A vehicle (100) comprises a docking port and a selectively demountable switch (10) having a body and a rotary knob (40) on the body, and an interface between the switch and the docking port to enable commands entered by operation of the rotary knob to be communicated to the vehicle (100). The vehicle (100) incorporates a tow-assist system to facilitate reversing of a trailer, the vehicle (100) being of the type having a positive power-assisted steering mechanism (350) for its steerable wheels (250). The system comprises computing means (310) and the demountable switch (10). The computing means (350) is arranged to interpret rotational movement of the knob (40) on the body as desired steering movements of the trailer when the vehicle (100) is being reversed and to effect steering commands for the positive power assisted steering mechanism (350) to achieve said desired steering movements of the trailer.

Towing trailers using a vehicle is straightforward until it is necessary to reverse the vehicle. Operating in reverse a vehicle towing a trailer is a skill that must be learned. It is counter-intuitive because to turn the trailer to the left (when facing rearwardly) it is necessary first to turn the rear of the vehicle towing (or pushing in this case) the trailer to the right, which in turn means steering to the right to make the front of the vehicle move to the left. That is opposite to the direction of turning the steering wheel if the driver wanted to position the rear of the vehicle to the left in normal reversing without a trailer. Moreover, the direction of turn of the steering wheel soon needs to change, otherwise the trailer is apt to jack-knife with respect to the pushing vehicle. Because such reversing of a trailer is not frequently required, it is a skill that is not widely practiced, and therefore is not easily learned. It challenges many drivers and may even be a cause in some cases of a user choosing not to employ a vehicle with a trailer at all, but instead to acquire a larger vehicle that has the carrying capacity of a normal car and trailer without the need for a trailer.
Nevertheless, the technique for reversing a trailer is well understood and can be calculated and computed relatively easily when certain parameters are known, the most important being the geometry of the vehicle and trailer wheel bases. Indeed, the technology exists that can take over entirely the steering of a reversing trailer, provided the desired position and direction required of the trailer is known.
Tow-assist technology is known. There are two current options. A first provides a simple rear-facing camera and an in-cockpit screen on which the video image captured by the camera is displayed. When in tow-assist mode, and the vehicle is put into reverse gear (and knowing the geometry of the vehicle and the distance of the trailer axle from a towing hook), a computing system calculates the path a trailer will follow with a given (the current) steering input and displays it on the screen. The driver then needs to change the steering commands as the vehicle progresses in order to maintain a desired path. In this instance, for example, an initial right turn position of the steering wheel may be reflected by a left path for the trailer.
That may be as desired, but as the turn proceeds, if no change is made to the steering wheel, it is likely that the indicated path of the trailer will "tighten" rapidly. The driver needs to know that the steering must to be straightened to reduce the degree of turn of the trailer. The vehicle is at all times in the control of the driver.
The second option is to place into the video image the desired path to be taken by the trailer (for example by manipulating virtual tram lines in the image, or indeed by indicating an ultimate desired parking position in the image) and then leave the vehicle to steer itself appropriately under control of a computer algorithm, the driver merely operating the accelerator and brake and monitoring progress, releasing the steering wheel to be operated by the vehicle.
The latter system obviously involves positive power-assisted steering. That is, not merely amplification of steering movements implemented by the driver's actuation of a steering wheel, but initiation of steering movements under computer control. This is the first stage of steering-by-wire. However, complete steering-by-wire (that is, disconnection of a physical link between a steering wheel and the vehicle wheels to be steered) is not currently a practical arrangement (in the sense of being publicly or legally acceptable or permissible).
This system requires an interface between the driver and vehicle to input desired trailer trajectory, path or position instructions. In steering-by-wire, it would be feasible to use the vehicle steering wheel, because this could be disconnected from normal vehicle steering mode during trailer reversing. Aspects of the present invention provide such an arrangement. However, this is not going to be available unless and until steering-by-wire becomes a viable option in vehicles generally.
Nevertheless, whatever arrangement is provided for inputting commands for assisted reversing of a vehicle towing a trailer, it will always be a relatively rare occurrence to use those arrangements. Providing in-built controls for that purpose is somewhat excessive, particularly given the plethora of other controls already to be catered for; the "real estate" of a vehicle's dashboard and centre console (where control elements for a driver are typically located) is already crowded with functionality.
Some vehicle manufacturers have elected to use touch-screens and the like for both providing on-board information to the vehicle occupants as well as enabling input to the vehicle's control systems. Such screens work very well. However, other vehicle manufacturers employ more physical devices and indeed rotary knobs that are certainly better suited for some kinds of control than are touch screens. The reasons for this are multifarious and one advantage is the lack of necessity to watch the control while it is being operated. Steering control is one example where a rotary knob is potentially superior, since the driver can watch the surroundings while accurately inputting steering commands. Some rotary knobs are multi-modal. That is, they can operate different controls simply by selecting a particular function. This may be achieved by moving the position of the knob (e.g. axially) so that it engages different control elements of the knob. Alternatively, the knob may be universal having no endstops (that is, it may be rotated infinitely) and it is only a degree of rotation from a current position that is detected by the system it is operating, which may be switched between different functions by operation of other switches. The latter is not always desirable since there is no feedback that an end position has been reached.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a system that addresses the above issues and at least mitigates some of the problems discussed.


A method of simulating the appearance of smoke in an electronically generated video image that uses one or more intersecting opaque spheres. Each sphere has a nonuniform smoke density that produces feathered edges. The smoke sphere is an object modeled as a center point (the coordinates of the center of the sphere in three dimensions), a radius (in database coordinates), and a set of parameters that include density and color. The center point is transformed into display screen coordinates, and the radius is transformed into a screen coordinate length. The sphere is projected into a circle in screen coordinates, and a bounding square is generated in screen coordinates that is centered at the sphere center point. The bounding square is then converted into a transparency having color and density attributes added to its data structure. Thus the bounding square has the same data structure as transparent or opaque objects and is processed in the same manner. The transparency is clipped to the boundaries of the display screen. Occlusion processing may then be performed wherein objects located within the smoke cloud are occluded, based upon their relative distance into the cloud. After occlusion processing, a stack of distance-sorted objects are generated to produce an output pixel. If a object has not been occluded for a pixel, it is displayed on the display screen, along with the smoke and other objects. A typical smoke cloud includes several spheres, including one or two large ones that intersect terrain surfaces to appear as hemispheres. The present method forms a smoke cloud that is perspectively invariant, and offers much greater flexibility to provide for dynamic changes in the shape of the smoke cloud.

The present invention relates generally to smoke simulation methods, and more particularly, to a method of simulating smoke in an electronically generated video image that uses one or more opaque spheres to simulate the smoke.
Battlefield smoke is an important element of cover and concealment. To be effective in battlefield simulations, smoke simulation should include a number of attributes, including the following. The smoke should have controllable size, color, and density to model its creation, battlefield obscuration, and dissipation. The smoke should have limited extent and be three-dimensional in appearance. The term "volumetric smoke" is sometimes used to distinguish the desired effect from that achieved with conventional translucent planes used to simulate smoke. Objects should be obscured in proportion to their distance into a smoke cloud. The smoke cloud should appear perspectively correct and perspectively invariant. The smoke cloud should look as if it were the same object regardless of the viewpoint of the observer. The smoke should look realistic.
In practice, realism and perfection in a computer implemented simulation are compromised in the interests of minimizing costs. One proposed battlefield smoke simulation implementation uses one set of compromises, and is described in a paper published in the December, 1991 Industry/Interservice Training Systems Conference Proceedings. In addition, there are conventional smoke generation methods that make nice looking smoke and cloud images on computer displays, but they run very slowly and are not suitable for high speed rendering required for an image generator that produces 15 to 60 frames per second.
Heretofore there has been a unmet need in the smoke simulation art in that smoke is needed for training tank crews and others in simulated battlefield encounters. Existing image generators do not provide the required perspectively correct volumetric aspects of the smoke, i.e., things should gradually disappear as they become immersed in the smoke. The approach described in the above-cited paper is not perspectively correct and seems expensive to implement. The conventional method is to model smoke using textured translucent polygons, somewhat like glass paintings. However, the "glass painting" are not volumetric and do not look very realistic.
The basic equations used in simulating smoke are discussed below, along with a discussion of the above-cited proposed battlefield smoke simulation implementation. The basic light attenuation equation that applies to most light absorbing media, like smoke, clouds, dust, and haze is: EQU dI/dz=-I/p,
where I is light intensity, p is smoke density, and z is distance through the smoke. Assuming a uniform density, this equation may be integrated to yield an attenuation function: EQU I=Io exp (-z/p)
where Io is incident light intensity, and I is the intensity remaining after traversing a thickness z of the absorbing medium (smoke). The parameter p is a thickness that reduces the light intensity to 1/e of its incident value. For a color image, there are three such equations for red, green, and blue components of the image.
The above exponential attenuation function is the same as for haze fading, which is identically derived. The color components of a pixel are also generated using a factor f=exp (-z/p), and the output color components are given by: EQU I.sub.out =fI.sub.object +(1-f) I.sub.smoke
for each of the three color components of an object and the smoke.
From these equations it has been determined that the keys to an effective smoke generation method are determining how much smoke has been penetrated by the light path, computation (or by using a precomputed lookup table) of the integral of the smoke density (which is exponential if the density is uniform), and application of the attenuation function using f and (1-f). To obtain interesting variations in a smoke cloud, a way must be provided to vary the light penetration distance or the density of the smoke cloud, or both.
The above-cited proposed method of generating simulated smoke varies the computed penetration depth of the smoke using texture maps. In the proposed method, a nominal smoke depth is first computed. The smoke surface starts out as a faceted, polygon model that always faces the viewpoint. The polygon smoke model is similar to a billboard polygon used to receive a color and transparency map for a billboard tree. The "smoke billboard" is gimballed to face the viewpoint in both azimuth and elevation angles, and it uses multiple polygons to approximate a curved surface, much like a piece of the surface of a sphere gimballed around the center of the sphere.
The smoke billboard is textured using two or more parameters. One parameter varies the intensity of the billboard surface, providing a picture of a smoke cloud. A second parameter is added to the nominal smoke depth before computing a smoke fading factor. Varying the depth indirectly provides variations in the transparency of the smoke. The concealment of an object at any point depends upon both the geometric distance from the front of the billboard and upon the texture-induced variation.
One virtue of the above-cited conventional method is that still frames look impressively realistic. The principal drawback, however, is that the smoke is not perspectively invariant. A cloud looks the same in every detail whether viewed from the north, south, east, west, or from above. To keep this perspective flaw from being too obvious, the conventional method models clouds that are close to hemispheric in shape, and which by symmetry, have an outline that is nearly the same when viewed from all directions. A second apparent limitation of this method is that while the smoke objects can be scaled geometrically and the overall transparency can be varied, it is not easy to continuously vary the basic shape for swirling effects or for dissipation.

