A photographing apparatus, a motion estimating apparatus, an image compensating method, a motion estimating method, and a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium are provided. The photographing apparatus includes: an image sensing unit which continuously captures a plurality of images by using a rolling shutter method; and an image processor which compensates for a uniformly accelerated motion of the photographing apparatus by using the plurality of images.

1. Field
Apparatuses consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to a photographing apparatus, a motion estimating apparatus, an image compensating method, a motion estimating method, and a computer-readable recording medium, and more particularly, to a photographing apparatus which can check a uniformly accelerated motion thereof through continuously captured images, a motion estimating apparatus, an image compensating method, a motion estimating method, and a computer-readable recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
An imaging device refers to a part which generates an image in a mobile phone camera or a digital still camera (DSC). Examples of the imaging device include a charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensor and a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor.
The CCD image sensor refers to a device in which metal-oxide-silicon (MOS) capacitors are very close to one another, and charge carriers are stored in and transferred to the MOS capacitors. The CMOS image sensor refers to a device which adopts a switching method of forming and using MOS transistors by the number of pixels by using CMOS technology for using a control circuit and a signal processing circuit as peripheral circuits in order to sequentially detect outputs.
The CCD image sensor attracts the widest attention as a conventional image sensor and is currently widely used in a digital camera, a camera phone, or the like. However, as the importance of the camera phone stands out, it is important to reduce power consumption of the camera phone. Therefore, interest in the CMOS image sensor has increased. The CMOS image sensor is manufactured in a CMOS process for producing general silicon semiconductors, and thus, is small and cheap, and power consumption thereof is low.
A method of reading an optical image of a subject formed in an imaging area of an imaging device is classified as a global shutter method and a rolling shutter method. The global shutter method refers to a method by which all pixels of the imaging area read the optical image at a same time. The rolling shutter method refers to a method by which one or several pixels of the imaging area sequentially read the optical image.
The CMOS image sensor may apply both to the global shutter method and to the rolling shutter method. If the CMOS image sensor applies the global shutter method, all pixels read the optical image of the subject at a same time. Therefore, even if the subject moves, a captured image is not transformed.
If the CMOS image sensor applies the rolling shutter method, one or several pixels sequentially read the optical image. Therefore, if the subject is moving or a photographing apparatus is being moved, a captured image may be transformed. Accordingly, if a subject that is moving is captured, a photographing apparatus applying the rolling shutter method has difficulty capturing a normal image.
A technique for compensating for an image distortion of the rolling shutter method is classified into an optical image stabilizer (OIS) technique and a digital image stabilizer (DIS) technique.
The OIS technique refers to a method by which a motion of a photographing apparatus is measured by using a gyro-sensor, and an image sensor or a lens of the photographing apparatus is moved in an opposite direction in order to compensate for the motion of the photographing apparatus. The OIS technique is very effective, but is costly. Also, if the motion of the photographing apparatus exceeds a displacement range provided by the OIS technique, there is no compensation for the rolling shutter phenomenon.
The DIS technique refers to a method by which a motion between images is estimated by using a digital signal processing method, wherein a distortion of an image is compensated for according to the estimated motion.
However, the DIS technique has problems with a calculation amount and accuracy. In detail, a large amount of calculation is required to estimate a motion between images in a camcorder or a camera which is to process a moving picture in real time. Also, a motion of a photographing apparatus is estimated on the assumption that the photographing apparatus moves at a constant velocity. Therefore, an accuracy problem exists.

Photographing apparatus, motion estimating apparatus, image compensating method, motion estimating method, and computer-readable recording medium


The present approach relates to a system capable of life-long learning in a deep learning context. The system includes a deep learning network configured to process an input dataset and perform one or more tasks from among a first set of tasks. As an example, the deep learning network may be part of an imaging system, such as a medical imaging system, or may be used in industrial applications. The system further includes a learning unit communicatively coupled to the deep learning network 102 and configured to modify the deep learning network so as to enable it to perform one or more tasks in a second task list without losing the ability to perform the tasks from the first list.

Embodiments of the present specification relate generally to deep learning network, and more particularly to systems and methods for life-long learning.
Deep learning systems are being increasingly used to address real world problems, such as analysis of multidimensional medical image datasets, knowledge discovery in massive biological data, adaptive speech recognition, adaptive intelligent prediction and control systems, artificial intelligent based industrial systems capable of adaptation and learning, and so forth. Such systems are configured to learn in a specific context for a given training dataset. Typically, deep learning networks are based on artificial neural networks and the learning algorithms are based on multi-layer perceptrons (MLP) and backpropagation techniques.
However, established neural network and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques have difficulties when applied to on-line knowledge based learning. In many scenarios, conventional deep learning algorithms lack the ability to learn continually after deployment. In other situations, the requirements for incrementally adapting the deep learning networks with more data from the same task or to learn new tasks from old or new datasets are not met adequately.
Conventionally, techniques of rehearsal replaying information from the previous tasks may be employed to retrain the neural network for newer scenarios. However, such techniques require excessive and ever increasing data storage capacity, which may be prohibitive in domains such as healthcare and industrial applications. Further, rehearsal replaying also demands higher computational capacity and requires longer training duration for generating adapted learning networks. While fixed feature representation learning retrains the classification layers, incrementally evolving representation learning techniques are aimed at evolution of the network with newer tasks and datasets.
However, naive methods of retraining the deep learning network result in failures where the network forgets the previous tasks for which they were initially designed. Attempts to pseudo-replay with generation of old data representation through simulations have been made to avoid failure of naive learning and to mimic the rehearsal replaying without the need to store the old dataset. However, performance of these methods is still far from the baseline method (complete retraining) and requires further improvement. Other hybrid techniques propose storage of a part of the old dataset and use of data models to generate pseudo data to supplement the part of the old dataset that is not stored. Additionally, the neural networks constrained using regularization techniques are employed with conventional and hybrid techniques with limited performance enhancements. However, none of these approaches is fully satisfactory in terms of performance and/or flexibility.

