A focusing method includes the steps of calculating a diameter difference between a first circle of confusion diameter and a second circle of confusion diameter which correspond respectively to first image data and second image data associated respectively with light energy of a first spectrum and light energy of a second spectrum, generating a control signal associated with a target image distance according to an initial image distance, the diameter difference, and a lookup table, driving movement of a lens module so as to change a distance between the lens module and an image sensor from the initial image distance into the target image distance according to the control signal.

A conventional focusing method is adapted for an image capturing device provided in a mobile device, such as a cell phone or a tablet computer. The image capturing device includes an image sensor, a lens module, a focus driver and a processor module. The focusing method is implemented through the adoption of contrast detection technology. The processor module first receives image data which is generated by the image sensor that detects an image of an object. The processor then obtains contrast of image data according to the image data received from the image sensor. The focus driver is controlled to drive movement of the lens module for controlling a distance between the lens module and the image sensor, so as to obtain image data having relative maximum contrast. Based on the conventional focusing method, if a distance between the object and the lens module is very small, such as smaller than 30 centimeters, in order to obtain the image data with relative maximum contrast, the lens module which is driven by the focus driver is required to be moved repeatedly. In this way, a longer focusing time is needed, and higher power consumption is inevitable.

Focusing method, and image capturing device for implementing the same


A multi-joint robot is disclosed, wherein a mount structure is vertically moved by means of a drive mechanism including a vertical threaded shaft and a stepping motor for rotationally driving said threaded shaft, thereby to vertically move the mount structure along the threaded shaft between an upper most position and a lower most position. A balancing device for balancing the weight of the mount structure includes at least one or more tension coil springs, the tension coil spring having one end anchored to a bottom of the robot, the opposite end connected to the bracket of the mount structure and an intermediate part thereof put into slide engagement with the pulley means which is arranged at an upper part of said robot above said bracket of said mount structure, so that the tension coil spring or springs may be expanded when said mount structure is at a position below said upper most position.

The invention relates to a spring device for balancing the vertical movements of amount structure of a multi-joint robot, and more particularly relates to a spring device including one or a plurality of tension coil springs for balancing the vertical movements of amount structure of a multi-joint robot, the mount structure having a predetermined weight and having a plurality of jointed operating parts mounted thereon. A conventional industrial multi-joint robot is disclosed in the same applicant's Japanese Utility Registration Application, laid open No. 6-74237 under the title "A Feed Mechanism of Robot", wherein tension coil springs are used to balance the vertical up and down movements of a mount structure of the multi-joint robot having a predetermined weight, so that the mount structure may be driven with a little output. Otherwise, it is generally known to utilize a weight for balancing the weight of the mount structure of the multi-joint robot. In this case, however, the inertia is an undesirable element, and further the device becomes bulky.
In order to effectively balance the up and down movements of the mount structure of the multi-joint robot, it is required to effectively utilize the tension coil springs having the specified properties. Namely the tensile load of the tension coil springs is approximately equivalent to the weight of the mount structure and further the tensile load is constant in the entire region where the mount structure is moved up and down. In order to satisfy such requirement, the tension coil springs are often lengthened even though the springs are bent at the intermediate part or parts thereof, and as the result, the device becomes bulky accordingly. It has been desired to make the robot mechanically compact and smaller while the mentioned requirement is satisfied.

Spring device for balancing vertical movements of multi-joint robot


The device for diffusing volatile substances comprises two containers (1, 2) to hold respective liquids with respective volatile substances. Each container has at least one aperture closed by a cap (12, 22). The device is configured so that it can be located on a supporting surface with the containers (1, 2) vertically confronting, so that one of the containers is selectively in an upper position or in a lower position with respect to the other container. The container which is in the upper position emanates the volatile substance which it contains, and the other one does not emanate the volatile substance which it contains.

A broad diversity of devices is known for diffusing fragrances or air-freshening substances, as well as for insecticides, both active (for example, electrical) and passive. The active devices usually have a heater element which heats a solid or liquid material which includes the volatile substance it is desired to diffuse, to evaporate it. The passive devices (or non-electrical) are usually based on the spontaneous evaporation of the volatile substance, for example, by means of evaporation of the same at room temperature.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,928 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,621,768 describe passive air-freshening devices of the type of those which incorporate a wick in contact with the air-freshening liquid, which have means to regulate the evaporation of the liquid. U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,928 describes how the adjustment of the emanation of fragrance is achieved through an emanator or absorbent cap coupled to the neck of the container which conforms the air-freshener, by means of a rotational movement of a cover which covers a holder wherein said absorbent cap is housed. U.S. Pat. No. 4,621,768 describes how the regulation of the evaporation of a liquid is achieved by means of some slits arranged in a cover which also rotates, to vary the fragrance-diffusing surface without altering the original form of the apparatus in itself.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,725,152 describes another air-freshener dispenser, which can be used for a long time because the emanator medium is easily replaceable, without prejudice to deforming the air-freshener, to which a special ornamental appearance is given with a cover in the form of a flower.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,928,881 describes a device which contains air-freshening liquid and wick, it being possible to separate the wick and the container of the liquid with respect to the base of the air-freshener which, for its peculiar form can be used for other purposes, such as an ashtray or flowerpot holder, etc.
WO-A-2004/110559 (corresponding to the international patent application no. PCT/ES03/00291) describes an air-freshening device based on the adjustable evaporation of a liquid and which has a cap, to which are incorporated means which prevent it being dismounted from a plug which, on being rotated without the possibility of being extracted from the device, opens the apertures which are present in the plug, exposing a wick impregnated in liquid to the air.
The German patent DE-676131 reflects another system of passive evaporation, based on drops falling from a raised recipient, over evaporation surfaces. The liquid can be collected in a recipient underneath.
ES-U-1013798 describes an air-freshening device in which the substance to evaporate is inside a casing with a generally spherical form which comprises two parts that can be rotated around each other, so that it is possible to vary the size of some orifices or apertures which allow the evaporated substance to pass from the interior of the casing to the exterior.
GB-A-2371750 describes a transparent air-freshening device based on the use of liquids selected so that a change of colour or the like takes place when the active substance to be evaporated has been exhausted.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,412,128 describes a device that can evaporate an active substance when it is positioned "downwards".
EP-A-1088561 describes a number of devices for diffusing volatile substances based on the use of a special wick which acts so that the liquid to evaporate can only be absorbed from a point near to the bottom of the container or reservoir which holds the liquid. Thus, if the reservoir is positioned "downwards", no evaporation of the liquid takes place. This allows configurations to be implemented with several containers or reservoirs which can hold different volatile active substances, and wherein the substance to evaporate is chosen by positioning the corresponding container "upwards".
U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,286 describes an air-freshener in which a vessel, which holds a liquid which contains the volatile substance it is desired to diffuse, can be located selectively "upwards" or "downwards", the vessel having a cap with vent holes covered by a membrane of a material with micropores. Thus, when the container is upright, the liquid is not in contact with the membrane, and the membrane serves as a barrier to prevent the volatile substances (present inside the container) from discharging to the exterior. When the container is inverted, the liquid rests on the membrane and impregnates the pores or micropores, whereby the volatile substances can pass into the atmosphere. Thus, it can be said that the device is in the active or ON state when the container is located with its face downward, and in a non-active or OFF state when the container is with its face upward.
As for the active evaporation devices, a great number of the same is to be found which describe systems based on an electric heater element. ES-U-1049393 describes a system of this type which includes a box in which several electric evaporators are located. The system is configured so that it is possible to program selective connection and disconnection of the evaporators and thereby achieve an overall evaporation intensity, uniform in time.

Device for diffusing volatile substances


A cell employing a cup-shaped terminal that has a concave surface coated by electrodeposition of a metal such that the deposited metal contacts the cell's anodic mixture so that the anodic mixture can be made with little or no mercury. A method for producing cup-shaped terminals with a metal electrodeposited on only one side is also disclosed.