Computer-implemented method of rendering an image of smoke


Methods, systems, and media for facilitating user interactions while watching media content are provided. In accordance with some embodiments, the method comprises: associating a first user device with a second user device, wherein the first user device and the second user device are associated with a first user; causing, on the first user device, a media content item to be presented; receiving an indication that the media content item is being presented on a third user device associated with a second user; causing, on the first user device, a selectable indication that the media content item is being presented on the third user device to be presented; and in response to determining that the selectable indication has been selected on the first user device, causing a communication interface for exchanging messages between the second user device and the third user device to be presented on the second user device.

People often watch media content items and may be interested in discussing media content that they are currently viewing with friends who are also viewing the same media content. For example, a person who is currently viewing a television program associated with an event (e.g., a political debate, a game, an awards ceremony, etc.) may be interested in discussing the event with a friend who happens to be viewing the same television program at the same time. However, it can be difficult to determine what media content a friend has viewed recently or is currently viewing.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide methods, systems, and media for facilitating user interactions while watching media content.


A feedthrough (34) is formed of a feedthrough plate (44) having at least one bore (46) therethrough and a feedthrough pin (48) hermetically sealed into the bore (46). The feedthrough pin (48) includes an elongated pin (50) having an axis of elongation (52), a recess (54) in at least one end of the pin (50), the recess (54) extending parallel to the axis of elongation (52), and a gold coating (56) within the recess (54). There are preferably a plurality of bores (46) in the feedthrough plate (48) and a corresponding plurality of the feedthrough pins (48). The gold coatings (56) at the ends of the feedthrough pins (48) are desirably lapped to ensure coplanarity and a smooth surface finish especially suited for wire bonding or tab bonding.

This invention relates to electrical feedthroughs, and, more particularly, for feedthrough pins utilized in the feedthroughs.
Many types of apparatus utilize an electrical feedthrough across a wall that separates two environments. The electrical feedthrough permits electrical signals and power to be conducted across the wall, but prevents any movement of mass, such as gas leakage, across the wall. As an example, an infrared sensor is typically contained in a vacuum enclosure. The sensor is cooled to cryogenic temperatures, typically about 77.degree. K. or less. Output signals are conducted from the sensor to electronic devices located exterior to the vacuum enclosure, without losing the hermetic vacuum seal, via an electrical feedthrough in the wall of the enclosure.
The feedthrough is usually constructed with a plurality of feedthrough pins hermetically sealed in bores in a feedthrough plate made of an insulating material such as a ceramic. The feedthrough plate is hermetically sealed to the remainder of the wall of the package structure, here the vacuum enclosure. The ceramic insulator electrically isolates the feedthrough pins from the wall and from each other.
An electrical connection is made to each end of the feedthrough pin. In order to achieve a reliable, uniform connection to the feedthrough pins by techniques such as wire bonding or tab bonding, the ends of the set of feedthrough pins should be closely coplanar. The ends of the feedthrough pins should also have a good quality, smooth surface finish. In order to achieve coplanar, smooth ends of the feedthrough pins, the ends may be lapped or otherwise processed after the feedthrough pins are fixed to the feedthrough plate.
It is difficult to achieve the required coplanarity and surface finish on the ends of the feedthrough pins at the operation which bonds the pins to the plate, using conventional techniques. There is therefore a need for an improved approach to achieving coplanar, bondable feedthrough pins, and the feedthrough construction. The present invention fulfills this need, and further provides related advantages.

Feedthrough pin and process for its preparation, and electrical feedthrough made therewith


Disclosed is a parallel connector assembly for a disk drive mainly including an L-shaped fixing member, an upper and a lower connectors associated together by the fixing member, a first base integrally formed with the lower connector and having a plurality of pins disposed at a bottom surface thereof, a second base connected to a back side of the first base and having a plurality of pins disposed at a bottom surface thereof, wires connecting the upper and the lower connectors to the pins on the second and the first bases, respectively, a housing having an integrally formed fixing block, and a spacing member together with the fixing block to space and locate the wires in place. The wires spaced and located by the fixing block and the spacing member can be protected from deformation to avoid short circuit and thereby ensure stable and correct data transmission. And, the wires can be quickly connected to the connectors and the bases by inserting them into holes formed on the connectors and the bases.

The present invention relates to a parallel connector assembly for a disk drive, and more particularly to a parallel connector assembly for a disk drive in which the lead wires are connected and fixed by insertion instead of soldering and fixing and spacing components are provided to prevent the double lead wires from deformation, short-circuiting, etc.
FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrates a conventional parallel connector assembly which includes an upper and a lower connectors 11, 1, respectively, parallelly connected to each other. A housing 10 associates these two connectors 11, 1 together. The two parallelly connected connectors 11, 1 are disposed inside the housing 10 such that they are electrically connected to pins separately provided on two bases 31, 3, respectively. That is, all pins 9 behind the connectors 11, 1 and pins 9 provided on the two bases 31, 3 are fixedly soldered to a PC board 8 having corresponding copper foil wires L thereon. Only when the pins 9 behind the connectors 11, 1 are electrically connected to the pins 9 provided on the two bases 31, 3, can the connectors 11, 1 be electrically connected with pins 41, 4 provided on the bases 31, 3, respectively.
Following disadvantages are found in the above-described conventional parallel connector assembly:
1. It is inconvenient to solder all the pins behind the connectors 11, 1 and on the bases 31, 3 to a PC board 8 having corresponding copper foil wires L thereon. In addition to the time-consuming soldering, shortcomings resulting from such soldering tend to cause incorrect date transmission. PA0 2. It is uneasy to repair and maintain the connector in the future and high cost is usually required to do such maintenance.