System and method for using a deep learning network over time


To provide a spring seal device for connecting inner tube and tail tube of combustor by which air leakage caused by aged deterioration of spring seal is prevented.. The spring seal 3, 4 for connecting the inner tube 1 and the tail tube 2 of combustor is fitted at its end portion on the upstream side to outer circumference of the inner tube 1.. The downstream side end portion of the spring seal 3, 4 is pinched between inner circumference of the tail tube 2 and a spring seal guide 5 fitted thereto and connects the inner tube 1 and the tail tube 2. At the time of start and stop of gas turbine, the spring seal slides in the spring seal guide 5, thereby thermal deformation is absorbed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a spring seal device for connecting an inner tube and a tail tube in a combustor for a gas turbine etc.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 7 is a schematic cross sectional view of a prior art gas turbine combustor. Fuel, together with air from a compressor, is burnt in an inner tube 1 and a tail tube 2 provided in a turbine cylinder 6 to generate a high temperature combustion gas, which combustion gas is supplied into the turbine for driving it.
FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross sectional view of the combustor portion. As shown there, the combustor has a structure constructed by the inner tube 1 and the tail tube 2 mainly for a purpose of absorbing a thermal deformation. A spring seal 3, 4 is provided mainly for preventing air leakage from between the inner tube 1 and the tail tube 2, which spring seal is one kind of a plate spring for preventing air leakage from between the inner tube 1 and the tail tube 2 even if there occurs a thermal deformation. Said spring seal also functions to increase vibration damping of the structural system.
In FIGS. 9 to 11, a prior art seal spring portion is shown enlargedly. The spring seal is of a double structure of an outer seal plate 3 and an inner seal plate 4 in which, at an end portion of the seal plate, the inner seal plate 4 is overlapped on a cut-out portion of the outer seal plate 3, as shown in FIG. 10, so that a leakage from the cut-out portion of the outer seal plate 3 is prevented by the inner seal plate 4. Also, a stopper 9 is provided for restricting a deformation of the seal plate caused by a thermal expansion.
In the gas turbine combustor, there occurs a large differential temperature between the ordinary temperature during operation stop and a temperature of approximately 1,000.degree. C. during operation, so that a large thermal deformation occurs both in the axial direction and in the radial direction. While several tens times of starts and stops of the gas turbine are repeated, there progresses a permanent settling gradually of the spring seal which had been of a predetermined dimension at the time of inspection so as not to return to the original state and a gap is sometimes generated between the tail tube 2 and the spring seal 3, 4.
If air leaks through said gap from within the turbine cylinder into the combustor, a fuel-air ratio (ratio of fuel to air) in the combustor varies and a combustion condition varies, which often gives an unfavorable influence on NO.sub.x generation and combustion vibration.
Also, a fluid flowing through said gap causes a self-exciting vibration due to so called a clearance flow and the spring seal is caused to vibrate furiously so that there arises a fear of damage of the spring seal. And if a fraction of the spring seal plunges into the combustor, there is considered a possibility of a large accident, such as damage of turbine blades.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a spring seal device for a combustor in which a spring seal for connecting an inner tube and a tail tube of the combustor is constructed so as not to cause an air leakage due to an aged deterioration thereof.


The present invention provides a surgical incision or wound closure implant device possessing an interior hollow core region while maintaining the mechanical beam characteristics of the overall structure. In the case of cored biodegradable implant devices the thickness of the cored region can be varied to regulate the speed at which the device is biodegraded. The core region may optionally be filled with a medicinal agent or a stabilizing material.

This invention relates to fastening devices, implants and articles used in surgical procedures.
Surgical fasteners such as staples, clips, clamps, bands, tacks, or other wound or incision closure devices are commonly used in surgical procedures to allow a surgeon to fasten, secure and/or repair body tissue quickly without the need for time consuming suturing. Examples of surgical fasteners are given in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,994,073 or 4,950,284 or 4,934,364, or 4,932,960.
Surgical fasteners are designed to be inserted into and to join tissue or layers of tissue. In so doing, they are adapted to receive a mechanical load or stress without substantial deformation or breakage. The stress may be generated at different points in time and may arise from different stimuli. For example, when the fastener is a two-part device, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,960, a generally U-shaped fastener member is ejected from a stapling device, passed through tissue, and lodged into a retainer member. Consequently, the backspan of the U-shaped fastener member receives a load when the pusher of the stapling device contacts the backspan and propels the fastener out of the device. The fastener member also receives loads when its prongs penetrate the tissue, and further, when the prongs contact and mate with the retainer. In order to function properly, the fastener and retainer should be designed and constructed to withstand operational stress without substantial deformation or breakage. Once in place, the fastener must also withstand the shearing stress placed upon the tissue, and consequently, on the fastener itself, which is created by the characteristics of tissue interaction in a living creature.
The ability of a fastener to withstand stress is determined by the kind of material, the amount of material, and the shape of the fastener's various structural members. It is desirable to optimize these variables, generally by providing the greatest strength to mass of material ratio so as to minimize the amount of foreign material in the body.
The structural members of surgical fasteners commonly have a solid circular, ellipsoidal, rectangular or polygonal aspect. The flex and bend strengths of such members are usually more than sufficient to withstand the loads required in surgical applications, e.g., firing the parts into tissue or during the holding period during which healing occurs and tissue strength is increasing.
Surgical fastening devices may be designed with open grooves or channels to guide the fastener component of a two-piece surgical fastening device from the stapler into a retainer component, see, for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,513,746. The retainer component receives the legs of the fastener component through tubular columns that become substantially completely filled by the legs of the fastener component. Other exteriorly disposed open grooves pertaining to surgical hemostatic clips are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,976,722 or 4,702,247. Such exterior grooves are designed to help grab and secure a blood vessel or artery. U.S. Pat. No. 3,918,455 discloses a hollow filament suture designed to receive and secure the shank of a suture needle. The hollow core of the suture is designed to collapse under stress. The collapsable nature of the core improves knotability through compressibility of the hollow filament under the tension of knotting.
Various materials are used in the manufacture of surgical fasteners and implants. These materials must be biocompatible, i.e., they do not adversely affect the surrounding living environment, and conversely, their performance is not adversely affected by the surrounding living environment. The materials may be inert non-absorbable or biodegradable. Inert materials may be fairly indestructible and maintain their form and function for extended periods of time.
Biodegradable materials are intended to break down and dissolve during and after the healing process. Biodegradation may occur, e.g., by hydrolysis as in the case of certain ester compounds or by enzymatic degradation as in the case of certain proteins. The time it takes for biodegradable fasteners to dissolve depends, inter alia, upon the inherent solubility of the material, the amount of the material present, the density of the material, and the amount of contact with bodily fluids that decompose the material. Optimally, a biodegradable fastener maintains its structural integrity in situ long enough for the tissue being fastened to gain sufficient strength to be self-supporting.
In general, a well-designed surgical fastener or implant should minimize the amount of material needed to create optimum structural integrity. Non-efficient use of materials wastes expensive resources and results in implants or fasteners that are heavier than necessary. Creating lighter implants or fasteners is desirable because less stress would be placed on the surrounding tissue system than might normally result from fasteners of excess mass. Moreover, in the case of biodegradable materials, the ability to exert greater control over adjustments in the density and amount of material used would permit greater regulation of the time it takes for the implant or fastener to be dissolved and absorbed into the living system. Indeed, once the fastened tissue is capable of suitable self-support, it is advantageous for the biodegradable material to be dissolved as quickly as possible to reduce continuing tissue interaction with the material.
Consequently, the need to optimize the strength to mass ratio of surgical implants and fasteners is clear. The present invention optimizes the mass to strength ratio in the creation of structurally sound surgical implants and fasteners.