Manufacturers of alkaline batteries have invested substantial amounts of time and money in the effort to develop mercury-free batteries. The first batteries to incorporate mercury-free constructions were the AA, C and D standard alkaline batteries which are tubularly shaped such that the height of the battery greatly exceeds its diameter. These batteries have historically used the largest quantities of mercury per cell and are the most common sizes and types purchased by consumers. Therefore, removing mercury from these batteries was the best way to significantly reduce the quantity of mercury that is currently entering the general waste stream when used alkaline cells are thrown away.
In addition to developing mercury-free standard alkaline batteries, battery manufacturers have also sought to develop miniature battery constructions that are free of mercury. Miniature batteries are generally disc shaped such that the diameter of the batter is greater than the height of the battery. The anodes usually contain zinc powder and the cathodes may contain oxides of manganese, silver oxide, mercuric oxide, etc. While a layman may believe that the technology used to produce mercury-free standard alkaline batteries can be used to produce mercury-free miniature alkaline batteries, the manufacturers of miniature alkaline batteries have found that additional technology had to be developed before mercury-free miniature alkaline cells could be manufactured on a commercial basis.
Constructional differences between miniature alkaline batteries and standard alkaline batteries have forced battery manufacturers to develop processes and techniques that pertain to miniature cells. One of the key differences between standard alkaline batteries and miniature alkaline batteries is the shape of the collector. Standard alkaline batteries generally use an elongated or pin-shaped collector. The vast majority of the collector's surface is contained within and therefore exposed to the cell's electrolyte. One end of the collector usually protrudes slightly beyond the cell's interior in order to contact a separate part which serves as one of the battery's terminals. In contrast, miniature batteries typically use a generally disc shaped part that serves as both a collector and a terminal. This part, commonly referred to as an anode cup, must have one surface that can withstand exposure to the cell's caustic electrolyte and a second surface that can withstand exposure to the cell's external environment. Manufacturers of miniature alkaline cells have traditionally used multilayered anode cups in order to provide a part with two different surfaces. A substrate, such as steel, was generally coated on one side with nickel and on the opposite side was coated with a layer of copper. These multilayered anode cups have worked well for miniature alkaline cells that contain mercury in the anode mix. However, testing has shown that mercury free miniature alkaline cells that used the conventional multilayered anode cups generated excessive amounts of gas which lead to leakage of electrolyte. Therefore, there is a need for an anode cup that can be used in mercury-free miniature alkaline batteries.
Japanese unexamined application 01-307161 is directed to a mercury-free alkaline cell wherein the negative electrode's collector is coated with indium and/or lead which can be supplied by any method such as electroplating.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,614 discloses an alkaline cell having an anode prepared by amalgamating an alloy powder made of zinc and at least two metals selected from the group consisting of gallium, indium and thallium. The metals are incorporated in the cell to reduce the amount of mercury required to prevent corrosion of the zinc in an alkaline electrolyte which causes generation of hydrogen gas and subsequent leakage of the electrolyte.
German Patent 1,086,309 discloses an alkaline zinc cell in which an indium compound is added to the electrolyte and/or indium metal is alloyed with refined zinc so as to protect the zinc against corrosion in an acidic, neutral or alkaline electrolyte.
Japanese Publication No. 1958-3204, published Apr. 26, 1958, recites that the addition of 0.0001% to 2.0% indium can be added to pure zinc base alloy containing one, two, or more of the metallic elements Fe, Cd, Cr, Pb, Hg, Bi, Sb, Al, Ag, Mg, Si, Ni, Mn, etc., to form a zinc alloy which has a high corrosion resistance and which is suitable for use in primary cells.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for producing a coated cup-shaped terminal for housing a zinc-containing electrode of a miniature alkaline cell.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a miniature alkaline cell with a zinc-containing electrode that is substantially free or completely free of mercury and wherein the surface of the cup-shaped terminal contacting the zinc-containing electrode has an electrodeposited coating comprising an element, such as indium, and an overlayer which is free of indium.
These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description.

Electrochemical cell having a coated cup-shaped terminal


A solution spray apparatus includes a nozzle which sprays a droplet of a solution such as EL solution, a heater is provided on the nozzle to heat the solution in the nozzle to a temperature lower than a boiling point of the solution in the nozzle, so that the droplet of the heated solution is ejected from the spray to an object.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solution spray apparatus and solution spray method which spray a droplet or droplets onto a substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
An organic EL (ElectroLuminescent) element is constituted by stacking an anode electrode, an organic EL layer which is formed from an organic material and emits light by internal flow of a current, and a cathode electrode. When a forward bias voltage exceeding a threshold is applied between the anode and cathode electrodes, the organic EL layer emits light. Such organic EL elements are arrayed as pixels in a matrix on a substrate to realize an organic EL display panel which displays an image by causing each organic EL element to emit light at a predetermined tonal luminance.
In an active matrix organic EL display panel formed by a plurality of pixels, one of the anode and cathode electrodes can be designed as a common electrode connected to all pixels. However, at least the other electrode and the organic EL layer must be patterned for each pixel. A method of patterning an electrode for each pixel can adopt a conventional semiconductor device manufacturing technique. More specifically, an electrode can be patterned for each pixel by properly performing the film formation step of an electrode material film by PVD, CVD, or the like, the mask step by photolithography or the like, and the shaping step of the electrode material film by etching or the like.
Organic EL layer formation methods can be roughly classified into dry vapor deposition and wet coating in accordance with conditions such as the material. In dry vapor deposition, a hard mask having an opening in a region where an organic EL layer is to be formed is interposed between a substrate and a vapor deposition source formed from an organic EL layer material. The organic EL layer material which is heated and vaporized is applied into a film in the target region on the substrate. In wet coating, an organic EL layer can be patterned for each pixel by applying an ink-jet technique, as disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2000-106278. That is, droplets of an EL solution prepared by dissolving as a solute a polymer organic EL material for an organic EL layer in a solvent are sprayed from a nozzle, and an organic EL layer is patterned for each pixel. In wet coating to which the ink-jet technique is applied, the film formation step and the patterning step for each pixel can be almost simultaneously performed. An organic EL layer need not be etched and patterned using a photoresist mask.
In order to provide an organic EL display panel which displays a high-resolution image, the organic EL layer must be micropatterned. The ink-jet method can micropattern an organic EL layer because the droplet diameter of the EL solution is very small. However, droplets run and spread till solidification after landing, and droplets of organic EL layers in adjacent pixels may mix. To prevent this, a matrix-like partition which isolates each pixel from the surrounding pixels is used. A droplet which lands in a region surrounded by the partition is stopped by the partition, preventing mixture of droplets in adjacent pixels. Particularly when the emission color is different between adjacent pixels, organic EL layer materials which are different in accordance with the emission color hardly mix. The color purity of the emission color is expected to improve.
The polymer organic EL material generally has a low solubility in the solvent. The use of a solvent the solubility of which is low, requires a large amount of solvent in order to fully dissolve the solute. The time taken to evaporate the solvent after droplets of the EL solution land is long, resulting in low productivity. In order to form an organic EL layer into a film thickness suitable for emission, spraying of droplets of a low-concentration EL solution from an ink-jet nozzle and evaporation of droplets after landing on a substrate must be repeated a plurality of number of times, also resulting in low productivity. If the droplet amount sprayed at once is increased to decrease the count of the droplet spray step, a droplet readily overflows over the partition. Droplets in adjacent pixels mix to degrade the image quality. If the partition is formed high so as to prevent overflow of droplets, film formation of the partition takes a long time, and an electrode formed on the organic EL layer may be cut off by the partition step.
As a solvent which easily dissolves the polymer organic EL material, an organic solvent such as xylene is sometimes employed. However, such organic solvent exhibits high volatility; it vaporizes in an ink-jet nozzle, and the polymer organic EL material segregates to clog the ink-jet nozzle.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to efficiently deposit a solution at only a target position with high precision.

Solution spray apparatus and solution spray method


When an nth frame of encoded data is stored in a compressed-data storage area that stores 15 frames of encoded data, a target amount of code of the nth frame is decided so as to become a value that is the result of dividing the residual capacity of an area remaining in the compressed-data storage area by the number of remaining images to be stored in this remaining area. This makes it possible to prevent the target amount of code from becoming very large or very small. Even if there is a change in a photographic scene, therefore, a drastic change in image quality from frame to frame can be prevented.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image data compressing apparatus for generating encoding data by subjecting image data representing one frame of an image to calculation of orthogonal transform coefficients, quantization of the orthogonal transform coefficients and encoding of the quantized orthogonal transform coefficients, and storing the generated encoded data in a storage area having a capacity for storing a plurality of frames of encoded data.
2. Description of the Related Art
The motion JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) format is one example of a moving image compression format. According to motion JPEG, image data obtained by subjecting a plurality of frames of still images to JPEG compression is expanded and displayed continuously to thereby present the image data as a moving image. In order to hold the recording time of the moving image substantially constant in such a moving image compression format, it is required that the amount of compressed image data (amount of encoded data) per unit time (one second) be made substantially constant (JP4-203884).
However, if the compression rate of each individual frame is fixed, the amount of compressed image data may change drastically when the scene changes. If this occurs, the amount of compressed image data per unit time cannot be rendered substantially constant.