Parallel connector assembly for a disk drive


An adjustment device for a ski binding comprises a slide mounted on a ski, where the slide includes a plurality of legs and a base. A locking member, which has a plurality of teeth, is pivotably mounted on the base on a pivot axis. A guide plate which has a plurality of prongs and a strip including a plurality of teeth guides the slide. An adjustment mechanism adjusts the slide relative to the guide plate. The adjustment means is actuated for bringing the teeth of the locking member into engagement with the teeth of the strip and for bringing one of the prongs of the guide plate into frictional engagement with one of the legs of the slide.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an adjusting device for a ski binding.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An adjusting device for a ski binding is described in German Offenlegungsschrift No. 1,954,512. In this adjusting device, an adjusting member is designed as a pusher which is displaceable transversely relative to the longitudinal direction of the ski and which can be locked by means of a spring. The pusher is provided with a recess into which an extension of a locking member designed as a two-armed lever is fitted.
The disadvantage of this adjusting device is that, because of the teeth which are triangular as seen in plan view, during operation the locking member is subjected to a torque which tends to disengage the teeth of the locking member from the teeth of the toothed strip. As a result of this torque, however, the surface pressure between the extension of the locking member, located on the shorter lever arm, and the recess in the pusher, into which the extension engages, becomes so great that, after the adjusting device has been in use for a long time, deformations can occur, resulting in an unintentional release of the locking member and the toothed strip.
Another adjusting device is described in Austrian Patent Specification No. 375,260. This adjusting device has a frame-shaped guide plate which is equipped with angled guides disposed in the region of its edges and extending in the longitudinal direction. However, it is impossible for the guide plate to be bent and consequently pressed against the slide by the locking member, even in this arrangement, where the locking member is designed as a one-armed lever. This patent specification discloses only a positive connection between the slide and the base plate of the ski and using a cam as an adjusting device of a ski binding. Using an eccentric as an adjusting member is disclosed in Austrian Patent Specification No. 338,674.
The concept, in an adjusting device for a ski binding, of retaining the slide not only as a result of a positive connection, but also as a result of friction, is already known per se, as shown by French Patent Specification No. 2,578,434. In the embodiment described therein a guide plate fastened to a ski is formed with a substantively U-shaped cross-section, and a row of holes is made in one leg of the U. Mounted displaceably on this guide plate is a slide which, in one of its end regions, carriers locking teeth adapted to be engaged with the row of holes. The slide can be pivoted within the guide plate until the locking teeth can be disengaged from the row of holes.
However, to prevent the adjusting device from being released unintentionally, mounted rotatably in a recess of the slide, on an axle perpendicular to the top side of the ski, is a two-armed lever, the longer arm of which is supported, in the locked position of the adjusting device, on that leg of the guide plate which does not have holes. The shorter arm of the lever rests against an adjusting member which fixes the lever either in a position in which the longer arm projects laterally beyond the slide, or else in a position in which this arm is in line with the side face of the slide.
The disadvantage of this design is that it has a complicated construction, since to obtain the desired effect (locking of the lever in two positions) either the axle of the lever or the axle of the adjusting member has to be mounted in an elastomeric intermediate sleeve. The lever is therefore biased by a spring, which sets limits on the force and which thereby reduces the friction. This is all the more so because the pressing force is reduced at the point of application as a result of the lever reduction.


A device for operating a switch of a railway track including switch blades. The device includes a drive module, a linear operating module coupled to and driven by the drive module for generating a linear movement and at least one locking module interconnected between the linear operating module and the switch blades. The locking module transfers the linear movement from the linear operating module to the switch blades, thereby moving the switch blades across a longitudinal direction of the railway track from a first position to a second position. The at least one locking module also locks the switch blades in the first position or the second position independently of the linear operating module. A girder box forms a sleeper of the railway track for housing the drive module, the linear operating module, and the at least one locking module. The device also includes apparatus for joining the drive module, the linear operating module, and the at least one locking module. The joining apparatus permits independent replacement of the drive module, the linear operating module, and the at least one locking module. The drive module, the linear operating module, and the at least one locking module are separate units.

When operating a switch of a railway track, a switch operating mechanism is required to move two, usually interconnected, switch blades from a first end position, to a second end position. In the first end position, one switch blade makes contact with the inside of one of the rails of a railway track. In the second end position, the other switch blade makes contact with the inside of the other rail of a railway track. The prior art usually discloses a switch operating mechanism that is located on one side of the track. From this mechanism, the switch blades are influenced in an indirect manner with the aid of connecting rods that pass under the nearest support rail in the railway track and under the nearest switch blade. The connecting rod is then connected to the link, which interconnects the two switch blades. Further, control rods are utilized for indication of switch blade positions. These rods and links are exposed to the surroundings, which means that such equipment is relatively unprotected against the effect of environmental factors such as snow, ice and dirt. The equipment comprising rods and links is usually located between sleepers for supporting rails in a railway track and, thus, constitutes an obstacle to mechanical track maintenance, since such equipment cannot withstand the stresses from such maintenance work.
Swedish patent application SE 396425 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,093,163) discloses a proposal for solving the above-mentioned problems. The cited document suggests a method for solving the problems by arranging the switch operating mechanism in a box girder of approximately the same dimensions as those of an ordinary sleeper to support track rails. The box girder, with the switch operating mechanism housed therein, can be arranged symmetrically in the pattern of juxtaposed, equidistantly spaced sleepers that serve as a base for the rails of a railway track. At the same time, the box girder provides protection against external environmental influence for all the equipment enclosed in the box girder. In this respect, the switch operating mechanism constitutes no obstacle to the use of mechanical equipment for track maintenance at switches with one or more switch machines. However, the switch machine according to the cited document has never been commercially exploited, and this for several reasons, some of which will be described in the following.
Current demands for rapid transports have resulted in extensions and improvements of railway tracks to permit higher speeds of vehicles on these tracks. Today, speeds of between 200 and 300 km/h are not unusual for high-speed trains. Increased speeds are aimed at for tramway and underground vehicles.
The safety requirements have always been very stringent for railbound traffic. One component in the railbound communication networks that is especially sensitive to faults are the switches that of necessity, are included in all track systems. Switches that, for various reasons, are incorrectly set are responsible for a large proportion of the accidents that occur in railbound traffic. Modern switches must fulfill high safety requirements. The solution to a switch described in the above publication does not fulfill these high requirements. One of the major weaknesses is that the switch machine according to the above prior art does not lock the switch in the different switch blade positions from the safety point of view. No separated locking function exists. In addition, with the simple locking, which is vaguely mentioned in the cited publication, the operating mechanism of the switch machine itself is subjected to the very great forces to which the locking can be subjected. Nor is there any possibility of detecting whether the switch is locked in one or the other end position. Another drawback is that the known switch machine is not adapted to permit rail displacement, that is, the phenomenon which results in extension or shortening of the rails. Rail displacement, which entails mutual displacements between the switch blades and the adjacent support rail in the switch, must be acceptable.
In addition, the known switch machine does not have the possibility of adapting to different strokes for operating switch blades the desired distances in the longitudinal direction of the switch machine, that is, across the track. This is a requirement if the same switch machine is to be able to be used in switches for operation by high-speed vehicles. Such switches can be very long since a large curve radius is required for the high-speed vehicles, whereby 5-6 switch machines in a row along the track may be required for operating one single switch, since the switch blades can be very long. The strokes of the switch machines located along the switch may be capable of being adapted to the requirement of the respective switch blade for lateral displacement at the respective location of the switch machines.
One further disadvantage with the known switch are the service problems. Since all equipment is housed in the above-mentioned box girder, the accessibility is reduced since the box girder must be opened for replacement of units.

Device for operating a switch for rail points


A method and article for providing a low-thermal-resistance, high-electrical-isolation heat intercept connection. The connection method involves clamping, by thermal interference fit, an electrically isolating cylinder between an outer metallic ring and an inner metallic disk. The connection provides durable coupling of a heat sink and a heat source.

The present invention relates generally to heat sink connectors. More particularly, the present invention relates to heat sink connectors having high thermal conductivity and at the same time also having high electrical isolation.
In the operation of many electrical devices, heat is generated by the operation of the device itself and must be removed. Heat removal can be accomplished using a heat transferring connector to mechanically join the electrical current carrying conductor or surface to a heat sink which is cooled by a coolant bath or refrigeration source. It is highly desirable that the connector has high electrical isolation, so that a flow of current will not interfere with the operation of the electrical device.
Additionally, electrical current carrying conductors and surfaces often require the removal of heat as a part of their normal operation. The heat removal of these conductors and surfaces can also be accomplished by a mechanical connection to a heat sink that is cooled by a coolant bath or by a refrigeration source. Such connections ideally provide both effective removal of heat (high thermal conductivity) and effective electrical isolation (high electrical resistivity and high dielectric strength). Such connections should be straightforward to implement and provide reliable performance independent of operating temperature for long periods of time.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a novel method and apparatus for providing a heat sink connection having both high thermal conductivity and high electrical isolation.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved heat sink connection having effective performance over a wide operating temperature range.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a novel heat sink connection capable of performing effectively for long periods of time.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved heat sink connection that is straightforward to construct and capable of being manufactured at a reasonable cost.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide a novel method and apparatus suitable for intercepting heat transferred to a high temperature superconductor (HTS) lead from a conventional lead.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for constructing a durable heat sink connection.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide a novel method and apparatus for intercepting heat produced by a heat source which is assembled using thermal interference fitting.
It is still a further object of the invention to provide a novel heat sink connector having material compatibility with the object to be cooled, thereby helping to prevent undesirable chemical reaction between the connector, the heat sink and the object to be cooled.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide an improved heat sink connector having suitable mechanical properties over the desired operating temperature range, thereby preventing melting, undesirable bonding with the object to be cooled or the heat sink, and incompatible thermal expansion of the connector.