A portable, battery powered inflator with removable batteries which are switch activated. The inflator has an air intake and output for delivering air into a variety of air bladders with different sized valves. The batteries are typical dry cells and not rechargeable to save cost. The inflator has a cover that allows quick removable and replacement of the batteries. An adapter assembly including a transition structure and adapters are provided to allow inflation of a variety of bladders having different sized valves. The attaching of the transition structure engages the switch completing an electrical circuit that activates the motor to deliver air automatically.

Air beds with pneumatic bladders with manual and motorized inflators are known. These devices are described in several U.S. Pat. No. 4,977,633 which issued on Dec. 18, 1990; U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,363 which issued on Dec. 7, 1993, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,726 which issued on Nov. 29, 1994, all to Robert Chaffee. These three patents which indicate the general state of the art are hereby incorporated by reference herein as if laid out in full.
The above inventions of the Chaffee patents and other battery powered inflators are known. The requirement of portability dictates the use of battery powered inflators since many applications of such inflators are at locations devoid of typical AC electricity power outlets. For example, campsites and swimming locations often have no electricity, but air mattresses and inflatable water tubes and the like are commonplace.
However, battery powered inflators are designed and adapted for use with a particular bed or other such specific bladder that has a particular inlet valve. Moreover, such battery powered inflators have been developed with rechargeable batteries that are maintenance free while providing long life. One limitation is that these rechargeable batteries are expensive, and since rechargeable, the batteries are not designed for easy removal or replacement.
These known devices have other limitations. One such limitation is the inability to adapt to different sized inlet valves. Typically a large bladder, like an adult sized air mattress, has a larger inlet valve than a small child's tube. The larger sized valve provides faster inflation and/or deflation times, but may be incompatible for use with a child's small air tube.
Another limitation stems from the low pressures associated with air bladders in general. With low pressure but often high volume air flows any impediment to the air flow increases the inflation time significantly. When an inflator is attached to an air mattress with a valve such as described in the above incorporated patents the force needed to overcome the spring force that typically is used to close the diaphragm in the valve in the air mattress, even a small spring force, may significantly increase the time to fully inflate the mattress.
In applications where an inflator is occasionally or rarely used there is a need for an inexpensive inflator. It is an object of the present invention to use inexpensive, dry cell batteries which can be easily replaced.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an inflator with batteries that are easily and quickly changed.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a simpler, less expensive inflator, which minimizes the air flow resistance of diaphragm valves used in air bladders.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an adapter for allowing the inflator to be used to inflate a wide variety of bladders, from small toy bladders to larger air mattresses or other such large bladders.

Inflator with drop-in batteries and universal adapters


The disclosure relates to a method for manufacturing a photoaligning integrated large area metallic stamp, which includes the following steps: making a unit device PLC mold pattern, and molding a unit PLC device pattern through a multistep imprinting method using the PLC mold pattern; heat treating the unit PLC device pattern to minimize scattering loss due to surface roughness; making a groove pattern for supporting an optical fiber; making an integrated PDMS mold for a unit device by aligning the unit PLC device pattern and the groove pattern; and repeatedly replicating the integrated PDMS mold for a unit device to make a large area PDMS pattern, and making a large area stamp through electroforming using the large area PDMS pattern.

The application of optical communication technologies is extended to meet the needs of the amount of information transmission capacity with an explosive increase in the use of the Internet, etc. The development of optical communication techniques promotes introduction of fiber to home (FTTH), and accordingly, the low cost of a planar lightwave circuit (PLC) device becomes an important element of competitiveness.
Most conventional PLC devices are manufactured as silica-based PLC devices, but have many problems in terms of cost due to a high-temperature process and a complicated production process. In order to solve such problems, studies have been conducted to manufacture a polymer PLC device applicable to a low-temperature (<300° C.) process and a low-cost and mass-production process.
In a roll and plate (R&P) imprint process, a fine pattern is directly transferred by allowing a stamp with a fine structure to be physically contacted with a polymer layer. Hence, the R&P imprint process is simple, and thus mass-production is possible at low cost. Accordingly, the R&P imprint process has come into the spotlight as the most suitable process technique in manufacturing the polymer PLC device.
In the polymer PLC device manufactured by such a technique, an optical waveguide medium is formed inside the PLC device so that light passes through the optical waveguide. Therefore, an optical path as the optical waveguide medium should be very precisely formed to maintain the efficiency and performance of the polymer PLC device.
Accordingly, it is very important to develop a technique for manufacturing a large area stamp of a PLC device for an imprint process and a large area molding technique.
A conventional stamp of a PLC device is manufactured as a wafer-based stamp through photolithography and etching processes. In the technique for manufacturing the stamp through these processes, it is impossible to implement a branch pattern of 1 μm or less, and it is difficult to maintain uniform dimensional accuracy on the entire wafer. Therefore, it is difficult to implement a high-efficiency PLC device.
In order to solve such a problem, a high-precision stamp should be manufactured through electron beam exposure with high resolution. However, in manufacturing the stamp with a wafer size through the electron beam exposure, manufacturing cost is considerably increased, and it takes much time to perform the electron beam exposure.
Accordingly, there have been proposed methods for manufacturing a high-precision, large area stamp through an exposure technique and an imprint technique using a step & repeat method. However, the method for manufacturing the stamp using the step & repeat method requires equipment in which a precise stage system is built. Since a pattern is formed by the step & repeat method, it is difficult to equally maintain residual layers between unit patterns.
In addition, the size of the large area stamp is limited by an exposure system and imprint equipment using the step & repeat method.
If the stamp is manufactured through such processes, patterns are formed in the same shape.
The pattern formation of a polymer PLC device is performed by forming an under-clad channel through which light is waveguided by a thermal imprint method, using an embossing stamp, filling a core material in the under-clad channel, covering the core material with an upper-clad and then curing the core material through UV irradiation.
However, a gap portion of a micron or less exists in the pattern of the PLC device. When the pattern of the PLC device is manufactured by the thermal imprint method, the pattern of the PLC device may be broken or deformed due to sticking in a demolding process.
In a case where the core material is pressed while being covered with the upper-clad so as to manufacture the PLC device, the slab thickness is not only a factor for determining leakage of light but also a factor for maintaining adhesion between clad layers. Thus, it is very important to control the slab thickness.
In addition, it is very important to perform a refractive index control in the high-efficiency polymer PLC device. However, it is difficult to perform a precise refractive index control, using the curing method of the core material in the state in which the core material is covered with the upper-clad after the under-clad channel is formed.

