A stent delivery assembly includes a catheter for carrying an intravascular stent for use in a body lumen. The catheter assembly includes a rapid exchange feature in which a proximal port is spaced a relatively short distance form the distal end of the catheter and a relatively long distance from the proximal end of the catheter. A stent is mounted on the expandable member or balloon portion of the catheter.

This invention relates to devices for the treatment of heart disease and particularly to endo-arterial prosthesis, which are commonly called stents. Several interventional treatment modalities are presently used for heart disease including balloon and laser angioplasty, atherectomy and by-pass surgery. In typical balloon angioplasty procedures, a guiding catheter having a preformed distal tip is percutaneously introduced through the femoral artery into the cardiovascular system of a patient in a conventional Seldinger technique and advanced within the cardiovascular system until the distal tip of the guiding catheter is seated in the ostium of a desired coronary artery. A guidewire is positioned within an inner lumen of a dilatation catheter and then both are advanced through the guiding catheter to the distal end thereof. The guidewire is first advanced out of the distal end of the guiding catheter into the patient""s coronary vasculature until the distal end of the guidewire crosses a lesion to be dilated, then the dilatation catheter having an inflatable balloon on the distal portion thereof is advanced into the patient""s coronary anatomy over the previously introduced guidewire until the balloon of the dilatation catheter is properly positioned across the lesion. Once in position across the lesion, the balloon which is made of relatively inelastic materials, is inflated to a predetermined size with radiopaque liquid at relatively high pressure (e.g., greater than 4 atmospheres) to compress the arteriosclerotic plaque of the lesion against the inside of the artery wall and to otherwise expand the inner lumen of the artery. The balloon is then deflated so that blood flow can be resumed through the dilated artery and the dilatation catheter can be removed therefrom. Further details of dilatation catheters, guidewires, and devices associated therewith for angioplasty procedures can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,071 (Simpson-Robert); U.S. Pat. No. 4,439,185 (Lindquist); U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,972 (Samson); U.S. Pat. No. 4,538,622 (Samson, et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 4,554,929 (Samson, et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 4,616,652 (Simpson); U.S. Pat. No. 4,638,805 (Powell); and U.S. Pat. No. 4,748,982 (Horzewski, et al.) which are hereby incorporated herein in their entirety by reference thereto.
A major problem which can occur during balloon angioplasty procedures is the formation of intimal flaps which can collapse and occlude the artery when the balloon is deflated at the end of the angioplasty procedure. Another major problem characteristic of balloon angioplasty procedures is the large number of patients which are subject to restenosis in the treated artery. In the case of restenosis, the treated artery may again be subjected to balloon angioplasty or to other treatments such as by-pass surgery, if additional balloon angioplasty procedures are not warranted. However, in the event of a partial or total occlusion of a coronary artery by the collapse of a dissected arterial lining after the balloon is deflated, the patient is put in an extremely dangerous situation requiring immediate medical attention, particularly in the coronary arteries.
A major focus of recent development work in the treatment of heart disease has been directed to endoprosthetic devices called stents. Stents are generally cylindrically shaped intravascular devices which are placed within a damaged artery to hold it open. The device can be used to prevent restenosis and to maintain the patency of blood vessel immediately after intravascular treatments. In some circumstances, they can also be used as the primary treatment device where they are expanded to dilate a stenosis and then left in place.
However, the rapid and effective delivery of a stent to the desire location within the patient""s vasculature has been found to be difficult, particularly in those situations in which an intimal flap has occluded an artery. Attempts to advance a stent into regions of coronary arteries occluded by dissected arterial linings have not been very successful.
The two basic methods and systems have been developed for delivering stents to desired locations within body lumens. One method and system involves compressing or otherwise reducing the diameter of an expandable stent, disposing the compressed stent within a lumen provided in the distal end of a tubular catheter, advancing the catheter through the patient""s vasculature until the distal end of the catheter is immediately adjacent to the desired vascular location and then pushing the stent out the distal end of the catheter into the desired location. Once out of the catheter, the compressed stent expands or is expanded to thereby hold open the artery or other body lumen into which it is placed.
Another method and system involves disposing a compressed or otherwise small diameter stent about an expandable member such as a balloon on the distal end of a catheter, advancing the catheter through the patient""s vascular system until the stent is in the desired location within a blood vessel and then expanding the expandable member on the catheter to expand the stent within the blood vessel. The expanded expandable member is then contracted and the catheter withdrawn, leaving the expanded stent within the blood vessel, holding open the passageway thereof.
The following references illustrate various types of stents and stent delivery systems. The list is meant to be exemplary, not exhaustive on the subject.
What has been needed and heretofore unavailable is a stent delivery system which can be quickly and easily used in a wide variety of situations and particularly in emergency situations where a dissected arterial lining has collapsed and has occluded the flow of blood to a vital organ. The present invention satisfies this need.
This invention is directed to an improved stent delivery system which can quickly and easily position a stent into an occluded region of a blood vessel.
The stent delivery system of the invention includes an elongated sheath having an inner lumen extending therein, a first port in its distal end which is adapted to receive a guidewire and a second port spaced proximally from the distal end of the delivery sheath which is also adapted to receive a guidewire, both of the ports being in fluid communication with the inner lumen of the sheath. The delivery system also includes an intravascular catheter slidably disposed within the inner lumen of the delivery sheath, the catheter having an expandable member on the distal extremity thereof, such as an inflatable balloon, which is adapted to receive an expandable stent on the exterior thereof The catheter has a first port in its distal end adapted to receive a guidewire and a second port spaced proximally from the distal end of the catheter adapted to receive a guidewire, with both of these ports being in communication with an inner lumen extending within the interior of the catheter. The second guidewire receiving port should be spaced proximally from the expandable member on the distal extremity of the catheter. Means may be provided to adjust the relative axial positions of the catheter and sheath to expose the expandable stent on the expandable member of the catheter so that the stent can be expanded against the blood vessel wall by expanding the expandable member.
Preferably, both the delivery sheath and the intravascular catheter have slits in the walls, thereof which extend distally from their proximal ports to facilitate the removal of these devices from the guidewire upon the withdrawal of the delivery system from the patient""s vascular system after the delivery of a stent.
In a typical situation, the guidewire used to deliver a dilatation catheter through the patient""s vascular system to a stenotic region therein is left disposed within the patient after the dilatation catheter has been removed therefrom. To maintain access to the stenotic region, the distal end of the guidewire should be left crossing the stenotic region where the stent is to be placed. The proximal end of the guidewire, which extends out of the patient, is first inserted through an elastic cone by threading the guidewire into the smaller and out the larger of the two apertures which comprise the cone, then the guidewire is inserted through the port in the distal end of the intravascular catheter which has a stent mounted on the expandable member. The intravascular catheter is disposed within the inner lumen of the delivery sheath with the distal end of the catheter extending out the port in the distal end of the delivery sheath to facilitate the insertion of the proximal end of the guidewire. The relative axial position between the delivery sheath and intravascular catheter is adjusted so that the expandable member on the distal extremity of the intravascular catheter with the expandable stent mounted thereon is pulled back into the inner lumen of the delivery sheath. The distal end of the delivery sheath is then tucked within the large aperture of the elastic cone. Tucking the delivery sheath within the elastic cone aids the advancement of the stent delivery system through the patient""s vascular system by providing the system with a profile suited for making turns through tortuous vessels. The delivery sheath and the catheter therein are then advanced through the patient""s vascular system, preferably over a guidewire which extends from outside the patient to the ostium of the desired coronary artery, over a guidewire which extends from outside the patient to the ostium of the desired coronary artery, until the stent mounted on the expandable member of the intravascular catheter is positioned within the stenotic region of the patient""s blood vessel.
The relative axial positions of the delivery sheath and the intravascular catheter having the stent thereon is adjusted to urge the distal end of the vascular catheter out of the distal end of the sheath to expose the expandable stent. Either the catheter can be advanced distally with respect to the sheath or the sheath can be withdrawn proximally with respect to the catheter or both movements can be employed. Once the stent is completely out of the delivery sheath, the expandable member on the intravascular catheter can be expanded to expand the stent against stenotic mass within the blood vessel. After expanding the stent, the expandable member on the vascular catheter is contracted so that the catheter can be removed from the patient""s blood vessel, leaving the expanded stent in its desired position therein.
The delivery sheath and the intravascular catheter may be withdrawn together or the sheath may be withdrawn first followed by withdrawal of the catheter. They are removed over the guide wire until the proximal guide wire port on the sheath and/or the catheter exits the proximal end of the guiding catheter, the sheath and the catheter can be peeled away from the guidewire with the guidewire sliding through the slits which extend distally from the proximal ports thereof. The exposed section of the guidewire is secured, e.g., manually held, in place so that the sheath and the intravascular catheter can be pulled off the proximal end of the guidewire.
The delivery system of the invention can effectively deliver a stent to a desired location within a patient""s blood vessel, it can allow the stent to be secured within the desired location, and it can be easily and quickly removed. These and other advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the invention, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying exemplary drawings.


