The problem of being unable to supply prescribed fair amounts of telephone traffic to each carrier in a foreign country is overcome by a) assigning a call to one of the carriers in a foreign country at the switch where the call originated b) including an indication of the identity of the assigned carrier with the call as the call is routed from the originating switch to an egress switch and c) retaining at the originating switch an indication of the carrier to which the call is currently assigned. The indication of the assigned carrier stays with the call until either the call is completed to the assigned carrier or it is determined that the call cannot be completed to the assigned carrier. This allows the originating switch to retain control over the assignment of a call to a carrier. Furthermore, the originating switch can cause all the routes from the originating switch to the originally assigned carrier to be tried before it allows another carrier to complete the call. Doing so results in a higher rate of completion of calls to their initially assigned carriers. Each carrier in a country is selected to be the initially assigned carrier for a predetermined percentage of the calls to that country, so as to return to each carrier its fair amount of traffic. The percentages according to which the carriers are chosen may be iteratively updated so as to secure close conformity with the predetermined fair amounts.

Currently, several countries are served by more than one international telephone common carrier--each referred to hereinafter as a carrier--and the number of countries so served is expected to grow in the future. Each carrier that supplies telephone traffic to a foreign country having multiple carriers desires that the carriers in that foreign country return to it a "fair" amount of telephone traffic. Such fair amounts are typically contracted for by representatives of the carriers and, most often, are related to the percentage of total intercountry telephone traffic each carrier supplies to the other.
Prior art systems for insuring the return of fair amounts of telephone traffic require the use of special trunking, routing and screening arrangements. One such prior art system forces telephone traffic to be delivered to a switch from which telephone traffic exits a carrier's network to enter the network of another carrier. Such a switch is called an egress switch. It is solely the responsibility of the egress switches to route telephone traffic to each carrier in a foreign country, as prescribed by the fair amounts agreed upon. However, this prior art system can not guarantee the return of the prescribed fair amounts of telephone traffic. As such, each carrier must account to its contracting partners for any discrepancies that result between the contracted for fair amounts and the actual traffic delivered.
The introduction of the ability to perform multiple homing routing, such as Split Access Flexible Egress Routing (SAFER), which is well known to those skilled in the art, has not corrected this problem. This is because telephone calls are still only assigned to a particular carrier at an egress switch. Moreover, each call loses the identity of its assigned carrier should it be necessary to return, or "crank", the call back to the switch at which the call originated (originating switch) for alternative routing instructions. (An egress switch cranks calls destined for foreign countries back to the originating switch in the event the egress switch cannot complete the call because, for example, no trunks to the assigned carrier are available.) As a result, when the originating switch routes a call that was cranked back to another egress switch, there is no guarantee that the new egress switch will assign the call to the same carrier to which the original egress switch had assigned the call. Therefore, it is not possible to accurately control the amount of telephone traffic delivered to each carrier, and hence, to return to each carrier its contracted for fair amount.
This inability to guarantee the return of prescribed fair amounts of telephone traffic also exists in prior art systems of the type using dedicated trunks to pass a call from an egress switch unable to complete a call to the carrier it chose to another egress switch serving the same carrier. This is because the call can only be forwarded to one additional egress switch and it is not guaranteed that this additional egress switch can complete the call to the originally selected carrier. If the call is not completed by the additional egress switch, the call is lost.
Another prior art system, carrier specific routing, which is not employed for purposes of returning a fair amount of traffic, assigns a carrier to a call at an adjunct processor associated with the originating switch based on the telephone number of the party paying for the call. The originating switch sends an indication of the assigned carrier with the call information if it routes the call to an egress switch. However, in such a case, no indication of the assigned carrier is retained in the originating switch. As a result, once a call is assigned a carrier in carrier specific routing, there is no possibility of changing the assignment. Furthermore, if the call is not completed to the assigned carrier by the egress switch or a single additional egress switch connected to the egress switch by dedicated trunks, as described above, the call is lost.


A module is provided with a plane, tools can be fixed on both sides of the plane. The module can be positioned in either a coupled position in which the module is coupled to an adjacent module, or a hanging position in which the module is secured to a wall, the module includes a coupling device. The coupling device permits, when in the coupled position, multiple modules to be ordered in any sequence such that each of the multiple modules can pivot with respect to an adjacent module. The coupling device supports the separate module when the module is in the hanging position, the module is pivotable about an axis defined by a wall mounted holder.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a device for storage and transport of tools and materials, consisting of modules, as described in the first part of claim no. 1.
2. Description of the related Art
Many systems for storage and transport of tools are known. There are metal toolboxes that can be characterized by a limited overview of the content and a high weight. There are plastic toolboxes with a division in compartments and trays that characteristically have a limited overview and a limited capacity. Finally there are toolboxes in which the tools are not stored in trays, but are fixed onto boards in an organized way, often by means of sleeve pockets, clamps or straps. These boxes have a limited capacity and are not easy to use for heavy tools, because the boards are then difficult to move over or because the the box will then overturn or fall shut. There also exist extendable, modular systems, as described in patents DE-A 42.28.370, DE-U 92.055.444 and DE-U 220.127.116.116. As opposed to the present invention, the content of the modules of the abovementioned systems is accesible only after the modules have been disconnected. The modularity or extendability is exclusively aimed at transportation and not at utilisation. Other patents regarding toolboxes concern a number of modules that can rotate or pivot with respect to each other, as in the patents U.S. Pat. No. 5,259,502, DRE-U 91.02.718, CH-A 447.075, U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,616, WO 90/08631 and EP 0.319.969, but these patents do not include the possibility to easily couple any number of modules that can pivot with respect to each other, nor do they include the possibility to mount the modules separately to the wall, in such a way that they can swung around.
Another modular system is known according to patent EP-A 0566.983. This system has great limitations for the user. Coupling and uncoupling of the modules is done by using a loose shaft, so that one cannot speak of an easy (un)coupling of the modules. A unit, composed of modules. Is meant to be used laying flat. If the modules on top contain heavy tools or materials, this leads to backward topping over of the unit.
In addition, these heavy modules must be lifted every time the content of the modules underneath must be reached.
Besides the abovementioned types of boxes, boards and cupboards are used for the storage of tools. These are boards or cupboards with perforated planes, on which toolclamps can be fixed. The tools are fixed in a well-organised manner, but they use a large wall surface area and are not ready for transport.
A do-it-yourselfer, a carpenter or a mechanic who uses his tools at home respectively in his workshop as well as elsewhere, wants a storage system for his tools that is well organised and has sufficient capacity, so that he can store all his tools in it and can find each tool easily. A user with few tools does not need much storage capacity, and wants a compact, but extendable, system. Someone who works at home or in a workshop, and also goes out to do jobs elsewhere, wants a storage system for his tools that remains well-organised in all situations. He wants to fix his tools to the wall above his workbench at home so that his doesn't have to bend down during work. Going to a job, he only wants to take the tools he needs, because he doesn't like to carry too many tools in view of the generally high weight. At the jobsite, he wants a compact and well-organised unit, in which he can find his tools easily without going through trays full of tools. When the job is done, he wants to store his tools at home directly, without having to fix each tool separately.

Modular storage and transportation system of tools and materials


A gas delivery system for a substrate processing system includes a first manifold and a second manifold. A gas delivery sub-system selectively delivers gases from gas sources. The gas delivery sub-system delivers a first gas mixture to the first manifold and a second gas mixture. A gas splitter includes an inlet in fluid communication with an outlet of the second manifold, a first outlet in fluid communication with an outlet of the first manifold, and a second outlet. The gas splitter splits the second gas mixture into a first portion at a first flow rate that is output to the first outlet and a second portion at a second flow rate that is output to the second outlet. First and second zones of the substrate processing system are in fluid communication with the first and second outlets of the gas splitter, respectively.

The background description provided here is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Substrate processing systems include a processing chamber and a pedestal. A substrate such as a semiconductor wafer is arranged on the pedestal during processing. The substrate processing systems may be used to deposit, etch or otherwise treat film on the substrate.
Gas delivery systems are used to deliver gas mixtures into the processing chamber. The gas mixtures include one or more process gases and/or precursor gases. Different gas mixtures are supplied to the processing chamber during various steps of a process or recipe. Supplying the different gas mixtures quickly and accurately without intervening downtime reduces overall processing time.
Current gas delivery systems include a gas delivery sub-system with gas sources connected by mass flow controllers (MFCs) to a manifold. An outlet of the manifold is connected to the processing chamber where substrate processing takes place. A separate gas supply may supply a gas or a mixture of gases to a second zone of the processing chamber.
Referring now to FIG. 1, a gas delivery system 10 includes N gas sources that are connected to a gas delivery sub-system 11 including gas valves and mass flow controllers (MFCs), where N is an integer greater than one. The valves and MFCs are used to supply gas mixtures from one or more of the N process gas sources. Outputs of the gas delivery sub-system 11 are input to a mixing manifold 12 where the gases are mixed and output to one or more of a plurality of gas outlets. A valved manifold 13 receives gas from the one or more of the plurality of gas outlets of the mixing manifold 12 and outputs the gas mixture to a first zone of the processing chamber. A tuning gas source 14 supplies a tuning gas mixture via a valve 15 (and optionally a MFC) to a second zone.
In order to allow the mixture of gases to the second zone of the processing chamber to be changed, additional gas sources and MFCs may be provided along with a second manifold. Alternately, a gas connection to a MFC is changed, which requires reconfiguration and usually cannot be carried out between process steps or recipes. In another approach, flow from a controller that was supplying the processing chamber is supplied instead to the second zone using a second manifold with valves that switch gas flow between the first manifold and the second manifold.


