valve projector with reduced sequential color artifacts


A method, apparatus and program storage device for providing service access control for a user interface is disclosed. A service secret is combined with a user access code, such as a user ID/password. A system can extract the service secret and determine whether access to service functions should be allowed to provide authentication and authorization for service interface access in secure manner.

1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates in general to computer security, and more particularly to a method, apparatus and program storage device for providing service access control for a user interface.
2. Description of Related Art
Computer security is the process of preventing and detecting unauthorized use of computers and networks. Prevention measures help in stopping the unauthorized users (also known as "intruders") from accessing any part of a computer system or network. Detection involves the determination of whether or not someone attempted to break into a computer system or network, if they were successful, and what they may have done.
The Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW) have provided data processing system users with what is effectively a global communication network interconnecting a vast number of databases and other network users. The local link between the network and the user is typically by way of a high speed Internet connection. There are many different types of high-speed internet access services including DSL, ADSL, SDSL, cable and satellite. There are many major benefits to high-speed (broadband) internet access. One huge benefit is that you get an always-on connection to the internet. This means that there is never a need to dial in and you will never have to worry about busy signals. Instead you have a constant connection to the Internet whenever your computer is on.
However, because a user's workstation is coupled directly to such communication interfaces, any network user ostensibly has the ability to access any information resource coupled to a network node. Because the network provides a potential window into any information resource linked to any of its nodes, it is customary to protect all communications using a security system to protect against the unauthorized access to another system resource (e.g., another computer).
The concepts behind network security break nicely into four categories: Authentication, Authorization (a.k.a. Access Control), Accounting, and Secure Communications. Authentication is simple verification of a user's identity. Always based on some form of trust, authentication relies on something that the user has, which can be compared to a known constant (the trusted value). This can occur either in an interaction with the user (a user ID and password are entered), or can range up to complex biometrics systems like fingerprint identification, face recognition or retinal scans. Authentication also can occur by proxy, such as a stored authentication token (kept in a workstation's memory while the user remains logged in, or on a token such as a smartcard).
Authorization, also known as access control, decides who is allowed where. File permissions are a good example of access controls. Usually stored in resource-level ACLs (access control lists), these are simply lists of authenticated users (or groups of users) who are allowed to access or are barred from accessing a given resource. This is usually the most complex aspect of network security since it requires the secure, centralized storage and access of these ACLs. Authorization can occur only once a user is authenticated, as authorization systems rely on lists of authenticated users.
Accounting involves the basic task of recording who accessed what resource. Most network operating systems and services include some form of logging. This can either be performed independently at each service, or through a centralized accounting server. However, if performed centrally, all accounting information must be transferred securely, and can be affected by denial of service attacks (for instance, a hacker wishing to cover his tracks could prevent logging messages from reaching the accounting server).
Secure communications involves the ability to protect network transmissions from both interception (where private information can be compromised) as well as unauthorized transmission, where a hacker can masquerade as a secure host, or can insert data into an established connection.
In present day networks and computer systems, the need for privacy and proper authentication of the network and computer users is one of the foremost areas of concern. In many software systems the customer, or user, initiates actions through a user interface. The right to access the interface is commonly authenticated and authorized (also referred to as auth2) by accepting a userID and password, and comparing these to valid userIDs and passwords. Valid userID/passwords are typically stored in a directory server or verification reference such as LDAP, Kerberos, etc.
In addition to typical customer users, service people often need access to the customer's system in order to perform various maintenance or diagnostic support functions. Service access is a concern to customers because it usually implies granting to an outsider the capability to see or modify confidential data, or modify the state of a sensitive system in a manner not possible through customer interfaces.
Service access is sometimes provided through a separate interface (portal) to the system, rather than through the user interface. Sometimes service access is through the user interface but involves the use of special service codes or commands (that customers are not given). Service access is typically intended to be restricted to service personnel only. Service commands are sometimes undocumented, or hidden by "trap doors" in user interfaces, or use separate interfaces not readily available to customers.
There are many ways to implement secured service access. For example, secured service access may be provided using passwords that are based on time, authorization systems that require presentation of two separate credentials, and systems that control access level depending on the authentication credentials. Methods that use time-based passwords involve the computation of passwords based on time, or for incorporating references to time into passwords. These ideas enable passwords to only be valid for a limited interval. Dual authorization schemes require two forms of credentials at the same time; e.g. the user must supply a password in combination with an electronic key fob. These methods increase the security of the system by adding a physical requirement, or requiring participation from more than one party. A combined access and authentication scheme provides for controlled access to a system, wherein the type and scope of access depends on the user authentication credentials presented.
However, such systems and techniques present several undesirable security vulnerabilities. For example, customers may learn to access the service portal by observing service people. These customers may then use the service portal to access dangerous commands, commands that compromise system vendor internal information, or commands that compromise the reliability of the system. Further, hackers may use the service portal to compromise the system. Unauthorized users can enter the system and learn enough to break into the user interface. Control over authentication and authorization (auth2) may be weakened if provided in a separate interface. Authorized users can use the service interface to gain access to unauthorized capabilities. The customer must give service people poorly restricted access to the system in order to give them service access.
Interactive computer systems share data among the various applications, components and nodes. In an interactive software system it is problematic to partition the user interface from the service interface. Today, service access control methods have drawbacks in terms of engineering effort, security, auditability, ease of automated scripting, and/or non-repudiation, i.e., preventing the user from denying earlier access authorization.
For example, prompting for service auth2 separately from user auth2 makes scripting more complicated. A special service interface, or service enabling switch, compromises security, since its existence advertises additional avenues of attacking the system. Since typically customers are not intended to access the service interface, if they do somehow gain access, that access is usually not subject to the identical controls as the user interface. Moreover, requiring the user to grant auth2 credentials to the service people gives full visibility of service access to the system. It also means the user cannot repudiate having granted the access.
It can be seen then that there is a need for a method, apparatus and program storage device for providing service access control for a user interface.