A roof module includes a support designed as a closed frame, to which a roof cladding element is fitted and these two components are made to form an assembly by an adhesive bead and joined by a molding made of a material that can be applied while being curable, preferably a thermoplastic polymer. In order to compensate thermal stresses caused by different coefficients of thermal expansion of the components, the molding has contact regions towards the support or the roof cladding element where there is no adhesion between the molding and the component.

The invention relates to a roof module for a motor vehicle, in particular for a motor vehicle having a folding top, the roof module comprising several components which act together and are connected to one another.
Such roof modules are used, for example, in convertibles fitted with a folding top, i.e. a top comprising at least two rigid elements that are movable relative to one another.
German Patent Document DE 102 54 370 B3 describes a roof module having a base support in the form of a base frame supporting a roof cladding part and to the lateral edge regions of which further trim parts can be fitted.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are directed to a roof module including individual components that can be defined as simply and flexibly as possible and joined to one another in a safe process.
In accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the individual components of the roof module, in particular the support forming a base structure and a roof cladding element fitted to the support, are joined by means of a molding that can be applied while being curable, wherein the molding has mounting regions towards the support and the roof cladding element and wherein these mounting regions comprise sections with adhesion and sections without adhesion between the molding and the support or the roof cladding element respectively. The term "support" in this context refers to a component of the roof module that contributes at least to the largely rigid structure of the roof module. The essential purpose of the roof cladding element is the implementation of a functionality, such as the overall visual impression or the question of transparency. The phrases "sections with adhesion" and "sections without adhesion" are to be understood to indicate that the molding, in the applied state or during the application process, is not in fixed contact with the support or the roof cladding element respectively, but that in the sections without adhesion there is at least some degree of displaceability and flexibility at the boundary between the molding and the support or the roof cladding element respectively. By means of this displaceability or flexibility, for example, an uncontrolled component deformation, for example caused by thermal expansion, can be prevented or at least reduced. The joining of the support to the roof cladding element by means of the molding which can be applied while being curable can be supported by further related measures for fitting the support and the cladding element to each other. According to the invention, the molding is cured only in the applied position, i.e., in the position in which the support has been joined to the roof cladding element by means of the molding.
In order to define the sections without adhesion, a release agent is provided between the molding and the support or cladding element respectively in an advantageous further development of the invention. By means of such a release agent, the desired effect of sections where the molding is not permanently joined to the support or cladding element respectively can be achieved.
Instead of a separate release agent, it is also possible to make surfaces in contact with one another non-adhesive by using a suitable surface design, in particular in terms of texture.
The sections without adhesion are advantageously located between the molding and the support, because a possible component deformation can here be compensated in a simple way without affecting the sealing functionality of the roof cladding element.
It is further useful if the cladding element and the support are designed as an assembly and are at least already positioned relative to each other by means of suitable joining measures even without the molding. In this context, it is further advantageous if the molding which can be applied while being curable is applied to this assembly or to its individual components by foam encapsulation and/or encapsulation by injection molding. The material for the molding is cured only after its application to the assembly of the roof module which is represented by the support and the cladding element, so that the molding can be produced flexibly.
The molding itself may likewise consist of several components. While particularly defined contours can be produced by encapsulation by injection molding, foam encapsulation offers the advantage that cavity structures can be filled in a simple way.
In an advantageous design, the support and the cladding element forming parts of an assembly are provided with a direct connection which pre-positions these two elements relative to each other. This direct connection is further advantageously represented by an adhesive joint. Adhesive joints can be used safely and flexibly and are produced in a process not involving heat, so that there are no component deformation problems.
In an advantageous further development of the invention, the support of the roof module is designed as a closed frame. This results in a high rigidity combined with a low weight. It is further possible to retain the roof cladding element in a continuous line in a closed frame, resulting in a sealed structure which is free of play and therefore not liable to rattling. For further weight optimization, the support is an Mg die casting. The use of Mg die casting results in a high stability of the support, which has a relatively low weight.
In accordance with an advantageous further development of the invention, the cladding element is a glazing pane, because in a convertible the openness appreciated by users of such vehicles can be simulated even in the closed state of the vehicle by light incidence. The glazing is preferably made of polycarbonate, resulting in low weight and the potential of complete transparency. As the structure of the roof module is ensured by the support, the glazing material can be selected using different criteria, such as weight, transparency, weather resistance etc.
The glazing may further advantageously be a multi-component glazing wherein two glazing panes are preferably placed on top of each other. Between the two glazing panes, electrochromic or photochromic materials can be provided, offering the opportunity to darken the glazing.
One of the two glazing panes can further be used as a shade for optical upgrading in the edge regions of the preferably completely transparent top glazing pane.
It is further useful to design the molding of this roof module as a soft-tooling component, allowing the production of a flexible molding in a simple and cost-effective way.
Further advantages and developments of the invention can be derived from the description of the embodiment illustrated in the drawing and from the appended patent claims.


A mop head wringing mechanism comprises a first sleeve having a helical-shaped spline extending at least partially around an external face thereof and a second sleeve is slideably engaged over the first sleeve. The second sleeve has a spline engaging portion in constrained engagement with the helical-shaped spline of the first sleeve whereby translation of the second sleeve with respect to the first sleeve causes rotation of the second sleeve with respect to the first sleeve. A slip member is substantially constrained from lateral movement with respect to the second sleeve and is engaged with the second sleeve for enabling rotation of the second sleeve relative to the slip member. A control member is coupled to the slip member such that movement of the control member causes the second sleeve to translate from an at-rest position to a displaced position thereby rotating the second sleeve with respect to the first sleeve.

Numerous types of floor-mopping apparatuses have been devised over the years. Generally speaking, they allow the user to stand upright while placing the cleaning element of the mopping apparatus in contact with a floor surface. Accordingly, such floor-mopping apparatuses are intended to provide a labor-saving and effort-reducing approach to cleaning a floor on one's hands and knees with a sponge, cloth and/or brush.
The present invention relates specifically to string mops with an integral mop head wringing mechanism. A string mop includes a mop head having a plurality of cotton or synthetic strings, or non-woven strips attached to a mop head for absorbing fluids and for cleaning the floor surface. Alternatively, the plurality of strings may be replaced with a single, soft cloth, which has general configuration and conformability similar to that of the plurality of strings.
The integral mop head wringing mechanisms of known string mops remove water and other absorbed liquids from the strings of the mop head by squeezing the strings. Depending on the specific configuration of such known mop head wringing mechanisms, wringing of the strings of the mop head is facilitated by a twisting action or by opposing members that compress the strings therebetween.
Known mop head wringing mechanisms suffer from one or more drawbacks. One drawback is that some known mop head wringing mechanisms require manual twisting of the mop head or mop head engaging device. This requirement for such manual twisting potentially puts a person's hands in contact with contaminants that the mop has removed from the floor and can require a person to exert an undesirable amount of hand strength to wring the mop head. Another drawback is that some known mop head wringing mechanisms require separate actions for moving the mop head from a use position to a wringing position and then from the wringing position to a wringed position. Such a requirement complicates wringing the mop head. Still another drawback is that some known mop head wringing mechanisms incorporate a bulky and/or complex device having opposing members that compress the strings of the mop head therebetween. Such a bulky and/or complex device detracts from the simplicity of a mop and adds to the physical size of a mop.
Therefore, a mop head wringing mechanism for a string mop that overcomes drawbacks associated with conventional mop head wringing mechanisms would be useful and advantageous.

Mop with integral mop head wringing mechanism


A collapsible wheelchair (CW) may be relatively small and lightweight and may be adapted to be easily collapsed/folded into a callable faint, allowing for easy storage, transport and use. The CW may be adapted to be collapsed/folded and expanded/unfolded in a series of simple steps, executable with one hand, by a person in a seated position, allowing for independent use even by a user with limited physical capabilities. The CW may have a relatively small width, allowing for access into constricted spaces. The rear and interior space between its large wheels may be unobstructed, leaving an unobstructed inner width, allowing the CW to be maneuvered in reverse over standing objects, such as a standard toilet. The seat of the CW may be equipped with a trap door, to allow the use of a toilet while seated on the CW. The rim may be beneath the seat for cleanliness.