A method (100), a system and, a computer program product for bulk communication of information to recipients via multiple delivery media are disclosed. The media include facsimile, email, surface mail, SMS messaging, and archiving (and is adapted for new media types in the future). A single interface is used to receive information (106, 108, 110) for distribution including one or more template documents (110) and data (106) specific to each recipient. At least one document based on the received information (106, 108, 110) is transmitted using a specified delivery media (144, 150, 156, 162, 168) for each recipient based on the recipients' delivery preferences (122, 176). Escalating (172, 178) transmission of the document may occur using a different delivery media for any recipients for whom transmission by the specified delivery media fails. The escalating step (172, 178) may depend upon status information (176) from a carrier regarding delivery of the document to each recipient.

Businesses, companies, and organizations (simply originators hereinafter) use bulk communications with their clients, suppliers, and other parties (simply recipients hereinafter) for a variety of reasons. Typically, such bulk communications are carried out using one of the following media: Surface Mail, Email, Facsimile, and Short Message Service (SMS) messages sent to recipients' mobile phones.
Originators of communications have different types of bulk communications with their recipients ranging from ad-hoc marketing communications through to recurring delivery of essential information such as invoices, statements, and reminder notices. Generally, these bulk communications have the following common elements:                A list of recipient information is provided separately, often needing to be extracted from a corporate database or accounting system;        A form of document template is used;        Data from the recipient list is merged, or overlaid, onto the template document; and        The final 'merged' document is delivered to the customer.
Communication with recipients can originate from different departments or entities of the originator and be carried out in different ways depending on the type of communication media being used. In carrying out these various communications, the originators use different interfaces and technology depending on whether originators are sending information out via Surface Mail, Email, Facsimile, or SMS. The originators may choose to host some or all of the technology required for the relevant communications in-house, but in other cases the originators may out-source the communications.
Mail merge software applications exist for generating address stickers for envelopes and for merging and printing letters. Originators may also have proprietary systems and printing departments set up in-house to manage surface mail merging. Mailing houses provide originators with the ability to outsource their surface mailing requirements. Generally, customized scripts are written to map data extracted from the originators' databases and overlay the extracted data onto pre-printed paper stock.
Facsimile (fax) machines have the capability to store lists and do bulk message delivery. Depending on the size of the communication, bulk emailing can be carried out using tools such as Microsoft Outlook. This application enables a user to merge data fields of a data repository into a Microsoft Word document and then email a merged document to a recipient list via its mail merge tools. Other software applications beside Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Word have similar functionality. For software solutions in this area, fax cards and fax print drivers, etc., must be installed on the network or the workstation that the software is installed. Businesses or companies also provide bulk fax and email services. Some require personalized documents for the different recipients to be supplied by the originators; others carry out merging of data for the originator. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and accounting software may also support the capability to email or fax from within the application or software package. However, this is usually geared to individual communications (i.e., send a single email or fax from within the package at a certain point within a business process), rather than allowing for a bulk personalisation and delivery.
Originators may adapt their systems to issue SMS messages via a carrier. Usually, this is done using 'email to SMS' type services that enable an email to be sent to a specified address, formatted in a given manner, and then forwarded on as an SMS message to a mobile phone. Originators may enable the bulk outsourcing of SMS messaging, but generally do not provide a capability, or support provision by third party products of a capability to merge personalized data from the same database as the other delivery mechanisms.
Limited, combined services exist, usually capable of forwarding emails to fax or to SMS. Amongst other things, these services do not provide formatting and merge functionality. Such services do not allow for specific formatting rules to be specified for the different delivery mechanisms whilst using the same recipient list and database, and do not support surface mail as one of the delivery options.
MessagingDirect (from ACI) offers e-Courier. E-Courier 1 is a direct electronic billing and payment solution. These tools seek to combine traditional direct business-to-business paper transactions with the speed, efficiency and flexibility of electronic delivery. Both also attempt to facilitate a streamlined business process through direct e-business: digitally signed, legally binding and securely delivered end-to-end e-transactions, such as bills, statements, invoices, confirmations, policies. The entire business process aims to be online, enabling e-transactions to flow through an electronic channel directly between businesses and their customers, partners and suppliers. The MessagingDirect system does not support a unified interface for email, Fax or Surface Mail delivery. The MessagingDirect product requires all recipients to enroll with the service.
MessageReach and Fax MailMERGE (from Xpedite) have different offerings for different media, but do not simultaneously personalize and deliver a single recipient list to multiple media.
Pulse Enterprise (from Esker Software) is another similar application, but does not incorporate escalation, is not offered as an ASP model (or as a Web Service), and does not support surface mail delivery. Pulse Enterprise also requires Fax cards, etc., to be installed along with the software. The company making use of Pulse Enterprise must install the software and hardware in their environment and manage Pulse Enterprise as well as all Fax, SMS, Email interfaces etc. Pulse Enterprise includes a General Document Recognition™ (GDR) component. General Document Recognition™ seeks to automate the conversion of text and print-stream data into multiple electronic formats and the processing and delivery of these documents to any receiving device.
Thus, a need clearly exists for an automated service that enables originators to use one bulk communications service with a single common interface and to re-use the same set of recipient data, so that bulk communications to recipients can be carried out via all existing, different media including Conventional or Surface Mail, Email, Fax and SMS (and any other new delivery media that might arise in the future). Further, a need clearly exists for an automated service that enables an originator to manage the delivery of messages to recipients based on each recipient's preference for receiving the information including how that information is delivered if unsuccessful on a first media, without the need for the originator to install and manage technology specific to a particular delivery type. Still further, a need exists for an automated service that can format and deliver data via a single interface to the full spectrum of delivery media (Fax, Email, SMS, Paper and Archiving) based on the recipients' preferences.

Bulk communications process using multiple delivery media


According to certain embodiments, a wearable device comprises a memory operable to store menus comprising menu options, and a processor operably coupled to a network interface and the memory. The processor is configured to present a first menu comprising a first menu option associated with a data processing transaction available at a current location, determine an updated location, obtain a second menu comprising a second menu option associated with a data processing transaction available at the updated location, and present the second menu. The processor is further configured to receive user input indicating a selection of the second menu option and facilitate the data processing transaction available at the updated location based on the selection.

A wearable device is a computing device that can be worn by a user. Certain wearable devices may be for general use. For example, in some cases, a wearable device may be mobile computing device that is particularly small in size. In some cases, a wearable device may be for a specialized purpose. Some wearable devices may include special sensors such as accelerometers, location sensors, thermometers, heart rate monitors, and/or other sensors. Examples of wearable devices may include computing devices worn on the wrist (such as a smartwatch), hung from the neck (like a necklace), strapped to the arm or leg, worn on the head (such as glasses, headphones, or a helmet), or worn elsewhere on the user or the user's clothing. Mobile computing devices that can be carried in a pocket or bag, such as smartphones or tablets, can also be considered wearable devices. In order for a device to be wearable (e.g., to be a wearable size, to support mobility, etc.), the wearable device may be subject to various technical constraints related to battery life, heat dissipation, processing capacity, memory capacity, software architecture, network connectivity, data management, and/or other constraints.

Context-sensitive user interface shortcuts for a wearable device


A method for constructing a three-dimensional laminar body of large dimensions is provided. Starting from a true-to-scale model of the three-dimensional laminar body to be obtained, which comprises the entirety of said body or parts thereof, one or several negative molds which unitarily or together comprise the entire working surface of the three-dimensional laminar body are shaped on the model, and then used to mold, with a fine finish, the entire three-dimensional laminar body or the different constituent parts thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process for the construction of a three-dimensional laminar body of large dimensions and in particular those that should have a finely finished visible face or working surface, whether concave or convex, such as vessel hulls and decks, automobile bodywork, swimming pools, etc.
2. Description of Related Art
Until now, bodies designed for the above-mentioned purposes have been constructed in a single piece by lamination of a fiberglass mat impregnated with a polyester which is applied on a polished mold made from wood, plaster, metal or other material and applying pressure through the article's hidden face, the pressure thus being applied on the concave surface in the case of a vessel hull, and on the convex surface in the case of a swimming pool.
Problems experienced are a limitation of the articles' dimensions, by questions of space and volume in transport, and obligatory manual construction on true-to-scale molds, increasing the cost of the product due to the skilled labor necessary and the high level of hygienic working precautions required by the insalubrities of the process.
In light of the above, it would be advantageous to dispose of a process for the manufacture of such products which would allow their construction in any size and configuration, whilst rendering feasible their realization by a mechanical process, whether controlled manually or automatically, of projection molding, deposition, casting, injection, etc.