High thermal conductivity connector having high electrical isolation


An electronic system for testing an electronic device responsive to a data clock signal and to a serial input data signal synchronous with the data clock signal comprises an oscillator for generating oscillator pulses, a data clock signal generator responsive to oscillator pulses for generating the data clock signal, timing circuitry for counting oscillator pulses and for generating at least one input select signal indicative of the number of oscillator pulses counted, and multiplexing circuitry for receiving at least two parallel input data signals and for sequentially selecting the parallel input data signals in response to the input select signal or signals to generate the serial input data signal.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to electronic systems for testing electronic devices and more particularly to electronic systems which convert parallel input data signals into serial input data signals for testing electronic devices responsive to serial input data signals.
2. Summary of the Invention
In accordance with the present invention, an electronic system for testing an electronic device responsive to a serial input data signal comprises an oscillator for repetitively generating oscillator pulses at a selected repetition period, timing circuitry for counting oscillator pulses and for generating one or more input select signals indicative of the number or numbers of oscillator pulses counted, and multiplexing circuitry for receiving two or more parallel input data signals and for sequentially selecting each of the parallel input data signals in response to the input select signal or signals to generate the serial input data signal. The electronic device under test accepts the serial input data signal when it is synchronous with a data clock signal produced by a data clock signal generator responsive to oscillator pulses.
Preferably, the electronic testing system includes a data clock signal inhibitor for inhibiting the data clock signal after the multiplexing circuitry has selected each of the parallel input data signals a specified number of times so that the device under test no longer accepts the serial input data signal. The data clock signal inhibitor inhibits the data clock signal in response to one or more timing signals produced by the timing circuitry after it has counted a selected number of oscillator pulses.
The testing system may also include circuitry for generating a signal to initiate an auxiliary function further required for evaluating the device under test. The auxiliary function signal is generated in response to one or more timing signals produced by the timing circuitry after it has counted another selected number of oscillator pulses.
To start a new testing sequence, the various components of the testing system are initialized, as necessary, in response to initializing signals. Preferably, initializing signal circuitry generates the initializing signals in response to one or more timing signals produced by the timing circuitry after it has counted a selected number of oscillator pulses.


A power supply circuit is disclosed with a self-oscillating blocking oscillator. A switching transistor and a transformer connecting to a supply voltage produce a DC output voltage which can be obtained from the transformer via a rectifier arrangement. A regulating circuit in a control circuit of the switching transistor is provided which controls the switching transistor as a function of a comparison voltage which is drawn from a primary circuit of the transformer. An integration member connected parallel to the supply voltage produces a periodic, sawtooth-shaped signal which corresponds to the current in the primary circuit and with which the regulating circuit is driven so as to trigger the switching transistor.

The present invention concerns a power supply circuit with a self-oscillating blocking oscillator, which, with the help of a switching transistor and a transformer, produces a DC voltage which can be taken from the transformer via a rectifier arrangement from the DC which is fed to the blocking oscillator. A regulating circuit is also provided in the control circuit of the switching transistor which controls the switching transistor as a function of a comparison voltage which is drawn from the primary circuit of the transformer.
Power supply circuits of this type are, for example, known from German Pat. No 2,160,659 incorporated herein by reference. In the case of such known power supply circuits, the drive signal for the regulating circuit which triggers the switching transistor is created by means of a resistor in the emitter circuit of the switching transistor. In the case of a design of this sort, nevertheless the disadvantage occurs that in the case of a failure of the switching transistor, the complete rectified supply voltage occurs at the emitter resistor, so that the drive circuit can be destroyed. Further, the voltage at this emitter resistor is also burdened with overshoot components, so that hunting arises.

Power supply circuit with a self-oscillating blocking oscillator


The invention relates to a pyrotechnic article (10), comprising at least one first receiving part (11) for a pyrotechnic effect (20) and at least one ignition means (40) connected to the pyrotechnic effect (20). Moreover, at least one auxiliary ignition system (30) is provided, which can be ignited by the ignition means (40), wherein an igniting flame (31) can be generated by the auxiliary ignition system (30), and the igniting flame (31) can, in particular, be directed substantially horizontally out of the pyrotechnic article (10), whereby at least one additional pyrotechnic article comprising a pyrotechnic effect can be ignited.

The present invention relates to a pyrotechnic article according to the preamble of claim 1, comprising at least one first receiving part for a pyrotechnic effect, and to at least one ignition means connected to the pyrotechnic effect. The present invention moreover relates to a firework battery comprising at least one pyrotechnic article, and to a method for igniting at least one second firework.
Pyrotechnic articles which ignite a pyrotechnic effect disposed in a pyrotechnic article by way of an ignition means are known from the general prior art. The ignition means is generally a fuse, which is routed from the pyrotechnic effect to the outer side of the pyrotechnic article so that the fuse can be lit by a user. Additionally, firework batteries are known which comprise a plurality of pyrotechnic articles, which are pyrotechnically connected among one another by way of an ignition means. If a plurality of pyrotechnic articles and/or firework batteries are connected in series or in parallel, it is necessary in the general prior art to pyrotechnically connect the pyrotechnic articles or the firework batteries among one another by way of an ignition means, which is usually designed as a fuse. This is the only way to ensure that multiple pyrotechnic articles or firework batteries can be ignited simultaneously or concurrently. A pyrotechnic article is known from DE 11 2004 001 284 B4, which comprises at least one first receiving part for a pyrotechnic effect and at least one ignition means connected to the pyrotechnic effect. Ignition energy introduced by the ignition means on the pyrotechnic article is conducted through a connecting channel to a second pyrotechnic article that is in contact with and connected to the first pyrotechnic article, so that a second pyrotechnic effect can be ignited.
The solutions from the prior art, however, have the disadvantage that the pyrotechnic articles or the firework batteries must be pyrotechnically connected to one another by way of an ignition means, which is usually designed as a fuse, and, accordingly, the materials thereof are always joined to and in contact with one another via this ignition means. The ignition means connecting the pyrotechnic articles or firework batteries represents a major potential source for possible failures or breaks. Quite frequently, environmental factors play a big role, impairing the function of the ignition means. Moisture in particular poses a big problem, since this is highly likely to prevent a pyrotechnic connection, suppressing the lighting of a pyrotechnic effect. Moreover, a connection of multiple pyrotechnic articles or firework batteries via an ignition means substantially limits the options of arranging the pyrotechnic articles or firework batteries geometrically with respect to one another. In particular, over-the-counter pyrotechnic articles or fireworks batteries, which are generally provided with a conventional fuse, are affected by this.

Ignition system for pyrotechnic articles


A pair of first and second working tables which are oppositely disposed and defining a space therebetween. Provided at the first working table is a detector for identifying a thickness of a plain fabric portion from that of a pile fabric portion of a towel cloth. Provided also at the first working table this is a cutting unit spaced from the detector in a predetermined interval for cutting the towel cloth. Provided at the second working table is a base plate on which a clamping unit is mounted for clamping and drawing the towel cloth. Over the space between the first and the second working tables there is provided a towel cloth drawing unit across the towel cloth and movable vertically for drawing the towel cloth from a towel material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for drawing a towel material having a pile fabric portion and a plain fabric portion which are continuous one after the other and for cutting the plain fabric portion to prepare a towel cloth.
2. Prior Art
A prior art cutting device for cutting the plain fabric portion of towel material employs identification means for identifying the pile fabric portion and the plain fabric portion by identifying their different thicknesses, different sizes, or differences in light transmittances. The identification means can utilize a pair of rollers combined with an optical sensor.
A prior art device for drawing the towel cloth, as disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 60-75667, comprises a drawing unit for clamping the plain fabric portion of the towel cloth between a movable clamping member and a fixed clamping member and then moving the succeeding plain fabric portion between an upper positioning member and a lower positioning member. A presser roller means composed of a plurality of presser roller elements draws a tip end of a succeeding pile fabric portion into a receiving portion defined by the upper and the lower positioning members after completion of the movement of the previous plain fabric portion. A feeding roller means is used which is provided with a slip means corresponding to each presser roller elements.
The towel material has various sizes depending on usage thereof such as a hand towel and a bath towel. Accordingly, there are problems in the prior art device because a long and strong cutting device is required for cutting large sized towel cloth since a long distance of movement of the drawing device is needed. Small sized towels cannot be cut with this device; a much shorter device is required.