A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, designed to be a replacement for walking. The device comes in variations where it's propelled by motors or by the seated occupant turning the rear wheels by hand. Often there are handles behind the seat for someone else to do the pushing. Wheelchairs are used by people for whom walking is difficult or impossible due to illness (physiological or physical), injury, or disability. The earliest record of wheelchairs dates back to the 6th century, as an inscription found on a stone slate in China. Later dates relate to Europeans using this technology during the German Renaissance. Harry Jennings and his disabled friend Herbert Everest, both mechanical engineers, invented the first lightweight, steel, collapsible wheelchair in 1933. Mr Everest had broken his back in a mining accident. The two saw the business potential of the invention and went on to become the first mass-manufacturers of wheelchairs: Everest and Jennings. Their "x-brace" design is still in common use, albeit with updated materials and other improvements.
A basic manual wheelchair incorporates a seat, foot rests, handles at the back and four wheels: two castor wheels at the front and two large wheels at the back. Although the use of a wheelchair greatly increases the mobility and independence of a person with limited physical abilities, the current design of wheelchairs, described above, still leaves a user with many limitations.
One of the major limitations for a person confined to a wheelchair involves access to facilities and areas designed for use by persons of normal physical abilities. The size and maneuvering capabilities of a wheelchair often do not conform to the physical constraints of such facilities. The wheelchair may be too wide to fit in many passages, the turning radius of the wheelchair may be too large for some of the turns, the wheelchair may be unable to traverse certain obstacles (particularly standing obstacles), and so on. As a result, many modern facilities are designed to allow access to wheelchairs, i.e. are designed with wheelchair limitations in mind, and there are even laws requiring many facilities intended for public use to provide for wheelchair access. Nevertheless, a person confined to a wheelchair often encounters situations where the physical limitations of the wheelchair inhibit or even prevent his/her access to facilities or areas he/she wishes to enter, use or traverse. This is often true of private residences or older facilities. Moreover, even in those locations that provide for wheelchair access, the use of these provisions may be cumbersome or unpleasant.
Of particular concern is access to toilet facilities, which is often especially difficult and unpleasant for persons confined to a wheelchair. Not only are most toilets inaccessible for a standard wheelchair, even those that are require the person to transfer himself from the wheelchair to the toilet seat and/or require the intimate assistance of a third party.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a wheelchair adapted to conform to the physical constraints of facilities and areas designed for use by normal persons (especially toilet facilities), while still allowing independent use by a person confined to a wheelchair. Such a wheelchair would be especially useful if it is further adapted to be easy to store, transport and use by a person with limited physical abilities and would be yet more useful if it allowed a person seated on it to use a toilet facility without transferring himself/herself onto the toilet seat.

Wheelchair and a method for producing said wheelchair


An arc fault detection system for use on ungrounded or high-resistance-grounded power distribution systems is provided which can be retrofitted outside electrical switchboard circuits having limited space constraints. The system includes a differential current relay that senses a current differential between current flowing from secondary windings located in a current transformer coupled to a power supply side of a switchboard, and a total current induced in secondary windings coupled to a load side of the switchboard. When such a current differential is experienced, a current travels through a operating coil of the differential current relay, which in turn opens an upstream circuit breaker located between the switchboard and a power supply to remove the supply of power to the switchboard.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to detection systems for detecting arcing faults occurring in the electrical circuits, and in particular, to a detection system for detecting and preventing arcing faults in the electrical switchboards in ungrounded or high-resistance grounded power distribution systems.
2. The Prior Art
An arcing fault in an electrical switchboard can burn the switchboard and propagate the arc into adjacent switchboards or eject hot plasma into the manned spaces. These arcing faults are caused by dirt, moisture, loose connections, or the like and are essentially high-impedance phase-to-phase faults that are not quickly detected by modern day circuit breakers.
The Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory has developed an arc fault detection (AFD) system for detecting and preventing arcing faults in switchboards. The AFD system detects arcing faults within switchboards using optical and differential pressure sensors installed in the switchboards After receiving signals from the optical and differential pressure sensors, the control unit of the AFD system trips open the appropriate upstream circuit breaker. However, it has been found that in many switchboards, optical and differential pressure sensors cannot be installed because of inadequate space, and because of the presence of ventilating louvers and wide openings for cable entry. Such ventilating louvers and wide openings for cable entry can prevent pressure build-up inside the switchboards, making differential pressure sensors, and hence the AFD system, ineffective.

The United States of America as represented by the United States Department of Energy


A non-relational database system may handle requests to access separately stored items in different data stores. An access request for an item may be received that is stored in a table of a non-relational database. If the item is determined to be stored at a data store not implemented as part of the non-relational database, then an instruction to access the item may be sent to a query engine that can access the data store. A result from the second query engine may be used to respond to the access request for the item.

Database systems manage large amounts of data on behalf of client applications. As the demands upon database system storage continue to increase, different strategies and techniques for extending the capacity and capabilities of existing databases are implemented. Additional storage systems, for instance, may be used to store additional data for database systems.
While embodiments are described herein by way of example for several embodiments and illustrative drawings, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments are not limited to the embodiments or drawings described. It should be understood, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit embodiments to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope as defined by the appended claims. The headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description or the claims. As used throughout this application, the word "may" is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words "include", "including", and "includes" mean including, but not limited to.

Handling requests to access separately stored items in a non-relational database


Disclosed is a method of designing a memory device on a semiconductor chip. The memory device includes a memory array having a depth that defines a number of words and a word width that defines a number of bits. The method of designing the memory device includes partitioning an address transition detect circuit into a plurality of ATD sub-circuits. Partitioning a clock buffer into a plurality of clock buffer sub-circuits. Distributing each of the plurality of ATD sub-circuits to each of the number of bits of the memory array. The method of designing the memory device further includes distributing each of the plurality of clock buffer sub-circuits to each of the number of bits of the memory array. In a further variation, the method may be used to distribute the ATD sub-circuits and the clock buffer sub-circuits to where the clock load is distributed for a particular memory device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to integrated circuits, and more particularly to distributed memory circuitry and methods for making the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most integrated circuit devices are required to have some type of memory device for storing information, and there is a growing trend to integrate embedded memory arrays directly onto the a chip, such as, a microprocessor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. Typically, when a memory device is embedded into a chip, the memory device (e.g., an Asynchronous SRAM) is provided with circuitry for writing and reading the data. By way of example, such common circuitry typically includes Y-decoders, X-decoders, sense amplifiers, output buffers, address transition detectors (ATD's) and clock buffers. Therefore, to produce a memory device that has fast access times and quick recoveries after a read/write operation, each of the components of the common circuitry must be tuned to eliminate delays or inefficiencies.
With this in mind, FIG. 1 shows a prior art block diagram of a memory 100 that is produced by a memory generator that may be embedded into an integrated circuit design. The memory 100 is shown having a memory array 102, which is the main memory array having a plurality of memory cells that are arranged in a row and column format. Typically, memory 100 is provided with a row decode 104, a column decode 106, control circuitry 105, an address transition detect (ATD) 110, and sense amplifiers and output buffers 107. It is these circuit components that are used to facilitate the writing and reading of data to or from selected cells in the memory array 102.
When the memory has an address transition detect (ATD) circuit 110, the memory is typically considered to be an asynchronous memory device. This is because the address transition detect (ATD) 110 will produce a clock input signal that is analogous to that produced by a synchronous memory device. By way of example, a synchronous memory device will have a "memory clock" signal that identifies a read or a write operation when a transition from LOW-to-HIGH (i.e., a rising edge) occurs, and commence a pre-charge operation when a transition from HIGH-to-LOW (i.e., a falling edge) occurs. As shown in a waveform 120, a time lapse between the falling edge and the next rising edge (i.e., when the next read or write operation occurs), is the time needed by the memory 100 to prepare itself for a next read or write operation. In this example, the ATD 110 is shown receiving an address transition input that provides information of when a memory address in the memory array 102 is to be accessed for a read or a write operation.
In prior art designs, the ATD 110 is also coupled to a clock buffer 112 that is well suited to provide a fixed amount of buffering/drive for a particular memory array 102. However, when the memory array 102 is replaced with a different size memory array, the clock buffer 112 will continue to produce the same fixed amount of drive (even though the load has changed). The possibility of interchanging different size memory arrays is not an uncommon occurrence. In fact, many companies implement what are known as core libraries, wherein the core libraries may include a plurality of memory arrays from which to pick an choose from. However, this increased flexibility may cause an integrated circuit design, e.g., a memory to be improperly matched for load. That is, the fixed clock buffer 112 that was well suited for use with the one size memory produced by a memory generator may not be well suited for a different size memory.
By way of example, if the new memory array is larger than the memory array that was previously produced by the memory generator, then there may be too little drive to compensate for the increased load. On the other hand, if the memory array 102 is replaced with a smaller sized memory array, then the fixed drive may be too large, thereby causing a slow down in the rate at which a read or a write operation may be performed. In either case, the clock buffer 112 of the memory 100 will also have to be replaced and tuned an increased cost each time the memory array 102 is modified. There are also tuning issues associated with the address transition circuitry, which is described in greater detail in a commonly assigned U.S. patent application having Ser. No. 08/928,713 (Attorney Docket Number ARTCP008), entitled "Self Adjusting Pre-Charge Delay in Memory Circuits and Methods for Making the Same," and filed on the same day as the instant patent application. This application is incorporated by reference herein.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a memory that has flexible clock buffer circuitry that may be distributed in response to a change in memory size.