Method, apparatus and program storage device for providing service access control for a user interface

International Business Machines Corporation


Nail files are made in a manner which permits ease of dispensing. A tube is continuously fed into a milling machine where grooves are formed in predetermined segments of the tube. These grooves are roughened by adhesively applying abrasive particles or by milling the groove surfaces. The tubes are stamped so as to form alternating long grooved areas and short smooth areas. The thus-prepared tubes are divided into sections of desired lengths containing a plurality of nail files which may be easily detached from the remainder of the files in the section. Another method comprises providing a solid or hollow rod which has any of a variety of geometric cross-sections, providing the rod with grooves having varying sizes, roughening the surfaces of the grooves as above, and weakening the rods at predetermined lengths to produce sections containing a series of easily detached segments. The hollow files may be fitted with closures at each end. At least one of these closures is removable and replaceable. In this way, the hollow portion may be used for carrying additional manicure equipment. Another alternative is the preparation of a series of individual nail files. Each file has a rough upper surface, a smooth lower surface, and a ring-like opening attached to the lower surface. These files are attached to each other in a series by light adhesive bonding of one lower surface to the next adjacent lower surface. Extremely little waste is produced by the methods of manufacture of the present invention.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is concerned with the manufacture of nail files having grooves containing roughened sides.
2. Description of the Related Art
Manicure instruments including nail files are well known. U.S. Pat. No. 1,473,717 to Atkinson, U.S. Pat. No. 1,529,321 to Pearson, and U.S. Pat. No. 1,597,589 to Ferrari are examples of such instruments which may be worn as rings. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 58,210 to Beauregard, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 290,533 to Kadaja, U.S. Pat. No. 1,707,879 to Schwartzman, U.S. Pat. No. 2,019,580 to Poux, U.S. Pat. No. 2,573,310 to Collier, U.S. Pat. No. 2,233,438 to Troya, U.S. Pat. No. 2,566,688 to West, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,292,987 to Alley describe nail files having grooves which contain filing surfaces. It is evident from an examination of these patents that the devices either could not be made from a single piece of stock material, or if such a type of manufacture was attempted, a large quantity of waste would be produced. Additionally, these products must be dispensed as units.


A cooling apparatus for cooling a tool rotated by a spindle of a machining device. The cooling apparatus includes a tube having a plurality of orifices. The tube is mounted onto a stationary housing about the spindle to substantially encircle an axis of the tool. The apparatus also includes a plurality of nozzles connected to a respective one of the orifices, each of the nozzles directing a discharge of fluid substantially toward the tool.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooling device, and more particularly to a cooling device for a multi-axis rotary machining tool.
2. Background Information
A coolant device for a rotary machining device 200 is shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B. The machining device 200 often includes a platform 202, to hold a component 204. The component 204 is acted upon by a machining tool 206 of the machining device 200. Two nozzles, a first nozzle 208A and a second nozzle 208B are used to spray streams 209A and 209B of cold fluid on the tool 206. The first and second nozzles 208A and 208B are indirectly mounted on an arm 214 of the machining device 200.
The machining device 200 also has a spindle 210, attached to an articulating head 212 capable of pivoting about a "B" axis, as shown in FIG. 1A, as well as an "A" and "C" axis, as shown in FIG. 1B. The machining device 200 moves the spindle 210 along the X-axis and Y-axis utilizing the movement of the arm 214 which travels along tracks (not shown). The arm 214 is also capable of moving the position of the spindle 210 along the Z-axis using vertical track 216, shown in FIG. 1B.
When the tool 206 begins to operate on the component 204, the jet streams 209A and 209B are discharged from each of the respective nozzles 208A and 208B. The jet streams of cold fluid keep the tool 206 from overheating which would cause it to prematurely deteriorate. In high speed machining applications, the deterioration can occur very rapidly, and it is vital that the tool 206 be kept cool. The fluid also lubricates the area of the component 204 being cut by the tool 206.
When the machining device 200 moves the tool 206 within the X, Y, Z plane, the nozzles 208A and 208B constantly provide the tool 206 with the streams 209A and 209B of the cooling fluid since the movement of the nozzles 208A and 208B coincide with the movement of the arm 214. However, when the machining device 200 moves the spindle 210 and tool 206 along the A-axis or B-axis, the jet streams 209A and 209B no longer contact the drill 206, and it is no longer cooled. Thus, the drill bit 206 begins to deteriorate when operating along the A-axis or B-axis unless the machining device 200 is stopped and the nozzles 208A and 208B are readjusted by hand.
Replacement tools, especially for high speed machining operations, can cost thousands of dollars. Further, without lubrication, the tool 206 may break off or damage the component 52. When the component 52 is a large aircraft member, the cost for replacements may be in the tens of thousands of dollars. Accordingly, failure to provide the cooling fluid along the A-axis and B-axis is a costly problem.
Another disadvantage of the machining device 200 is that chips left over from the machining operation get into the tracks and jam the machining device 200 so that it can no longer move along the X-axis or Y-axis. Further, the chips fly into a main bearing of the spindle 210, causing it to jam or significantly shorting its operational life.
Accordingly, there is a need for a cooling device that provides a constant source of cooling fluid to a machining device along any of 5 axes. Further, there is a need for a device that prevents the accumulation of machining chips, which can impede the movement of the machining device, and protect the spindle bearing from damage caused by flying chips.

Cooling device for multi-axis rotary machining tool


An apparatus for oral imaging has a light source energizable to generate a light frequency signal ranging from a minimum to a maximum frequency. An image acquisition apparatus scans the generated light frequency signal to successive positions on a sample surface and to combine a returned signal from each successive position with the generated light frequency signal. The image acquisition apparatus has a detector that obtains a beat frequency signal from the combined returned signal and the generated light frequency signal. A processor that is in signal communication with the detector generates a processed beat signal from the combined signals, wherein the processed beat signal is indicative of the distance from the tunable laser source to the sample surface at the corresponding position. A display is in signal communication with the processor and is energizable to display distance data according to the processed beat signal for each scanned position.

Volume imaging of the teeth and related structures offers significant promise for various types of analysis, diagnosis, and treatment procedures. While accurate volume image data can be obtained using systems that generate and direct x-ray radiation through the patient, such as cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) systems, there can be a number of assessment and treatment procedures that use light and do not require exposure of the patient to ionizing radiation. A number of types of imaging apparatus have been proposed for using advanced illumination, detection, and processing techniques that can reveal structural information from features inside the mouth without the complication and cost of x-ray systems hardware.
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is one type of non-invasive imaging technique that employs interferometric principles to obtain high resolution, cross-sectional tomographic images that characterize the depth structure of a sample.
Particularly suitable for in vivo imaging of human tissue, OCT has shown its usefulness in a range of biomedical research and medical imaging applications, such as in ophthalmology, dermatology, oncology, and other fields, as well as in ear-nose-throat (ENT) and dental imaging. In an OCT imaging system, light from a wide-bandwidth source, such as a super luminescent diode (SLD) or other light source, is directed along two different optical paths: a reference arm of known length and a sample arm that illuminates the tissue or other subject under study. Reflected and back-scattered light from the reference and sample arms is then recombined in the OCT apparatus and interference effects are used to determine characteristics of the surface and near-surface underlying structure of the sample. Interference data can be acquired by rapidly scanning the sample illumination across the sample. At each of several thousand points, OCT apparatus obtains an interference profile which can be used to reconstruct an A-scan with an axial depth into the material. For most tissue imaging applications, OCT uses broadband illumination sources and can provide image content at depths of a few millimeters (mm).
While OCT offers considerable advantages for dental surface applications, there are some drawbacks to OCT imaging. OCT measurement is practical only over relatively small areas of a surface, requiring a substantial amount of calculation in order to provide useful data. OCT acquisition time is too slow for imaging more than a small area at a time, such as a few hundred mm2. OCT measurements require probe placement relatively close to the surface of interest and, in practice, cannot be easily obtained over a large area. The field of view of the OCT device is necessarily constrained, precluding its practical use for obtaining surface data needed for generating digital impressions of a patient's face, for example.
Thus, it can be seen that there would be advantages to surface imaging methods that overcome the constraints of OCT and other measurement techniques in utility and that can be adapted for use in an intraoral imaging apparatus.