A method and system use a processor, video display and relational database to format, define, generate, maintain, distribute and analyze sets of related documents. The process stores document-specific data in a relational database. A computer-controlled video display guides the document author through the creation and maintenance of the documents, while enforcing the document structure and dependency rules. The creation of documents that relate to activities that require multiple actions at specified time points is driven by a time/action electronic matrix that serves as a central control mechanism for each document set; an example is a document set for use in clinical research studies of drugs. Document sets may be electronically transferred between computers by initial storage at each computer of assembly instructions and formatting information and content common to all documents in the document set, and subsequently by transmitting only document-specific information for each document, with assembly of the document being performed by the receiving computer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and system for creating and distributing sets of related documents.
Traditionally, documents are considered as discrete paper records representing textual or other information. In recent years, a broader definition of documents has been adopted that incorporates storage of the underlying document information in electronic form. That can include graphic or other information displays derived from separate computer programs and exported into a computer word processor program and stored as a single computer file in word processor format. Many documents are functionally linked to other documents that deal with a particular business or academic function and can be referred to as `Document Sets`.
Conventional word processor documents store document information in a form fundamentally different from the form used for storage of much of the other data related to the documents (e.g., other data on a business project). Accordingly, integration of the information contained in these disparate documents, Document Sets and databases is difficult, and frequently involves repeated entry of the same information into multiple data storage devices. The Author of a document generated by a word processor does not have easy guidance on the format and content requirements of a given document type. The Author also lacks electronic access to relevant information contained in other documents or databases. Electronic transmission of a document (e.g., via computer networks) is performed by transmission of the entire electronic file for the document, regardless of whether some components of the electronic file are already present at the computer site receiving the document.
For example, Clinical Research Studies of a new drug for use in human disease require a Document Set for each Clinical Study. Each such Clinical Study requires a number of `documents` that are primarily text-based descriptions of various Clinical Study features, such as design and implementation agreements, instructions, and records of implementation of the Clinical Study. The central document for a Clinical Study is the `Protocol` which is a written description of how the Clinical Study will be conducted by an Investigator studying the drug in normal volunteers or patients with disease. In addition, other documents related to Clinical Studies are required. Documents in Clinical Study Document Sets are largely based on the underlying design of the Clinical Study, as represented by a series of actions performed at specified times.
It is therefore desirable to generate Document Sets in a manner that facilitates document creation, integration with other databases, efficient transfer of documents and related files between computers, linkage of related documents so as to access information from a common store, and enforcement of standards to be applied to such documents.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Documents are conventionally generated using either a typewriter or a computer word processor, but these methods have the disadvantage that they do not provide, or have limited capacity for, the following:
Relational Database: Storage within a relational database of document data, structural information, rules and Dependencies, so as to permit linking of comparable data residing in different sections of an individual document or in different documents, sophisticated searching, integration and analysis of the data, and analysis of data across multiple Document Sets. In addition, storage of document data in a relational database facilitates exchange of information between non-document relational databases that contain information functionally related to the information in the documents. PA1 Time/Action Electronic Matrix: A central control mechanism for Document Sets based on an electronic matrix of time periods and associated actions. PA1 Enhanced Electronic dissemination of Documents: Transfer of a document between computers by confining transmission to those portions of a document that are document-specific--i.e., those portions that are not shared by all other documents of the particular type. PA1 Automatic regeneration of Dependent documents or document components: Dependency of a document or document section implies that it requires updating when a given data item shared within or across documents is changed. PA1 Automatic updating and reconciliation of Data: Data from different documents within a Document Set or across multiple Document Sets can be automatically updated and reconciled. PA1 Enforcement of Format and Content Requirements: Computer-controlled mechanism for avoiding document format violations and document information omissions. PA1 Clinical Study Protocol. PA1 Investigator-Related Documents: Investigator Protocol Approval Forms, Correspondence, Telephone Contact Form, Site Visit Report Forms, Investigator Check Lists, Investigator Instructions. PA1 Patient Documents: Patient Instructions, Documents to record Other Patient Data. PA1 Regulatory Authority Documents: Clinical Study Summary; Integrated Summary of Safety; Integrated Summary of Efficacy; Other IND and NDA documents; Correspondence. PA1 Serious Adverse Event (SAE) Documents: SAE Protocol Inventory Form, SAE Patient Report Form. PA1 Budget Documents: Generic Budget, Investigator-specific Budget. PA1 Informed Consent Form (ICF) Documents: Generic and Investigator-specific ICFs. PA1 Other Internal Sponsor Documents: Memoranda; Internal Check Lists; Internal Approval Forms (for Protocol, ICF, budget, Case Report Form, drug supply request). PA1 Other Document Types: Case Report Order Form, Drug Supply Order Form, Sample Size Estimation Form. PA1 In accordance with further embodiments of the present invention, Document Sets are generated using, as a central control mechanism, a Time/Action Electronic Matrix representing time (the period during which actions take place) and actions (evaluations, interventions or other actions taken or performed during the project to which the Document Set relates). The full data in the Time/Action Electronic Matrix may be visually represented in a `Flow Chart` table that can be incorporated directly into another document. The various documents in the Document Set utilize the information in this matrix. The matrix is represented as a set of electronic data locations. The intersection of each time-point/action pair is represented by a `cell`. The cell indicates whether or not the action is to be performed at the specified time point. When the Time/Action Electronic Matrix has been designed by the Author, the Dependent components of the various documents in the Document Set (i.e., those text sections which are dependent on the entered matrix data) are automatically available. The document text sections are independently accessed by the Author for insertion of the remaining text. PA1 According to a further embodiment of the present invention, data storage in a relational database can be used to provide a more efficient method of transmitting files electronically by computer networks or by physical transfer of copies residing in electronic storage media. Computer networks such as the Internet (a publicly available worldwide network of computers) and Intranets (organization-specific proprietary computer networks that may also access the Internet) have a significant and increasing problem of `bandwidth` creating a bottleneck in the speed of data transmission. Other workers have developed methods for compacting the information within an individual computer file (e.g., a word processor file) but have not addressed the possibility of eliminating redundant information across documents of a particular document type. Documents of a specific document type may all contain common formatting information or common text sections that substantially increase the size of the electronic document file. The example of a document provided as Protocol Document Listing I has file sizes of 66 kilobytes (KB) as a conventional Microsoft Word file, 26 KB as a simple text (ASCII) file, and 16 KB as a file confined to the document-specific components of the file (i.e., eliminating both formatting information and text segments shared by the Protocol document type). Even greater file size savings can be obtained by eliminating redundant information stored at multiple document locations at which shared information is placed (i.e., common information stored in the document database and inserted in multiple places within the document). Utilizing the present invention, the document-specific information stored in the relational database can also be stored and transmitted in a more compact data format using the C++ computer software classes that can be used in the method and system of the present invention to link the data in the relational database to the word processor templates that will generate the complete documents.
For Clinical Research Studies, the following document types share linked information:
A `Sponsor` of a Clinical Study is the organization responsible for filing the Clinical Study with the Food and Drug Administration (`FDA`) and is normally a pharmaceutical company. Most Sponsors use a word processor to write Protocols and other documents required in a Clinical Study, frequently by copying sections of previous documents and editing these. The `Author` (i.e., the person writing the Protocol) is not forced during Protocol writing to address all of the key items in writing a Protocol, so that major omissions and errors may be frequent. Even though a Sponsor may have a `standard format` for Protocols, this may not be followed by Authors--so that the task of those reviewing and approving the Protocol is more difficult. Photocopies of the Protocol are normally distributed for internal review and for hand-written comments to be written on the copy. The Protocol exists as a word processing file that limits search capabilities (e.g., dosage used across Protocols). Normally a separate form containing key Protocol items for the Sponsor's Serious Adverse Event database is hand-generated and these data are then entered into a separate computer database. Many disparate Clinical Study databases exist in pharmaceutical companies and integration of these databases has become a significant issue with the pharmaceutical industry and FDA--with significant medico-legal and regulatory implications.

Method and system for generating and distributing document sets using a relational database


An apparatus with improved response-time of a content addressable memory (CAM) directory table is obtained by replacing multi-stage domino TAG comparator and detection means with a single stage TAG comparator and detector for each TAG table entry. The improved response results from the use of a common ORed comparator output together with a small signal sense amplifier for the detection of the onset of a hit or miss. The single stage comparator and detector is suitable for use in cache memories including full associative, direct mapped, set associative and sector mapped caches.

As the processing speed of microprocessors (CPUs) increases associated apparatus such as memories must keep pace in order to avoid being performance bottlenecks in the microprocessor system. The present invention is directed to improving the effective bandwidth of content addressable or associative memories by improving the ability to detect and access a specific piece of data in a content addressable memory (CAM). One important class of CAMs, known as a cache memory, is a fast memory in the hierarchical memory structure that is most closely associated with the CPU. However, the present invention is directed to all CAM structures in diverse applications including use in associative processors. A common characteristic of all CAMs is that data is retrieved from memory locations based on their content. The CAM searches in parallel over all or part of its entire storage using a target content description and comparing it with a corresponding field of bits in each memory location.
Because of the importance of cache memories, most of the following description is couched in terms of cache memories, however, it will be recognized by those practicing the underlying art that the inventive principles expounded are more broadly applicable.
High performance, modern microprocessors (CPUs) typically include an on-chip cache memory in order to minimize instruction latencies. Cache memories are effective because of the temporal locality phenomenon of typical instructions that tends to reuse portions of code so that access to memory tends to slowly drift with the progress of the instruction program. Consequently, portions of memory currently being addressed are likely to be accessed again in the near term so that if a fast local memory (cache) is provided, on-chip repeated access to slower, off-chip main memory can be reduced. As the temporal locality shifts, new data from main memory is acquired by the on-chip cache.
Critical to the efficient operation of the cache memory is the speedy determination of whether the current information required by the CPU is resident in cache: if present (a cache "hit") access can then be made to cache, and if not (a cache "miss") access must be made to the slower main memory.
Main memory consists of a large set of lines with consecutive addresses. Cache memory holds many lines (e.g. the Intel i486.TM. microprocessor cache memory is physically split into four 2-K blocks, each with 128 lines and 128 21-bit tags) but not necessarily in any particular order. When the CPU requires access to memory, the CPU first searches the cache to see if the desired data is present. Typically, the search is an associative process in which each line stored in cache has an address tag that indicates which lines of main memory are resident in cache. A comparison is made between the CPU provided tag and the tags associated with lines stored in cache. A match between the two indicates a "hit" while the lack of a match indicates a "miss", requiring an access to main memory. The data line acquired from main memory is stored in cache by replacing a previously stored line based on a prescribed replacement policy such as replacing the least recently used (LRU) line.
Because of the need to perform a tag comparison each time that the cache is accessed, the speed with which the comparison can be done is critical in determining the effective bandwidth of the cache memory.
The word TAG is used hereafter to mean a field of bits representative of the content addressable portion of a line of data stored in CAM.
A line of data is used to mean a standard unit of data storage which may include one or more bytes or words.