A modular plug connector that achieves category 5 cross talk performance is constructed with substantially parallel conductor positioning channels situated in a pair of spaced apart planar arrays to position individual conductors for termination by a plurality of flat insulation displacement contacts. A plurality of conductor guide ramps are formed such that upon insertion of the individual conductors, alternating conductors will be guided into their respective spaced apart array.

A wide variety of modular plugs of generally similar outward configuration, necessitated by the requirement of mating with a standard modular jack, are known in the communication industry. Modular plugs are relatively small in size, and terminate ends of communication cables whereby the individual wires are in close proximity thus inducing cross talk between different signal pairs. However, with the increase in data transmission rate requirements, the use of modular communication plugs and jacks to connect twisted pair cables in computer networks has resulted in a need to reduce the cross talk between signal transmitting wire pairs of the modular communication connectors. One method of reducing cross talk is achieved by staggering adjacent pairs of individual wires and minimizing the distance of the parallel runs.
The relatively small size of the plugs and conductors requires careful manipulation of the individual insulated conductors in arranging the order of the conductors relative to the contacts in the modular plug and for holding the conductors in the proper arrangement within the plug prior to being terminated. Typically, eight individual insulated conductors must be arranged and terminated to eight contacts in the plug. Providing the individual wires in a pair of spaced apart planes with alternating conductors being in alternating planes and situated such that the adjacent conductors have minimized parallel runs to reduce cross talk can be difficult to assemble. The individual conductors must either be preformed and carefully inserted into the individual channels or else initially positioned in a single planar array and forced into a staggered relationship.
Therefore, there is need for improvement in the art for a modular plug connector that can be easily terminated while reducing the cross talk induced by the connector in terminated wire pairs.

Modular plug with automatically staggered wires


The invention relates to inhibitors for the formation of tumor necrosis factor, processes for the preparation thereof by macrophages or mononuclear phagocytes which have been stimulated by lipopolysaccharides, and the use thereof for the treatment and prophylaxis of diseases caused by tumor necrosis factor.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to inhibitors for the formation of tumor necrosis factor, processes for the preparation thereof by macrophages or mononuclear phagocytes which have been stimulated by lipopolysaccharides, and the use thereof for the treatment and prophylaxis of diseases caused by tumor necrosis factor.
Inflammatory reactions primarily come about by over-expression of immunological mechanisms which are originally present to protect the host organism. It has become clear in recent years that proteins which are formed by the host may in isolated form cause symptoms of disease by bringing about the release of terminal mediators of inflammation. This class of hormone-like proteins is embraced by the term cytokines (Gupta, Scand J Rheumatol Suppl. , (1988) 76, 189). It is now regarded as certain that cytokines are of fundamental importance for the development of inflammatory processes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Among the cytokines, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) has achieved particular importance for the development of acute inflammatory processes because this substance, which is essentially formed by macrophages, is able to induce in mammals a state of shock as is characteristic of bacteremias and sepsis (Tracey et al. Science, 234, (1986), 470). It has furthermore been found that a monoclonal antibody against TNF suppresses lethality in monkeys during bacterial sepsis (Tracey et al., Nature, 330, (1987), 662). It is evident from these findings that TNF is, on the one hand, a sufficient and, on the other hand, an essential factor for the development of many characteristics of endotoxic shock.
The evident linkage between endogenous TNF formation and the development of acute and chronic inflammatory syndromes has led to many attempts to block the endogenous formation of TNF by pharmacological inhibitors. Mention may be made here by way of example of the treatment with steroids, xanthine derivatives and lipoxygenase inhibitors (Zabel et al., Lancet, 23, (1989), 1474). It has also emerged that the cytokine IL 4 is an inhibitor of TNF formation (Essner et al., J. Immunol. 142, (1989), 3857).
The object of the invention was to find new physiological inhibitors with which the endogenous formation of TNF can be inhibited.

Inhibitors for the formation of tumor necrosis factor


A method includes wirelessly transmitting one or more messages to a sensor assembly in order to synchronize a clock of the sensor assembly. The method also includes wirelessly receiving multiple sensor measurements of a characteristic of a web of material from the sensor assembly. The method further includes receiving timestamps and position data associated with the sensor measurements. In addition, the method includes correlating the sensor measurements, timestamps, and position data. The sensor measurements from the sensor assembly could be timestamped, and the position data could include timestamped position data. The timestamped position data could be received from a source other than the sensor assembly. The method can further include generating a cross direction profile of the web of material using the sensor measurements, timestamps, and positions.

Sheets or other webs of material are used in a variety of industries and in a variety of ways. These materials can include paper, multi-layer paperboard, and other products manufactured or processed in long webs. As a particular example, long sheets of paper can be manufactured and collected in reels.
It is often necessary or desirable to measure one or more properties of a web of material as the web is being manufactured or processed. Adjustments can then be made to the manufacturing or processing system to ensure that the properties stay within desired ranges. Measurements are often taken using one or more scanning heads that move back and forth across the width of the web.

Wireless position-time synchronization for scanning sensor devices


A content provider interfaces a client with a server. The content provider includes a task manager operable to initiate and manage a session for a client and to query the server, when required, for content requested by the client. The content provider also includes session content storage for storing content associated with that session. The content provider further includes a protocol adapter operable to respond to the task manager for interfacing with the server to retrieve content requested by the client. The retrieved content is stored in the session content storage associated with the session for the client.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to client-server systems, and more particularly to improving access to information, or content, in response to queries from a client application in a client-server computer system.
2. Description of Related Art
Client-server systems are used in accessing calendar and schedule information stored on a calendar server. A calendar server is a server that can provide calendaring and scheduling services to users in a network environment. The use of calendar servers has been limited by the methods used to access the information on such servers.

Content provider and method for a computer system


Embodiments of the invention relate to device-embedded IDDQ testing in the field to detect defects, aging, and other reliability reducing problems. Methods of testing integrated circuits and integrated circuit devices are disclosed. For example, an integrated circuit device can comprise an integrated circuit, a buffer capacitor coupled to the integrated circuit; and IDDQ test circuitry coupled to the buffer capacitor and configured to suspend normal operation of the integrated circuit and measure a discharge time of the buffer capacitor, wherein the discharge time is related to a leakage current of the integrated circuit.

IDDQ testing is a method for testing CMOS integrated circuits (ICs) for manufacturing defects. In IDDQ testing, the supply current, Idd, of the IC is measured in a quiescent state, hence the acronym IDDQ for Idd (quiescent). It is commonly used in end-of-line testing during manufacturing, as depicted in FIG. 1, such that devices that have been overstressed in manufacturing or have other defects can be identified before implementation and reduced reliability or failure in use.
ICs are typically part of larger devices, and these devices can be subjected to harsh and damaging conditions during normal use. For example, IC sensor devices are often mounted in automobiles in positions in which they are exposed to high temperatures, mechanical stresses, and/or high electrostatic discharge (ESD) or electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) risks. These devices, however, still must be accurate and reliable over an expected operating lifetime of ten years or more. If consistently stressed, IC sensor devices may experience an unknown reduced operating lifetime or performance even if they do not immediately fail.


A portable wireless device is provided that eliminates the need for an antenna protruding from an housing by including a first housing and a second housing operating as a dipole antenna thus ensuring portability and delivering a high antenna performance despite its compact, low-profile and lightweight design.

A sliding type cell phone generally has a telescopic mechanism and includes a first housing and a second housing coupled to each other slidably on a rail part. The cell phone advantageously includes a large display screen on the first housing and a key operation part on the second housing thus allowing key operation while browsing the large screen in an elongated state. Moreover, in a contracted state, the key operation part is housed in the cell phone thus preventing operation errors and allowing the cell phone to be carried along in a compact shape.
As an antenna used for such a sliding type portable wireless device, a helical antenna or a telescopic antenna is known (for example, refer to Patent Reference 1).
Patent Reference 1: JP-A-2003-309631 (Page 5, FIGS. 1 to 4)

Abstract: The portable wireless device according to the invention includes a first housing 1; a second housing 2; and a sliding unit 21 for slidably coupling the first housing 1 and the second housing 2 to each other; wherein the first housing 1 is arranged a predetermined spacing apart from the second housing 2 and includes a power feeding unit 7 for feeding power: between the first housing 1 and the second housing 2 and wherein the first housing 1 and the second housing 2 operate as a dipole antenna. The portable wireless device does not include an antenna protruding from an housing. This ensures portability and delivers a high antenna performance despite its compact, low-profile and lightweight design.