3D intraoral camera using frequency modulation


A method for preparing a metal surface (34) for a soldering operation is provided. In accordance with the method, the metal surface is treated with a solder flux (31) comprising a supersaturated solution of a carboxylic acid.

Various solder fluxes are used in conjunction with soldering materials in the soldering of electronic components, circuits, equipment and the like so as to improve the efficiency and quality of the soldering operation and to improve the long-term reliability of the connections. Solder fluxes are often designed to react with or dissolve metal oxides and impurities on the surfaces being soldered, and to coat the surface to protect it against oxidation.
The use of flux in soldering operations that involve items having very small features, as in ball attach operations on wafers for Wafer Level Chip Scale Packaging (WL-CSP), has placed great demands both on the flux itself and on its method of application. Because of their dimensions, devices of this type have very small tolerances for error in terms of the placement of a solder joint. Consequently, if the solder migrates from its original intended position on the substrate during reflow, electrical bridging can occur between neighboring solder joints, leading to a defective product.
One cause of solder migration is the flux itself. If the flux is not sufficiently aggressive, the solder can migrate across the surface of the flux during reflow, thus leading to the bridging problems noted above. In the past, this problem has been addressed through the selective application of solder flux to a surface through the use of a stencil or template. In theory, a stencil can minimize solder migration by limiting the area to which the solder flux is applied, hence limiting the area over which the solder can migrate.
FIGS. 1–3 illustrate the use of a stencil in applying a solder flux. In this approach, as shown in FIG. 1, a stencil 11 is applied to a wafer substrate 13. The stencil is equipped with a plurality of apertures 15 adapted to receive a solder flux. These apertures are spaced to direct the flux over the under bump metallization layer 14. The under bump metallization layer is in turn disposed on the bond pad 16. The solder flux 17 is then applied across the template using a squeegee 19. As shown in FIG. 2, after the solder flux 17 has been applied, the stencil 11 is removed, with the effect that the solder flux is applied only in the vicinity of the apertures. As shown in FIG. 3, the solder balls 21 are then positioned onto the solder flux 17 and are reflowed.
The stencil approach described above is undesirable in that the use of a stencil inherently complicates the manufacturing process. Also, any misalignment between the stencil and the substrate will result in the flux being improperly applied, thus resulting in product defects. Because of the dimensions involved, however, alignment is very difficult to control. Moreover, while the proper use of a stencil may be adequate in ensuring that solder flux is applied only to intended areas of a wafer substrate, this approach cannot ensure that the solder flux will not subsequently move from those areas during solder ball placement or reflow, thus compromising the benefits of using the stencil in the first place.
There is thus a need in the art for a solder flux, and for a method of applying a solder flux to a substrate, that can be used for ball attach operations on Wafer Level Chip Scale Packaging (WL-CSP) as well as in other solder ball attach applications, that does not require the use of a stencil for its application, and that minimizes solder migration. These and other needs are met by the compositions and methodologies described herein.

Simplification of ball attach method using super-saturated fine crystal flux


A display monitor mounting apparatus for operably securing one or more display monitors thereto includes a support bar having an exterior surface configuration that is matingly engageable to a specific latch element, the latch element being configured as an interfacial piece between the support bar and a respective display monitor, and which provides a quick-connect removable engagement mechanism for selectively engaging the respective display monitor to the support bar.

Display monitors such as computer monitors, television screens, and the like find widespread use in various applications, both in the home and at the office. With the advent of display imaging technologies that eliminate the need for relatively bulky cathode ray tubes (CRTs), many such display monitors are significantly smaller in dimension and weight, and may therefore be supported above, for example, a desktop surface.
The relatively small size and weight of such recently developed display monitors has enabled the utilization of relatively light duty support structures to support the display monitors in an elevated position above a desktop. By doing so, desktop space is cleared for other purposes, and the display monitors may be held in a position that is more convenient for viewing by one or more users. Such relatively light-duty support structures include, for example, free-standing assemblies that utilize a weighted base and an upstanding member extending from the weighted base, as well as wall-mounted structures having one or more support members extending outwardly therefrom.
Although a variety of such display monitor support assemblies have been developed and implemented to date, such assemblies typically require the display monitor to be either fixedly secured to the support assembly, or be attached thereto in such a manner so as to make removal of the display monitor from the support assembly cumbersome. In addition, conventional display monitor support assemblies typically incorporate fixed display monitor receiving locations, in that only a pre-defined number of display monitors may be attached to a given display monitor support assembly.
It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide a display monitor mounting apparatus that utilizes quick-connect units for conveniently and removably securing one or more individual display monitors to the mounting apparatus.
It is another object of the present invention to provide quick-connect mounting elements for operably coupling a display monitor to a support structure in a hands-free procedure.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a display monitor mounting apparatus having quick-connect mounting elements that enable both removable and slidable securement of one or more display monitors to the mounting apparatus.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a display monitor mounting apparatus having latch elements that interface between respective display monitors and the mounting apparatus, and which latch elements enable operable connection to the mounting apparatus via a hands-free procedure, and disengagement from such mounting apparatus through a single-step procedure.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a display monitor mounting apparatus having one or more interfacial latch elements that provide convenient removable attachment of respective display monitors to the mounting apparatus, as well as pivotal movement of the respective display monitors while in an engaged relationship with the mounting apparatus.


A system monitors the status of persistent connections between a set of servers and a set of clients, and identifies any clients not having at least one active connection with a server. The monitoring system, such as a visual voicemail system, includes a monitoring server, a bind agent, and probe services running on respective servers. Upon receiving a monitoring request from the monitoring server, the bind agent requests each probe service to identify the clients having active connections with the associated servers. The bind agent forms an aggregated list of all clients having active connections with one or more of the servers and based on the aggregated list, the agent identifies any clients not having at least one active connection with a server and notifies the monitoring server of the identified clients.