Method for manufacturing photoaligning integrated large area metallic stamp, and method for manufacturing polymer optical device using same

Pusan National University Industry-University Cooperation Foundation


The present invention provides a reconfigurable power distribution panel, a power distribution system, a method for reconfiguring a power distribution panel, and a method for manufacturing a reconfigurable power distribution panel. The reconfigurable distribution panel, among other elements, may include a first bus bar having a first plurality of contact points thereon and a plurality of circuit protection locations associated therewith and a second bus bar located proximate the first bus bar and having a second plurality of contact points thereon, the second plurality of contact points having the same plurality of circuit protection locations associated therewith. The reconfigurable power distribution panel may further include first and second coupling devices coupleable to a one of the first or second bus bars, respectively, at a chosen circuit protection location, and a circuit protection device coupleable to either the first bus bar or the second bus bar at the chosen circuit protection location by the selection of either the first or second coupling devices.

Power distribution panels are generally mounted in an electronic equipment rack with other devices requiring a source of electric power. The basic function of such a distribution panel is to receive electric power, typically DC power, from an external power source and distribute this power through a bus bar to a series of individual circuits for delivery to the equipment mounted in the rack or in nearby equipment racks. Typically, these individual circuits are protected by fuses or circuit breakers. Common voltages for these panels typically range from +24 Volts DC to −48 Volts DC. The bus bars commonly handle up to 300 amps or more and the individual circuits are protected by circuit breakers capable of handling of up to 100 amps or more or by fuses capable of handling up to 128 amps or more. In addition, a power distribution panel may have two separate bus bars, meaning the total current being supplied to a panel could be up to 600 Amps.
The power distribution panels currently used, unfortunately however, are preconfigured and fixed for a particular use. For instance, in those instances where two separate bus bars are being used, one bus bar will be assigned a fixed number of fuses or circuit breakers and the second bus bar will be assigned a different fixed number of fuses or circuit breakers. Unfortunately, situations arise wherein the first bus bar may need more fuses or circuit breakers and the second bus bar may need less fuses or circuit breakers, and the fixed design does not accommodate this need. This is particularly the instance when the distribution panel has been in use for a period of time and its power distribution requirements have changed.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a reconfigurable distribution panel that does not experience the aforementioned drawbacks of the traditional fixed design distribution panels.


An electronic device and method for half duplex data transmission in a long range keyless entry and go system, and more specifically to an RFID transponder, a corresponding read/write (R/W) unit and methods for operating the RFID transponder and the R/W-unit. There is a first coil, a second coil and a third coil, being arranged as a three-dimensional antenna, a first capacitor, a second capacitor and a third capacitor couplable in parallel to the first coil, the second coil and the third coil, respectively, for selectively forming a first, a second and a third parallel-resonant circuit for receiving radio signals, a series-resonant circuit for transmitting radio signals and a control stage configured to either use one of the first, second or third parallel-resonant circuits for receiving radio signals or the series-resonant circuit for transmitting signals.

RFID systems include RFID transponders and read/write units (R/W-unit) for writing data to the RFID transponder (downlink) or for reading data from a RFID transponder (uplink). The RFID transponder front end has a high quality inductor, which is used as antenna and a resonant capacitor coupled to the antenna. The inductive antenna and the resonant capacitor form a parallel-resonant circuit, which is excited by an external RF signal from the R/W-unit during downlink. For passive RFID transponders, the received RF signal is rectified and converted into an internal supply voltage for supplying the RFID transponder. The downlink data transmission is typically performed by a 100% amplitude shift keying modulation. According to this modulation, the R/W-unit sends bursts of RF signals and the RFID transponder determines based on the length of the bursts and pauses between the bursts the data to be received. For uplink data transmission, many RFID transponders use frequency shift keying (FSK), for example 134.3 kHz for a low bit and 123.2 kHz for a high bit.
Transponders with only one antenna are sensitive to orientation. Therefore, advanced transponders are provided with three antennas in the form of three LC resonant circuits which are arranged in a three-dimensional configuration. The three antenna circuits have antenna structures that are physically oriented at mutually 90 degrees. With such a transponder, signals from a transceiver/interrogator placed, for example, in a vehicle are detected independently of orientation in space of the transponder.
FIG. 1 shows an RFID system comprising an R/W-unit also referred to as interrogator 10 which in the case of a passive entry system may be located in a vehicle. The interrogator comprises for example a control unit 10a, an LF transceiver 10b and a UHF receiver 10c. The RFID system further comprises an identification device or key or transponder 12 comprising for example a microcontroller or control logic 12a and probably additionally a UHF unit 12b for sending a UHF signal, and a front-end circuit 14 connected to three LC resonant circuits 16, 18 and 20, which are arranged in a three-dimensional configuration. The UHF transmitter operates at a frequency of about 315 MHz, 434 MHz or 868 MHz. Arrows 22 indicate that the LF transceiver 10b will send an interrogation signal (wake up signal and challenge) to all three LC resonant circuits during an interrogation interval. The interrogation interval is at the same time a capacitor charging phase, as at least one storage capacitor comprised in the transponder will be charged to supply the transponder with energy during the response interval. According to the orientation in space of transponder 12 in relation to interrogator unit 10, one LC resonant circuit will receive the interrogation signal best and the associated receiver channel will be selected. Only the LC resonant circuit which is associated to the selected receiver channel will send a response signal. In FIG. 1 this is LC resonant circuit 16 and the response signal is indicated by an arrow 24. Although FIG. 1 shows both directions for signal transmission, it is to be understood that in a half-duplex transponder receiving and transmitting are separated in time, transponder 12 first receives an interrogator signal 22 and afterwards sends a response 24.
In a keyless entry and keyless go system the low frequency (for example 134.2 kHz) transmission is used for waking and challenging the battery supplied key over a distance of typically several meters. The key uses the UHF transmitter for responding to the R/W-unit (uplink). Some keyless entry and keyless go systems do not require a distance of several meters. For those systems, the configuration shown in FIG. 1 and described hereinabove is too expensive and too complex.