Halide polymers such as polyvinyl chloride and polyamides melt blended at a polyamide to halide polymer weight ratio of about 1.5:1 to about 2:1 with an effective amount of a carboxyl and/or CO-functional ethylene polymer to compatibilize the halide polymer and polyamide exhibit superior chemical resistance.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,352,735 (Hofmann), incorporated herein by reference, discloses the discovery that vinyl halide or vinylidene halide polymer and polyamide can be melt blended under certain conditions that the relatively low melting halide polymer does not degrade, and that useful blended products are obtained. The process of U.S. Pat. No. 5,352,735 comprises melt blending the halide polymer and polyamide together at a temperature of less than about 220.degree. C., with the polyamide being melt processible at the temperature of the melt blending, in the presence of an effective amount of ethylene polymer having carbon monoxide and/or carboxyl functionality to compatibilize the halide polymer with the polyamide. U.S. Pat. No. 5,352,735 also teaches compositions comprising these polymer components, but contains no teaching or suggestion regarding the chemical resistance of the resulting compositions. It teaches that the halide polymer and the polyamide proportions may vary widely (5 to 95 weight percent of each based on 100 weight percent of the two polymers). All the examples have the polyamide present in a quantity that is 1.3 times the weight of PVC polymer in the blend.


A method for managing image processing data buffers for processes having overlap input data between iterations includes loading a data buffer with an initial input data array and performing an image data array operation on the input data array. The method repeats the following steps for plural iterations including loading the data buffer with new input data forming a new input data array for a next iteration and performing the input data array operation on the new input data array. The overlap data consists of pixels at an end of each scan line. Loading new input data includes loading pixels following the overlap data for each scan line.

Embedded imaging applications on cost sensitive platforms usually involve digital data processors such as generic microprocessor, digital signal processors or specialized image coprocessors working with limited amount of on-chip memory. For most of these applications the amount of on-chip memory is not large enough to process an entire frame of an image. These applications typically use block processing, which is processing a small data block at a time through the processing algorithm stages. Image processing often has spatial dependency. Thus when an image is partitioned into same-sized blocks, an output block will require a larger input block. When output blocks are produced in raster-scan order, the input blocks overlap horizontally. Thus the input data for plural output blocks overlap. Furthermore, the image processing flow from input image to output image often involves multiple spatially dependent steps.
There are two conventional methods for processing and managing data arrays on-chip. These are over-processing and history buffer. Over-processing is simple in memory management, but inefficient in computation. History buffering is more efficient in computation, but conventionally takes time to move data within the history buffer. Thus there is a need in the art for a memory management technique that is easy to accomplish but also largely eliminates the need to move data, and thus achieves good computation efficiency.

Sliding data buffering for image processing


An appropriate light emission frequency is set in an electronic device that determines a phase difference between radiation light and reflected light. The electronic device includes a light emission unit, a determination unit, and a setting unit. The light emission unit radiates intermittent light in synchronization with a synchronization signal at a set frequency that is set. The light reception unit generates received light data by receiving reflected light of the intermittent light. The determination unit determines presence or absence of a predetermined object on the basis of the received light data. The setting unit sets, in the light emission unit, as the set frequency, a frequency that is higher, the smaller the distance to the predetermined object, in a case where presence of the predetermined object is determined.

Conventionally, there is known a distance measurement method called a time-of-flight (ToF) method with respect to an electronic device including a distance measurement function. The ToF method is a method of measuring a distance by radiating radiation light from an electronic device onto an object, and by determining a round-trip time until the radiation light returns to the electronic device after being reflected, and the method may be roughly categorized into a direct method and an indirect method. Of these, the direct method is a method of radiating light pulse of an extremely short emission time as radiation light, and of actually measuring a round-trip time until the light returns. According to the direct method, a distance may be measured for only one point by one pulse light emission, and scanning has to be sequentially performed to measure the distance for a large number of points, and thus, time is required.
On the other hand, the indirect method is a method of measuring a distance by radiating intermittent light, such as a sine wave or a square wave, as the radiation light, by determining a phase difference between reflected light of the radiation light and the radiation light, and by indirectly acquiring a round-trip time from the phase difference. For example, there is proposed a camera that measures a distance by the indirect method by receiving reflected light by a plurality of pixels (see Patent Document 1, for example).

Electronic device and control method of electronic device

Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation


The present invention is a digital dynamic compression or automatic gain control (AGC) (10) adapted for use in high quality audio and hearing aids applications. An efficient digital AGC design employs two compact ROM-based tables (ROM_CSD, ROM_SPL) in addition to two comparators (COMP_A, COMP_B) and several registers (REG_A, REG_B, ADDR_A, ADDR_B). While one ROM stores the values of discrete input signal levels, the other contains gain codes based on a canonical signed digit (CSD) coding approach that leads to a very simple gain multiplier (20). In many cases an extremely compact table for gain values can be achieved by reusing a single small-size ROM that behaves like one that is several time larger. Two design examples are shown to expound the insights of the new digital AGC design. For the less-than-half-dB-gain-step cases only two adders are required for the multiplier whereas just three adders are needed in the situations with less than quarter-dB gain steps.

Audio dynamic compression is an important procedure in which a large dynamic range of audio signals is compressed to better match the reduced dynamic range in impaired auditory systems. The compression can be implemented as a digital automatic gain control (AGC) that follows various rules for acceptable sound quality. In practice, these rules are expressed in functions (most likely piece-wise linear functions) that dictate the relationship between the peak (or rms) level of the input audio signals and the gain value.
What is needed is a measure of the peak level of the input signal, a compression function employed to evaluate the gain based on the peak level, and a multiplier to adjust channel gain in real time. The considerations of selecting an appropriate peak detector are usually specified by the requirements on attack time and release time. The attack (release) time may be defined as the time needed for the AGC to respond to a sudden 25-dB increase (decrease) of the input signal until the output signal is within 2 dB of the final signal level. Typically, the attack time is in the range of 0 to 10 ms, whereas the release time could be 10–100 times as large. The actual requirements of the attack or release time are usually application-dependent.

Efficient digital audio automatic gain control


Data may be marshalled from a managed runtime environment to an unmanaged environment by using a compiler to calculate argument offsets and generate marshalling language code.

The number of applications under the control of managed runtime environments (MTREs), such as the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and the Common Language Runtime (CLR), is increasing. These applications may need access to system components outside of the managed runtime environment. Such components may include legacy applications or components that provide access to platform-specific services. In the CLR, this kind of native code access may be performed by an invocation method that may have an overhead of between 10 and 30×86 instructions per call, for example. In addition to this fixed cost, if the parameters or the return value of the called function need to be marshalled, the marshalling may create additional overhead depending on the type and size of the data, for example.
As the developer community migrates towards MTREs, unmanaged software components will need to be integrated into these new MTRE-based systems. However, low-level platform components and legacy applications will not be managed by these MTREs for quite some time. Several approaches for integrating these low-level components and legacy applications fail to provide an efficient and easy-to-use mechanism for allowing managed and unmanaged code to interact.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A transducer for medical monitoring comprises a box (73) which contains a floating section, a non-floating section and a transformer or optical coupler for converting a floating signal into a non-floating signal. The box (73) provides a non-floating signal to an associated monitor. The common-mode rejection ratio is drastically improved, so that electrode gel between the reference electrode and the patient, and possibly even the reference electrode itself, may be omitted.