Single stage sensing apparatus for a content addressable memory


A laser power control apparatus which comprises an exciting section for supplying a drive current to a laser oscillation device, a laser power controller for generating current designating data which is incremented and decremented in a binary order, first and second digital/analog converters respectively assigned to lower digits and higher digits of the current designating data, for performing digital-to-analog conversion on the lower-digit data and the higher-digit data, a current setting section for setting a level for the drive current in accordance with the sum of output voltages of the first and second digital/analog converters. In the apparatus, the current setting section has circuit constants which cause the ranges of the drive current for sequential two values of the higher-digit data to be overlapped with each other by a predetermined amount, and the laser power controller has a circuit for limiting the range of the lower-digit data to compensate the overlap of the drive current ranges.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a laser power control apparatus for controlling the power of a laser beam emitted from a laser oscillator, and more particularly it relates to a laser power control apparatus for a semiconductor laser device used as a light source in an electrophotographic printing device such as a laser printer or a laser facsimile terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a typical electrophotographic printing device, a surface of a photosensitive body is evenly charged with electricity, and then selectively exposed to a scanning laser beam to form an electrostatic latent image, which is subsequently developed into a visible image by a developing agent attached thereto. The developed image is transferred from the photosensitive body to a sheet of paper. This printing device comprises a light source unit 1 as illustrated in FIG. 1 for exposure of the photosensitive body surface. In this unit 1, a semiconductor laser device 2 is excited under the control of a laser driver to emit a laser beam and irradiate a polygon mirror 6. The polygon mirror is driven by a polygon driver 7 to rotate in the counter clockwise direction. The laser beam is reflected by the polygon mirror 6 and then directed to a reflector mirror 5 via a f.theta. lens 4, which mirror 5 reflects the laser beam and directed to the surface of the photosensitive body. The position of the reflector mirror 6 where the laser beam hits is changed in accordance with the angle of the polygon mirror 6, so that the surface of the photosensitive body is transversally scanned by the laser beam coming from the reflector mirror 5. A start sensor 8 detects a laser beam directed to an end of the photosensitive body from which scanning starts, and then generates a detection signal to be used for excitation control of the semiconductor laser device 2.
FIG. 2 graphically shows the relationship between the drive current supplied to a semiconductor laser device 2 and the power of a laser beam to be emitted therefrom. The laser power is substantially proportional to the drive current beyond the threshold of the laser device 2, which may shift depending on the temperature of the device and the service time. The ratio of the change in drive current to the change in laser power, or differential efficiency .eta., can slightly vary depending on the manufacturing process of the semiconductor laser device 2 between a minimum limit .eta.min and a maximum limit .eta.max. The difference of inclination among the straight lines in FIG. 2 shows this fact. The laser driver 3 is generally designed to compensate any change in the laser power that can be caused by the difference in the condition which the semiconductor laser device 2 operates.
FIG. 3 schematically illustrates the configuration of a conventional laser driver 3 which drives a laser diode 27 used as the semiconductor laser device 2. The printing device includes a control circuit for controlling all of the electrophotographic processing sections and producing print image data. The control circuit includes a CPU 11 which controls the laser driver 3 along with the polygon driver 7 and the start sensor 8 so as to expose the photosensitive body according to the print image data. The CPU 11 initially instructs the polygon driver 7 to rotate polygon mirror 6, instructs the laser driver 7 to drive the laser diode 27 after the rotation of the mirror 6 becomes stable at a preset speed, and then supplies a detection signal from the start sensor 8 and print image data to the laser driver 7.
The laser driver 3 includes a laser excitation controller 12, a laser power controller 13, a drive current setting section ST, a exciting section DR, and a laser power measuring section MS. The laser excitation controller 12 controls the exciting section DR so that the laser diode 27 is continuously made active when the scanning position is located outside the exposing span of the photosensitive body, and made active and inactive according to the print image data when the scanning position is located within the exposing span. The laser power controller 13 designates a level for the drive current to be supplied to the laser diode 27, based on the laser power measured by the laser power measuring section MS. The controller 13 supplies current-designating 10-bit data indicating the level thus designated, to the drive current setting section ST. The section ST changes the drive current in accordance with the laser power controller 13.
The drive current setting section includes first and second D/A (digital/analog) converters 25 and 26 which are assigned to the lower two bits and upper eight bits of the current designating data, and which perform D/A conversion on the lower 8-bit data and the upper 2-bit data. The analog output voltage A1 from the D/A converter 25 is supplied to the inversion input terminal (-) of an operational amplifier 33 by way of another operational amplifier 31 and a resistor 33. The analog output voltage A2 from the D/A converter is also supplied to the inversion input terminal (-) of the operational amplifier 33 by way of still another operational amplifier 34 and another resistor 35. A reference voltage Vref1 is supplied to the non-inversion input terminal (+) of the operational amplifier 33 The output terminal of the operational amplifier 33 is connected to the base of a PNP transistor 37 via a resistor 36. The emitter of the transistor 37 is connected to a power source terminal VM via a resistor 38 and to the inversion input terminal (-) of the operational amplifier 33. The collector of the transistor 37 is connected to the collector of an NPN transistor 41 via resistor 40. The emitter of the transistor 41 is connected to a ground terminal, and the base thereof is connected to the excitation controller 12 via a resistor. A resistors 42 and a laser diode 27 are connected in series with each other between the collector and emitter of the transistor 41. A diode 45 and a series circuit of a resistor 43 and capacitor 44 are connected in parallel with the laser diode 27.
The exciting section DR is constituted by the transistor 41, resistors 42, 43, capacitor 44, and diode 45. Transistor 37 performs an analog operation to generate an output current corresponding to the output voltage of the operational amplifier 33, and the transistor 41 performs a switching operation to selectively supply the output current from the transistor 37 to the laser diode 27 according to a control signal supplied from the laser excitation controller 12.
The laser power measuring section MS is constituted by a photodiode 28 for monitoring the power of a laser beam emitted from the laser diode 27, a current/voltage converter 29 for performing current-to-voltage conversion on the output current from the photodiode 28 to produce a monitor voltage, and an A/D converter 30 for performing analog-to-digital conversion on the monitor voltage from the current/voltage converter 30. The photodiode 28 is formed in the sam module as the laser diode 28.
FIG. 4 shows in greater detail the configuration of the laser power controller 13, and FIG. 5 shows a time chart of the signals generated in the controller 13. The laser power controller 13 comprises a timing controller 14, adders 16, 20, and 24, selector 18, and latch circuits 21 and 22, and data generators 15, 17 and 24 for generating reference data REF1, increment data "1", increment/decrement data "+1" or "-1", for example.
In the laser driver 3 described above, if the input data to the D/A converter 15 is close to "00(H)" or "FF(H)", the adder 20 can be overflowed or underflowed when the monitor voltage is changed. (H denotes hexadecimal notation.) The timing controller 14 checks the carry outputs of the adders 16 and 20 to increase the input data to the D/A converter 26 by "1" when the overflow is occurred in the adder 20 and decrease the same by "1" when the underflow is occurred in the adder 20.
FIG. 6 shows a relationship between the input data to the D/A converter 25 and the input data to the D/A converter 26. The input data to D/A converter 25 is changed in a range from "00(H)" to "FF(H)" and the input data to the D/A converter 26 is changed in a range from "00" to "11", so that the current-designating 10-bit data is increased or decreased by a step change of "1". The laser drive current ILD and the emitter voltage VO of the transistor 37 are represented by the following equations: EQU ILD=(VM-VO)/R38 and EQU VO=(1+R39/R32+R39/R35) Vref1 -R39/R32.multidot.A1.multidot.R39/R35.multidot.A2,
where
VM is the power source voltage, PA1 A1 is the output voltage of the D/A converter 25, PA1 A2 is the output voltage of the D/A converter 26, PA1 Vref1 is the reference voltage supplied to the non-inversion input (+) of the operational amplifier 33, PA1 R38 is the resistance of the resistor R38, PA1 R39 is the resistance of the resistor R39, PA1 R32 is the resistance of the resistor R32, and PA1 R35 is the resistance of the resistor R35.
It will be understood from the equations that the drive current ILD depends on the output voltages of the D/A converters 25 and 26. Since the D/A converter 25 is of an 8-bit type, the following equation must be satisfied in order to linearly change the drive current ILD. EQU R39/R32.multidot.A1:R39/R35.multidot.A2.apprxeq.1:1/256
However, it is difficult to prevent the resistances of the resistors R32, R35, and R39 and the step changes in the analog output voltages of the D/A converters 25 and 26 from being deviated from design values. Therefore, the linearity of the drive current ILD is impaired when the output voltages A1 and A2 are simultaneously changed as overflow or underflow occurs in the adder 20. FIG. 7 shows an overlap provided in the case where (R39/R32.multidot.A1)/(R39/R35.multidot.A2)>1/256 and a blank provided in the case where (R39/R32.multidot.A1)/(R39/R35.multidot.A2)<1/256. If the input data to the D/A converter 25 is constantly close to "00(H)" or "FF(H)", the input data to D/A converter 26 can be repeatedly increased and decreased by "1" upon change in the input data to the D/A converter 25. The drive current ILD extremely changes each time the input data to the D/A converter 26 is updated. This impairs the stability of the laser power.