In recent years, client/server network architectures have increasingly relied on distributed server environments to efficiently provide network-based services to large numbers of users. The increased use of distributed server environments, however, has produced a need for methods and systems to ensure service quality across servers and clients involved in a distributed server environment.
The traditional client/server architecture is a network architecture in which each computer or process on a network is either a client or a server. The device running the client for one process, however, may run the server for another process, and vice versa. Client/server architectures are often suitable for use in enterprise applications in which multiple clients share the resources of a server to which the clients connect. The transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP) is a standard way for clients and servers to exchange packets of data. In client/server architectures, client and server connections can be persistent or on demand.
The client/server model is based around clients connecting to a single central server or to multiple servers. The clients can send and receive messages from the server while the server maintains a global state. In the client/server model, the client opens up a channel of communication with the server and requests a service. The server receives the request, fulfills the service request, and sends the response to the client, closing the channel of communication. As illustratively shown in FIG. 1, a client (101)/server (103) pair having an isolated transaction between them can use an on-demand connection (105) to communicate. In this situation, the server does not keep open its channel of communication with the client, and the client-server pair closes the connection (105) once the isolated transaction is completed. The server further does not maintain the client connection or the requested service information associated with the isolated transaction.
Instead of using an on-demand connection, a client/server pair can alternatively use a persistent connection to communicate with each other, as illustratively shown in FIG. 2. The TCP protocol supports a connection-oriented data transfer between two processes running on two computers on the Internet, and provides reliable two-way data exchange between processes. In order to reuse an existing connection, a short message point-to-point (SMPP) network protocol can be used to establish a persistent connection between a client and a server. A TCP/IP persistent connection (205), for example, uses the same TCP connection to send and receive multiple requests/responses between the client (201) and the server (203) of the pair, instead of opening a new connection between the client/server for every single request/response. Persistent connections allow for notable performance gains by reducing network traffic due to fewer operations of setting up and tearing down of TCP connections. Persistent client/server connections thus reduce latency on subsequent requests by removing the need for repeated initial TCP handshakes. Enabling long lasting connections also allows TCP sufficient time to determine the congestion state of the network and react appropriately to the congestion.
Distributed server environments are increasingly being relied on to provide network-based services to users. Distributed server environments are applications that provide services by using a plurality of servers across a network. Distributed server environments rely on protocols to coordinate the actions of multiple processes performed on multiple servers on a network, such that all components cooperate together to perform a single or a set of related tasks.
While the use of persistent connections and of distributed server environments each allow for performance gains in network services, they are not without problems. Persistent connections can be dropped by the client or the server using the connection, causing communication across the connection to be lost. Similarly, a server outage or dropped connection in a single server or connection of a distributed server environment can cause the distributed server environment to fail. Hence a need exists for monitoring persistent client connection status in distributed server environments to improve service reliability and to improve performance.

Monitoring persistent client connection status in a distributed server environment


A data processing apparatus for carrying out workload management with respect to a group of servers in an asynchronous client/server computing system, has: a device for receiving a work request from a client application; a device for consulting availability data concerning the group of servers and for selecting a particular server in the group to be used to satisfy the received work request on the basis of the consulted availability data, where the consulted availability data is always used in its present state when the work request is received, irrespective of whether availability data has been received for each server in the group, in order to select a server from the group; and a device for placing the received work request in a transmission queue where it awaits transmission to the particular server in the group.

Client/server computing has become more and more important over the past few years in the information technology world. This type of distributed computing allows one machine to delegate some of its work to another machine that might be, for example, better suited to perform that work. For example, the server could be a high-powered computer running a database program managing the storage of a vast amount of data, while the client is simply a desktop personal computer (PC) which requests information from the database to use in one of its local programs.
Message queuing (also known as message brokering) data processing technology has become more and more prevalent in today's client/server computer networks. This technology permits a client computer system to communicate with a server computer system even though these two systems are very different to each other, in terms of operating system, data format and communication protocol. Further, due to the asynchronous nature of this technology, the client can send the server a message and the server can store the message in a queue and process and respond to the message at a later time. This is quite different from the synchronous client/server models which have required the client and server to converse in real time (e.g., the client waits for the server to respond before the client carries on with other tasks).
Message queuing and commercially available message queuing products are described in "Messaging and Queuing Using the MQI", B. Blakeley, H. Harris & R. Lewis, McGraw-Hill, 1994, and in the following publications which are available from IBM Corporation: "An Introduction to Messaging and Queuing" (IBM Document number GC33-0805-00) and "MQSeries--Message Queue Interface Technical Reference" (IBM Document number SC33-0850-01). IBM and MQSeries are trademarks of IBM Corporation. IBM's MQSeries messaging software products provide transactional messaging support, synchronising messages within logical units of work in accordance with a messaging protocol which gives assured once and once-only message delivery even in the event of system or communications failures. MQSeries products provide assured delivery by not finally deleting a message from storage on a sender system until it is confirmed as safely stored by a receiver system, and by use of sophisticated recovery facilities. Prior to commitment of transfer of the message upon confirmation of successful storage, both the deletion of the message from storage at the sender system and insertion into storage at the receiver system are kept `in doubt` and can be backed out atomically in the event of a failure. This message transmission protocol and the associated transactional concepts and recovery facilities are described in international patent application WO 95/10805 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,328, which are incorporated herein by reference.
In an asynchronous client/server network, such as one that uses a message and queuing software architecture, it is becoming more and more common to provide a group of servers in which each server of the group is capable of satisfying a client's request. This way, a client's request can be served more quickly because if one server is busy the request can be forwarded on to another server. Typically, a workload management unit on the client side makes a decision as to which server should be assigned to handle a particular request, using availability data from each server as a basis for making the decision. If all of such availability data is not yet available, the workload management unit waits until it receives such data and then uses the complete set of data to make a decision on a server. The client request, with an appended indication of the server selected by the workload management unit, is then placed in a transmission queue where it awaits transmission to the selected server. The client also writes some information about the queued request, including the indication of the selected server, to local storage so that the request can be sent again from the client to the server if a transmission problem occurs such that the server has not received the transmitted client request.
The present state of the art in this area is disadvantageous because the workload management unit must involve complex software portions which must continually check the state of the server availability data for each server to determine when all of such data has been completed received from the servers. This complex software programming adds a great deal of extra cost to the overall system.
Further, if all of the server availability data has not yet been received, a request cannot be transmitted to the server group, thus holding up the data transmission process at the client side. This is highly disadvantageous, especially in an environment where a fast transmission speed is very important.