Distributed balanced address detection and clock buffer circuitry and methods for making the same


An apparatus for detecting matter, the apparatus including: a first light source adapted to emit a first light beam; a second light source adapted to emit a second light beam, wherein the apparatus is arranged such that the first and second light beams converge towards a scanning element; the scanning element adapted to redirect the converging first and second light beams towards the matter to be detected; and a detector adapted to receive light reflected by the matter via the scanning element. Also, a system and method of detecting matter.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,449,036 (Wollmann et al.) discloses a device wherein two lasers each generate a laser beam. The laser beams are deflected by mirrors and brought together into a common beam. For this purpose, one of the mirrors is transparent for the laser beam of the laser situated behind it. The combined laser beams pass through a hole in a further mirror and impinge on one of the plane polygon surfaces of a rotating polygonal mirror wheel. The polygonal mirror wheel guides the laser beams over a parabolic mirror, and the laser beam reflected by the parabolic mirror is guided to an inclined mirror and impinges on the surface of an object to be scanned. The object surface is projected onto the light receiver. A drawback with the device in U.S. Pat. No. 6,449,036 is that the laser is monochromatic.
WO9844335 A1 (Ruymen) discloses a device which can be mounted in a sorting apparatus. The device is provided with two light sources which each generate an intense, focused band of light. Both light sources generate light of different frequency and are brought together into a band of laser beams by a selectively semi-reflecting mirror (dichroic mirror) and an ordinary mirror. This light band is reflected towards a moving, prismatic mirror. The faces of this mirror are reflective and are set at essentially the same angle to one another. Furthermore, this prismatic mirror rotates around its central axis. The light band falling on such a face is directed towards the product to be sorted. As a result of the rotation of the mirror, the light band moves transversely across the stream of parts of the product. In doing so, said band moves each time in the same direction between two positions over the width of the stream of parts. When the light band falls on a part of the product, it is scattered and/or reflected by said part. Scattered light is at least partly captured by the same face, and, via said face, is led along approximately the same path as the light band to a beam splitter which reflects the scattered light at an angle towards two detectors. A drawback with the device in WO9844335 A1 is that the illumination is on the same optical path as the detection, whereby problems with total reflections may occur.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,176,306 relates to an apparatus for testing surface quality of material, and it discloses a "moving" slit viewing arrangement wherein a tin sheet which is again moves in a certain direction. Upper and lower light banks (line light sources) are mounted to give the desired off-specular angle of illumination and illuminate a strip of the tin sheet transverse to its direction of motion. A hood is positioned opposite the strip so as to restrict the view of a television camera to the strip.

Apparatus, system and method for detecting matter


A method of preparation of (S)-N-methyl-3-(1-naphthyloxy)-3-(2-thienyl)propylamine of formula (I) or its pharmaceutically acceptable salt, in which (RS)-N,N-dimethyl-3-(1-naphthyloxy)-3-(2-thienyl)propylamine of formula (III) is reacted with an optically active acid, after which a crystallization is made of that diastereoisomer which yields, by reaction with an inorganic or organic base, (S)-N,N-dimethyl-3-(1-naphthyloxy)-3-(2-thienyl)propylamine of formula (S)-III, which is then demethylated using alkylchloroformates, followed by a hydrolysis and optional conversion of the compound of formula (I) to its salt.

Duloxetine is a serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor, and it has therapeutic use in the fields of depression and urinary incontinence.
Preparation of duloxetine and its intermediate products is described for example in patents EP 0 273 658, U.S. Pat. No. 5,362,886, WO 2004/005239, US 2003/0225153. The basic reaction used is presented in the following Scheme 1.

Most syntheses use the already optically active intermediate product II, i.e. (S)-N,N-dimethyl-3-hydroxy-3-(2-thienyl)propylamine, for this reaction. During synthesis of many optically active compounds, resolving or obtaining optically pure intermediates result in better yields than resolution of the final products. However, with respect to synthesis of duloxetine, it has turned out that during further processing according to Scheme 1, racemization happens again. Thus, the obtained resulting product is not enantiomerically pure and it is necessary to recrystallize it again. This naturally decreases the yield of the process.
A solution of undesirable racemization during the reaction according to Scheme 1 is offered in patent application WO 2004/056795 A1. The authors choose a method of preparation of racemic duloxetine and its resolution with an appropriate chiral acid. Using this procedure, they indeed prevent possible racemization but, on the other hand, they increase losses because they also process the undesired (R)-enantiomer until the final stage.
In the original patents, the reaction according to Scheme 1 was performed under catalysis with strong bases such as sodium hydride or lithium hydride. These bases are relatively expensive and it is necessary to avoid moisture when they are used because they can react with it vigorously.
In the application WO 2004/056795, a method for performing the reaction according to Scheme 1 is also published, wherein the use of a phase-transfer catalyst allows to perform the reaction also with weaker bases such as alkali metal hydroxides.
Preparation of the compound I is described in Example 2 (preparation 2) of U.S. Pat. No. 5,362,886. The final product results from action of concentrated hydrochloric acid on a solution of the duloxetine base in ethyl acetate. An inoculating crystal of compound I is added to the acidified reaction mixture and the mixture is diluted with more ethyl acetate; after stirring for 30 minutes the mixture is again concentrated to the original volume and then stirred at room temperature for 1 hour and at 0° C. for 1 hour.
However, during reproduction of this procedure, it has turned out that the solution starts to turn red during processing, which resulted in a contaminated product. In addition, if the suspension described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,362,886 was to be obtained in the given yield, it was necessary to further prolong the stirring, which resulted in further accumulation of impurities. Experiments using different amounts of hydrochloric acid also were not successful.
The present invention presents a comprehensive solution of manufacture of duloxetine, which eliminates or minimizes all mentioned disadvantages.


An igniter for a gas generator comprises a pole body (14) having at least one connection pin (16, 18), a retaining ring (20) and an insulation ring (22), wherein the insulation ring (22) spaces apart the at least one connection pin (16, 18) from the retaining ring (20) and electrically insulates it relative to the same. The retaining ring (20) consists of a metal and the insulation ring (22) consists of a plastic. In order to produce an igniter (10) for a gas generator at least one connection pin (16, 18), a retaining ring (20) and an insulation ring (22) are provided, the connection pin (16, 18), the insulation ring (22) and the retaining ring (20) are fitted inside one another in such a way that the connection pin (16, 18) is surrounded by the insulation ring (22) and the insulation ring (22) is surrounded by the retaining ring (20), and the retaining ring (20), the insulation ring (22) and the connection pin (16, 18) are compressed in a compression step in which at least the retaining ring (20) is deformed and the retaining ring (20), the insulation ring (22) and the connection pin (16, 18) are connected to one another securely and without play.

The invention relates to an igniter for a gas generator and a method for producing an igniter.
Igniters are used in a gas generator to activate, especially ignite, a gas-generating material contained in the gas generator, for example a pyrotechnic means, by an electric pulse.
Gas generators are employed, for example, in vehicles where they provide filling gas for inflatable airbags, in the form of a micro gas generator provide kinetic energy for belt tensioners, or act as an actuator in a safety system such as e.g. a hood prop or a disconnector for a battery terminal.
Such igniter classically comprises a so-called pole body, also referred to as header, which includes two metallic electrically conducting connection pins and a holder for fixing the two connection pins. The two connection pins are separated from each other by an electrically insulating medium.
The two connection pins are connected to each other by an electrically conductive bridge wire which is in contact with a pyrotechnical ignition charge. The latter is accommodated in a cap and is encapsulated by the same. The pole body may be cased with a fastening portion with which the igniter can be mounted in the gas generator and which may also provide an electric connecting option for contacting the two connection pins by a plug from outside the gas generator.
It is generally known to form a holder of the pole body by a metallic ring and to provide an electric insulation by a glass frit which is initially present in liquid form in the metallic ring and in which at least one of the connection pins is fixed, especially in that the liquid frit is specifically cooled. Pole bodies of this type made from a metal ring including insulating bushings made from glass are also known as so-called GTMS headers (GTMS: Glass to Metal Seal). A known GTMS header is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,263. Manufacture is complicated and expensive.
As an alternative, it is known to surround two connection pins by injection-molding a plastic compound which then fixes the connection pins and additionally forms the fastening portion of the igniter. Although for said pole bodies substantially made from plastic the manufacturing process is inexpensive, it is complicated, however, to safeguard the desired mechanical strength and tightness.