An electrical connector system includes an electrical connector and a conductive panel for mounting the electrical connector thereon. The electrical connector includes an insulative housing and a shell enclosing the insulative housing. The shell has a top surface, a bottom surface and a pair of side surfaces. A top flange, a bottom flange and a pair of side flanges respectively outwardly extend from forward edges of the top surface, the bottom surface and the pair of side surfaces. A latching rib upwardly and forwardly extends from a rear edge of the top surface of the shell, and a distal end thereof bends downwardly and forwardly. A retaining flange depends from the bottom surface of the shell adjacent to the bottom flange of the shell. The conductive panel defines a mating slot for accommodating the shell therein. A top projection extends inwardly from a top edge of the mating slot and is retained in a space between the top flange and the latching rib of the shell, and a bottom projection extends inwardly from a bottom edge of the mating slot and is retained between the bottom flange and the retaining flange.

The present invention relates to an electrical connector system which comprises an electrical connector with a fastening attachment and a panel with a complementary hole, more particularly to an electrical connector system for conveniently and accurately engaging with another electrical connector.
Auxiliary fastening devices such as screws are normally used to mount an electrical connector to a panel, but these make the assembly or disassembly process troublesome. An electrical connector which has a fastening attachment is desired to meet the requirements of mass production. Such an electrical connector is shown in FIG. 6. The electrical connector 50 comprises an elongated insulative housing 501 and a fastening portion 502 projecting rearwardly from the insulative housing 501. A pair of fixing wings 503 respectively depends from opposite top and bottom edges of the fastening portion 502. A retaining portion 504 outwardly extends from a distal end of each fixing wing 503, forming a pair of spaces 505 within the acute angles defined by the fixing wings 503 and the retaining portions 504. A projection 507 extends outwardly from an inward edge of each slit 506. In assembly, an upper edge 512 and a lower edge 513 of a slot 511 in a conductive panel 51 are respectively secured in the angle spaces 505 between the fixing wings 503 and the retaining portions 504.
The fixing wings 503 and the projections 507 are complex and difficult to manufacture, so the design of the electrical connector is not appropriate for inexpensive mass production. Furthermore, the electrical connector can not be conveniently assembled or dissembled, and the projections 507 are easily abraded over time, so that a reliable attachment with the panel cannot be attained. Additionally, the projections 507 are vulnerable to being damaged by strong insertion forces.

Electrical connector system having a connector mounted on a conductive panel


A method for noise reduction in a digitizer, the digitizer comprising a plurality of detecting elements for detecting an electromagnetic signal at one of a number of predetermined frequencies: the method comprising: sampling at least two of said detecting elements substantially simultaneously to obtain outputs therefrom, and reducing the output on one of said two elements in accordance with the output on the other of said elements.

The present invention relates to noise reduction in a system comprising a digitizer and, more particularly, but not exclusively to noise reduction in a system comprising a digitizer associated with a display screen.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,690,156 "Physical Object Location Apparatus and Method and a Platform using the same" assigned to N-trig Ltd, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/649,708 "Transparent Digitizer" also assigned to N-trig Ltd, describe a positioning device capable of detecting multiple physical objects, preferably styluses, located on a flat screen display. One of the preferred embodiments in both patents describes a system built of transparent foils containing a matrix of vertical and horizontal conductors. In one embodiment the stylus includes a passive resonance circuit, which is triggered by an excitation coil that surrounds the foils. The stylus is excited at a predetermined range of frequencies depending on the capacitance and inductance of the resonant circuit. Other embodiments may include a different kind of EM stylus. The exact position of the stylus is determined by processing the signals that are sensed by the matrix of horizontal and vertical conductors.
Existing digitizer systems use several noise removal methods to improve the detection precision. For example the received signal is processed through a band pass filter leaving a window of frequencies including the stylus frequency. The filtered signal may then be passed through a Fourier transform selecting the single frequency of the stylus.
Elements that induce an equal amount of noise on each conductive line regardless of the line location may then be eliminated through the use of differential amplifiers. For example, objects that are far enough from the sensor will have the same effect on all the sensor lines.
There are other examples of noise reduction methods that do not eliminate noise at the stylus frequency.
Using the various prior art systems, much of the noise is removed, but one element of noise necessarily remains because it cannot be identified and filtered out and that is noise that is at the same frequency as the stylus.
Preferred Application
The preferred application to which the embodiments to be described hereinbelow are applicable is a transparent digitizer for a mobile computing device that uses a flat panel display (FPD) screen. The digitizer detects the position of one stylus at a very high resolution and update rate. The stylus is used for pointing, painting, writing (hand write recognition) and any other activity that is typical for a stylus. The digitizer supports full mouse emulation. As long as the stylus hovers above the FPD, a mouse cursor follows the stylus position. Touching the screen stands for left click and a special switch located on the stylus emulates right click operation.
The application may utilize a passive EM stylus. External excitation coils that surround the sensor are utilized to energize the stylus. However, other versions may include an active stylus, battery operated or wire connected, which does not require external excitation circuitry.
In one application the electromagnetic object responding to the excitation is a stylus. However, other embodiments may include other physical objects comprising a resonant circuit or active oscillators, such as gaming pieces. Applications describing gaming tokens comprising resonant circuits are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,690,156 ("physical object location apparatus and method and a platform using the same").
In the preferred application, the digitizer can detect simultaneous and separate inputs from an electromagnetic stylus and a user finger. Hence, it is capable of functioning as a touch detector as well as detecting a stylus. However, other embodiments may include a digitizer capable of detecting only an electromagnetic stylus.
In a preferred application, the stylus supports full mouse emulation. However, in different applications the stylus could support additional functionality such as an Eraser, change of color, etc. In other embodiments the stylus could be pressure sensitive and changes its frequency or changes other signal characteristics in response to user pressure.
In a preferred application, the mobile device is an independent computer system having its own CPU. In different embodiments the mobile device might only be a part of system such as a wireless mobile screen for a Personal Computer.
In a preferred application, the digitizer is integrated into the host device on top of the FPD screen. In additional application the transparent digitizer can be provided as an accessory that could be placed on top of a screen. Such a configuration can be very useful for laptop computers, which are already in the market in very large numbers. Such systems can turn a laptop into a powerful device that supports hand writing, painting or any other operation enabled by the transparent digitizer.
In a preferred application, the digitizer supports one stylus. However, in different applications more than one stylus may operate simultaneously on the same screen. Such a configuration is very useful for entertainment application where multiple users can paint or write to the same paper-like screen.
In one application, the digitizer is implemented on a set of transparent foils. Alternatively such a digitizer may be implemented using either a transparent or a non-transparent sensor. One example is a Write Pad device, which is a thin digitizer that is placed below normal paper. In this example, the stylus combines real ink with electro magnetic functionality. The user writes on the normal paper and the input is simultaneously transferred to a host computer to store or analyze the data.
An additional example of a non-transparent sensor is an electronic entertainment board. The digitizer, in this example, is mounted below the graphic image of the board, and detects the position and identity of gaming figures that are placed on top the board. The graphic image in this case is static, but it could be manually replaced from time to time (such as when switching to a different game).
In some applications a non-transparent sensor could be integrated in the back of a FPD. One example for such an embodiment is an electronic entertainment device with a FPD display. The device could be used for gaming, in which the digitizer detects the position and identity of gaming figures. It could also be used for painting and/or writing in which the digitizer detects one ore more styluses. In most cases, a configuration of non-transparent sensor with a FPD will be used when high performance is not critical for the application.