Method of constructing a large, three-dimensional, laminar body


The device permits swing, shift, tilt and rise-and-fall movements between a lens and a motion-picture camera to manipulate focal relations and image shapes. Preferably the device rests on rails (called "iris rods") of a balance plate or base--secured under the camera--or some other track, similarly mounted. If so, the device has a first intermediary element preferably mounted to slide fore-and-aft on the track relative to the camera; and other intermediary elements mounted in a sequence preferably from the first element for translation and rotation relative to that element--ending in a lens-board mount for mounting a lens. Also in balance-plate mounting the device preferably includes a bellows whose front end joins the lens-board mount and whose rear end holds an adapter to engage the camera lens port. Preferably the device has a yoke (preferably flat and rearward-extending) for, e.g., swings to avoid interference with a central lower mirror housing of one camera popular with cinematographers, and is relatively narrow on at least its right side to clear the mirror housing of another such camera, and is reduced in height at one side to clear the viewfinder (and mirror housing) on yet another. Methods of use include rotating or translating the lens while filming, and even while panning or tilting the camera.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to professional cinematography; and more particularly to accessory apparatus for use with existing, standard professional motion-picture cameras, and to methods for cinematographic photography.
2. Prior Art
In still photography, as distinguished from motion-picture work, professionals commonly use view cameras that are equipped with adjustments for disposing and orienting a lens variably or selectably in relation to the film plane. Such adjustability is particularly useful, as is well known, for manipulating focal relations and image shapes.
Still photographers know that rotating the film plane relative to an object--for example, relative to the frontal plane of a building being photographed--alters the shape of the object image at the film. This effect is most commonly recognized in photography of geometrically regular objects such as rectangular tall buildings.
(Throughout this discussion, except where otherwise specified, we are referring to rotation of the film plane about an axis that is in a plane which is preferably parallel or nearly parallel to the film plane--or at least about some axis that is not perpendicular to the film plane. Rotation about an axis perpendicular to the film plane does have some utility as we shall describe shortly, but does not in itself alter either focal relationships or image shapes.)
The shape-alteration effect, however, is also present in photography of nonplanar or irregular articles. Thus eggs can be imaged to appear spherical, and billiard balls egg-shaped.
Perhaps somewhat less generally recognized is the fact that rotating the lens plane relative to an object, or relative to the film plane, alters the focus. More specifically, planes of constant focus in the object space (and the corresponding planes in the image space) rotate with the lens plane.
For example, the photographer Ansel Adams used the focal-alteration effect in a classic picture of Mount Williamson. The image includes a mountain range a mile or two away, and in front of it a boulder-strewn plain--the nearest rocks just a few feet away. Both the mountain and the nearest rocks are in sharp focus, a result apparently obtained in part by tilting the lens down to change the plane of sharp focus from vertical to more nearly parallel with the field of boulders.
Creative use of both the shape and focal alterations often produces in the film plane an image of the desired subject that is off center relative to--or even entirely outside of--the photographable frame. Compensation for this undesired result requires transverse motion of the film frame relative to the lens or, to put it more generally, transverse relative motion between the film frame and lens. (Because lenses are most often smaller than cameras, such relative motion is usually described as shifting the lens relative to the camera.)
Such transverse motion in effect displaces the film frame within, but parallel to, the focal plane so as to select for recording within the limited film frame some relatively small part of the focused image. That part need not be near the lens axis or centerline.
In professional view cameras, rotational adjustments of the lens relative to the film plane are provided in two components: rotation about a vertical axis, which is usually denominated "swing"; and rotation about a horizontal axis, usually called "tilt". Similarly, translational adjustments are provided in two components: "shift" or horizontal translation, and "rise-and-fall" or vertical translation.
All these adjustments are usually provided by supporting a lens-board mount as the final element in a sequence of intermediary mechanical elements between the camera and the lens board. Each intermediary element is supported from an earlier element in such a way as to supply one of the translational or rotational movements desired.
View cameras generally have a single, unitary rail for mutual support and longitudinal adjustment (i.e., focus) of the film back and lens board. In some view cameras the first stage or element of the lens-board carriage can be simply slid along the rail and manually clamped at a desired position, and fine adjustment (fine focus) can then be attained by longitudinal rack-and-pinion adjustment of the next element of the lens-board carriage relative to that first sliding element; but in other cameras the first stage itself has a rotatable pinion that engages a long, toothed rack extended along the rail. In all these situations, as will be understood for purposes of this document, each later stage is to be considered as sliding (or moving) relative to its immediately earlier stage--subject to gear means, if present, interconnecting the elements to provide relatively fine manual control of the motion.
In some press-style cameras a pair of outboard rails is substituted for the single, unitary rail. These cameras, however, generally have a much more limited selection and range of different lens/film movements.
The sequence of intermediary mechanical elements continues from the first stage, or first two stages, that supply focal adjustment through other elements supplying swing, tilt, shift and rise-and-fall, to the lens-board mount. A bellows between the lens-board mount and a port on the camera back then seals the optical path against ambient light, so that only image light from the lens can reach the film. This system is desirable in that the bellows accommodates the many possible combinations of swing, tilt, shift and rise-and-fall between the lens and film while maintaining a good light seal.
In recent years, however, a different system has been introduced in accessories for still cameras of the single-lens reflex (SLR) type. In these accessories there is no bellows, and instead a series of intermediary elements is supported from the lens-mounting port of the SLR camera, where a lens is usually placed.
A lens is then mounted to the last of the intermediary elements in the sequence. Light from the lens passes through all or most of the intermediary mechanical elements, and through the lens-mounting port to the film. Substantially all of the movements between successive intermediary elements in such systems, accordingly, must be individually light-sealed.
In some SLR systems the objectionable requirement of individual light seals between all the intermediary mechanical elements or stages is mitigated simply by reducing the number of stages. This can be done simply by foregoing, for example, horizontal movements (swing and shift); and these movements are much less commonly desired than the vertical adjustments (tilt and rise-and-fall). Furthermore, setting aside the limitations of the high-aspect-ratio image format in SLRs, the vertical movements can be substituted for the horizontal ones simply by rotating the camera about the lens axis.
Another approach used in SLR systems, however, is to provide another sort of movement between stages--namely, rotation of the accessory, or some of its stages, about the lens axis. This particular motion is relatively very easy to light-seal, and so adds relatively little complexity or difficulty to the mechanism, but can be used to very effectively convert the vertical movements into horizontal movements.
This approach also has another beneficial result that goes beyond merely reducing the number of difficult optical seals: with this system, focal or geometrical alterations can be effectuated with respect to axes that are neither vertical nor horizontal--and therefore without the necessity for combining separate vertical and horizontal effects to obtain the desired results. This advantage, however, comes into play only in quite unusual situations.
As far as we know, no one has ever provided an accessory for standard motion-picture cameras to supply generally adjustable rotational or translational relative motion of the lens and film.
Perhaps some such accessories have been used in special-effects work with models, such as shots intended to simulate the appearance of enormous spacecraft passing by--in which lens swings may have been coordinated with changes in model position and camera angle to generate exaggerated vanishing-point effects. These, however, are in essence still-camera applications.
We are aware of isolated instances in which individual cinematographers--confronted with a desire to correct (or create) a geometrical or focal distortion, or to use some portion of an image that would normally be outside the film frame--have custom-mounted a lens in an odd position or orientation. Each such customized arrangement has been for purposes of a particular shot, and generally has been set up by using very temporary special mounting provisions--such as supporting part of the lens board in putty, and very carefully moving the lens into a desired position to be maintained by the putty.
As will be evident, such arrangements require special light-sealing provision or other undue effort. They are not amenable to dynamic shots in which the motion-picture camera is mounted on a moving vehicle, pendulum, sling or other carriage--and so cannot be used as a matter of routine.
We are not aware of anyone else having previously considered the possibility of making an attachment for motion-picture cameras to facilitate such routine operation. If such thought has been devoted to this problem, very likely it has been abandoned upon consideration of the difficulties of accommodating the specific geometries of modern cameras that are popular with cinematographic professionals.
As we are not aware of any prior thought having been devoted to this problem, it would be inappropriate to further speculate on specific geometry difficulties under the heading of "prior art." Because our own work that led to the present invention has included very extensive analysis of these problems, we shall discuss them further in the next section--which is devoted to our invention.
Accordingly a problem has existed heretofore in the cinema field--namely, that professional motion-picture-camera operators have not been able to make routine advantage of the composition, image-correction or -distortion, or focal alterations available through swing, shift, tilt or rise-and-fall of a lens relative to a motion-picture camera. Such advantage would include straightforward solutions to a great variety of problems routinely faced in cinematography.
As a simple example, it is common in making motion pictures to photograph two or more people who are at greatly different distances from the camera. To obtain the needed depth of focus without resorting to focal alteration as Adams did in his photograph of Mount Williamson, it is common to lengthen the depth of focus by stopping down the lens to an extreme degree.
This in turn, however, requires a correspondingly extreme overillumination of the scene, resulting in actors' discomfort and relatively unnatural expressions, as well as fatigue. In motion-picture work generally, time exposures are not an option to compensate for the use of very small apertures.
Other possibilities, such as using shorter-focal-length lenses (which exaggerate the size of nearer objects) or faster film (that generally introduces differences of color balance and grain size), each have their own respective drawbacks. Fundamentally, they restrict esthetic control by the director and camera operator.
Other aspects of the existing problem in cinematography include exaggerated vanishing-point effects when photographing tall buildings or horizontally long objects such as railroad trains. These too can be objectionable, and virtually impossible to avoid--especially when panning upward or sideward, respectively.
Still other aspects of the problem arise in use of such favorite dramatic effects as photographing a scene in a mirror. To obtain a very close simulation of the geometric relationships seen by a person who is looking directly into a mirror, it is particularly desirable to be able to point the camera directly toward the mirror, along a perpendicular to the mirror surface.
As this condition is approached, however, of course the cinematographer finds an image of the camera--or of the camera operator--intruding into the scene. To avoid that unacceptable result, the camera must be pointed at a different angle and the feeling of intimacy and realism in the scene thus sacrificed. No such compromise is required when the lens can be shifted laterally relative to the film frame.
From all the foregoing it can be appreciated that the prior art has not solved this problem of providing a generally usable swing/shift/tilt/rise-and-fall accessory for motion-picture use.
In a known area of cinematography not heretofore associated with this problem, photographers have used a hardware accessory called a "balance plate" or "base" for mounting optical accessories such as matte boxes, or to help support very long, heavy lenses. The balance plate is relatively shallow and is mounted below the motion-picture camera--usually between tripod and camera.
It carries a pair of forward-extending cylindrical bars historically known as "iris rods". Usually a bridge structure, mounted to slide along and clamp to the iris rods, supports the optical accessory or long lens.