Igniter for a gas generator and method for producing an igniter


A squeeze container has a flexible and resilient sidewall and a top mouth closed by a cap through which a measuring tube extends into the container to terminate adjacent the container bottom wa1. A normally-closed check valve is fitted to the tube bottom end to allow liquid in the container to enter the tube in a measured quantity when the side wall is squeezed and for retaining the measured quantity of liquid when the tube sidewall is released. The measured liquid in the tube is discharged when the container is inverted and squeezed. After liquid discharge, outside air is admitted within the container to nearly re-establish atmospheric pressure, either through the measuring tube or through a check valve located at the cap. In the first case, the measuring tube check valve is not hermetic when closed, so as to permit air entrance at a slow rate. The measuring tube valve may simply be a stretchable membrane fitted across the tube lower end and having through openings which open only when the membrane is stretched. The cap valve may be in the form of an annular membrane sealed to the container top mouth around its periphery and having a sliding fit with and around the tube. Outside air can enter the container between the membrane and the tube when the container is under partial vacuum. Instead of a check valve, the cap can be provided with an elastic, fluid-tight membrane which stretches to decrease the differential pressure existing across the same.

Various types of liquid-measuring, squeeze containers are known in which the container must be squeezed to displace the liquid into a measuring chamber, and the measured liquid is then discharged. Examples of such dispensers are illustrated in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,989,216 dated Jun. 20, 1961 to Moro-lin., 3,141,579 dated Jul. 21, 1964 to Medlock; 3,878,972 dated Apr. 22, 1975 to Por; and 4,106,673 dated Aug. 15, 1978 to Donoghue. In all these patents, the measuring chamber is mounted on top of the container or at an end of the same and have a relatively large diameter, of the same order as that of the container itself, so that the liquid cannot be measured in a very accurate way. Also, in those dispensers in which the measuring chamber is mounted on the outside of the squeeze container itself, they are liable to be accidentally damaged and their measuring accuracy distorted. Also, one may accidentally discharge the liquid being measured before final measurement in the event of faulty handling of the dispenser.

Liquid measuring and dispensing container


Frames are divided into a plurality of sections on the basis of input images of the frames (S8). One representative image that represents the image of each frame is set in each of the sections (S10). One representative image to be referred to is selected so as to encode an image of a frame of interest from the representative images set for respective sections, and the image of the frame of interest is encoded by motion compensation using the images of the frames in the section that includes the selected representative image (S13, S14, S15).

In recent years the H.264 encoding method, as a new moving image encoding method, has received a lot of attention. This encoding method is jointly developed by the ITU-T and ISO.
As a feature of this new encoding method, 4×4 integer transformation is used, and a plurality of intra-prediction schemes are prepared, unlike in the conventional MPEG-1, 2, and 4 encoding methods. An intra-loop filter is used, and motion compensation is made using seven different types of subblocks. The pixel precision of the motion compensation is as high as ¼ pixel precision as in the MPEG-4 encoding method. Furthermore, universal variable-length encoding and context adaptive variable-length encoding are used as entropy encoding.
As a more significant feature, MPEG-1, 2, or 4 performs motion compensation using two reference images before and after the current image, but H.264 can use more reference images. A num_ref_frames code included in the first header of a bitstream can assume a maximum of 16 values. That is, 16 frames before and after the current frame can be referred to. As for a macroblock to be encoded, prediction errors of seven different types of subblocks are calculated for images of a maximum of 16 frames, as described above, and a macroblock that can minimize the prediction errors is selected, thus greatly improving the encoding efficiency.
FIG. 11 shows the arrangement of an H.264 encoder. This encoder receives image data for respective macroblocks.
A switch 1000 switches whether or not intra-encoding is performed. In case of intra-encoding, image data is input into an intra-predictor 1001, which predicts in nine modes in order to calculate prediction errors. In encoding other than intra-encoding, image data is input into a differentiator 1002, which calculates differences from predicted images to generate prediction errors.
A transformer/quantizer 1003 computes the integer transformation of the obtained prediction errors for 4×4 pixel blocks, thus quantizing respective coefficients. The quantization result undergoes variable-length encoding by an entropy encoder 1004, and the encoded result is output to an output unit 1014. At the same time, the quantization result is input to an inverse quantizer/inverse transformer 1005, which reconstructs the prediction errors. The prediction errors are added to prediction images by an adder 1006. The results are stored in frame memories 1007 to 1010 accordingly.
A motion estimator 1011 compares decoded images stored in the frame memories 1007 to 1010 with an input image to calculate motion vectors for respective subblocks with ¼ pixel precision. The motion vectors and the numbers of the selected frames are also input to a motion compensator 1012, which loads reference images from the corresponding frame memories, selects a reference image with minimum prediction errors, and outputs it as a predicted image to the differentiator 1002. The motion vectors and the numbers of the selected frames are input to a motion encoder 1013 and are encoded, so that the motion vectors are encoded to mvd_idx_IO codes and the like, and information of the reference frames is encoded to ref_idx_IO codes and the like. The encoded codes are output to the output unit 1014. The output unit 1014 shapes and outputs encoded data in accordance with the format.
FIG. 22 shows the arrangement of an H.264 decoder. When encoded data is input into an input unit 5102, codes are interpreted and are distributed to corresponding decoders. An entropy decoder 51021 performs variable-length decoding to obtain the quantization result of 4×4 transformation coefficients. The quantization result is input to an inverse quantizer/inverse transformer 51022 to reconstruct prediction errors. In case of intra-encoding, image data is input to an intra-predictor 51023 to perform prediction from surrounding pixels, thus reconstructing and outputting pixel data. In case of encoding other than intra-encoding, an adder 51024 adds the prediction errors to predicted images to reconstruct and output pixel data. At the same time, these pixel data are stored in the frame memories 51025 to 51028 accordingly. A motion decoder 51029 decodes mvd_idx_IO codes and the like representing motion vectors and ref_idx_IO codes and the like representing reference frame information, and inputs decoded data to a motion compensator 51030. The motion compensator 51030 loads reference images from the corresponding frame memories and outputs them as predicted images to the adder 51024.
Since a plurality of frames are referred to in this way, the encoding efficiency can be improved by referring to temporally separated frames such as in a case wherein an object which once hides behind another object and appears after a brief interval.
The aforementioned encoding apparatus encodes by referring to a plurality of frames, and tries to reduce prediction errors, with reference to many frames. However, when the number of frames to be referred to becomes large, a more robust process is required in motion vector search for motion compensation.
In the aforementioned encoding apparatus, when there are no significant changes, all reference frames are very similar to one another, and images over a long period of time cannot be referred to by fewer frames. However, when a change has occurred, a large code size is generated. For example, a railway monitor monitors rail tracks without trains most of the time, and generates a large code size at an instance when a train is framed. This poses a problem. It lowers the effect of improving the encoding efficiency even when a plurality of frames are referenced. The number of frames increases dramatically over a long period of time, the circuit scale becomes huge, and many additional processes are required, resulting in long processing times.
Also, when images including many noise components are selected as reference images upon encoding, a large code size is required.
Since intra-frame encoded images generally deteriorate less than inter-frame encoded images, they are suited to reference frames, but have a large code size.

Encoding apparatus, encoding method, decoding apparatus, and decoding method


A solid fuel propulsion system includes a housing, an air inlet configured to enable air to flow into the housing, an air duct, a rotation detonation chamber, and a nozzle assembly. The air duct is disposed in the housing and is in fluid communication with the air inlet. The air duct is configured to supply air for combustion of a solid fuel configured to sublimate into a gaseous fuel mixture. The rotation detonation chamber is disposed in the housing aft of the air duct and is configured to combust the gaseous fuel mixture and air to generate a rotating detonation wave. The nozzle assembly is configured to expand and exhaust the flow prompted by the rotating detonation wave to generate thrust.