The present invention particularly relates to electrocardiogram (ECG) transducers for a fetal monitor, wherein the ECG may either be a direct ECG of the fetus or a maternal ECG. A fetal monitor measures and records the fetal beat-to-beat heart rate (FHR) and uterus activity (toco). Simultaneous assessment of both parameters facilitates an accurate determination of the fetal condition. The FHR may be obtained with a scalp electrode after rupture of the membranes; prior to this time an ultrasound (US) transducer placed externally on the pregnant woman's abdomen may be used. Uterus activity may likewise either be recorded with an intrauterine pressure transducer or by an external tocodynamometer (a tension-measuring device). Some external methods for recording the FHR depend on the placement of the transducers. E.g., the accuracy of the ultrasound method is dependent on the proper orientation of the ultrasound beam; if the beam is not properly focussed on the fetal heart, the maternal heart rate may be recorded instead of the fetal heart rate. It is therefore advantageous to record the maternal heart rate and to compare it with the fetal heart rate.
The present invention deals particularly with the fetal and/or maternal ECG electrodes of such fetal monitors, and in fact the invention was made during the design process of a fetal monitor. It is understood, however, that the invention is not limited to such an application, but rather relates to all types of transducers with galvanic coupling to the patient, including, e.g., electrocardiogram transducers, electroencephalogram transducers, electromyogram transducers and electrooculogram transducers.
A common characteristic of the transducers mentioned above (i.e., transducers with galvanic coupling to the patient) is that they provide an electrical connection between the patient and the monitor. For reasons of patient safety, the patient ground potential (floating ground) must therefore be galvanically separated from the ground potential of the associated monitor (non-floating ground). This problem has been solved in the past with separation circuitry on a printed circuit board inside the monitor, e.g., with transformers or optoelectronic couplers.
The use of separation circuitry placed inside the monitor for separating the patient's floating ground potential from the monitor's non-floating ground potential has several drawbacks. One drawback is that, since there is capacitive coupling between the mains and the patient and between non-floating ground and the patient, an AC voltage of the mains frequency (50 Hz/60 Hz) is coupled into the transducer cable. This common mode voltage impairs the results of the measurement. Moreover, since the fetal QRS complexes must be recorded very accurately and their signal level is typically quite low (e.g., 20 .mu.V peak to peak in some cases), fetal monitoring requires a high common mode rejection ratio (CMRR). A reliable signal can be obtained only if the common mode rejection ratio is greater than 150 dB. It is technologically possible to improve the CMRR by approximately 30 dB by means of a suitable notch filter; the remaining 120 dB must be attained by other measures.
One method for attaining the necessary CMRR is to apply a predefined potential to the patient, i.e., to drive the patient to this potential. The attainable CMRR is around 103 dB; the remaining 17 dB necessary for a CMRR of 120 dB can be obtained by means of an active variable-gain amplifier (common-mode amplifier) which drives the electrode. For stability reasons, this common-mode amplifier can usually not compensate for considerably more than 20 dB. This technique is widely used in medical monitoring of adults, e.g., for recording the maternal heart rate in fetal monitoring applications. As the active electrode driving the patient is usually an electrode attached to the right leg of the patient, it is also known as "right leg drive." To acquire a direct ECG of the fetus, a silver plate is attached to the mother's body. This method has some serious disadvantages, including:
1. The method works properly only if the right leg electrode contains silver, which makes the electrode expensive, and if electrode gel is used between the electrode and the patient's skin (to reduce the resistance between electrode and skin). The gel is uncomfortable, expensive and requires periodic, difficult cleaning of the equipment.
2. An additional electrode, which is required only to compensate for an imperfect measurement technique, must be applied. This is particularly disturbing if the electrodes do not remain attached to the patient for long periods (such as in intensive care monitoring), but rather are changed frequently (as in fetal screening). It is also disturbing if the other electrodes are not attached to the patient's body (as with a fetal scalp electrode), in which case the right leg electrode must be handled separately from the measuring electrodes.
An important goal of electrode design is therefore to make the electrode gel unnecessary, and, in some cases, to altogether avoid the right leg electrode. This goal has been extremely difficult to achieve. E.g., when the reference electrode (right leg drive) is omitted, the CMRR is approximately 61 dB, instead of the required 120 dB; on the other hand, when the reference electrode is used and the electrode gel omitted, a common-mode amplifier with an amplification of at least 40 dB at 50/60 Hz is required, which requires difficult measures to keep the amplifier stable under all operating conditions.
Due to the safety risks associated with common-mode signals, transducers which generate a floating potential (such as ECG transducers) and transducers which generate a non-floating potential (such as toco transducers) cannot not be connected with the associated monitor via a single cable. This is a significant limitation, as there are many applications employing multiple transducers where it would be desirable to have only one cable leading to the monitor, e.g., direct fetal ECG and toco monitoring, or maternal ECG and ultrasound monitoring.
The schematic diagram in FIG. 1a illustrates the problem underlying the present invention. Patient 1 is being monitored; an electrode 2 with an electrical connection to the patient is used (electrode 2 represents e.g., an electrocardiogram electrode). There is a certain capacity C.sub.1 between the patient's body and the mains voltage U.sub.s. Likewise, there exists a capacity C.sub.2 between the patient and ground. This situation generates a common-voltage mode voltage U.sub.p0 at electrodes 2. (It is a "common-mode" because it is the same for other electrodes.) Common-mode voltage U.sub.p0 impairs the measurement.
The situation is also shown, in the form of an equivalent circuit, in FIG. 1b. The circuit of FIG. 1b can be transformed into the circuit of FIG. 1c, i.e., common-mode voltage U.sub.p0 can be calculated as ##EQU1## C.sub.1 is typically in the range of 20 pF, whereas C.sub.2 is typically approximately 200 pF. For mains voltage U.sub.s between 100 V and 240 V, common-mode voltages U.sub.p0 between 9.1 V and 21.8 V are obtained.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an artificial measurement using two electrodes 5, 6. Common-mode voltage U.sub.p0 (indicated by voltage source 3) is applied to capacitor 4 (C.sub.p) that represents the internal resistance of the voltage source (i.e., C.sub.p is equal to the parallel combination of C.sub.1 and C.sub.2 of FIGS. 1a-1c), thus generating a voltage U.sub.p. Voltage U.sub.p is a common-mode voltage present at both electrodes; as shown below, U.sub.p is not equal to U.sub.p0. Electrode 6 contains an imbalancing impedance Z.sub.im consisting of a 51.1 k.OMEGA. resistor 7 and a 47 nF capacitor 8. Z.sub.im is prescribed by international standards, e.g., IEC 62D, to simulate the different electrode impedances in an artificial environment.
The two electrode signals are fed to a difference amplifier 9. The input resistance of this amplifier is represented by resistors 10 and 11. The input resistance R.sub.i at both electrode inputs is approximately equal, about 10M.OMEGA..
The circuit 12 surrounded by dashed lines operates at floating potential, indicated by arrow 13, as opposed to earth potential 14. The floating circuit therefore has a capacitive coupling to ground (i.e., earth potential), which coupling is represented by capacitor 15 of capacitance C. Capacitance C results from the cable and circuit capacitance to ground and is approximately 200 pF. Capacitor 4 (C.sub.p) and capacitor 15 (C) constitute a capacitive voltage divider, which is why voltages U.sub.p0 and U.sub.p are not equal.
The CMRR of the circuit of FIG. 2 is calculated according to the following equation: ##EQU2## wherein i.sub.CM is the common-mode current flowing through the two electrodes. i.sub.CM is approximately equal to two times the current through each of the electrodes, i.e., EQU i.sub.cm .apprxeq.2*i.sub.i .apprxeq.2*i.sub.2 ( 3)
Using eq. (2), the circuit of FIG. 2 reveals ##EQU3## which yields, assuming a mains frequency of 60 Hz, a capacitance C of 200 pF and internal resistance R.sub.i of 10 M.OMEGA., a common-mode rejection ratio of EQU CMRR.apprxeq.61 dB (5)
Since 59 dB of the 120 dB required to obtain a reliable signal is missing, the circuit of FIG. 2 is not suitable for monitoring a patient.
FIG. 3 is a schematic circuit similar to FIG. 2, but including a reference electrode. In addition to the components shown in FIG. 2 (which are labeled with the same reference numbers in FIG. 3), the circuit of FIG. 3 comprises a common-mode amplifier 16 connected via an impedance Z.sub.LP to an additional reference electrode. The reference electrode is typically applied to the patient's leg.
Impedance Z.sub.LF may be characterized by the parallel combination of a resistor 17 and a capacitor 18 and represents the impedance between the patient's body and the reference electrode. If the reference electrode comprises silver and electrode gel is used, then Z.sub.LP is given by EQU Z.sub.LP .apprxeq.Z.sub.im ( 6)
If the reference electrode is directly coupled to floating ground, the ratio R.sub.i : 2 : Z.sub.LF determines the relation (i.sub.i +i.sub.2)/i.sub.3 (i.sub.3 represents the current through the reference electrode); the common-mode current fraction (i.sub.i +i.sub.2) will therefore decrease (assuming a mains frequency of 60 Hz) by the factor ##EQU4## which corresponds to a further common-mode rejection of 42 dB. If the active amplifier (common-mode amplifier 16) contributes another 20 dB, the total common-mode rejection ratio is EQU CMRR.sub.total =61 dB+42 dB+20 dB=123 dB (8)
which is, according to the requirement of 120 dB, a sufficient value. This, however, requires the use of electrode gel at the reference electrode, which has the disadvantages mentioned above. If no gel is used, the common-mode amplifier must provide an amplification of 40 dB, which, due to stability requirements, is difficult to achieve.
A further problem arises if the monitor provides a single input port for alternative insertion of a transducer which provides non-floating potentials and a transducer which provides floating potentials, e.g., the ultrasound transducer and the scalp electrode, each of which is used to detect fetal heart rates. As these transducers are not used together at the same time, it is possible to insert them alternatively into the same port, or connector, thus saving a second connector. To ensure proper operation, the connector must be divided into a floating part and a non-floating part. This in turn means that the shield of the ECG cable cannot be fed through the connector, resulting in capacitive leakage around the connector. Common-mode currents that cannot be compensated by a common-mode amplifier can flow through this leakage. The attainable CMRR is around 90 dB in this case. Although it is possible to attain another 30 dB by additional measures, these require either components with extremely small tolerances or additional time-consuming adjustments during the manufacturing process and are therefore very costly. This problem is schematically illustrated in FIG. 4. If one uses a connector for insertion of a floating (e.g., ECG) as well as a non-floating (e.g., ultrasound) transducer, the shield of the ECG cable cannot be fed through the connector, thus generating a capacitive leakage which cannot be offset by an active amplifier. This capacitive leakage is indicated in FIG. 4 by capacitors 19, 20 and 21, each of which has a value C.sub.c of approximately 2 pF.
It is therefore a goal of the present invention to provide a transducer which makes it unnecessary to use electrode gel and, at least in some instances, to avoid the reference electrode altogether. A further goal of the present invention is to provide a means for safely combining transducers providing floating potentials with transducers providing non-floating potentials. A still further goal of the present invention is to provide a means for avoiding capacitive leakage around the input port of the monitor to which the transducer(s) is (are) connected.