Electronic device, method and system for half duplex data transmission


A method of generating three-dimensional image data by transmitting beams to an object from a transmitting part and detecting beams reflected from the object by using a two-dimensional sensor array having a plurality of sensors. The method includes the steps of: (a) storing detection signals obtained by the plurality of sensors during a predetermined period after transmission; (b) obtaining image data about at least one measured point included in the object on the basis of a detection signal output from at least one of the plurality of sensors at a time point obtained from relationship between a distance from the transmission part to at least one of the plurality of sensors through the at least one measured point and a transmission velocity of the beams passing through the object; and (c) obtaining image data by repeating step (b) while changing the time point.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of generating three-dimensional image data on the basis of a plurality of two-dimensional image data that are obtained at different time, and further relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for medical diagnosis using the method of generating image data.
2. Description of a Related Art
Conventionally, in order to obtain three-dimensional images using ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, a plurality of cross-sectional two-dimensional images are collected, and the three-dimensional images are composed thereof. These two-dimensional cross-sectional images are obtained by synthesizing a plurality of picture element data, which were collected in time series by scanning an object by using a one-dimensional sensor array with a positioning sensor, and then, three-dimensional data is obtained by interpolating between cross sections on the basis of a plurality of two-dimensional cross-sectional images.
According to this method, however, there are time lags in the scanning direction of the sensor array, and therefore, cross-sectional images at different time are synthesized. Also, since the images are synthesized on the basis of information obtained by monitoring a position of the sensor, the composite images become unclear. Thus, this method is not suitable for synthesizing images of a living body such as in an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.
In order to solve the problem, it is desirable to use a two-dimensional sensor array for obtaining three-dimensional images. For example, it may be considered to collect ultrasonic signals as optical two-dimensional images by using an optical fiber array. According to this method, a plurality of two-dimensional data can be sequentially collected on the basis of ultrasonic signals incident on the two-dimensional sensor array when a predetermined time has passed after an ultrasonic wave is transmitted. However, the two-dimensional data includes all incident ultrasonic signals when the predetermined time has passed after transmitting, and therefore, it would not represent data about a specific point in three-dimensional space if not adjusted.
In the meantime, a document titled xe2x80x9cA principle of three-dimensional displayxe2x80x9d written by Tsuyoshi Mochizuki is reported in xe2x80x9cClinical Radiationxe2x80x9d Vol. 43 No. 11 (1998). In this document, it is reported that conventional methods of collecting data by changing sections scanned by ultrasonic waves take a large quantity of time before the whole data aggregate is obtained, and therefore, in the case where a scanned object is a moving one, a precise image cannot be obtained. The document refers to a data collection method using a moving two-dimensional piezoelectric transducer array as one of possible solutions, and also it refers to a method of displaying a surface and internal information of an object simultaneously as a direct method. However, it mentions that hardware and signal processing need a large scale of operation at the present time.
The present invention has been accomplished in view of such problems as mentioned above. The first object of the present invention is to provide a method of generating three-dimensional images on the basis of a plurality of two-dimensional data obtained at different time by using a two-dimensional sensor array. The second object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using such a method as above.
In order to solve the above problem, a method of generating three-dimensional image data by transmitting beams to an object to be measured by using transmitting means and detecting beams reflected from the object by using a two-dimensional sensor array including a plurality of sensors, according to the present invention comprises the steps of: (a) sequentially storing detection signals obtained by the plurality of sensors during a predetermined period of time after transmission; (b) obtaining image data about at least one measured point included in the object on the basis of a detection signal output from at least one of the plurality of sensors at a time point obtained from relationship between a distance from the transmitting means to at least one of the plurality of sensors through the at least one measured point and a transmission velocity of the beams passing through the object; and (c) obtaining image data by repeating step (b) while changing the time point.
Also, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention comprises: a driving signal generating means for generating driving signals; ultrasonic transmitting means for transmitting ultrasonic waves to an object to be measured on the basis of driving signals generated by the driving signal generating means; a two-dimensional sensor array including a plurality of sensors for detecting ultrasonic waves reflected from the object to generate detection signals; signal processing means for processing the detection signals obtained by the plurality of sensors; control means for controlling action timing of the driving signal generating circuit and the signal processing means; storage means for storing the detection signals output from the signal processing means during a predetermined period after transmission; and image processing means for obtaining three-dimensional image data on the basis of the detection signals output from the plurality of sensors at respective time points obtained from relationship between respective distances from the ultrasonic transmitting means to respective sensors through respective measured points and a transmission velocity of the ultrasonic waves passing through the object.
According to the present invention, three-dimensional image data can be generated on the basis of a plurality of two-dimensional image data sequentially obtained at the same sensor position by using a two-dimensional sensor array. Accordingly, clear three-dimensional images can be obtained even in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus used for an object of a living body.

Method of generating image data and ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus using the same


A snowmobile with an intercooler includes a four-stroke-cycle engine unit disposed in an engine room covered by an engine hood, and the engine unit includes an engine body, a turbocharger, an intercooler for cooling an intake-air, which is pressurized and heated up by the turbocharger, and an electric motor-driven cooling fan provided for the intercooler for introducing an outside air to the intercooler through which the air after cooling the intercooler is discharged toward the inside of the engine room.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a snowmobile with an intercooler.
2. Description of the Related Art
As an engine of a snowmobile, a light-weight and high-power two-stroke-cycle engine has been known as a mainstream engine. However, there is a tendency to employ a four-stroke-cycle engine in consideration of environmental conditions.
The four-stroke-cycle engine is larger in overall height than the two-stroke-cycle engine and is provided with a turbocharger or an intercooler in order to obtain an output power equivalent to that obtainable by the same-sized two-stroke-cycle engine as disclosed, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Laid-open (KOKAI) Publication No. 2001-214750).
In the case of a snowmobile having a structure for introducing a traveling wind into an engine room for cooling down the intercooler with the traveling wind, when such snowmobile travels in deep snow, an engine is subjected to a high load, and hence, the temperature of intake-air, which is pressurized by the turbocharger, increases. However, even in such case, as the traveling speed of the snowmobile is significantly lowered, the intake-air cooling efficiency will be also lowered correspondingly. Consequently, even if the turbocharger is employed, improvement of the output of the engine cannot be expected.
In the state in which the snowmobile is stopped after travel, the temperature in the engine room increases because heat from the engine is accumulated therein, and hence, an electronic equipment which can stand up poorly to heat may be adversely affected.