As conventional missile and propulsion systems become mainstream across the world, new missile and propulsion systems capable of countering conventional systems are desired. One such system includes air-breathing propulsion systems for high-speed, long-range missiles and/or projectiles. Air-breathing propulsion systems provide armed forces quick access to a target, extended range to permit large stand-off distances for mission safety and unanticipated responses, and superior propulsion system performance benefits over conventional rocket propulsion missile systems. Many high-speed air-breathing propulsion systems are based on liquid fuel ramjet (LFRJ) and solid fuel ramjet (SFRJ) propulsion systems.
LFRJ systems are complex and may pose safety and reliability issues due to their complexity and the liquid fuels used, but SFRJ propulsion systems offer advantages over LFRJ propulsion systems. In particular, SFRJ propulsion systems are reliable, easily storable, and less complex. A solid-fuel combustion cycle of an SFRJ is similar to a liquid-fueled combustion cycle of an LFRJ except that the fuel exists in solid form within the detonation chamber and the combustion is controlled by the regression rate (sublimation) of the solid fuel. SFRJ, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,502,649 issued to Botwin, et. al., on Mar. 5, 1985, generally include an air inlet, a solid fuel grain, and a convergent/divergent (CD) nozzle. Atmospheric air is captured or supplied to the combustor via the air inlet. The air passes to the fuel grain where the fuel sublimates and forms a combustible mixture with the air. The combustible mixture is burned in the combustor and the resultant product passes towards the CD nozzle where it is exhausted, thereby generating thrust.
By comparison, rotating detonation engines (RDEs) take advantage of the inherent energy and thermodynamic properties and efficiency of a shockwave. RDEs include an annular detonation chamber closed at one end and open at the opposite end. A liquid fuel and an oxidizer are injected axially into the annular detonation chamber and ignited to begin a spinning detonation wave. The temperature and pressure increase across the spinning wave is generated by detonation and is intended to sustain and drive the spinning detonation wave circumferentially at supersonic speed. The reacted gas is then discharged continuously out the open end of the detonation chamber through the nozzle, thereby generating thrust. Due to features of the continuous RDE cycle, which is a constant volume combustion cycle, the specific impulse, which is a measure of thrust per unit flow consumption, can be increased by about 15% compared to the conventional propulsion cycles utilizing deflagration rather than detonation such as that utilized in SFRJ propulsion systems.

Air breathing solid fuel rotating detonation engine


An electric tool including: a motor; a housing including, a motor housing accommodating the motor, and a handle housing having one end connected to the motor housing and another other end configured to be provided with a detachable battery pack; an output part partially accommodated in the motor housing and configured to be driven by the motor; and a control board accommodated in the motor housing and configured to control the motor.

A related-art driver drill as an example of an electric tool includes a housing, a motor accommodated in the housing, a power transmission mechanism driven by the motor, a circuit board including a switching element for driving the motor, and a control board for controlling the energization of the switching element (for example, see Japanese Patent No. 4487836). The control board is accommodated in the housing to be located in a side opposite to the power transmission mechanism relative to the motor.
The housing mainly includes a motor housing accommodating a motor and a handle housing configured to be grasped by an operator. The control board is accommodated in the handle housing.


It is made possible that, in accordance with a plurality of radiographing modes such as the still image radiographing mode and the moving image radiographing mode, the outputs both in the irradiation period and in the non-irradiation period are made to fall within the dynamic range of the radiographing system, whereby an accurate, high-S/N-ratio X-ray radiographic image is obtained. For that purpose, in accordance with the plurality of radiographing modes, an arithmetic operation unit adjusts a power source to control voltage to be applied to a reading circuit unit or an Analogue-Digital conversion unit, such that, in each of the radiographing modes, both an electric signal in the X-ray irradiation period and an electric signal in the X-ray non-irradiation period fall within the dynamic ranges of the reading circuit unit and the Analogue-Digital conversion unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radiation imaging apparatus, a radiation imaging system, and a program that are suitably used, e.g., in medical diagnosis, industrial non-destructive inspection, and the like. In addition, in the present specification, it is assumed that "radiations" include electromagnetic waves, such as an X-ray, and a γ-ray, an α-ray, and a β-ray.
2. Description of the Related Art
Radiation imaging systems that have been installed in hospitals, clinics, or the like are categorized into an analogue and a digital radiographing method. In the analogue radiographing method, radiations such as X-rays are irradiated onto a patient and a film is exposed by the radiations that have passed through the patient. In the digital radiographing method, radiations that have passed through the patient are converted into electric signals, i.e., digital data so as to obtain image data.
The digital radiographing method includes the CR (Computed Radiography) method and the FPD (Flat Panel Detector) method. In the CR method, a radiation image is temporarily stored in photostimulable phosphors made mainly of BaFBr, and then scanned by a laser beam so as to obtain digital data. In the FPD method, radiations that have passed through the patient are converted into visible light, by means of a scintillator such as Gd2O2S:Tb or CsI:Tl; then, the visible light is converted into an electric signal, by means of a photoelectric conversion element made mainly of amorphous silicon semiconductor. In addition, some of FPD-method radiation imaging apparatuses utilize, instead of a scintillator, a conversion device, made of, e.g., amorphous selenium, that converts radiations directly into an electric signal. The former and the latter are referred to as the indirect and the direct FPD, respectively.
In recent years, it has been desired that moving imaging, e.g., gastric fluoroscopic radiographing, angiographing during operation, and the like, which have been implemented by means of an image intensifier (I.I.), are carried out by means of the FPD. That is because, while the I.I. has problems of fringe-portion image distortion, halation in the case of irradiating strong radiations, and sensitivity deterioration due to long-term use, the FPD does not pose such problems and, in recent years in particular, has become relatively inexpensive to produce. In addition, although, as an apparatus that can be digitized, the CR-method apparatus has become widespread since 1980, it poses, in operational principle, some disadvantage in radiographing a moving image. In other words, it is conceivable that the FPD method, which has functions of both the CR method for still images and the I.I. method for moving images, becomes a mainstream in digitization in medicine in the future. The FPD-method digitization largely improves hospital workflows and facilitates the recording and printing of radiographic data; in addition to that, the FPD-method digitization can considerably contribute to improvement of diagnosis efficiency, by making full use of an advanced computer-aided image processing technique. In the second half of 1990, upright type and decubitus type radiation imaging apparatuses were marketed in which the FPD method were employed, and in recent years, X-ray imaging apparatuses capable of radiographing moving images have been proposed and marketed.

Radiation imaging apparatus, radiation imaging system, and program


Methods of enzymatic nucleic acid sequencing are provided in which solid-phase capturable chain terminators are employed. In the subject methods, sequencing fragments are generated, where the fragments comprise capturable chain terminators. The fragments are then captured on a solid phase and separated from the remaining components of the sequencing reaction. The fragments are then released from the solid phase, size separated and detected to yield sequencing data from which the sequence of the nucleic acid is determined.

Methods of determining the sequence of nucleic acids are some of the most important tools in the field of molecular biology. Since the development of the first methods of DNA sequencing in the 1970s, sequencing methods have progressed to the point where a majority of the operations are now automated, thus making possible the large scale sequencing of whole genomes, including the human genome. There are two broad classes of DNA sequencing methodologies: (1) the chemical degradation or Maxam & Gilbert method and (2) the enzymatic or dideoxy chain termination method (also known as the Sanger method), of which the latter is the more commonly used and is suitable for automation.
Of particular interest in DNA sequencing are methods of automated sequencing, in which fluorescent labels are employed to label the size separated fragments or primer extension products of the enzymatic method. Currently, three different methods are used for automated DNA sequencing. In the first method, the DNA fragments are labeled with one fluorophore and then run in adjacent sequencing lanes, one lane for each base. See Ansorge et al., Nucleic Acids Res. (1987)15: 4593-4602. In the second methods, the DNA fragments are labeled with oligonucleotide primers tagged with four fluorophores and all of the fragments are run in one lane. See Smith et al., Nature (1986) 321: 674-679. In the third method, each of the different chain terminating dideoxynucleotides is labeled with a different fluorophore and all of the fragments are run in one lane. See Prober et al., Science (1987) 238: 336-341. The first method has the potential problems of lane-to-lane variations as well as a low throughput. The second and third methods require that the four dyes be well excited by one laser source, and that they have distinctly different emission spectra. Otherwise, multiple lasers have to be used, increasing the complexity and the cost of the detection instrument.
With the development of Energy Transfer primers which offer strong fluorescent signals upon excitation at a common wavelength, the second method produces robust sequencing data in currently commercial available sequencers. However, even with the use of Energy Transfer primers, the second method is not entirely satisfactory. In the second method, all of the false terminated or false stop fragments are detected resulting in high backgrounds. Furthermore, with the second method it is difficult to obtain accurate sequences for DNA templates with long repetitive sequences. See Robbins et al., Biotechniques (1996) 20: 862-868.
The third method has the advantage of only detecting DNA fragments incorporated with a terminator. Therefore, backgrounds caused by the detection of false stops are not detected. However, the fluorescence signals offered by the dye-labeled terminators are not very bright and it is still tedious to completely clear up the excess of dye-terminators even with AmpliTaq DNA Polymerase (FS enzyme). Furthermore, non-sequencing fragments are detected, which contributes to background signal. Applied Biosystems Model 373 A DNA Sequencing System User Bulletin, November 17,P3, August 1990.
Thus, there is a need for the development of improved methodology which is capable of providing for highly accurate sequencing data, even for long repetitive sequences. Such methodology would ideally include a means for isolating the DNA sequencing fragments from the remaining components of the sequencing reaction mixtures such as salts, enzymes, excess primers, template and the like, as well as false stopped sequencing fragments and non-sequencing fragments resulting from contaminated RNA and nicked DNA templates.
Relevant Literature
Methods of DNA sequencing are reviewed in Griffin and Griffin, Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology (1993) 38: 147-159.
The effect of different labeling methodologies in automated DNA sequencing is discussed in Perkin Elmer User Bulletin (August 1990, Number 17) entitled "guide to Interpretation of 373A Dye Primer and Dye Terminator Data.
The use of biotinylated nucleotides in various sequencing applications is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,484,701; 5,405,746 and 5,401,632, as well as in the following literature references: Yu et al., J. Biolumin. Chemilumin. (1995) 10: 239-245; Tong & Smith, J. DNA Sequencing and Mapping (1993) 4: 151-162; Wahlberg et al., Electrophoresis (1992) 13: 547-551; Tong & Smith, Anal. Chem. (1992) 64:2672-2677; Livak et al., Nuc. Acids. Res. (1992) 18: 4831-4837; Wahlberg et al., Molecular and Cellular Probes (1990) 4: 285-297; Wahlberg et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA (1990) 87: 6569-6573; Seliger et al., Nucleosides and Nucleotides (1990) 9:383-388; Beck, Methods of Enzymology (1990) 184: 612-617; Richterich, Nuc. Acids Res. (1989) 17:2181-2186; Beck et al., Nuc. Acids Res. (1989) 17: 5115-5123; Stahl et al., Nuc. Acids. Res. (1988) 16: 3025-3038.