Transducer for converting floating ground potential signals to non-floating signals and method of use


A power receiving device is disposed underwater. The power receiving device includes a housing formed of a weak magnetic material, a ferromagnetic body that surrounds an outer side of the housing and is formed of a ferromagnetic material, and a power receiving coil wound around an outer side of the ferromagnetic body.

In related art, there is known an underwater base station as a power transmitting device that wirelessly transmits electric power to an underwater vehicle serving as a power receiving device by means of a magnetic resonance (see Patent Literature 1, for example). The power transmitting device includes a power transmitting resonance coil, a balloon, and a balloon control mechanism. The power transmitting resonance coil wirelessly transmits electric power to a power receiving resonance coil of the power receiving device by a magnetic field resonance method. The balloon internally houses the power transmitting resonance coil. The balloon control mechanism removes water between the power transmitting resonance coil and the power receiving resonance coil by inflating the balloon during power transmission.
In addition, in related art, there is known an antenna device that transmits electric power and data to an IC-integrated medium by means of an electromagnetic induction using a 13.56 MHz frequency band (see Patent Literature 2, for example). The antenna device includes at least one power-fed loop antenna to which a signal current is fed and at least one non-power-fed loop antenna to which no signal current is fed. The antenna device generates a signal current in the non-power-fed loop antenna using a magnetic field generated by the power-fed loop antenna, and expands a communication range of the power-fed loop antenna.

Power receiving device, power transmitting device, and underwater power supply system

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


An exposure apparatus includes a light shielding plate that is arranged on a plane conjugate to a substrate plane and shields against light to prevent the light from entering an outer peripheral region outside the circular borderline on the substrate; a first driving unit that rotationally drives the light shielding plate about an axis parallel to an optical axis of the illumination system; a second driving unit that linearly drives the light shielding plate within a plane perpendicular to the optical axis; a detecting unit that detects a light-shielding position; and a control unit that stores a light-shielding position at reference time point and light-shielding positions prior to and after change of the light shielding plate when the light shielding plate is changed after the reference time point, and calculates a variation amount of the light-shielding position based on a light-shielding position detected by the detecting unit at any time point after the light shielding plate is changed, a light-shielding position at the reference time point, and the difference between light-shielding positions before and after the light shielding plate is changed.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus and a device manufacturing method using the same.
Description of the Related Art
An exposure apparatus is an apparatus that transfers a pattern of an original plate (reticle or the like) onto a photosensitive substrate (e.g., wafer, glass plate, and the like, where the surface thereof is coated with a resist layer) via a projection optical system in a lithography step included in manufacturing steps for a semiconductor device, a liquid crystal display device, and the like. In particular, there is a flip chip mounting method as a method for mounting a semiconductor device on a wafer. In the semiconductor device manufacturing processes corresponding to the flip chip mounting method, a step of forming a solder ball on a device (chip) is included. Furthermore, there is a plating method as a method for forming a solder ball. In the plating method, a part of a resist, which comes into contact with an electrode, formed on a conductive film needs to be peeled off in advance in order to bring the conductive film formed on a wafer into contact (conduction) with the electrode of a plating device. For example, when the resist is a negative resist, exposure light is prevented from irradiating the outer peripheral region of a wafer upon exposure by an exposure apparatus. For realizing this, U.S. Pat. No. 6,680,774 discloses an apparatus in which a light shielding plate for shielding the outer peripheral region from light during exposure is arranged above the surface of a wafer. Furthermore, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-233781 discloses a lithography apparatus in which a light shielding plate is arranged on a plane optically conjugate to a wafer plane instead of on a wafer. In the lithography apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-233781, a light shielding plate having a circular-arc at its edge is positionally controlled by a first driving unit that rotationally drives the light shielding plate about an axis parallel to the optical axis of an illumination system and a second driving unit that linearly drives the light shielding plate within a plane perpendicular to the optical axis in order to define an exposure region corresponding to a peripheral shot region located in the outer peripheral region. With the aid of positioning control, the distance (light-shielding width) from the outer periphery of a wafer to the borderline of the outer peripheral region which is shielded against light becomes constant for each peripheral shot region.
However, when a light shielding plate is arranged above the surface of a wafer as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,680,774, the light shielding plate needs to be retracted at the time of each wafer exchange, which is undesirable in terms of spacing for disposing a drive mechanism for driving the light shielding plate and throughput. On the other hand, even when a light shielding plate is arranged on a plane optically conjugate to a wafer plane as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-233781, a drive mechanism for driving the light shielding plate is still arranged within the apparatus. For example, in order to shield any desired position on the peripheral shot region from light by means of dual-axis drive such as rotation drive and linear drive, it is required that the second driving unit for linearly driving a light shielding plate is mounted above the first driving unit for rotationally driving the light shielding plate about the optical axis. Consequently, it becomes difficult to dispose a sensor or mounting parts when considering the fact that the position of the light shielding plate is directly measured within the drive mechanism. In addition, it is preferable that the rotating center of the first driving unit matches the optical axis from the viewpoint of optimization of drive amount for the improvement in throughput. At this time, the transmission of rotation to the light shielding plate needs to be performed from the first driving unit due to limitation on the arrangement of the light shielding plate near the rotating center serving as an optical path. However, the transmission of rotation via a gear, a belt, or the like may lead to mechanical deterioration due to wear or the like. Such mechanical deterioration directly affects on the positioning accuracy of light shielding. In particular, a mechanical deterioration caused by long-time use of a lithography apparatus may lead to change in light-shielding position on a wafer, resulting in an adverse effect on the products themselves. In order to avoid such circumstances, it is contemplated that the positioning accuracy of light shielding is inspected by periodically exposing and developing a test wafer but a certain apparatus down time and man-hour of inspection are required.

Exposure apparatus and device manufacturing method using same


A deep fryer apparatus including a gas burner for heating cooking oil. The burner includes a venturi inlet for receiving fuel and combustion air that communicates with a main chamber having an expanding cross-section. A balancing plate is disposed in a flow path of the fuel air mixture that is located intermediate the inlet and the outlet. The balancing plate defines a region of reduced cross-section in the flow path. A flame cap located at the outlet defines at least one secondary chamber between itself and the balancing plate that defines a flow path cross-section that is larger than the cross-section of the flow path at the balancing plate. The balancing plate is preferably tapered to compensate for variations in the length of the flow path due to an angled orientation between the burner inlet and the outlet.

Commercial deep fryers are commonly used in fast food restaurants to cook food items such as fries, chicken, etc. Most of these fryers include a reservoir of cooking oil that is heated to a predetermined temperature. In many of these fryers, the oil is heated by a gas burner which fires into a heat exchange tube that passes through the cooking oil reservoir. The flame and combustion products heat the wall of the heat exchange tube which, in turn, transfers this heat to the cooking oil.
Gas-fired fryer designs require very rapid heat release (short flame) in order to take advantage of the very short heat exchange tube/chamber that is typically found in a fryer design. These factors generally require high levels of primary aeration and a relatively large burner outlet. Because of the relatively small space available in a deep fryer, the gas burners used in these appliances need to have an inlet that is at some angle to the burner outlet which may be up to 90° in some cases. In order to maintain a high primary aeration, the burner has to be very free flowing or have very little internal restriction to flow. It is also important to balance the flow of the gas/air mixture through the discharge end of the burner in order to maintain a consistent temperature profile and good secondary air distribution for clean combustion. Balancing the flow is difficult because it involves putting a restriction into the burner in areas of high flow, which reduces burner performance due to lower primary aeration.