Variable-position lens-mounting accessory for motion-picture cameras, and method of use


Disclosed herein is a time of flight sensing module that includes a reflected laser light detector formed on a printed circuit board, and a plurality of laser modules positioned about a periphery of the reflected laser light detector. Each laser module includes an interposer substrate vertically spaced apart from the printed circuit board, at least one laser diode carried by the interposer substrate, and a diffuser spaced apart from the interposer substrate and over the at least one laser diode. A lens may be positioned over the reflected laser light detector, and the plurality of laser modules are positioned about the periphery of the lens.

Time of flight systems are used to measure distance to a target, and are therefore (among other applications) utilized in depth sensor modules. There are two general classifications of time of flight systems, namely direct and indirect.
With direct time of flight systems, a laser diode (typically infrared) is driven with a pulsed drive current to cause it to emit a short laser pulse in a given direction. This laser pulse is reflected by a possible object in that given direction, and a receiver receives and reads the reflected laser pulse. The receiver, with a proper timing reference, measures the elapsed time between emission of the laser pulse and receipt of the reflected laser pulse. From this elapsed time, the distance to the object can be evaluated.
With indirect time of flight systems, a laser diode (typically infrared) is continuously modulated to emit sinusoidal laser light in a given direction. This modulated sinusoidal laser light is reflected by a possible object in the given direction, and a receiver receives and reads the reflected sinusoidal laser light. The receiver compares the phase difference between the reflected sinusoidal laser light and the emitted sinusoidal laser light, and from this phase difference, the distance to the object can be determined.
These time of flight systems can be used to generate a depth map of the target, and the generated depth map may be compared to a stored depth map in order to determine whether the target is a known target. Due to this capability, time of flight based depth sensor modules may be utilized on the front face of a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or other electronic device for security applications. In such security applications, the "target" is the user's face, and by generating a depth map of the user's face and comparing this depth map to stored depth maps corresponding to the faces of authorized users, the depth sensor module may be used by the electronic device to determine whether the current user is an authorized user.
Clearly, locating a time of flight based depth sensor module on a front face of a smartphone or other electronic device consumes surface area on the front face that could otherwise be used by the screen. It is commercially desirable for smartphones and other electronic devices to have as close to a 1:1 screen size to front face size as possible. Therefore, known smartphone designs, such as that of the smartphone 5 shown in FIG. 1, have a screen 7 with a notch 11 cut therein, and with a depth sensor module (formed by a laser diode array 9 used for emitting laser light toward the target and a laser light detector 10 used for sensing the laser light that has reflected off the target and returned to the smartphone 5) located in the notch 11. As shown, a camera module 8 is also commonly located in the notch 11. While this smartphone 5 design allows for a relatively high ratio of the size of the screen 7 to the size of the front face of the body 6, it is desirable for that ratio to be improved, which could be accomplished if the size of the notch 11 could be reduced. While the depth sensor module could be removed to permit shrinking of the notch 11, this would remove the security functionality provided by the depth sensor module.
Therefore, further development into the area of depth sensor modules is needed so that a smaller depth sensor module can be devised. Such a smaller depth sensor module would not only allow the shrinking of the notch in the screen of smartphones, but would also allow space saving on the rear face of smartphones, since depth sensor modules may also be used on the rear face of smartphones in a variety of applications.

STMicroelectronics (Research & Development) Limited


Proposed is a magnetic valve with manual override, through the actuating element of which a magnetic core that serves as a valve element or that is connected to a valve element can be shifted from an off position into an operating position without excitation of a magnetic coil system assigned to it. To detect the position of the magnetic core that is held in the operating position by the manual override there is provided a coil current monitoring device that monitors the rise of the coil current after the magnetic coil system has been switched on, which device has a detection device for detection of the absence of a drop in current as formed by movement of the magnetic core after being switched on and a signaling device for electrical signaling of a position of the magnetic core that is held in the operating position by the manual override if said drop in current is absent.

The invention concerns a magnetic valve with a manual override in accordance with the generic part of Claim 1.
Such a magnetic valve is known, for example, from DE 39 41 643 C1; said valve can be actuated by means of mechanical manual operation without a supply of current so that the switching state of the magnetic valve is no longer dependent on the flow of current. In this way reliable actuation is enabled before a system also operates "electrically," thus manual operation of actors such as a cylinder is achieved. This can also be advantageous during servicing. With the usual latching manual overrides, the magnetic core or the valve element remains in the operating position set by the manual override until unlatching takes place. This can lead to problems, since if one forgets to reset the manual override, the valve can take the wrong valve setting in subsequent operation. If a large number of magnetic valves is used, for example in a large industrial plant, it is then very difficult to find the magnetic valve or valves in which the manual override was not reset.
Usually one can detect the pushed-in position of the actuating element of the manual override visually, but only upon close inspection, so that the corresponding reexamination of a large number of magnetic valves is very complicated and time-consuming. Additional sensors, in particular position sensors, for detecting the position of the valve element make a valve complicated and expensive.