Nucleic acid sequencing with solid phase capturable terminators


A liquid crystal display cell having a compensation layer of (polymer) material deposited from the gaseous phase. To obtain a smaller angle dependence, the birefringence of the compensation layer is rendered complementary to that associated with a given voltage across the liquid crystal cell by giving the optical axis of the compensation layer an angle to the direction transverse to the cell.

The invention relates to a liquid crystal display device comprising a liquid crystal display cell having a layer of nematic liquid crystal material which is present between two substrates provided with electrodes, and at least a polarizer and at least an optically anisotropic layer. The invention also relates to a retardation foil or retardation layer for use in, for example liquid crystal display devices.
Such display devices are generally used in, for example monitors, TV applications and, for example display devices in motorcars and aircraft, and for instruments. The foils (and retardation layers) may also be used in angle-invariant optical delay devices.
A display device of the type described in the opening paragraph is known from EP-A-0 423 881 (PHN 13.108). In this Application, a compensation foil comprising an optically anisotropic layer of a polymer material with a cholesteric ordering is used to inhibit discoloration in a twisted-nematic display device and obtain a high contrast. The polymer material is ordered in such a way that a molecular helix can be distinguished, with the axis of the helix being directed transversely to the layer.
However, display devices in which such compensation foils are used still have a large angle dependence, i.e. the contrast is very much dependent on the angle at which and the direction from which the display device is being watched, unless the pitch of the helix of the polymer material is chosen to be very small. Manufacture of such polymers having a cholesteric helix with a small pitch requires very cumbersome process steps, because one stereo isomer must be isolated every time so as to obtain the desired molecular rotation, while, moreover, the materials suitable for this purpose are very expensive.