A seed inoculant applicator comprising an inoculant container into which dry or semi-dry material is placed; an applicator spout extending from the bottom center of the inoculant container; an agitator mixing assembly comprising a mounting framework and a shaft component, the assembly attached to the inoculant container and holding the shaft component in place to the center of the mounting framework and to the inoculant container, the shaft component extending down from the top center of the inoculant container through the inoculant container and through the applicator spout to the end of the applicator spout, to which is attached a mixing paddle which rotates within the inoculant container and an auger which rotates within the applicator spout and carries the agitated dry or semi-dry material down through the inoculant container and through the applicator spout. The agitator mixing assembly is mechanically driven. An applicator mounting bracket which allows for the stationary attachment of the seed inoculant applicator to another surface is disclosed. The seed inoculant applicator is used to provide controlled, constant and precise application of inoculants and other concentrated treatments to agricultural seed material as the seed material is otherwise handled.

Recently changing consumption trends, along with improved economies of scale, have led large numbers of agricultural field producers to abandon their traditional seeding and allocations, planting specialty crops such as lentils, peas, and other vegetables and grains in the place of traditional staples such as wheat and the like.
These new specialty crops require different, and in some cases intensified, farm treatment and management practices. This crop changeover has in many cases necessitated modifications to farming practices, including changes to procedures and equipment used from the seeding to the harvest of such specialty crops. One particular procedure which has arisen with respect to the growth of such legume crops as lentils and peas has been the added step of treatment of the seed with a rhizobium inoculant, in order to increase crop protection and yield. The inoculant consists of any number of treatment elements for the seed, the most important of which being large amounts of one or more strains of rhizobia bacteria. Along with the rhizobia, and any other treatment elements which producers or agricultural developers might wish to apply to the seed, the other major component of an inoculant is a carrier.
These inoculants are available in a number of formats, including liquid, dry and adhesive ("sticky" format). A liquid inoculant obviously has an inert liquid carrier which allows for the adhesion of the active elements of the inoculant to the seed. Liquid inoculants are problematic in that they consist of substantial volume, where any significant amount of dilution is done to make the even application any less problematic. This has a number of other effects as well. The larger the amount of carrier which is used, the heavier and larger the inoculant packaging becomes, increasing transport costs for the manufacturer and eventually the consumer price to the farmer for the product. Also, the packaging itself which is used is problematic in that rigid packaging, such as plastic jugs, needs to be used for the liquid and the farmer is then left with a significant disposal problem after treating the seed. Liquid inoculant can also have detrimental and fouling effects upon the seeding implements and other farm machinery used, which are designed for the treatment and handling of dry product. If water is used as a carrier, rusting of farm equipment may take place over time. If other rust-inhibiting liquid carriers are used, there may be detrimental effects on the land, and production costs for the inoculant product may again be increased.
Dry inoculant would have an inert powdered carrier. The problem with dry inoculants is that they do not adhere at all to the seed as the inoculant is applied, and by the time the seed is handled through the augers and then through the seeding equipment itself there is no way to ensure that any sort of even coverage is obtained. With any large amount of movement of the farm seeding equipment, the dry inoculant can quite easily work its way down to the bottom of the hopper in which the seed stock is stored for seeding, and as such no even distribution is attained and the inoculant may end up in large isolated deposits in the seeded crop.
A newer product which is becoming favoured by producers, are the quasi-dry adhesive inoculants. These consist of an adhesive carrier, such as peat moss or the like, to which the active ingredients are mixed and which `sticks` to the seed as the seed is treated and maintains its adhesive quality for long enough to keep the beneficial ingredients of the inoculant adhered to the seed throughout handling in the seeding equipment, to the placement of the seed in the soil. The main problem with the application of the adhesive inoculant is that it is difficult to obtain even coverage without over-treatment, because by the very nature of the product it does not flow easily and evenly from its shipping container into the treatment auger. Lumps can form, causing over-treatment in some areas, while flow from the package may plug up on occasion creating pockets of non-treated seed as well.
The benefit to both the dry and adhesive inoculants is that they can be packaged and shipped in smaller containers, such containers usually being able to be cubical in shape (such as stackable bags), requiring less overall packaging and wasting less transport space. Costs to the producer for the transport aspect of the production of the inoculant can be lowered in this way.
It is necessary to apply the inoculant as soon before seeding as possible, because prolonged exposure deactivates large numbers of the beneficial rhizobia bacteria in the inoculant. Inoculation of the seed is done by application of the inoculant to the seed as it is augered into the farm seeding equipment--drills, air seeder, etc. As such one of the problems involved in applying the inoculant to the seed is one of safety--the auger operator is currently required to feed the inoculant into the drill auger along with the seed and in order to lessen the contact and exposure to air of the inoculant it is necessary to operate in close proximity to the moving auger. The inherent safety concerns here are obvious.
A second consideration for the farmer in treating the seed as it is loaded into the seeding equipment is one of cost versus efficiency. These inoculants are costly, and the seed requires even and sufficient treatment for the inoculant to be effective. However in order to maintain the cost efficiency of the treatment, the inoculant cannot be over-applied. One answer to this problem has been to attempt to dilute the active ingredients sufficiently with the carrier so that less scientific precision is required in order to provide an even and cost-efficient distribution of the inoculant throughout a batch of seed. This still, however, requires some amount of accuracy.
This invention has in contemplation the provision of a precise and constant method for the application of rhizobia inoculants or the like to agricultural crop seed as the seed is otherwise handled--i.e. augered, in order to ensure even and sufficient coverage of the seed with the inoculant, while keeping over-treatment and waste to a minimum and maintaining farm safety.


A cable slack prevention device may include: a cable to both ends of which a first operation part and a second operation part are connected, respectively, and which is pulled by an operation of the first operation part to link with the second operation part; a fixing body which is fixed to the cable with surrounding it and is formed as a cylinder shape, and on an outer peripheral surface of which outer screws are formed; and a guide bracket which is fixed to a vehicle body and surrounds the fixing body, and on an inner peripheral surface of which inner screws are formed and the inner screws are meshed with the outer screws of the fixing body, allowing the cable to be rotated and twisted when the cable is pulled.

1. Field of Invention
The present disclosure relates to a cable slack prevention device to improve the durability and efficiency of the cable that transfers the operating force.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, a fuel tank, in which fuel is stored, is provided to a vehicle and a fuel inlet through which fuel is injected to the fuel tank from outside is formed at a rear side of the vehicle. The fuel inlet is provided with a fuel door for protecting the fuel inlet and preventing an accident due to a fuel leak.
Here, a fuel door opening/closing unit is provided to the fuel door in order for a driver to control the opening/closing of the fuel door inside the vehicle.
As shown in FIG. 1, a door handle 10 is provided inside a vehicle for opening/closing a fuel door 30 and is connected to a latch 40 for latching the fuel door 30 that covers a fuel inlet 32 through a cable 20 wherein when a driver operates the door handle 10, the latch 40 releases the fuel door 30 to be opened automatically with a pop-up spring 34.
Here, the cable 20 is designed to have a proper length such that the operating force of the door handle 10 is transferred adequately to the latch 40, but the cable can be deteriorated when it is used for a long time and further the cable can be deformed due to an external factor, and thus a length of the cable can be lengthened excessively.
Under this state, even when a driver pulls sufficiently the door handle 10, the operating force may not to be transferred smoothly to the latch 40, so the fuel door 30 may not be able to open. In addition, the clearance between the door handle 10 and the cable 10 is increased or the cable 20 is loosened to decrease transfer efficiency of the operating force, and thus the operation load and stroke as intended when it is designed initially are not transferred properly and so result in mal-operation of the fuel door 30.
The drawbacks as described above may occur to all components for transferring the operating force by using the cable in addition to the fuel door.
Accordingly, a need exists for cable enforcement means in order to increase the transfer efficiency of the operating force through which the deformation of the components connected to the cable and the looseness of the cable itself can be prevented.
The information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.

Cable slack prevention device and fuel door apparatus provided with the same


A hack-saw that consists of a powered motor encased in a housing unit with a handle for gripping by the operator. Extending out from the top of the handle is an elongated bar which runs out forward from the motor housing unit to which depends a leg parallelly disposed relative to the motor housing. Extending out from the bottom of this leg is a rod, spring and nut assembly parallel in line to the elongated bar. One end of the metal hack-saw blade is removably attached to the rod, spring and bolt assembly and the other end of the blade is removably attached to the reciprocating output member of the motor extending out from the bottom of the motor housing which when running moves back and forth, causing a sawing motion. In another embodiment the rod, spring and nut assembly includes an anti-rotational structure to assure the hack-saw blade reciprocates aver a constant path of travel to avoid misalignment.