The invention relates to the field of IEEE 802.15.4 based networks, and in particular to methods and devices for transmitting and receiving messages in IEEE 802.15.4 based networks. The existing IEEE 802.15.4 standard is further improved and adapted to better fit the properties of a network of lighting devices. The improvements and adaptations of the existing IEEE 802.15.4 standard allow for more flexible addressing. Bits which are indicative of use of address fields and/or whether one or two frame control fields is/are present in the ordered data portions of the message to be transmitted are defined by the device transmitting the message in the IEEE 802.15.4 based network. Existing features of the existing IEEE 802.15.4 standard protocol are retained.

Visible light has drawn recent interest as a new means of communication with recent developments in solid-state lighting that make it easier to accurately control light characteristics. Optical free space communications, i.e. visible light (VL) and infra-red (IR) communications, for the selection and advanced control of light sources has previously been proposed, and will be referred to as coded light (CL). The light emitted from a lighting device or luminaire, employing coded light comprises a modulated part (which for the human eye is invisible) associated with coded light comprising information messages. The emitted light also comprises an un-modulated part associated with an illumination contribution.
A visible light communications standard that is currently being developed is based on the existing IEEE 802.15.4 standard. In the existing IEEE 802.15.4 standard for wireless communication, devices may be grouped into a so-called personal area network, PAN. A PAN has an identifier that is two bytes long; and a device in a PAN may have a two-byte address assigned to it. Every device also has an eight-byte address. This eight-byte address is typically assigned to the device during manufacturing. If a device is not assigned to a PAN a default PAN identifier is used.
The existing IEEE 802.15.4 standard defines a medium access control, MAC layer. The MAC has a header which in turn has a frame control field, in which there are five bits that signal the way the source and destination addresses of a packet are transmitted in the MAC header. Two bits indicate the destination addressing mode, DAM. These two bits can take the decimal values 0, 1, 2, and 3. The value 0 means that neither the destination's PAN identifier, nor its address are transmitted. According to the existing IEEE 802.15.4 standard this implies that a source PAN identifier address must be present, unless the packet is a beacon or an acknowledgement (as indicated elsewhere in the frame control field), and that the packet is intended for the PAN coordinator of the PAN of which the identifier is transmitted in the source. The value 1 is reserved, and shall thus according to the existing IEEE 802.15.4 standard not be used. The value 2 means that the destination's PAN identifier is transmitted, as well as its two-byte address. The value 3 means that the destination's PAN identifier is transmitted, as well as its eight-byte address.
There are also two bits that indicate the source addressing mode, SAM, with similar meaning. If the source address is omitted, the packet must be an acknowledgement (as indicated elsewhere in the frame control field), or it must be sent by the PAN coordinator. A fifth bit, named 'PAN ID Compression Subfield' may be set to 1 if both source and destination addresses are present, which then indicates that the PAN identifiers of the source and destination are the same, and that therefore only the destination PAN identifier is transmitted and the source PAN identifier is omitted.
As noted above, a visible light communications standard (whereby the devices of the PAN preferably are luminaires and communicate by means of coded light) that is currently being developed is based on the existing IEEE 802.15.4 standard. The personal area network thereby becomes a visible are network, VAN.

Protocols for visible light communications


The present invention discloses a disc brake for a vehicle having a disc which is rotatable integrally with the wheels and pads which are brought into friction engagement with the disc. The disc is prepared by impregnating a reinforcing material into a carbon fiber reinforced carbon composite obtained by dispersing bundles of multiple single short carbon fibers with primarily a pitch, a combination of a pyrolytic carbon and a pitch or a combination of a pyrolytic carbon and a thermosetting resin, followed by baking; whereas the pads are prepared by impregnating a reinforcing material into a carbon fiber reinforced carbon composite obtained by dispersing bundles of multiple single short carbon fibers with primarily a combination of a pyrolytic carbon and a thermosetting resin or a combination of a pitch and a thermosetting resin, followed by baking.

This invention relates to a disc brake for a vehicle, particularly to a disc and pads made of carbon fiber-reinforced carbon composites (hereinafter referred to as C/C composites) having excellent frictional properties.
In the disc brakes for vehicles, C/C composites are recently utilized for the disc which rotates integrally with the wheels and for the pads which are brought into frictional engagement with the disc from the standpoint of weight reduction and improvement of performance.
However, the disc and pads made of such C/C composites are susceptible to changes in the coefficient of friction depending on the temperature and cannot give a stable braking effect: the coefficient of friction is low in the low temperature range at the initial stage of braking operation but is gradually or rapidly elevated with the rise of temperature caused by the friction as the braking operation proceeds, or the low coefficient of friction remains as such.

Brake friction composite with reinforcing pyrolytic carbon and thermosetting resin


This liquid clock has a lower liquid reservoir and an upper-liquid reservoir connected by an overflow to the lower reservoir. A plurality of timekeeping reservoirs are positioned to allow liquid in them to stand at the same level as in the upper reservoir. Each of the timekeeping reservoirs has a liquid exit orifice which connects to one of a plurality of timekeeping tubes, each having timekeeping related indicia on it. A means is provided for dropping a liquid displacement member in each of the timekeeping reservoirs at predetermined time intervals, thus displacing liquid into the timekeeping tubes. A means for withdrawing the liquid displacement members from the timekeeping reservoirs does so between the predetermined time intervals. A pump supplies liquid to the upper reservoir from the lower liquid reservoir to maintain the level of liquid in the upper reservoir at the level of the overflow. Means is further provided for periodically emptying the timekeeping tubes at time related intervals. Flow of liquid through the timekeeping tubes provides an indication of time by changes of the liquid levels in the timekeeping tubes.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a new type of clock. More particularly, it relates to a clock in which flow of a liquid serves to indicate the time. Most especially, it relates to such a clock in which the flow of liquid to indicate time provides a source of interest and amusement to an observer of the clock in operation.
2. Description of the Prior Art.
Water clocks have been known since Roman times. Such clocks typically consist of a tank or reservoir with an opening at its bottom and gradations along the tank or reservoir representing the hours. The opening at the bottom of the tank or reservoir is of a calibrated size such that water dripping out of it lowers the level of the water in the tank or reservoir to give an indication of time based on its level. Such clocks must usually be filled once a day, and they cannot provide a highly accurate indication of time due to the limited number of gradations on them, typically only by hours or quarter hours.
Various mechanical clock designs have been proposed in which operation of the clock provides a source of amusement to an observer. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,077,198 discloses a clock which operates by movement of ball bearings or other spheres in its apparatus.
Although the timepiece art is a well developed one, unique clock designs continue to have interest and amusement value.


A tray for organizing various objects, e.g., medications, their receptacles and medical implements, that are needed in a typical nursing task is provided. The tray is advantageously constructed to balance all the objects during transport and during use such that its contents are prevented from toppling over in motion or in station.

The present invention relates generally to holders and organizers for items used in the medical and nursing profession. More particularly, the present invention relates to a tray with recesses and depressions defined thereupon for organizing and transporting multiple objects needed for treating, nursing or tending to a patient.
An important factor in a patient's successful convalesce is the nursing process during which prescribed medications should be administered to the patient on time while the patient is consoled and comforted. Most of the time, these tasks fall on the shoulders of the nurses, nurse assistants, attendants and other healthcare staff. However, many healthcare facilities are severely short-handed in nursing staff. While struggling with increasingly complex medication regimens, nurses are often interrupted during their tasks as they answer doctors, family members, pages and telephone calls. If a nurse is on her way toward a patient with a tray full of medications, and she is stopped by a doctor telling her about special treatment needed for another patient, without access to a notepad and a writing instrument, she has to memorize the new information regarding the second patient. In doing so, she might forget what she needs to do with regard to the original patient or even his name, and has to go back to her station to look up that information again. Obviously, this kind of interruptions can give rise to severe consequences when the wrong dosage or medication is administered-with many medications being so potent nowadays, nurses need every bit of help in battling human mistakes, for example, when administering narcotics. Also patients are often in a state where their faculties are compromised to some extent, and with the high turnover rate of both patients and nursing staff, nurses constantly have to check patient identification, often without much help from the patient himself.
Therefore, there is a need, unfulfilled by the current products in the market, for a device or apparatus that helps nursing personnel organize multiple objects needed for tending to a patient that also allows them to go back to what they were doing before they were interrupted and to continue with that original task without making mistakes.
Prior art applications have often focused on organizing medications automatically or according to the time intervals prescribed for taking the medication. Some of them resort to computers and microprocessors. Accordingly, one of the objectives of the present invention is to provide a simple apparatus that helps the nursing personnel in their organization and effort to minimize the chances of making mistakes while remaining inexpensive to manufacture. A further objective is to provide an apparatus that helps with the transport of multiple objects, including multiple fluids, that are needed for tending patients. Another objective is to provide in a nursing tray prefabricated spaces designed to hold medical instruments and containers of various sizes.