Embodiments of the present invention provide apparatus and methods of forming a lateral wellbore wherein the monobore characteristic is maintained. In one embodiment, a method of completing a lateral wellbore comprises inserting a first tubular into a main wellbore; forming one or more oversized portions on the first tubular; and intersecting the lateral wellbore with the main wellbore. The method further includes inserting a second tubular into the lateral wellbore, wherein a portion of the second tubular is positioned adjacent the one or more oversized portions and expanding the portion of the second tubular adjacent the one or more oversized portions.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to apparatus and methods for use in a hydrocarbon wellbore. More particularly, the invention provides apparatus and methods for completing hydrocarbon wells. Still more particularly, the invention provides apparatus and methods for forming a sidetrack wellbore from an existing wellbore that has a substantially uniform inner diameter with the existing wellbore.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the drilling of a hydrocarbon well, the borehole is physically lined with strings of tubulars (e.g., liner or casing) to prevent the walls of the borehole from collapsing and to provide a reliable path for well production fluid, drilling mud, and other fluids that are naturally present or that may be introduced into the well. In a typical liner operation, after the well is drilled to a new depth, the drill bit and drill string are removed and a string of tubulars is lowered into the well to a predetermined position whereby the top of the string is at about the same height as the bottom of the existing string of tubular. Thereafter, with the new string of tubular held in place either temporarily or with some mechanical hanger, a column of cement is pumped into the tubular and forced to the bottom of the borehole where it flows out of the tubular and flows upwards into an annulus defined by the borehole and the tubular. The two principal functions of the cement between the tubular and the borehole are to restrict fluid movement between formations and to support the tubular and borehole.
To save time and money, apparatus to facilitate cementing are often lowered into the borehole along with the tubular to be cemented. Cementing apparatus typically includes a number of different components made up at the surface prior to run-in. These include a tapered nose portion located at the downhole end of the tubular to facilitate insertion thereof into the borehole. A check valve at least partially seals the end of the tubular and prevents entry of well fluid during run-in while permitting cement to subsequently flow outwards. The same valve or another valve or plug typically located in a baffle collar above the cementing tool prevents the cement from back flowing into the tubular. Components of the cementing apparatus are made of fiberglass, plastic, or other drillable material, that, like cement remaining in the tubular, can be drilled when the cementing is complete and the borehole is drilled to a new depth.
Historically, each section of tubular inserted to line a borehole was necessarily smaller in diameter than the section of tubular previously inserted. In this manner, a wellbore was formed of sequential strings of tubular of an ever-decreasing inner and outer diameter. Recently, methods and apparatus for expanding the diameter of tubular in a wellbore have advanced to the point where it has become commercially feasible to utilize the technology. This has led to the idea of monobore wells wherein through the expansion of tubulars in the wellbore, the wellbore remains at about the same diameter throughout its length. The advantages of the monobore well are obvious. The tubulars lining the borehole, and therefore the possible path for fluid in and out of the well remains consistent regardless of well depth. Additionally, tools and other devices can more easily be run into the well without regard for the smaller diameters of tubulars encountered on the way to the bottom of the wellbore.
In a monobore well, a first string of tubulars is inserted into the wellbore and cemented therein in a conventional manner. Thereafter, a string of tubulars having a smaller diameter is inserted into the wellbore as in prior art methods. However, after insertion into the wellbore the second string of tubulars is expanded to approximately the same inner and outer diameter as the first string. The strings can be connected together by use of a conventional hanger or, more typically, the smaller tubular is simply expanded into the interior of the larger diameter tubular thereabove in an area where the tubulars overlap.
With the advent of monobore wells, certain problems have arisen. One problem relates to maintaining the monobore when a sidetrack is necessary. Current methods of expanding tubulars in a wellbore to create a connection between tubulars require the application of a radial force to the interior of the smaller tubular and expanding its diameter out until the larger tubular is itself pushed passed its elastic limits. The result is a connection having an outer diameter greater than the original outer diameter of the larger tubular. While the increase in the outer diameter is minimal in comparison to the overall diameter, there are instances where expanding the diameter of the larger tubular is difficult or impossible. For example, in the completion of a monobore well, the upper string of tubulars is preferably cemented into place before the next string of tubulars is lowered into the well and its diameter expanded. Because the annular area between the outside of the larger tubular and the borehole therearound is filled with cured cement, the diameter of the larger tubular cannot be easily expanded past its original shape. Further, damage to the cement may occurred when such expansion is performed.
Therefore, a need exists for a method of maintaining the monobore when a lateral wellbore is formed.

Sidetrack option for monobore casing string


The present invention provides recombinant peptides that specifically and selectively bind to the human milk fat globule (HMFG) antigen, BA46. In particular, the present invention provides recombinant variants of the Mc3 antibody, including humanized versions of Mc3. The variant Mc3 peptides are particularly useful for diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic applications in the field of breast cancer.

The human milk fat globule (HMFG) can be used as a source of antigenic material for the preparation of both polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies for use in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer, as well as in the study of the breast epithelial cell surface and the processing of its antigenic components.
The milk fat globule membrane is derived from the apical surface of the mammary epithelial cell during lactation (Patton, S. et al. (1975) Biochim Biophys Acta 415: 273-309). As a result, the HMFG, has been a source for isolation of breast membrane glycoproteins (Taylor, P. J., et al. (1981) Int J Cancer 28: 17-21). Using the HMFG membrane as an immunogen, polyclonal antisera were prepared that proved to have specificity for breast epithelial cells after absorption with non-breast tissue. These polyclonal antisera specifically bound three glycoproteins of molecular weights of 150, 70, and 46 kDa, respectively (Ceriani, R. L., et al. (1977) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 74: 582-6).
Monoclonal antibodies against the HMFG have been used in the identification of a novel component of the breast epithelial cell surface, a large molecular weight mucin-like glycoprotein, that was named non-penetrating glycoprotein or NPGP (Peterson, J. A., et al. (1990) Hybridoma 9: 221-35; and Ceriani, R. L., et al. (1983) Somatic Cell Genet 9: 415-27). This molecule has been used as a target in breast cancer radioimmunotherapy (Kramer, E. L., et al. (1993) J Nucl Med 34: 1067-74; and Ceriani, R. L., et al. (1988) Cancer Res 48: 4664-72), in the development of a serum assay for breast cancer diagnosis (Ceriani, R. L., et al. (1982) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 79: 54204; and Ceriani, R. L., et al. (1992) Anal Biochem 201: 178-84), and in breast cancer prognosis using immunohistochemistry (Ceriani, R. L., et al. (1992) Int J Cancer 51: 343-54). This non-penetrating glycoprotein (NPGP) appears to be extremely antigenic in mice. The vast majority of monoclonal antibodies prepared against HMFG as well as breast tumors have been found to have specificity against different epitopes of this mucin.
However, the smaller molecular weight proteins of the HMFG also appear to be important surface markers for breast epithelial cells. The 46 kDa and 70 kDa HMFG antigens are also found in the serum of breast cancer patients and thus can be used as markers for breast cancer in serum assays. In addition, the 70 kDa component has been found to co-purify with the intact NPGP complex and has been shown to be linked to NPGP by disulfide bonds.
Few monoclonal antibodies, however, have been prepared against the smaller components of the human milk fat globule system, such as the 70 kDa and 46 kDa HMFG antigens. Although, Peterson, J. A., et al. (1990) Hybridoma 9: 221-35 were able to generate a group of monoclonal antibodies against HMFG that did detect the 46 kDa HMFG antigen, including the Mc3 antibody. The 46 kDa component of the HMFG system, also known as BA46, has been found to be present in the serum of breast cancer patients (Salinas, F. A., et al. (1987) Cancer Res 47: 907-13), and an increase in circulating BA46 was found to be associated with increased tumor burden. In addition, BA46 has been a target molecule in experimental radioimmunotherapy of transplanted human breast tumors in nude mice (Ceriani, R. L. et al. (1988) Cancer Res 48: 4664-72).
In some breast carcinomas, there is an over-expression of the BA46 antigen (Larocca, D., et al. (1991) Cancer Res 51: 4994-8). Also, in human milk BA46 appears to have anti-rotavirus activity that may involve binding to rotavirus (Yolken, R. H., et al. (1992) J Clin Invest 90: 1984-91) and that may interfere with viral infections in newborns.
A partial cDNA sequence of BA46 has been previously reported (Larocca, D., et al. (1991) Cancer Res 51: 4994-8) that placed BA46 in a family of proteins possessing factors V/VIII C1/C2-like domains related to discoidin I (Johnson, J. D., et al. (1993) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 90: 5677-81). BA46's closest relatives may be found among the murine MGF-E8 (Stubbs, J. D., et al. (1990) Proc Natl Acad Sci U.S.A. 87: 8417-21), the bovine components 15/16 (Mather, I. H., et al. (1993) Biochem Mol Biol Int 29: 545-54) and the guinea-pig GP55 (Mather, I. H., et al. (1993) Biochem Mol Biol Int 29: 545-54) proteins.
cDNA cloning and in vitro cell adhesion studies, provide evidence that BA46 is a breast epithelial cell membrane glycoprotein involved in intercellular interactions. BA46 is localized to the membrane fraction when isolated from breast carcinoma cells (Larocca, D., et al. (1991) Cancer Res 51: 4994-8). BA46 most likely interacts with membrane integrins via its RGD containing EGF-like domain.
Carcinomas result from the carcinogenic transformation of cells of different epithelia. Two of the most damaging characteristics of carcinomas are their uncontrolled growth and their ability to create metastases in distant sites of the host, particularly a human host. It is usually these distant metastases that cause serious consequences to the host, since frequently the primary carcinoma may usually be removed by surgery. The treatment of metastatic carcinomas, that are seldom removable, depends on irradiation therapy and systemic therapies of different natures. The systemic therapies currently include, chemotherapy, radiation, hormone therapy, immunity-boosting pharmaceutical agents and procedures, hyperthermia and systemic monoclonal antibody treatment. In the latter case the antibody proteins can be labeled with radioactive elements, immunotoxins and chemotherapeutic drugs.
Radioactively labeled monoclonal antibodies were initially used with success in lymphomas and leukemia, and recently in some carcinomas. The concept underlying the use of labeled antibodies is that the labeled antibody will specifically seek and bind to the carcinoma and the radioactive element will irradiate the tumor in situ. Since the particles discharged during radioactive decay travel some distance through the tumors it is not necessary that every carcinoma cell bind the labeled antibody. The specificity of the monoclonal antibodies permit the selective treatment of the tumor while avoiding the irradiation of non-malignant tissues. The use of systemic radiation and chemotherapeutic agents without targeting agents produce serious toxic side effects in normal, nonmalignant tissues, making, these therapies undesirable for carcinomas and the use of radiolabeled monoclonal antibodies a valid alternative.
Antibodies raised against human epitopes have been used for the diagnosis and therapy of carcinomas. Also known are methods for preparing both polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies. Examples of the latter are BrE-2, BrE-3 and KC4 (e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,077,220; 5,075,219 and 4,708,930).