As one familiar with cutting or sawing tools, the hack-saw is typically designed to be hand held and operated and compact in size for portable use. The only known device in use at present time that utilizes some sort of power which would come close in description to the present invention would be the portable band saw. This device, however, is bulkier in size, and consequently, heavier in weight, and implements a different method for cutting, i,e. a metal band attached to two common axes. While this device may be practical for cutting through larger sheets of metal, due to its size and weight, it is not practical for smaller operations such as cutting through metal or plastic pipe or for cutting bolts or screws. Additionally it is relatively expensive to purchase.
I have found that I can provide a lighter, more compact, and less costly cutting tool with the same basic purpose in mind. It is also adaptable to be cord operated powered by either available A.C. or D.C. electrical power of the type typically delivered to residential and commercial buildings and the like or operated by battery, hydraulic, or pneumatic powered motors.


To eliminate the necessity of providing a special heat insulating structure or heat resisting properties and to simplify wiring. A modulation/demodulation unit, transmission/reception units of active and standby transmission systems, branching units of active and standby transmission systems, and a line switching and monitor control unit are accommodated in one casing. The modulation/demodulation unit and the line switching and monitor control unit, commonly used in the active and standby transmission systems, are incorporated in the lower part of the casing, and the transmission/reception units and the branching units of the active and standby transmission systems are incorporated in the upper part of the casing. The transmission/reception units and the branching units of the active and standby transmission systems are arranged in parallel such that the branching units are positioned at the center thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication device composed of a plurality of units, and in particular, to the mounting structure of the respective units.
2. Related Art
FIG. 1 is a layout diagram of respective. units in a conventional communication device. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the conventional communication device. Hereinafter, explanation will be given based on these Figures.
A conventional communication device 50 is so configured that two transmission/reception units 521 and 522 of transmission systems for performing transmission and reception with the same polarized wave, a modulation/demodulation unit 54, two branching units 531 and 532, and line switching and monitor control unit 55 are accommodated in one casing 51.
Next, the arranging relationship among these units will be described. The transmission/reception units 521 and 522 and the branching units 531 and 532, consisting of components which differ depending on the selected radio frequency, are arranged in the upper part of the casing 51, and the modulation/demodulation unit 54 and the link switching and monitor control unit 55, consisting of the same components irrespective of the radio frequency, are spaced apart from each other and arranged in the lower part of the casing 51.
Further, one branching unit 531 is electrically connected to one transmission/reception unit 521 via a transmission signal line 561, and is electrically connected to the other transmission/reception unit 522 via a reception signal line 571. The other branching unit 532 is electrically connected to the other transmission/reception unit 522 via a transmission signal line 562, and is electrically connected to the one transmission/reception unit 521 via a reception signal line 572. Such a communication device 50 is disclosed in, for example, the Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 08-116294 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1).
Here, consideration will be made for the reason why a plurality of units are arranged to be in an arranging relationship shown in FIG. 1. In the initial stage of developing this kind of communication device, the transmission/reception units 521 and 522 were large in their structure. Therefore, a communication device might have either an arrangement that the transmission/reception units 521 and 522 are placed above and the branching unit 531 and 532 are placed below as shown in Patent Document 1, or an arrangement that the transmission/reception units 521 and 522 are placed below and the branching unit 531 and 532 are placed above as shown in FIG. 1. Next, the arranging relationships shown in FIG. 1 and Patent Document 1 will be compared. When comparing the transmission/reception units 521 and 522 and the branching units 532 and 532, maintenance is performed less frequently for the branching units 531 and 532. Accordingly, considering from an aspect of maintenance, the arranging relationship shown in FIG. 1 where the transmission/reception units 521 and 522 are placed below and the branching units 531 and 532 are placed above, is most appropriate, comparing with that of Patent Document 1.
However, in the arranging relationship shown in FIG. 1, the branching units 531 and 532 are placed above the transmission/reception units 521 and 522 with high heating values, whereby the branching units 531 and 532 are exposed to the heat of the transmission/reception units 521 and 522. Therefore, it is required to take such countermeasures as addition of discharging items to the transmission/reception units 521 and 522 or easing of specification circumstance. This leads to a cost increase and a weak product competitiveness.
In order to avoid such a situation, the transmission/reception units 521 and 522 and the branching units 531 and 532 may be arranged in parallel. However, considering the mounting area of the casing 51, it is impossible to enlarge the size of the casing 51. Therefore, it is the current situation that measures against heat must be taken by considering the arranging relationship of the units while keeping the current size of the casing 51.
Further, in the case of the arranging relationship between the transmission/reception units 521 and 522 and the branching units 531 and 532 shown in FIG. 1, the lengths of the transmission signal lines 561 and 562 and the reception signal lines 571 and 572, extending from the branching units 531 and 532 to the transmission/reception units 521 and 522 respectively, are different, whereby a difference of cable loss is caused, which causing a problem that a signal delay occurs between the active transmission system and the standby transmission system. Further, cabling between the active transmission system and the standby transmission system becomes complicated, causing a problem of the high manufacturing cost.


An adjustable cover element in a vehicle is mounted to a vehicle component via a multiple linkage kinematic system comprising two guide rods. Each guide rod on one end is coupled in an articulated manner to the vehicle component and on the other end is coupled in an articulated manner to the cover element. One guide rod for the multiple linkage kinematic system has a two-part design and comprises two guide rod sections connected by an articulated joint. A stop is provided which during a relative motion between the cover element and the stop acts on a guide rod section in such a way that the angular position between the two guide rod sections changes.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an adjustable cover element in a vehicle, in particular a convertible vehicle, and an adjustable vehicle roof.
2. Background Art
A multisection hard-top vehicle roof is disclosed in German published application DE 102 37 363 A1, the roof sections of which may be adjusted between a closed position covering the vehicle interior in which the roof sections form a common, continuous outer roof skin, and a stored position in which the roof sections are folded away in a rear storage compartment. A rear shelf section is located directly below the rear roof section in the closed position of the vehicle roof. The rear shelf section assumes an approximately horizontal stored position and is situated above the storage compartment in which the roof sections are stored in the open position of the vehicle roof. The rear shelf section is designed to be adjustable, and has its own kinematic control system by which the rear shelf section is pivotably coupled to the vehicle body. The rear shelf section is moved into an approximately upright intermediate position as soon as the vehicle roof is to be switched from one end position to the opposite end position to enable the transitional motion of the roof sections between the closed and stored positions to be carried out and to avoid a collision with the rear shelf section. In the intermediate position of the rear shelf section the roof sections may be switched between the closed and stored positions along the planned path of motion without the danger of collision. The rear shelf section once again assumes its approximately horizontal covered position after reaching the particular end position. The kinematic control systems of the rear shelf section and the vehicle roof may be actuated independently of one another, or may also be kinematically coupled, so that actuation of the roof kinematic system automatically adjusts the rear shelf section as well.
A loading assistance function may be employed in which the stored and stacked roof sections are lifted as a roof section bundle before or during opening of the trunk to enable optimum use of the remaining trunk space when the vehicle roof is open. The loading assistance function allows the space beneath the roof section bundle to be more accessible and more easily loaded. When the roof section bundle is lifted, however, care must be taken that a collision is avoided with the rear shelf section located thereabove. This requires that the rear shelf section be in the most horizontal position possible, in contrast to the steep intermediate position during roof storage.
A roof hatch is disclosed in published German application DE 101 63 727 A1 which is connected in an articulated manner to the vehicle body via multiple two-part guide rods. Each of the two-part guide rods are formed from one articulated lever and one additional lever. The two-part guide rods may be swiveled between a lower end position (roof hatch closed) and an upper end position (roof hatch open). The two guide rod sections of the two-part guide rods move relative to one another during the overall swivel motion between the two end positions. Further swiveling of the guide rods is prevented in each case by two stops. The stops block further motion of both guide rod sections and further motion of the upper end position of the two-part guide rods, the two-part guide rods.
German published application DE 101 63 727 A1 describes a hard-top vehicle roof comprising a roof kinematic system with two guide rods which have a common articulated joint. One guide rod connects a front roof section to the body in an articulated manner. The relative angular position of the guide rods with respect to one another continuously changes during the overall swiveling process of the roof kinematic system. A rotational motion of both guide rods about the common articulated joint is possible in both directions.