Workload management in an asynchronous client/server computer system

International Business Machines Corporation


A rotary actuator has a hollow motor and hollow reduction gears arranged coaxially on either side of the hollow motor. A rotary shaft is arranged so as to pass through a hollow motor shaft of the hollow motor. The hollow reduction gears have hollow input shafts connected to the shaft ends on either sides of the hollow motor shaft. The hollow reduction gears have hollow output shafts connected to sections of the rotary shaft protruding from both ends of the hollow motor shaft. The connection position of the hollow output shaft with respect to the rotary shaft can be adjusted in the rotational direction. A load is rotationally driven by the rotary shaft. By increasing the axial length of the hollow motor, it is possible to obtain a small-diameter rotary actuator having a rotational output with large torque.

An actuator such as a rotary actuator generally has a configuration in which one reduction gear is connected to one motor. A rotary actuator using a strain wave gearing as a reduction gear is proposed in Patent documents 1 and 2. A reduction gear unit disclosed in Patent document 1 has a structure in which one motor and one cup-type strain wave reduction gear are connected in tandem. An actuator disclosed in Patent document 2 has a structure in which one hollow motor and one silk hat-type strain wave reduction gear are connected in tandem.


An optical deflector of the present invention comprises: a mirror 20 for reflecting light; a yoke 24 for rotatably holding the mirror 20 via a plate spring 21; a coil 27 and a magnet 27 for rotating the mirror 20 with respect to the yoke 24; a magnet fixing plate 28 for holding the yoke 24; and positioning pins 31a and 31b, a part of which is inserted into the yoke 24, for positioning the yoke 24. The magnet 27 forms a magnetic circuit in the yoke 24. The positioning pins 31 and 31b are made of a magnetic material so as not to obstruct the magnetic circuit formed in the yoke 24.

1. Field of The Invention
The present invention relates generally to an optical deflector for deflecting light, such as laser beams, by slightly displacing a light deflecting member, and a beam scanner using the optical deflector.
2. Related Background Art
In recent years, with the development of various apparatuses using laser beams or the like, various uses of optical deflectors have been developed. For example, optical deflectors are used for laser beam scanners of conventional laser printers which are output units capable of outputting any numbers of pages of picture and/or document information every page.
As a typical optical deflector, the construction of a conventional galvanomirror for use in a maltibeam scanner will be described below. FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a galvanomirror, FIGS. 13A through 13C are views showing three faces thereof, and FIG. 14 is an exploded perspective view thereof.
In FIGS. 12 through 14, a mirror (a light deflecting member) 20 for deflecting a laser beam is elastically supported on an elastic supporting member, which itself is slightly moved. This elastic supporting member is a plate spring (a supporting member) 21 which comprises: a portion mounted on the mirror 20; a portion mounted on a yoke 24 serving as a frame; and two torsion springs, i.e., torsion bar springs 22a and 22b, for connecting the portion mounted on the mirror 20 to the portion mounted on the yoke 24. The mirror 20 is bonded to the plate spring 21. The reflecting surface, i.e., the evaporation surface, of the mirror 20 is provided on one side of the mirror 20, the other side of which faces the plate spring 21.
The plate spring 21 is made of a beryllium copper or stainless, e.g., SUS304, which are often used as materials of a spring. A bobbin 23 is bonded to one surface of the plate spring 21, to the other surface of which the mirror 20 is bonded. A coil 26 is bonded to the inner surface of the bobbin 23. The plate spring 21 is fixed to the yoke (a holding member) 24 of a ferromagnetic material also serving as a frame, by means of plate spring presser members 25a and 25b of a resin. That is, the plate spring 21 is fixed to the yoke 24 by the engagement of screws (not shown) with threaded holes 40a and 40b formed in the yoke 24, holes 37a and 37b formed in the plate spring 21, and holes 41a and 41b, which are formed in the plate spring presser members 25a and 25b, respectively.
A magnet 27 is bonded to a magnet fixing plate (a base) 28 of a non-magnetic material, and fixed to the yoke 24 by the engagement of screws (not shown) with threaded holes (not shown) formed in the yoke 24 and holes 39a and 39b formed in the magnet fixing plate 28. The torsion bar springs 22a and 22b are provided on both sides of the plate spring 21 in longitudinal directions thereof, so that the mirror 20 is rotatable in the directions of arrows R (see FIGS. 12 and 13C).
When an electric current flows the coil 26, an electromagnetic force is produced between the coil 26 and the magnet 27 mounted on the magnet fixing plate 28 to rotate the mirror 20 in the directions of arrows R.
Specifically, referring to FIG. 15, the lines of magnetic force leave the N pole surface (a polarized surface) of the magnet 27 for the yoke 24, and then, the lines of magnetic force are divided by the yoke 24 into right and left parts as shown by arrows B to go half around the magnet 27 along the yoke 24 to reach the opposite S pole surface (a polarized surface) of the magnet 27.
When an electric current flows the coil 26 in this state, magnetic forces are applied to the linear portion of the coil 26 arranged at the magnetic gap between the magnet 27 and the yoke 24 on the side of the N pole surface and to the linear portion of the coil 26 on the side of the S pole surface, and the directions of the magnetic forces are opposite to each other.
Therefore, since the plate spring 21 is fixed to the yoke 24, the plate spring 21 rotates around the torsion bar springs 22a and 22b serving as torsion springs, and the mirror 20 also rotates in the directions of arrows R. Furthermore, if the direction of the electric current is changed, the direction of rotation can be changed, and the rotation angle can be changed in proportion to the current value. In addition, the rotation angle of the mirror 20 can be maintained by holding the passing current.
Referring to FIGS. 13A through 13C, the gaps between the yoke 24 and the bobbin 23 are filled with damping materials 29a and 29b of, e.g., silicon gel, so as to prevent the mirror 20 from being vibrated by disturbance vibration.
However, when a laser beam is scanned by the optical deflector with the above construction, there are the following problems.
That is, referring to FIG. 14, positioning pins (positioning members) 31a and 31b are inserted into positioning holes 38a and 38b of the magnet fixing plate 28 and positioning holes 33a and 33b of the yoke 24 in order to position the yoke 24 with respect to the magnet fixing plate 28. However, since the conventional positioning pins 31a and 31b are made of SUS304 or the like which is a non-magnetic material, there is a problem in that the lines of magnetic force passing through the yoke 24 are obstructed, so that the efficiency of a magnetic circuit formed in the yoke 24 is deteriorated.
In addition, referring to FIG. 15, the lines of magnetic force leave the N pole surface of the magnet 27 for the yoke 24, and then, the lines of magnetic force are divided by the yoke 24 into right and left parts as shown by arrows B to go half around the magnet 27 along the yoke 24 to reach the opposite S pole surface of the magnet 27. However, when the lines of magnetic force leave the N pole surface for the yoke 24, the lines of magnetic force go while being expanded since the area of a portion of the yoke 24 facing the N pole surface of the magnet 27 is greater than the area of the N pole surface. The side of the S pole is the same. Therefore, there is a problem in that the magnetic flux density at the coil 26 decreases so as to deteriorate the efficiency of the magnetic circuit.
In addition, referring FIG. 15, the lines of magnetic force leave the N pole surface of the magnet 27 for the yoke 24, and then, the lines of magnetic force are divided by the yoke 24 into right and left parts as shown by arrows B to go half around the magnet 27 along the yoke 24 to reach the opposite S pole surface of the magnet 27. However, there is some possibility that some lines of magnetic force returning to the magnet 27 without going half around the magnet 27 may occur at projections 47a and 47b which are provided in the yoke 24 for filling silicon gel so as to prevent the vibration. Therefore, there is a problem in that leakage flux may occur to deteriorate the efficiency of the magnetic circuit formed in the yoke 24.