Liquid crystal display device and retardation foil


An automatic focusing apparatus of a video camera automatically matches a focus in response to a video signal obtained from an image sensing circuit. The automatic focusing apparatus detects the level of a high frequency component of the video signal in order to supply a focus evaluating value which takes a maximum value in an in-focus position. A focusing motor controlling circuit performs an automatic focusing operation by a hill-climbing servo system based on the supplied focus evaluating value. A determination is made by employing a fuzzy inference with respect to the initialization of the direction of movement of a lens when the automatic focusing operation starts, the selection of a focusing area from a plurality of areas, and the reactivation of the automatic focusing operation due to a change of an object after once the automatic focusing operation is completed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an automatic focusing apparatus and, more particularly, to an improvement of an automatic focusing apparatus for automatically matching the focus relative to an object in response to a video signal obtained from an image sensor, in an image sensing apparatus such as a video camera having an automatic focusing mechanism.
2. Description of the Background Art
In an automatic focusing apparatus used in an image sensing apparatus such as a video camera, an approach utilizing a video signal itself obtained from an image sensor for evaluating a focus-controlled state has conventionally been developed. In such an approach, substantially no parallax exists. In addition, the approach has a number of good characteristics in which even if the depth of field is small and even if an object is located in the distance, the focus can be exactly matched. Further, in this approach, there is no need to separately provide a specific sensor for automatic focusing, and hence the apparatus is very simple in mechanism.
As one example of such a focus control method employing a video signal, a control method, a so-called hill-climbing servo system has conventionally been known. The hill-climbing servo system is described in, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,638,364 and 4,614,975 and Japanese Patent Laying-Open Nos. 58-58505, 60-103776 and 63-215268. Briefly stated, a high frequency component of a video signal obtained from an image sensor is detected every one field as a focus evaluating value, the detected focus evaluating value is always compared with a focus evaluating value detected one field before, and the position of a focusing lens keeps changing so that the focus evaluating value always assumes its maximum value.
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing a conventional automatic focusing apparatus adopting the hill-climbing servo system; and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the detail of a focus evaluating value generating circuit of FIG. 1.
Referring to FIG. 1, a video camera includes a focusing ring 2 for moving a focusing lens 1 forward and backward, a focusing motor 3 which is a stepping motor for driving focusing ring 2, and an image sensing circuit 4 including an image sensor (not shown) such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device). Focusing lens 1 may be moved by employing a piezoelectric element in place of a motor. In addition, the image sensor (not shown) itself such as the CCD may be moved in place of the focusing lens.
An image formed on a surface of the image sensor by focusing lens 1 is converted into a video signal by image sensing circuit 4 and then supplied as an input to a focus evaluating value generating circuit 5.
Referring to FIG. 2 showing the detail of focus evaluating value generating circuit 5, a luminance signal component in a video signal output from image sensing circuit 4 is applied to a synchronizing separator circuit 5a and a high-pass filter 5c. A high frequency component of the video signal (luminance signal component) separated by high-pass filter 5c is amplitude-detected by a detector circuit 5d, and a detected output thereof is applied to an A/D converter circuit 5e. This A/D converter circuit 5e converts the applied detected output into a digital value, to apply the digital value to a gate circuit 5f.
Synchronizing separator circuit 5a separates a vertical synchronizing signal VD and a horizontal synchronizing signal HD from an applied luminance signal and applies the separated signals to a gate control circuit 5b. Gate control circuit 5b sets a rectangular focusing area in the center of a picture in response to the applied vertical synchronizing signal VD and horizontal synchronizing signal HD and to a fixed output of an oscillator (not shown). Then, gate control circuit 5b applies a signal for opening/closing a gate for each field to gate circuit 5f so as to allow passage of an A/D conversion value of a high frequency component only within this focusing area. This gate circuit 5f may be provided anywhere at a preceding stage of an integrating circuit 5g which will be described later.
Only the A/D conversion value of the high frequency component corresponding to the focusing area is applied to integrating circuit 5g for each field by this gate circuit 5f. Integrating circuit 5g integrates the applied A/D conversion value for each field, to supply the integrated value as a focus evaluating value of the present field.
FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating the relationship between a focusing lens position and a focus evaluating value in an automatic focusing operation of the hill-climbing servo system by the automatic focusing apparatus shown in FIG. 1.
A description will now be given of an automatic focusing operation immediately after an automatic focusing control starts, with reference to FIGS. 1-3. Immediately after the start of the automatic focusing operation, a focus evaluating value corresponding to the first one field output from focus evaluating value generating circuit 5 is first applied to a maximum value memory 6 and an initial value memory 7 and then held therein. Thereafter, a focusing motor control circuit 10 rotates focusing motor 3 which is a stepping motor in a predetermined direction, to displace lens 1 along the direction of an optical axis. A comparator 9 then makes a comparison between an initial focus evaluating value held in initial value memory 7 and the present focus evaluating value output from focus evaluating value generating circuit 5, to generate a comparison signal. Focusing motor control circuit 10 responds to the generated comparison signal to initialize a direction in which focusing motor 3 rotates.
That is, focusing motor control circuit 10 keeps rotating focusing motor 3 in the above-described predetermined direction until comparator 9 generates a comparison output indicating "large" or "small". If comparator 9 outputs a comparison output indicating that the present focus evaluating value is higher than the initial focus evaluating value held in initial value memory 7, then focusing motor control circuit 10 maintains the above-described predetermined rotating direction. Conversely, if a comparison output indicating that the present focus evaluating value is lower than the initial focus evaluating value is obtained, then focusing motor control circuit 10 reverses the rotating direction of focusing motor 3.
Thus, the initialization of the rotating direction of focusing motor 3 is completed. Focusing motor control circuit 10 thereafter monitors an output of a comparator 8. In order to prevent a malfunction due to noise of the focus evaluating value, comparator 9 may be adapted not to generate the comparison output indicating "large" or "small" while the difference between the initial focus evaluating value and the present focus evaluating value does not exceed a predetermined threshold value.
Comparator 8 makes a comparison between the maximum focus evaluating value held so far in maximum value memory 6 and the present focus evaluating value output from focus evaluating value generating circuit 5, to output two types of comparison signals (S.sub.1, S.sub.2) the signal (in a first mode) indicating that the present focus evaluating value is higher than the focus evaluating value held in maximum value memory 6, and the other signal (in a second mode) indicating that the present focus evaluating value is lowered by a predetermined first threshold value M or more with respect to the focus evaluating value held in the memory 6 (FIG. 3). If the present focus evaluating value takes a higher value than the contents of maximum value memory 6, then the contents of memory 6 is updated in response to the output S.sub.1 of comparator 8, so that the maximum value of the focus evaluating value so far is always held in maximum value memory 6.
A signal indicating the position of focusing ring 2 is generated from a motor position detecting circuit 30 in response to the position of focusing ring 2 supporting focusing lens 1 and then applied to a focusing ring position memory 13. More specifically, motor position detecting circuit 30 is constituted by an up-down counter which is reset at the time point when the automatic focusing operation starts. This up-down counter counts up the amount of steps of focusing motor 3, which is the stepping motor, in the direction of a near point as a positive variation, while it counts down the step amount in the direction of a far point as a negative variation. The up-down counter then supplies count values thereof as the focus ring position signal to focusing ring position memory 13. This focusing ring position memory 13 is updated in response to the output S.sub.1 of comparator 8 so as to always hold a focusing ring position signal generated when the focus evaluating value is maximum.
Focusing motor control circuit 10 monitors the output of comparator 8 while rotating focusing motor 3 in a direction initialized in response to the output of comparator 9 as described above. When the comparison output S.sub.2 in the second mode, in which the present focus evaluating value is lowered by the above-described first threshold value M or more as compared with the maximum focus evaluating value, is obtained from comparator 8, focusing motor control circuit 10 reverses the rotating direction of focusing motor 3 (FIG. 3). This reverse rotation causes the moving direction of lens 1 to change from the direction in which lens 1 approaches the image sensor to the direction in which the lens departs from the image sensor, or conversely, from the direction in which the lens departs from the image sensor to the direction in which the lens approaches the image sensor. In order to prevent a malfunction due to noise of the focus evaluating value, the rotating direction of focusing motor 3 is not reversed until the present focus evaluating value is lowered by the predetermined first threshold value M or more.
After the reversal of the rotating direction of focusing motor 3, a comparator 14 makes a comparison between the contents of focusing ring position memory 13 corresponding to the maximum value of the focus evaluating value and the present focusing ring position signal generated from motor position detecting circuit 30. When both match, i.e., the focusing ring 2 returns to a position at which the focus evaluating value assumes its maximum value, focusing motor control circuit 10 stops the rotation of focusing motor 3 (FIG. 3). At the same time, focusing motor control circuit 10 outputs a lens stop signal LS. A series of automatic focusing operations are thus completed.
A memory 11 and a comparator 12 serve as circuits for restarting the automatic focusing operation performed by focusing motor control circuit 10 in case where the focus evaluating value changes by a predetermined second threshold value or more when the focusing lens stops. That is, the focus evaluating value, which is obtained at the time when focusing motor control circuit 10 completes the automatic focusing operation, to generate lens stop signal LS, is held in memory 11. Then, comparator 12 makes a comparison between the contents of memory 11 and the present focus evaluating value output from focus evaluating value generating circuit 5. If the difference between the contents of memory 11 and the present focus evaluating value is larger than the predetermined second threshold value, then an object variation signal is applied to focusing motor control circuit 10 with a determination that some changes occur in the object. As a result, focusing motor control circuit 10 restarts the automatic focusing operation, so that an automatic focusing operation following the change of the object is attained.
The conventional automatic focusing apparatus of the above-described hill-climbing servo system can achieve a highly precise in-focus operation and is also highly adaptable to various types of objects; however, the apparatus has the following disadvantages.
More specifically, a disadvantage concerns an approach of setting a focusing area, i.e., a region in which a high frequency component of a luminance signal is integrated to be calculated as a focus evaluating value. If the focusing area is set to be large, for example, a desired object cannot be brought into focus due to an influence caused such as by the background being included in the set focusing area. Conversely, if the focusing area is set to be small, an object having a sufficient contrast, results in an unstable automatic focusing operation due to a high frequency component being out of the focusing area.
A method of eliminating the disadvantage with respect to the selection of the focusing area is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 01-284181. More specifically, a method is proposed in which two areas, a large area and small area are previously set in a picture, and either one of those two areas is selected as a focusing area depending on the state of the automatic focusing operation, for example, based on a variation ratio of a focus evaluating value of each area, or alternatively, based on an absolute value of a focus evaluating value per unit area size of each area.
If many factors such as the variation ratio, the absolute value, etc. of the focus evaluating values are employed at the same time, then a highly precise and stable automatic focusing operation can be achieved under various picture taking conditions and with respect to various kinds of objects. As the number of factors to be employed for such an automatic focusing operation increases, however, the scale of the automatic focusing apparatus inevitably increases. In addition, with respect to only one factor to be employed, it is necessary to prepare individual results for various values which can be taken by this factor, entailing a further increase in the scale of the automatic focusing apparatus.
In case where there is some factor of variation in the focus evaluating value, for example, the object changes upon determination of the moving direction of the lens when the automatic focusing operation starts, it is difficult to accurately determine the moving direction based only on an increase or decrease of the focus evaluating value as described above.
Thus, in order to eliminate such a disadvantage regarding the determination of the direction, the inventor of the present application has proposed a technique of determining the moving direction of the lens based on a change of a relative ratio caused by a slight movement of the lens upon the start of the automatic focusing operation, in view of the fact that the relative ratio of two types of focus evaluating values obtained from two high-pass filters having different cut-off frequencies becomes a chevron-shaped function having its summit at an in-focus position. This proposed technique is, however, not yet made public. Even in such a method, however, an increase in the scale of the automatic focusing apparatus inevitably occurs in order to perform a highly precise determination of the direction under various picture taking circumstances and with respect to various objects, for the same reason as in the case of the above-described area selection.
The foregoing Japanese Patent Lying-Open No. 01-284181 also discloses a technique in which regarding the selection of a focusing area, if the focus evaluating value of the smaller area of two areas is higher than or equal to a predetermined value, then that area is selected as a focusing area; and conversely, if that focus evaluating value of the smaller area is lower than the predetermined value, then the larger area is selected as a focusing area with a determination that an object to be brought into focus no longer exists in the smaller area.
If the selection of the focusing area is made simply based on the degree of the focus evaluating values as described above, however, it becomes difficult to distinguish between the state where the object to be brought into focus does not exist in the focusing area and the state where the object exists in the focusing area, but is greatly defocused, and hence the focus evaluating value is lower. Thus, there occurs a disadvantage that not a desired object in the center of a picture but the peripheries of the picture is brought into focus.
Moreover, the conventional automatic focusing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 has another disadvantage in that an accurate automatic focusing operation cannot be performed when an object in which a high frequency component is not easily produced in a luminance signal even in an in-focus state, e.g. walls having no design thereon are image-sensed.
In more detail, the focus evaluating value does not decrease in excess of the first threshold value M (FIG. 3) below the maximum value of the focus evaluating value during an automatic focusing operation with respect to the above-described object. Accordingly, a determination is never made that the position of the lens in which the focus evaluating value takes the maximum value is an in-focus position. Thus, the lens keeps being displaced in the whole course between an infinite far point and a near point, so that the focusing motor can not stop therebetween.
In the conventional automatic focusing apparatus, in the above case, i.e., the case where the lens makes a single scanning in the whole course between the infinite far point and the near point, the lens is unconditionally returned to the position where the focus evaluating value takes the maximum value, or alternatively to the initial position where the automatic focusing operation starts, so as to stop the focusing motor. More specifically, in such a conventional automatic focusing apparatus, the stop of the focusing motor is valued higher than the reliability of the automatic focusing operation itself, and hence, the probability that a final stop position of the lens is an in-focus position is considerably lower than the probability obtained when an object having a sufficiently large high frequency component is image-sensed.
As described in the foregoing, in case where the automatic focusing operation is completed with the object being greatly defocused, even if an object having a sufficiently high contrast is thereafter entered in the focusing area, no change occurs in the high frequency component of a luminance signal due to the excessively high degree of defocus. Accordingly, the focus evaluating value does not make such a change as to exceed the above-described second threshold value. Consequently, there is a disadvantage that comparator 12 of FIG. 1 can not detect such a change of the object, so that a focusing operation with respect to a new object is not restarted.

Automatic focusing apparatus for automatically adjusting focus in response to video signal by fuzzy inference