Adjustable cover element and adjustable vehicle roof for a convertible vehicle


An image forming apparatus includes: a rotatable belt having a seamed portion and a reinforcing member attached to the seamed portion; rollers for supporting and feeding the belt; and an image forming device for forming an image on the belt or on a recording material carried thereby, wherein the reinforcing member is arranged on the belt such that it crosses a direction perpendicular to the direction of rotation of the belt. The seamed portion is parallel to the direction perpendicular to the direction of rotation of the belt. The reinforcing member includes folded portions at both ends of the belt with respect to the direction perpendicular to the direction of rotation, the folded portions being formed by folding over the end portions of the reinforcing member from the obverse to the reverse side of the belt. The end portions of the reinforcing member are arranged such that the end portion on the obverse side of the belt and that on the reverse side thereof are not exactly superimposed one upon the other but out of alignment with respect the direction of rotation of the belt. The apparatus further has a cleaning blade for cleaning the belt, wherein the line in which this cleaning blade is in contact with the belt is parallel to the direction perpendicular to the direction of rotation of the belt, and a plurality of image bearing members, wherein images of plurality of colors are transferred from these image bearing members to the recording material carried by the belt.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a belt member having a seamed portion and to an image forming apparatus having this belt member. This image forming apparatus is suitable for use as a color-type image forming apparatus in which images of a plurality of colors are superimposed one upon the other on a recording material carried by the belt member.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there have been proposed various types of color image forming apparatuses. In these image forming apparatuses, a plurality of image forming sections are provided, and toner images of different colors are respectively formed in these image forming sections, the toner images being transferred to the same recording material and superimposed one upon the other. Of such image forming apparatuses, a color copying apparatus of a multicolor electrophotographic type is in wide use.
An example of such a color electrophotographic copying apparatus will be briefly described with reference to FIG. 6. In the body of the color electrophotographic copying apparatus, first through fourth image forming sections Pa, Pb, Pc and Pd are arranged side by side. The image forming sections Pa through Pgd are equipped with electrophotographic photosensitive drums 1a, 1b, 1c and 1d, respectively, which serve as dedicated image carrying means.
Around the photosensitive drums 1a through 1d, there are arranged latent image forming sections 2a, 2b, 2c and 2d, developing sections 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d, and cleaning sections 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d, respectively.
Under the image forming sections Pa through Pd, a conveyor belt 8 for conveying the recording material to the respective image transfer positions is arranged such that it can run by means of a driving roller 12 and a driven roller 11. Inside the conveyor belt 8, transfer discharge sections 4a, 4b, 4c and 4d are arranged respectively in correspondence with the photosensitive drums.
In this construction, first, a latent image of cyan color component is formed on the photosensitive drum 1a of the first image forming section Pa by the latent image forming section 2a on the basis of image information read from an image reader (not shown). This latent image is turned into a visual image by using a developer of the developing section 3a having cyan toner. Then, the image transfer section 4a transfers the cyan toner image onto a recording material 6, which is supplied from a recording material cassette 60, fed by way of registration rollers 13 and conveyed by the conveyor belt 8.
While the cyan image is being transferred to the recording material 6 as described above, a latent image of magenta color component is formed by the second image forming section Pb. Then, this latent image is turned into a magenta toner image by the developing section 3b and transferred onto a predetermined position of the recording material 6 so as to be superimposed on the cyan toner image when the recording material 6, which has undergone image transfer in the first image forming section Pa, is fed to the image transfer section 4b.
By similar processes, yellow and black images are formed by the third and fourth image forming sections Pc and Pd, and the yellow and black colors are transferred onto predetermined positions of the same recording material 6 so as to be superimposed on the cyan and magenta images.
When these image forming processes have been completed, the image on the recording material 6 is fixed to the recording material 6 by a fixing section 7, whereby a multicolor image is completed.
After the completion of the image transfer, the toner remaining on the photosensitive drums 1a through 1d is removed by cleaning sections 5a through 5d, and the apparatus made ready for forming the next latent image.
The conveyor belt 8, which is an endless belt member, consists of a dielectric resin film, such as a polyethylene terephthalate resin sheet (PET sheet), a polyvinylidene fluoride resin film, or a polyurethane resin film. The end portions of the belt are superimposed one upon the other to be joined together to be thereby formed into an endless belt. Alternatively, a so-called seamless belt having no seam may be used.
However, of the above-mentioned conventional belts, the seamless belt is rather difficult to produce, and has serious problems in terms of productivity, cost, etc.
On the other hand, the so-called seamed belt having a seam involves a problem when image transfer is effected on that portion of the recording material which is being held by the belt portion corresponding to the seamed portion; the portion of the recording material superimposed on the seam portioned has physical properties that are different from those of the remaining portion of the recording material, so that the transfer electric field of this portion of the recording material differs from that of the remaining portion thereof, resulting in an image disturbance. As a result, a defective image is generated, which has inconsistency in density appearing in the form of a line corresponding to the seamed portion.
To prevent the generation of such inconsistency in density, various measures have been proposed. For example, use of the belt is started from a position which is spaced apart from the seam position by a predetermined distance in order that the recording material may not be placed on the seamed portion.
Further, a method has been proposed according to which, in order that the recording material may not be placed on the seamed portion, the seamed portion is detected to adjust the timing with which the recording material is placed on the conveyor belt.
However, the above-mentioned seamed belt still has the following problems:
The first problem relates to the strength of the belt. The belt is stretched between a plurality of conveying rollers and conveys the recording material as it runs, so that it is repeatedly wound around the conveying rollers and separated therefrom. That is, the belt repeatedly receives bending stress, which means the fatigue strength of the belt is an important factor to be taken into consideration.
The bonding of the seamed belt is effected by adhesion bonding using an adhesive, heat bonding using heat, etc. In any case, the fatigue strength of the bonded section cannot exceed that of the remaining portion of the belt, with the result that cracks are generated in the bonded section after being used for a long period of time, which leads to a break in the belt. Thus, the service life of the belt is rather short.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 63-280277, for example, discloses a structure in which, in order to prevent erroneous detection by a sensor, the seam of the transfer belt extends in a direction crossing the direction perpendicular to the movement of the belt. This structure, however, has a problem in terms of the belt strength.
Regarding the above problem, it is known that a substantial improvement can be achieved by attaching a thin adhesive tape (consisting, for example, of a polyester or a teflon (trade name) tape), which constitutes a reinforcing member, to the surface of the bonded section of the belt. However, even this arrangement is insufficient in preventing the generation of cracks starting from the end portions with respect the width direction of the belt. Thus, a further improvement is required in this regard.
Further, both the conveyor belt as the conveying means and the photosensitive belt as the image carrying means have cleaning means which are in contact with their surfaces, and when the step portion formed by the adhesive tape passes the cleaning means, vibrations and uneven rotation, which lead to displacement of the belt, are generated, resulting in unevenness in the image. In particular, in the case of a color image forming apparatus, such vibrations and uneven rotation will lead to color misregistration.


Hydrogenated copolymers of an unsaturated nitrile, butadiene and isoprene, wherein the molar ratio of butadiene to isoprene is less than 3:1, display valuable low temperature properties.

Hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber (HNBR) is a valuable elastomer known for its combination of unique properties, including high tensile strength, resistance to abrasion, high oil resistance and resistance to oxidation. There is an increasing demand for elastomers that display these valuable properties at low temperatures. Car manufacturers are requesting elastomers that can be used over a temperature range from −40° C. to +155° C. For aerospace applications elastomers are sought whose working temperature range extends down to −60° C. or even −70° C.
There are known HNBR's that are useful at low temperature. There are commercially available HNBR's that have good low temperature properties. Thus, Therban® XN 535C is a terpolymer, available from Bayer, composed of 21% acrylonitrile, acrylate, and butadiene, that has a residual double bond content (RDB) of 5.5% and a glass transition temperature (Tg) of −38° C. Therban® VP KA 8798 is similar, but differs in having an RDB of less than 0.9%, and, again, has a Tg of −38° C.
European Patent No. 471,250 of Bayer AG, issued February 1992, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses hydrogenated butadiene/isoprene/(meth)acrylonitrile copolymers. The patent teaches that isoprene-modification of HNBR improves compression set at low temperature (for 97.1 to 98.6% hydrogenation, i.e. 2.9 to 1.4% RDB). The patent discloses copolymers containing 3.5 to 22% by weight of copolymerized isoprene and 18 to 50% by weight of copolymerized acrylonitrile or methacrylonitrile, and having a degree of hydrogenation, based on the C═C double bonds of the polymer, of at least 85%, that is, an RDB not greater than 15%. The examples used copolymers with acrylonitrile contents of 34.1%, 33.3% and 33.5% and isoprene contents of 4.1%, 7.9% and 12.0%, respectively, the balance in each case being butadiene. The degrees of hydrogenation of isoprene were 86.3%, 86.6% and 82.9%, respectively.

Hydrogenated nitrile rubbers with improved low-temperature properties


An adjustable strut spacer includes two complementary strut spacer disks that engage each other and the vehicle suspension to provide adjustable spacing. Each strut spacer disk is flat on one side and stepped on the other side. The steps of the upper strut spacer engage the steps of the lower strut spacer such that when the strut spacer disks are counter rotated the thickness of the adjustable strut spacer changes.

When a vehicle owner seeks to increase the size of the tire and wheel on his or her vehicle one of the considerations is the size of the wheel wells in the vehicle and specifically the space in the front wheel wells as the front tires pivot to turn the vehicle. To increase the available space in a wheel well a typical solution is to lift the vehicle relative to the pavement with the wheel spindle farther from the top of the wheel well. This solution often results in changed suspension and or steering geometry that may have significant negative effects on the handling, performance and safety of the vehicle. These solutions may be complicated and difficult to install and align.