Optical deflector and beam scanner using the same


A gaming system including a chair having a base and a mechanical connector mounted to the base, and a gaming machine having a rotary locking mechanism to mate with the mechanical connector of the chair to latch the base to the gaming machine. The gaming machine and base can include an electrical connection.

A wide variety of gaming devices are now available to game players and to gaming establishment operators in computerized form, from slot machines to games that are traditionally played live such as poker and blackjack. Computerized video game systems must provide sufficient feedback to the gamer to make the game fun to play, and they must provide a gaming experience that is at least as attractive as the older mechanical gaming machine experience to the gamer, to ensure success in a competitive gaming market. A chair for a gaming device can be mechanically and electrically coupled to the gaming device via a sled.

Chair interconnection for a gaming machine


A new crystal form of threo glycopyrronium chloride is useful in pharmaceutical applications.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel crystal form of glycopyrronium chloride. The present invention also relates to methods of preparing such a crystal form and pharmaceutical compositions which contain such a crystal form. The present invention further relates to methods for the treatment of respiratory diseases by administering such a crystal form.
2. Discussion of the Background
Glycopyrronium bromide (also known as glycopyrrolate) is a muscarinic M3 anticholinergic agent used to reduce salivation associated with administration of certain anaesthetics, and as adjunctive therapy for peptic ulcers. It has also been reported to be effective in the treatment of asthmatic symptoms (Hansel et al., Chest, 2005; 128:1974-1979, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). Glycopyrronium bromide is commercially available, and can be synthesized according to the process described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,956,062, which is incorporated herein in its entirety.
Glycopyrronium bromide has two chiral centers corresponding to four isomeric forms comprising 2 pairs of diastereoisomers, namely (3S,2′R)-, (3R,2′S)-, (3R,2′R)-, and (3S,2′S)-[(cyclopentylhydroxyphenylacetyl)oxy]-1,1-dimethylpyrrolidinium bromide. Commercially available glycopyrronium bromide consists of the purified "threo" diastereoisomer (3R,2′S) and (3S,2′R). Different pharmacological properties have been attributed to each of the individual isomers of glycopyrronium bromide.
Glycopyrronium bromide has significant stability problems, especially immediately following a conventional micronization process by milling. It is well known that such milling action may induce the generation of amorphous material that can lead to significant instability which appears to be due to the high hygroscopicity of the amorphous fraction. In WO 2006/100453 (which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety), other counterions, such as iodide, acetate and sulphate salts, have been mentioned as theoretical alternatives to glycopyrronium bromide for overcoming the milling difficulties associated with the latter. No results in terms of stability have anyway been reported.
US 2002/0173536, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, generically discloses further salts including chloride. However, it has been found that also glycopyrronium chloride is hygroscopic.
In view of these considerations, there is still a need of physical stable crystal forms of glycopyrronium salts.


A board clamp including a head portion and a leg portion having a rigid axial stem and elastic engaging pieces arranged around the axial stem is adapted to secure various objects to a board or panel by inserting the leg portion into a fitting hole formed in the board. Since the leg portion is supported by the rigid axial stem, it is steadily inserted and retained in the fitting hole without being deformed or broken even when being inserted slantwise or subjected to a relatively large load.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a board clamp made of a plastic material and designed to fulfill a variety of useful purposes such as of fastening various component parts to a body of an automobile, a chassis of an electric appliance or the like, and particularly, steadily clamping two boards or panels.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A variety of panel-to-panel clamping devices so-called "board clamps" made of a plastic material are used in automobiles and electric appliances. The board clamps have various shapes in accordance with the forms of objects such as panel-like parts or articles to be fastened, but each fundamentally comprises a head member which is larger in diameter than a fitting hole formed in a board or panel, and a leg member extending downward from the head member so as to be fitted into the fitting hole. The head member generally has hooking means or a flange or other specific shape so as to be engaged with one of the objects to be clamped together. The leg member has a generally somewhat larger outer diameter than the fitting hole formed in the other object to be fastened so as not to come out of the fitting hole. With the clamping devices of this type, two boards or any other articles can be steadily clamped to each other with a simple operation.
For example, Japanese Utility Model Applications Nos. SHO 64-17014, HEI 2-60707, HEI 3-113108 and HEI 3-117114 suggest board clamps each comprising an anchor-shaped leg having a pair of engaging pieces inclined upward from the lower end of an axial stem. Also, in Japanese Utility Model Application No. SHO 63-154808, there is proposed a board clamp having stem-less engaging legs. In addition, Japanese Utility Model Appln. No. SHO 63-115903 discloses a clip having one or more leg members formed of a corrugated plate.
All of these conventional board clamps have been designed dependent on the shape of a molding die used in plastic injecting molding. That is, the former four board clamps each are featured by the side engaging pieces laterally protruding in the opposite directions from the axial stem, but no engaging piece is disposed on the front and rear sides. On the other hand, the board clamp of Japanese U. M. Appln. No. SHO 63-154808 as noted above possesses no stem along the axial center of the engaging legs arranged in a circle because of technical reasons in the plastic injection molding no matter that the stem is necessary. The corrugated leg member in the clip of Japanese U. M. Appln. No. SHO 63-115908 is designed so as to be fitted as tight as possible into a fitting hole formed in a board or panel, but a stem is also not provided in this conventional clip.
Discussing a few points about the aforementioned prior art clamps, the board clamp having the anchor-shaped leg cannot withstand a load which is applied thereto in the direction perpendicular to the directions in which the engaging pieces protrude oppositely from the axial stem, and thus, will be easily slackened or will cease to function due to a shock, vibration or any other possible cause.
The board clamp comprising the stem-less engaging legs insufficiently retains a plate-like object in position, and therefore, will possibly be slackened or ruined when being subjected a relatively large load.
Considering the existing technique of plastic injection molding, it will be difficult to all together eliminate these drawbacks suffered by the conventional board clamps.
Further, there has been another board clamp having a hollow engaging leg of a plastic material to utilize its elasticity to be elastically fitted into a fitting hole bored in a board or panel. The hollow engaging leg is first retracted resiliently inward when being inserted into the fitting hole in the board, and resumes its original shape when being completely fitted in the fitting hole. This board clamp is easy to handle, providing advantageous uniting of the boards.
However, the board clamp utilizing the elasticity of the plastic hollow engaging leg in being inserted into the fitting hole in the board is not quite rigid, and thus, it cannot steadily retain the boards or the like in position. Although the board clamp may be successfully fitted into the fitting hole when perpendicularly inserting the elastic engaging leg through the center of the fitting hole in the board, the elastic engaging leg will be deformed or broken when being inserted slantwise into the fitting hole or coming in touch with the edge of the fitting hole during the inserting. As a result, the board clamp may possibly be deprived of its function. This disadvantage becomes particularly conspicuous when a board or other possible article is secured to a fundamental substrate with a plurality of clamps of this type. The case in which a trim board as an upholstery plate is anchored to the inside of a car door is one example entailing such a disadvantage. That is, when the trim board is fixed onto the inside of the car door, in general, a number of the board clamps are previously attached to the back side of the trim board at prescribed intervals, and then, fitted into corresponding fitting holes formed in the inside of the car door at one time while bringing the trim board in a face-to-face union with the car door. However, at this time, the clamps often fail to be fitted into the fitting holes due to the inequality of the positions on the trim board to which the clamps are attached and an error in measurement in making the fitting holes.
Not infrequently, there are times when the trim board is incompletely mounted on the car door, because it is difficult to visually inspect the condition of the attachment of the board clamps interposed between the trim board and car door.