Recombinant peptides derived from the Mc3 anti-BA46 antibody, methods of use thereof, and methods of humanizing antibody peptides

Abstract: The present invention also provides methods for the humanization of antibodies such as murine monoclonal antibodies. The novel humanization methods are applied to the production of humanized Mc3 antibodies and it is shown that these humanized antibodies retain the ability to engage in high affinity binding to their cognate antigen. Such humanization enables the use of these antibodies for immunodiagnostic and immunotherapeutic applications in humans.

Cancer Research Institute of Contra Costa


A node device and a label switched path loop detection method which are capable of detecting a label switched path loop efficiently and quickly are disclosed. In a node device for carrying out the label switching, an ingress node information is included in a message that is to be successively transmitted from the upstream side in order to set up a label switched path, and the fact that the message with the same ingress node information for the same packet flow will be received from a previous hop node that is different from before if the label switched path has a loop formed thereon is utilized. Also, at a time of transmitting a message for the purpose of setting up a label switched path, if a node at which the label switched path for that packet flow already exists on the upstream or downstream side is encountered, this already existing label switched path is traced along the same or opposite direction as the flow, and the label switched path is set up if no loop is detected after tracing to the end.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a node device having a label switched path loop detection function and a label switched path loop detection method.
2. Description of the Background Art
In a network layer protocol in which IP (Internet Protocol) nodes are inter-connected on an NBMA (Non-Broadcast Multiple Access) network, there is a scheme for realizing high speed packet transfer called MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching).
In the MPLS, specific "labels" are allocated to specific packet flows between nodes while a correspondence between an input side label and an output side label is stored at each node, and the label switching is carried out at each node by referring to this information, so that the IP processing can be omitted and a high speed packet transfer can be realized. For example, in the case where the link layer is ATM, VPI(Virtual Path Identifier)/VCI (Virtual Channel Identifier) will be used as a label. A route through which the packet flow is label switched will be referred to as a label switched path.
In the case of constructing the label switched path, the label allocation protocol is used. The label allocation protocol exchanges label allocation messages between nodes on a packet flow route in order to notify a correspondence between a flow identifier for identifying the packet flow in network global fashion and a label for identifying the packet flow in link local fashion.
Usually, every time an IP packet passes through a node, a value of an TTL (Time To Live) field (or a hop limit field or their equivalents) within its packet header is decremented by one, and the IP packet is not forwarded any further when the TTL or the like becomes 0. In this way it is possible to prevent a packet to stay in the network indefinitely even when there is a loop in the route.
However, for a packet to be transferred by the label switched path, the IP processing will not be carried out at an intermediate node so that it is impossible to decrement the TTL or the like, and consequently the packet will not leave the label switched path forever if there is a loop in the label switched path. For this reason, it is necessary to provide a label switched path loop detection mechanism or a label switched path loop prevention mechanism in the label allocation protocol.
To this end, in the conventional label allocation protocol, the following two methods are available: (1) a method in which an information on a hop count from an ingress router which originated a label allocation message with respect to the packet flow is included in the label allocation message, and it is judged that a loop is present when the hop count exceeds a threshold (see Doolan et al., "Tag Distribution Protocol", Internet Draft, draft-doolan-tdp-spec-01.txt, May 1997); and (2) a method in which each node that forwards the label allocation message sequentially adds its own address to the label allocation message, and it is judged that a loop is present when the own address is already written in the received label allocation message (see Rosen et al., "A Proposed Architecture for MPLS", Internet Draft, draft-rosen-mpls-arch-00.txt, July 1997).
However, the above described method (1) has been associated with a problem that it takes a considerable amount of time until the loop detection because the presence of loop cannot be ascertained until the hop count exceeds the threshold.
Note that in this method if a loop is actually formed or not cannot be ascertained, and even if a loop is actually formed, it is impossible to ascertain a node at which a loop is formed.
On the other hand, the above described method (2) has been associated with a problem that the size of the label allocation message becomes quite large.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Scheme for label switched path loop detection at node device


User interface text for dialog boxes, menus, and the like is xe2x80x9clocalizedxe2x80x9d with respect to human languages is achieved at run time by transmitting a translation request containing a text string to be translated, an identification of the source language, and an identification of the target language to a Web server providing text string translation services. The response from the Web server contains the translated text string, which is employed by the user application within the user interface. Text strings for all of the user interfaces of a particular user application may be translated in this fashion as a group at the time an unsupported human language is first requested, or text strings may simply be translated on-the-fly during operation of the underlying user application on an as-needed basis. the translated text strings may be preserved locally for future use, until a translation of the user interface text to the requested human language is provided by the user application developer. In a preferred embodiment, an extension of the Java ResourceBundles class is utilized to support run-time human language translation of user interface text. The new class, JILResourceBundle, obtains the translation of the user interface text strings when an unsupported language is requested, and may be inserted into a Java Application Resource file placed within the user""s classpath to avoid the necessity of rewriting the underlying user application in order to utilize the new class.

1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to providing human language translations of user application text and in particular to xe2x80x9clocalizingxe2x80x9d the human language aspects of a user application. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to providing human language translation of user application text at run time.
2. Description of the Related Art
When applications are delivered to the marketplace, it would be desirable to have all languages which any customer might utilize supported for user interface dialogs, menu items, etc. That is, a given application should preferably be available in all of the various languages which are utilized by the customer base for that application (e.g., English, French, German, and the like). However, human language translations of the software user interface text are typically the last step to be performed and may result in the delay of product manufacture. Usually developers prefer to enter critical markets as soon as possible with a new product release, and the delay associated with preparing human language translations is unacceptable. Further complicating the problem are the costs associated with multiple mass-publication runs for storing the product on distributable media such as CD-ROMS. Generally a single run with all versions is preferred to multiple discrete production runs for each human language version of a product.
As a result, conventional practice currently involves release of the product without the full repertoire of human language versions, followed by subsequent upgrades or updates for specific languages. Currently, translations introduced after the product has been shipped are typically delivered as a patch rather than a component of the product. Furthermore, all desired languages must either be selected during installation of the software product on a particular system and then updated or added by reinstallation, or all languages must be loaded onto a system, taking up storage space even if never needed. The conventional mechanism for distributing human language translations of a software product also does not lend itself to changes to the language files after delivery for fixes, corrections, or updates.
Unfortunately, the cost of universal support for different dialog and user interface languages-both in monetary terms and in terms of time-to-market delays-is prohibitively expensive. A developer may not know whether certain human language versions (e.g., Russian, Chinese, etc.) will be necessary until long after the initial release date. Moreover, the market for xe2x80x9cfringexe2x80x9d languages (e.g., Serbian or Balinese) may not justify the expense of human language translation for the user application text.
It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a mechanism for providing after-market human language translation of user interface text dynamically at run time. It would further be advantageous if the mechanism provided support for a wide array of languages dynamically selected at run time and without the need for modification of the application.
It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide a method, system, and computer program product for performing human language translations of user application text.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method, system, and computer program product for xe2x80x9clocalizingxe2x80x9d the human language aspects of a user application.
It is yet another object of the present invention to providing human language translation of user application text at run time.
The foregoing objects are achieved as is now described. User interface text for dialog boxes, menus, and the like is xe2x80x9clocalizedxe2x80x9d with respect to human languages is achieved at run time by transmitting a translation request containing a text string to be translated, an identification of the source language, and an identification of the target language to a Web server providing text string translation services. The response from the Web server contains the translated text string, which is employed by the user application within the user interface. Text strings for all of the user interfaces of a particular user application may be translated in this fashion as a group at the time an unsupported human language is first requested, or text strings may simply be translated on-the-fly during operation of the underlying user application on an as-needed basis. The translated text strings may be preserved locally for future use, until a translation of the user interface text to the requested human language is provided by the user application developer. In a preferred embodiment, an extension of the Java ResourceBundles class is utilized to support run-time human language translation of user interface text. The new class, JILResourceBundle, obtains the translation of the user interface text strings when an unsupported language is requested, and may be inserted into a Java Application Resource file placed within the user""s classpath to avoid the necessity of rewriting the underlying user application in order to utilize the new class.
The above as well as additional objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed written description.