A semiconductor device has a gate dielectric film formed of zirconium oxide or hafnium oxide as a chief material and a gate electrode film in contact with the gate dielectric film on one principal surface side of a silicon substrate. The gate dielectric film contains an addition element to prevent diffusion of oxygen.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device, and more particularly to a semiconductor device using a material having a high dielectric constant.
With the progressive microminiaturization of components in semiconductor devices, of late it has been required that the gate of a transistor should be 0.15 xcexcm in length and the gate dielectric film, if formed by SiO2, for example, should be made as thin as 2 nm or less in thickness.
With dielectric films having such a thin thickness, a tunneling current that passes through them is so large as not to be negligible. A possible solution to this problem has been considered to increase the physical thickness of the dielectric film while maintaining the dielectric properties by using a dielectric material having a higher dielectric constant than that of SiO2. Materials regarded as candidates for the above-mentioned material with high dielectric constant are zirconium oxide or hafnium oxide as is described in the 2000, February issue (pp.93-106) of Nikkei Microdevices, for example. However, zirconium oxide or hafnium oxide forms a layer of reaction compound with a thickness of about 1.5 nm xcx9c2.5 nm at the interface with the silicon substrate as stated in the lecture papers (Lecture No. 6.1, pp.99-133, and Lecture No. 6.4, pp.145-148) of 1999 IEEE (THE INSTITUTE OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS) INTERNATIONAL ELECTRON DEVICES MEETING, for example.
Such reaction compounds are likely to degrade electrical characteristics.
The present invention has as its object to prevent deterioration of the electrical characteristics and provide a semiconductor device with improved reliability.
After assiduous efforts made to obtain measures by which to make it harder for oxygen to diffuse from a dielectric film that includes zirconium oxide as the cheif component element, the inventors have found it effective to add hafnium or titanium to the zirconium oxide.
On the other hand, from arduous endeavor to obtain measures by which to make oxygen less likely to diffuse from a dielectric film that includes hafnium oxide as the chief component element, the inventors have found it effective to add titanium to the hafnium oxide.
Moreover, the inventors have found that electrode materials, which have little tendency to allow oxygen to diffuse at the interface with the dielectric film that includes zirconium oxide or hafnium oxide as the chief component element, are cobalt silicide and silicon.
Still further advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading and understanding the following detailed description of the preferred and alternate embodiments.


An apparatus and method of encoding eye movements and eye tracking data (DAT), represented as time and space parameters (t, x, y) obtained by an eye tracking device and assigned each to a viewpoint (A, B, C, D, E . . . ). Pairs of numbers (Z0,Z1; Z0,Z2; Z0,Z3 . . . ) are taken from the groups of numbers and are combined with each other to obtain for each combination a value (W) that indicates at least a spatial distance (S) between two viewpoints (E, C), wherein the obtained values (W) represent an encoding of the eye movement and eye tracking data (DAT). Preferably the values (W) are determined and stored in form of a first matrix (M) or array. The matrix is subjected to one or more operations (smooth filtering, anisotropic filtering, threshold filtering, anisotropic diffusion) such that the resulting matrix represents an encoding of fixations, saccades and smooth pursuit of a raw data scanpath.

The invention refers to a method and to an apparatus for encoding eye movement and eye tracking data. In particular the invention refers to the encoding of eye movement and eye tracking data for gaze contingent control within a man machine interaction. The gaze contingency by means of the present invention shall be applied for example to the field of user-dependent eye movement controlled processes within technical apparatus such as machines, devices, computers, equipments, vehicles etc.
From the prior art there are known methods and apparatus for capturing eye movement and eye tracking data from persons in order to display the so-called raw data scanpath, i.e. the time course of gaze, representing the movement of the eyes or visual behavior of the person when viewing pictorial presentations, e.g. photos, advertisement posters or a dynamic scene, e.g. a situation while driving a car, watching a film etc. Usually, eye movement and eye tracking data are captured by using an eye tracking device, a so-called eye-tracker.
Such a method and such an eye tracking device is disclosed e.g. in WO 99/18842 A1. There is described a data evaluation by which typical eye movement patterns can be recognized.
Another method from the prior art known is disclosed e.g. in U.S. RE 40014 E1.
The known eye trackers provide time-resolved position data of the head and of the eyes of a test person/subject. There can be determined from these data, the time-resolved intersections of the line of sight of the viewer with the objects of static or dynamic scene, such as those arising when looking at a poster, an advert, the control panel of a machine (e.g. car or airplane cockpit), the display of a computer, etc. For this purpose, the position data of the head and the eyes of the viewer are determined at a relatively high sampling rate or frequency of up to 2000 Hz or more.
For the recording of data, there are usually various techniques available. For a wide range of applications, the most suitable technique, as being minimally invasive and therefore not burdensome to the subject or restrictive, is the video-based recording of the head of the subject at two different angles in the range of infrared light and a subsequent image processing, calculating from the image data in combination with geometry data of the experimental setting the position data of the head and the eyes.
From the image analysis, after a prior calibration, the head position and iris/pupil positions can be determined. This determination is often carried out in real-time and is performed by software being supplied by the manufacturer of the eye tracker. The data having this format, however, cannot be interpreted or understood by an end user, such as a psychologist who studies the scheme or visual behavior of watching a commercial. Therefore there is a need to process the data in an end-user friendly representation.
Usually the classification and interpretation of the data is performed by a decomposition of the recorded time series into fixations (cluster of viewpoints) and ballistic movements/jumps (saccades), where from a (cognitive) psychological perspective the fixations are of interest and the saccades are interesting in respect of the basic physiological processes. However, the computational methods and algorithms which are well-known for this purpose, are based on an evaluation of the viewpoints according to their spatial dispersion and/or to their velocity or acceleration. The algorithms require a parameterization done by the end user or default settings for the parameters done by the manufacturer which cover a wide application range, thereby becoming too imprecise for being used for specific applications, since the choice of parameterization can significantly affect the results of the algorithm. Further, the parameters are partly subjected to individual variations, referring to the subject or to a group of subjects, and/or are dependent on the tasks which are given for running the experiment. Therefore, in the known calculation methods and algorithms, the end user must have experience in the choice of parameters, which in practice is rarely the case, or he must rely on an approximate parameterization ("rule of thumb"). The known calculation methods or algorithms are not designed for the analysis of dynamic scenes where the viewer follows moving objects with his eyes. The separation of another kind of eye movement, the so-called smooth pursuit, as it occurs when watching dynamic scenes, is currently regarded as being difficult and has not yet been satisfactorily solved.

Method and apparatus for coding of eye and eye movement data


A digital signal-processing device is described which comprises a recording controller for control of recording in the memories drives a trigger-switching element arranged in the trigger line downstream of the two parallel-operating signal-processing units in such a manner that essentially the same timing period is recorded in both memories during a post-triggering period after a trigger time.

When evaluating digital signals, for example, in measuring devices for digital telecommunications signals, especially for the various mobile-telephone standards, various triggerings on the input signal must be implemented.
Regarding the prior art, reference is made, by way of example, to DE 101 59 911 A1, which relates to the triggering of digital input signals. This document deals with different triggering methods at the frame level and the symbol level. A realisation of the triggering at the block-circuit level in digital signal-processing units is not described.

Signal-processing device with improved triggering


A system and method is disclosed for reducing visibility of image artifacts caused by diffractive elements in a laser projector having a structured diffractive device. At least two diffracted orders of light can be selected from light emitted from the structured diffractive device using a spatial light filter. The polarization of at least one of the selected diffracted orders can be changed with respect to another selected diffracted order. The selected diffracted order can be recombined to form an image having reduced visible image artifacts.