A piloting assistance system for an aircraft includes a measuring module for measuring a vertical manoeuvre of the aircraft, a computational module for computing a first load factor from the measured vertical manoeuvre and from a setpoint vertical manoeuvre, a measuring module for measuring an inclination angle, a pitch rate and a pitch acceleration, a protection module including a computational submodule configured to compute a second load factor and a comparison submodule in order to compare the first and the second load factor in order to determine an applicable load factor equal to the minimum between the first and the second load factor, a computational module configured to compute elevator control from the applicable load factor and a sending module configured to send the elevator control to the automatic pilot.

Within the context of the present description, an automatic pilot corresponds:                either to an automatic piloting system which acts automatically upon the control surfaces of the aircraft for the guidance of the latter,        or to a flight director which automatically displays information on a screen of the cockpit of the aircraft in order to provide assistance for the manual piloting carried out by the pilot of the aircraft.
It is known that the automatic pilot of an aircraft, when it is optionally coupled to a thrust regulating device, uses forward speed information of the aircraft, for example an airspeed, with the aim of holding a selection of the pilot and/or the speed range at values that are acceptable for the aircraft. If, in the course of piloting, this speed information is lost, i.e. if it becomes unavailable, incorrect, or unreliable, the automatic pilot and/or the thrust regulating device disengages automatically while holding the current state of the aircraft (attitude and thrust), and returns control to the crew. Such a situation can occur, in particular, in the case of common mode of failures due, for example, to severe or poor environmental conditions. This situation is, however, exceptional, since the majority of aircraft are equipped with systems for limiting the effects of said environmental conditions, such as to improve the availability of the speed information. Disengaging the automatic pilot and/or the thrust regulating device causes an additional workload for the crew who must deal with the cause of the failure in addition to the normal tasks, while in an unusual situation in which the speed information is lost. The forward speed information is a primary parameter, used by the automatic piloting system or the flight director, in order to define the flight envelope of the aircraft (upper and lower limits) and the dynamics of the aircraft. An automatic pilot or a thrust regulating device which would not respect these speed limits could cause the aircraft to depart from the flight envelope thereof. For this reason, the automatic pilot and the thrust regulating device are provided with various normal means which protect the speed range.
The document FR 2 960 659 A1 proposes a solution which is not entirely satisfactory. Indeed, it does not make it possible to obtain a flight that is stabilized over the entire flight envelope without adding thereto additional mechanisms beyond an attitude limit.

Piloting assistance method for an aircraft, making it possible to ensure the availability of an automatic pilot


A filter element formed from at least one flat layer of permeable filter medium alternating with at least one pleated layer in such a way that the resulting channels have an open, especially triangular, cross section, a first group of channels being tightly sealed at one end and a second group of channels being tightly sealed at the other end such that a fluid to be filtered flowing through the filter element from an incident flow side formed by one end face to a discharge side formed by the opposite end face, must pass through one of the layers, and at least one group of channels is filled with adsorbent particles and closed by a gas-permeable fabric disposed over the corresponding end face of the filter element, the fabric pores being smaller than the adsorbent particles.

The invention relates to a filter element for end face incident flow in accordance with the species of claim 1. The invention further relates to a filter in which the described filter element is installed and to a method for producing a filter element of the foregoing type.
The passenger compartment filters currently used to adsorb harmful gases are flat filter elements consisting of highly porous plastic foams with activated carbon bonded thereto or several superimposed bonded activated carbon media. Also used are flat filter elements pleated in zigzag fashion with an activated carbon layer bonded to the filter medium.
Published European patent application no. EP 383,236 discloses a filter device with a flat carrier that is pleated in zigzag fashion. The flat carrier is gas permeable, since the gaseous medium to be filtered must penetrate the flat carrier. The adsorbent particles must be permanently bonded to the carrier material using a special process.
Published German patent application no. DE 44 32 339 discloses a passenger compartment filter with plate-shaped carrier layers assembled into a cuboid, such that the gas stream does not penetrate the carrier layers but only sweeps past them. This has the advantage that only a slight pressure loss occurs between the inflow and the discharge side. Here, too, however, the drawback is the need for a permanent bond between the carrier material and the adsorbent particles and the lack of a means to filter solid particles out of the gas stream. A further drawback in both solutions is that they require a lot of space, which is limited especially in the air supply to the passenger compartment of motor vehicles.