International Business Machines Corporation


A method for determining a location of an object in a three-dimensional localization field created by a localization system includes the following steps: providing a catheter having known spacing between electrodes; providing a lookup table of data correlating locations of an object within the localization field with measurements made by the localization system; placing the catheter into the localization field; using the localization system to determine the location of the electrodes based on the lookup table; calculating an observed distance between electrodes; comparing the observed distance to the known electrode spacing; and adjusting the lookup table to more accurately measure the spacing of the electrodes. A Kernel function, such as the derivative of a Gaussian function, may be used to update the lookup table.

a. Field of the Invention
The instant invention relates to localization systems that measure position utilizing localization fields. In particular, the instant invention relates to a system and method to account for inhomogeneity of the localization field.
b. Background Art
It is well known to generate heart chamber geometry in preparation for cardiac diagnostic or therapeutic procedures. Often, a mapping catheter is introduced into the heart chamber of interest and moved around within the heart chamber, either randomly, pseudo-randomly, or according to one or more preset patterns. The three-dimensional coordinates are measured using a localization system (sometimes also referred to as a "mapping system," "navigation system," or "positional feedback system"). The localization system measures the coordinates of the mapping catheter within a localization field, typically by relating a characteristic of the localization field, such as a voltage, experienced by the mapping catheter to a location of the catheter within the field. A similar process may be used to measure the position of any object, such as an ablation catheter or other medical device, within the localization field.
It is known, however, that the localization field may not be homogeneous. That is, as an object moves within the localization field, there may not be a constant relationship between the characteristic and the position of the object within the field. These inhomogeneities potentially reduce the precision and accuracy of the position measurements made by the localization system.

System and method for correction of inhomogeneous fields

St. Jude Medical, Atrial Fibrillation Division, Inc.


The monitoring system employs a sensor to detect the replacement or removal and replacement of the flagstick in a golf hole liner. The sensor may be incorporated into the flagstick, the hole liner or any combination of the two. A central receiver remote from the sensors receives the two signals from respective sensor and has a timing device for recording the time of arrival of each signal from each sensor.

The pace of play on a golf course is critical to the successful operation of both golf facilities and tournament golf. In order to successfully manage pace on a golf course, it is vital that the overall pace of lead groups and the intervals between successive groups (i.e., the cycle time) be carefully monitored and controlled.
In its most basic form, the time to play of a group (group i in this case) is given by the following equation:Troundi=Troundi−1+ΔTcyclei−ΔTstarti where ΔTcyclei is the cycle time for group i and ΔTstarti is the starting time interval. In other words, the time it takes for group i to play is equal to the time it takes for the preceding group to play plus the cycle time, minus the starting time interval. This can be made even more general by considering all of the groups that proceed group i:
      T    round    i    =            T      round      1        +                  ∑                  k          =          2                i                          Δ                                                            T          cycle          k                      -                  ∑                  k          =          2                i                          Δ                                                            T          start          k
As can be seen in the above equations, in order to successfully manage pace of play, three key elements must be measured and controlled:                the pace of group 1        the cycle time between successive groups        the starting interval
Currently, the best opportunity to monitor these key timing metrics is through the use of a golf-cart based GPS tracking system. These systems incorporate a GPS tracking and mapping system on individual golf carts. Zones around the golf course are created such that, as the cart moves through the golf course, the time when the golfer starts and completes each hole, for example, can be measured. The position of the cart and these times may then be relayed to a central receiver where the golf course operator can monitor the progress of each cart. Management decisions based on this timing data can be made accordingly.
There are a number of drawbacks with such cart based systems. A golf course may typically have 75, 100 or more golf carts and so the cost of employing the GPS tracking can be prohibitively expensive. Also, not all golfers elect to ride carts.
Another system that could be envisioned employs radio frequency identification (RFID) tags carried by the golfer and a system of RFID readers placed throughout the golf course, similar to timing systems used for running and other multisport races. Such a system also has significant drawbacks in that the golfers would be required to carry and return the RFID tags. Golfers would also have to be channeled such that they came within the required close proximity of the RFID readers.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a simplified and reliable system for monitoring the pace of play of a golf game.
It is another object of the invention incorporate monitoring the pace of play of a golf game into the actual play of a group of players.


A plurality of inner leads, a plurality of outer leads formed in one with each of the inner lead, a bar lead of the square ring shape arranged inside a plurality of inner leads, a corner part lead which has been arranged between the inner leads of the end portion of the inner lead groups which adjoin among four inner lead groups corresponding to each side of the bar lead, and was connected with the bar lead, and a tape member joined to the tip part of each inner lead, a bar lead, and a corner part lead are included. Since the corner part lead is formed as an object for reinforcement of a frame body between adjoining inner lead groups, the rigidity of the lead frame can be increased.

In a lead frame with the bar lead (it is also called a bus bar) which is a common lead used for stabilization of a power source/GND etc., when arranging the bar lead of ring shape, it is arranged in the region surrounded by the inner lead tip group of each side. In that case, each inner lead tip is stuck on the sheet member via the insulation member, further, a chip mounting region is formed in the about central part of the sheet member, and the bar lead of ring shape is arranged in the region between the chip mounting region and the tip group of inner leads.
If it is going to form a plurality of bar leads of ring shape for reinforcement of a power source/GND, the combination part of each bar lead will increase, therefore a cutting part will also increase. About the various lead frames in which a plurality of bar leads of ring shape were formed, PCT/JP03/06151 have the description.
When a bar lead increases, since not only connection of a bar lead but a lead pattern becomes complicated, rigidity must be increased also as the whole lead frame and reinforcement of a lead frame is needed. In order to maintain the strength of a frame, a connection part must be increased, and as a result cutting parts will also increase in number and consideration is needed also about how at the time of cutting to put in a punch, or abrasion of a punch.
Although Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 9-252072 has the description about the lead frame of the structure where the tips of a plurality of leads are connected, the analyses about the reinforcement of a lead at the time of increasing a bar lead or the punch at the time of cutting are not made.
The purpose of the present invention is to offer a manufacturing method of a lead frame which increases rigidity.
The other purpose of the present invention is to offer a manufacturing method of a lead frame which aims at elongation of lifetime of the punch for cutting.
The above-described and the other purposes and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the description herein and accompanying drawings.

Lead frame and method of manufacturing the lead frame


In order to reduce wire connections and achieve a wireless communication environment securing a sufficient communication band, the present invention provides a communication apparatus that includes a wireless communication means for transmitting and receiving a wireless signal, an optical communication means for transmitting and receiving spatial light as communication light, and a control means for performing signal conversion in a process for converting the wireless signal and the communication light and setting a transmission destination of the wireless signal and the communication light.

In a wireless local area network (LAN), existence of a place where wireless terminals and base stations are densely arranged may result in failing to secure a communication band sufficiently due to radio interference. When each of base stations lowers transmission output to reduce a zone to be covered and the number of processes of each base station is reduced, it is possible to secure a communication band. However, when a zone to be covered is reduced for each base station, it is necessary to install a large number of base stations correspondingly. When the number of base stations is increased, the number of connection points to wired wide area network (WAN) is increased, which causes a problem of increase in wiring.
PTL 1 discloses a wireless communication system that exchanges a wireless signal between base stations configuring a wireless LAN. According to the wireless communication system in PTL 1, wiring between base stations is able to be reduced, since the base stations are wirelessly connected.

Apparatus for conversion between wireless signals and spatial light communication signals


A method for forming a semiconductor device may include forming a silicon oxynitride mask layer over a first layer. The first layer may be etched using the silicon oxynitride mask layer, to form a pattern in the first layer. The pattern may be filled with a dielectric material. The dielectric material may be planarized using a ceria-based slurry and using the silicon oxynitride mask layer as a stop layer.

The escalating demands for high density and performance associated with semiconductor devices, such as non-volatile, electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM) devices, require small design features, high reliability and increased manufacturing throughput. The reduction of design features, however, challenges the limitations of conventional methodology.
One particular problem with scaling memory devices to reduce their size is that the memory devices often exhibit degraded performance. For example, reducing the size of various structures in the memory devices, often results in an increased negative impact from fabrication processing techniques, such as etching techniques, deposition techniques, and the like. Techniques that perform well at larger sizes may introduce defects at a reduced scale. These problems may make it difficult for the memory device to be efficiently programmed and/or erased and, ultimately, may lead to device failure.

Method for improved planarization in semiconductor devices