Laser speckle can be caused by interference patterns generated when coherent light illuminates a rough surface. Reflection from the rough surface can create a diffuse reflection. Transmission through the rough surface creates a diffuse transmission. When light hits a rough surface diffuse reflection and/or diffuse transmission occurs and light scatters in various directions. A laser projector uses a coherent laser beam as its light source. When the laser beam from the projector hits the display screen, the light reflects off the surface at various angles and random spatial interference of the coherent laser light with itself occurs. The resulting interference of the coherent light source causes constructive and destructive interference. To the human eye, this image artifact appears as a speckle pattern. These artifacts can cause reduced contrast and resolution of an image in a laser based projection system.
Diffraction can cause another image artifact to occur with laser projectors that use diffractive elements, such as the Grating Light Valve (GLV) modulator described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,982,553. Whereas speckle is caused by interference of the light scattered from the screen, the diffractive elements in the path of a laser beam can cause an interference pattern in the light incident on the screen. This pattern may be visible to the viewer as repeating dark and bright horizontal lines, and it is caused by the interference between diffracted orders after they are recombined.
Several attempts have been made to reduce the effects of laser speckle on image quality. U.S. Pat. No. 3,633,999 discloses the use of a beam splitter to separate a laser beam into two beams. The beams are recombined after the optical path length of one beam has been increased by greater than a coherence length of the laser. Because the two beams are no longer coherent, the re-combined beam can produce less speckle when it is reflected off of a surface such as a screen. However, this method is only effective for lasers that have a short coherence length. An instrument can become difficult to package as the coherence length increases.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,323,984 discloses the use of phase gratings for mitigating the effects of laser speckle on image quality of laser-based projectors that produce a two dimensional image by scanning a line image across a diffuse surface. The phase grating disclosed is a simple two-dimensional pattern consisting of a repeated arrangement of lines of phase delay. A later publication by the inventor [J I Trisnadi, "Speckle-contrast reduction in laser-projection displays," in Projection Displays VIII, Proc. SPIE 4657, M H Wu, Editor (Soc. Photo-Opt. Instru. Engrs., Bellingham, Wash., 2002), pp. 131-137], describes a more sophisticated configuration using so-called Hadamard matrices to achieve a greater reduction in speckle contrast. The Hadamard matrix phase grating can be vibrated to further reduce the speckle contrast by moving the phase grating relative to the line image for each scan of the projector, where the eye integrates together several sequential scans. However, use of the phase gratings can result in a loss of light when the laser beam is diffracted into higher order diffraction orders with angles that can be too great to be collected by the optics. Further, while the phase grating can reduce speckle contrast, use of phase gratings can also create objectionable interference patterns on the screen. Use of the phase gratings can merely result in trading one image artifact for another.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,738,105 discloses the use of a phase array system to remove the perception of speckle. This patent, however, does not discuss eliminating interference artifacts in a displayed image that are caused by the use of diffractive elements.

System and method for reduction of image artifacts for laser projectors


A system and method of transposed storage in RAID arrays includes a storage manager with an interface for receiving storage requests associated with multi-segment blocks stored in a storage array, a controller for processing the received storage requests and controlling the storage manager, and a write request handler. The storage array includes a plurality of storage devices for which consecutive logical addresses are assigned to different ones of the storage devices. The write request handler is configured to process block write requests and send segment write requests to the storage array based on the write requests so that each segment of a given multi-segment block is written to a single respective one of the storage devices in the storage array. In some embodiments, the storage manager further includes a read request handler configured to determine logical addresses of requested segments and send segment read requests to the storage array.

Modern storage systems are being increasingly called upon to store and manage ever increasing amounts of data. As the amount of data increases, more and more big data applications are being developed that would like to concurrently access significant amounts of this data for analysis and processing. This puts an ever increasing burden on the storage system to not only be able to store the data, but to provide access to larger and larger amounts of the data with minimum amounts of delay. The storage system is also expected to provide backup and redundancy so that failures in portions of the storage system do not result in the loss of data. The storage system may also provide high availability to the data so that periods of high demand do not unduly impact the responsiveness of the storage system.
As more and more big data applications are developed, ever improving big data storage systems are desired. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide improved storage systems capable of supporting big data and big data applications.
In the figures, elements having the same designations have the same or similar functions.

System and method for transposed storage in raid arrays


The invention provides a surgical instrument for inserting an elongate element into a human patient. In the preferred form of the invention the instrument has a curved hollow shaft defining an arc corresponding to the general curvature of a passage between the anterior vaginal wall and the abdomen of a female patient and having a cutting tip at one end and a handle at the other end. An elongate threading element is used draw a filamentary element through the shaft. Once the filamentary element is in position the shaft is removed from the patient, leaving the element in position. The instrument is preferably used to insert a U-shaped loop of filamentary material into the patient which passes around the patient""s urethra and helps the patient improve her urinary control.