Active filter element for end face incident flow


A connector-equipped cord comprises: a flat belt having on its opposite ends a number of ridges molded of thermoplastic resin; a metallic connector having a pair of jaws adapted to clamp said ends of said flat belt, said jaws having on their inner surfaces a number of teeth engageable with said ridges; and a connecting ring projecting from one end of said connector remotely from said jaws.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a connector-equipped cord, which has at one end thereof a connector, for use as a handle string for a porch, a folding umbrella, a handy phone, etc. and also as a pull string for a slide fastener slider.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional handle string of this type for porches, folding umbrellas, handy phones, etc., a cord is inserted through a ring or a swivel connector and is fixed to it by a screw or a ring holder. Then in use, the ring or swivel connector is attached to a porch, a folding umbrella, a handy phone, etc. Further, as a pull string for a slide fastener slider, it is known to insert a cord through a hole in a free end of a pull tab of the slide fastener slider and is fixed to it by a screw, and then to attach the resulting slide fastener to an opening in, for example, a porch.
Further, FIG. 10 of the accompanying drawings shows a cord disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 1-48761. In this conventional cord, opposite ends of the cord 102 abut with each other to form a loop and embedded in a thick-plate terminal 103 molded of thermoplastic resin having a central hole 112.
FIG. 11 shows a slide fastener slider pull tab disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Hei 5-10654. This conventional pull tab is composed of a first member 201 made of metal or hard thermoplastic resin and having a connecting ring at one end and an engaging portion 204 in a form of a transverse T groove at the other end, and a second member 202 made of soft and elastic thermoplastic resin and having an engaged portion 207 in a form of an enlarged head, which is to be fitted in the T groove, at one end and a ribbed grip at the other end.
FIG. 12 shows an attaching member, for a pull tab of a slide fastener slider, which is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Hei 1-89006. This attaching member, which is made of resiliently deformable material, has at one end a ring 305 to be loosely attached to a pull-tab-attaching lug on a slider body and at the other end a pair of jaws 303 for clamping a free end of the pull tab 302, each jaw 303 having on its inner surface a number of teeth 304 extending in different directions.
However, in any of the conventional handle cords using a ring or a swivel connector, since the cord is inserted through the ring or the swivel connector and is then folded, and thereafter, the folded portion is secured by the screw or the ring holder, great load would act on the folded portion when the cord tab is pulled or turned, thus damaging the cord so that adequate durability cannot be expected.
In the cord of FIG. 10, since the abutting opposite ends 107 of the cord 102 are embedded in the terminal 103 molded of thermoplastic synthetic resin by injection molding means, only non-stable connection of the cord 102 can be achieved. Also this conventional cord requires a relatively complex manufacturing process and therefore is not suitable for mass production.
Further, in the conventional pull tab of FIG. 11, since a neck portion of the enlarged head of the engaged portion 207 of the second member 202 is smaller in thickness than the remaining portion, there is a danger that the pull tab might be damaged if a great pull force acts on the pull tab while using. In the conventional pull tab attaching member of FIG. 12, since the teeth 304 on the inner surface of each of the opposite jaws 303 of the attaching member have to be formed so as to extend in different directions, it needs a complex manufacturing process for such attaching member, thus causing only a limited rate of production.


A method for enabling different priority messages in a contention-based wireless network where units use a common channel. Relative to high priority messages, if the channel is not busy when a message is ready for transmission, then the message is transmitted immediately. When the channel is busy, the message is not transmitted until the channel becomes available and a selected back-off period (while the channel is available) expires. Back off periods are illustratively randomly selected by the units. Low priority messages are similarly not transmitted when the channel is busy, and additionally are not transmitted for a preselected pre-emption interval when the channel is available to high priority messages but not to low priority messages. Like with high priority messages, low priority messages that not transmitted when ready are held back a back-off period before they are transmitted.

This relates to transmission protocols and more particularly, to a protocol for transmitting messages in a network that employs a collision-based protocol. The network may be an ad hoc network.
For various reasons, mobile ad-hoc networks are best served by a collision-based architecture, and at least in some applications it is desirable to employ a protocol with a two-level QoS scheme. In at least one form of collision-based networks, a unit that wishes to transmit listens to the common channel over which other units might be transmitting and when it has a message (e.g., a packet) to transmit and it determines that the channel is available, it proceeds to transmit the message. When the unit determines that the channel is unavailable, it obtains a delay measure (back-off interval), which typically is a random value within a predetermined range, waits for a time corresponding to the obtained back-off interval, and then again determines whether the channel is available. If so, the unit transmits the message. Otherwise, the unit again waits the same (or different) back-off interval and tries again.
One well known collision-based approach employs the 802.11 protocol. While the 802.11 protocol provides a QoS facility, the ability to have different QoS levels needs base stations to administer the protocol, but use of base stations is generally disfavored in mobile ad hoc networks because it is desirable to confer on these networks a highly alterable constitution. The desirable approach, therefore, is one that does not require the use of base stations.

Quality of service scheme for collision-based wireless networks


The invention concerns a rotational movement transmission device comprising a flexible shaft and a casing inside which the shaft is housed, said casing being formed from a hollow body of plastic material whose internal diameter is arranged to allow the rotation of said shaft inside said casing, the wall of the body having a variable thickness so that at least part of the casing has an internal surface comprising corrugations extending longitudinally. The invention also concerns an adjustment system for a motor vehicle seat comprising such a transmission device.

The invention concerns a rotational movement transmission device and an adjustment system for a motor vehicle seat comprising such a device.
Rotational transmission devices are known which comprise a flexible shaft and a casing inside which the shaft is housed. In these transmission devices, in particular for motor vehicle seat adjustment, the speeds of rotation of the shaft in the casing are greater than 2000 revs/minute, conventionally of the order of 3000 revs/minute. In order to allow rotation at such speeds, a gap of a few tenths of a millimeter is necessary between the shaft and the casing. But, during rotation, this gap leads to the appearance of small-amplitude vibrations which propagate along the shaft and cause unpleasant noise and feeling to the touch.
In order to solve this vibration problem, the document JP 07 310 730 proposes a rotational transmission device whose casing has at least one deformation in the form of a constriction, that is to say a local reduction in the diameter of the casing. This is because this constriction, by causing a gripping contact between the shaft and the casing, makes it possible to limit the vibrations. However, this contact creates considerable friction between the shaft and the casing, which requires the motor torque to be increased to obtain a speed of rotation of the shaft sufficient for the envisaged application. Moreover, this friction leads to premature wear of the casing at the deformation.
The invention aims to overcome these drawbacks by proposing a rotational movement transmission device whose casing has permanent deformations which are arranged to limit the vibrations without reducing the internal diameter of the casing. To that end and according to a first aspect, the invention concerns a rotational movement transmission device comprising a flexible shaft and a casing inside which the shaft is housed, said casing being formed from a hollow body of plastic material whose internal diameter is arranged to allow the rotation of said shaft inside said casing, the wall of the body having a variable thickness so that part of the casing has an internal surface comprising corrugations extending longitudinally.
According to a second aspect, the invention concerns an adjustment system for a motor vehicle seat, comprising at least one adjustment runner mounted on the structure of the vehicle and adjustable means for fixing the seat on said runner, said system also comprising a drive motor having at least one revolving part, said adjustment system also comprising a transmission device as described above, which is disposed between the output of said drive motor and said fixing means, so as to move said fixing means along said adjustment runner in response to a rotation of said output. Other objects and advantages of the invention will emerge during the following description, given with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Rotational movement transmission device comprising a casing forming a winding path for a flexible shaft