The present invention relates to a surgical instrument for a method of placing elongate elements in a patient, more particularly, but not exclusively in the field of obstetrics and gynaecology and more particularly the invention relates to an apparatus and method for the treatment of female urinary incontinence.
Female incontinence generally occurs due to deterioration of or damage to muscle tissue and ligaments in the pelvic region. This results in involuntary leakage of urine from the urethra due to lack of control of the patient""s pelvic muscles, particularly the urogenital diaphragm and pubo urethral ligaments. It has been found that the condition can be treated by creating some form of artificial ligament between the abdominal muscles and the urethra, the ligament passing behind the pubis.
The application is aware of two prior art patents which deal with similar subject matter to that of this invention, namely U.S. Pat. No. 5,112,344 (Petros) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,899,909 (Claren). U.S. Pat. No. 5,112,344 describes a method and apparatus for treating female incontinence. The surgical instrument for the application of a filamentary element into the body comprises a tubular shaft having a handle at one end and a flexible needle slidably receivable in the shaft and adapted at one end to receive a filamentary element. The method of treating female incontinence comprises looping a filamentary element between the wall of the vaginal and the rectus abdominis sheath in the anterior wall of the abdomen whereby it masses to each side of the urethra, adjusting the loop to bring the vaginal wall and the urethra into the correct spatial relationship to the pubis allowing the development of scar tissue between the vaginal wall and the anterior wall of the abdomen pubic symphysis and removing the filamentary element.
The Claren Patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,899,909, also describes a surgical instrument and a method for treating female urinary incontinence. The instrument comprises a shank having a handle at one end thereof, and two curved needle-like elements which are connected at one end thereof each with one end of a tape intended to be implanted into the body. These elements can be connected one at a time with the shank at the other end thereof to form a curved end portion of the shank and are intended to be passed into the body via the vagina, each element being dimensioned to extend from the inside of the vaginal wall over the back of the pubic bone to the outside of the abdominal wall. When practicing the method the tape is passed into the body via the vagina first at one end and then at the other end at one side and the other, respectively, of the urethra to form a loop around the urethra, located between the urethra and the vaginal wall. The tape is extended over the pubis and through the abdominal wall and is tightened. Then, the tape ends are cut at the abdominal wall, and the tape is left implanted in the body.
In its broadest form the invention provides a surgical instrument for use in placing an elongate element into a patient said instrument comprising:
an elongate shaft defining an internal passage, said shaft having a cutting tip formed on one end thereof and handle means formed on the other end thereof, the shaft including the handle means being of substantially uniform cross-section along its entire length such that the shaft may be passed into and through a patient, the internal passage being adapted to be used to introduce a said elongate element into a patient whilst the instrument is located in a patient in use.
In one preferred form of the invention there is provided a surgical instrument for use in placing a filamentary element into a female patient so as to form a sling or loop around the urethra extending over the back of the pubic bone, to the abdominal wall, said instrument comprising:
a generally arcuately curved tubular shaft defining an internal passage, said shaft having a cutting tip formed on one end thereof and handle attachment means formed on the other end thereof, the shaft being of substantially uniform cross-sectional diameter along its entire length;
a handle, non-rotatably connectable to the handle attachment means of the shaft;
a flexible threading element insertable into and through said internal passage from either end of said shaft at least when the handle is detached from the shaft and adapted to be used to draw one end of a said filamentary element through said internal passage.
According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a surgical instrument for use in placing a filamentary element into a female patient so as to form a sling or loop around the urethra extending over the back of the pubic bone, to the abdominal wall, said instrument comprising:
a generally arcuately curved tubular shaft defining an internal passage, said shaft having a cutting tip formed on one end thereof and handle attached means formed on the other end thereof;
a handle, non-rotatable to the shaft when connected thereto and further connectable to the handle attachment means of the shaft;
a flexible threading element insertable into and through said internal passage from either end of said shaft and adapted to be used to draw one end of a said filamentary element through said internal passage;
said tubular shaft being curved so that the shaft lies substantially in a single plane;
the cutting tip being formed having a transverse angle which lies at least substantially in a plane perpendicular to said single plane and at an acute angle to the shaft axis. The leading edge of the tip preferably lies on the radially inner side of said curved tubular shaft.
The acute angle is preferably between 20xc2x0 and 70xc2x0 and it is more probably approximately 45xc2x0. Preferably the leading end of the shaft is curved.
The cutting tip may be formed having two bevel faces, inclined to each other at an acute angle. The two level faces preferably intersect along a line which is perpendicular to the shaft axis.
In one arrangement the handle attachment means comprises screw threads formed on the outer surface of the shaft. Preferably the shaft tapers divergently towards the handle attachment means so as to form a smooth transition between a cylindrical portion of said shaft and said handle attachment means.
An interior surface of said internal passage at or towards said other end of the shaft may include one or more notch or detent formation with which said handle will engage to provide for said non-rotatable connection.
Said handle preferably comprises a hand engageable portion which is significantly wider than said shaft and a shaft portion adapted to be axially aligned with said other end of the tubular shaft when the handle and the tubular shaft are operatively connected. Said shaft portion may have a distal end of reduced diameter adapted to be inserted into the internal passage of the shaft. Preferably the handle includes an annular flange on said shaft portion adapted to engage against said other end of said tubular shaft, and a union nut captively held on said shaft portion between the annular flange and the handle portion and slidable on said shaft portion, said union nut adapted to engage with the screw threads formed on the tubular shaft in order to hold the tubular shaft and handle together.
The tubular shaft preferably has a generally arcuate portion towards the end thereof remote from the handle end thereof, and a generally straight portion towards the handle end thereof.
The tubular shaft may have a series of apertures passing through the wall thereof between the internal passage and the exterior of the shaft, said apertures being spaced apart along the length of the shaft.
According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a surgical instrument for use in placing a filamentary element into a female patient to form a sling or loop between an anterior surface of the vaginal wall, around the back of the pubic bone to the outside of the abdominal wall, said instrument comprising a generally curved tubular shaft defining an internal passage, said shaft having at least one aperture passing through the wall thereof between the internal passage and exterior of the shaft.
Preferably there are a series of such apertures spaced apart along the length of the shaft. Preferably the apertures are located on the convex side of the shaft. The shaft preferably has a cutting tip formed on one end thereof and handle attachment means on the other end thereof, and the shaft has a generally arcuate portion towards the end thereof remote from the handle end, and a generally straight portion towards the handle end, the apertures being located at least in the generally arcuate portion.
According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a method of introducing a filamentary element into a female patient so as to form a sling or loop extending around the urethra to an anterior surface of the abdominal wall, said method including the steps of:
a) inserting a generally arcuately curved shaft, having a longitudinally extending internal passage, into the patient through the anterior surface of the vaginal wall, so as to pass on one side of the urethra between the pubis and the bladder and pass out of the patient through the abdominal wall;
b) passing a threading element along the internal passage from one or other end thereof so that the distal end of the threading element passes out of the remote end of the shaft;
c) attaching a filamentary element to the distal end of the threading element and drawing the filamentary element through the shaft with the threading element;
d) withdrawing the shaft from the patient whilst leaving the filamentary element in position in the patient;
e) inserting the shaft into the patient through the anterior surface of the vaginal wall, so as to pass on the other side of the urethra between the pubis and the bladder and pass out of the patient through the abdominal wall;
f) repeating steps b), c) and d) to draw the filamentary element through the shaft; and
g) withdrawing the shaft from the patient whilst leaving the filamentary element in position thereby forming a loop which extends around the urethra to the anterior surface the abdominal wall on opposite sides of the urethra.
The shaft may either be tubular or U-shaped in cross section having a longitudinal slot or groove extending along the length thereof.
The aforementioned method may be performed using either a single incision or a pair of incisions. The two incisions method includes forming a pair of para-urethral incisions are made at or very near each anterior sulcus of the vagina. A tunnel is created by blunt dissection between the urethra and the vaginal wall, extending from each vaginal incision. Prior to conducting step (e) the end of the filamentary element adjacent the vagina is passed through that tunnel and out of the second of the two incisions. Step (f) is conducted through the second of the two incisions.
It will be appreciated that the process allows the threading element to be inserted into the hollow shaft from either end of the shaft, as desired.
Preferably the shaft is provided with a detachable handle, the shaft being of substantially uniform outer dimensions along its entire length thereby allowing the shaft to be withdrawn from the patient, once the handle has been removed, from the outside of the abdominal wall.
These and further features of the invention will be made apparent from the description of an embodiment thereof given below by way of example. In the description reference is made to the accompanying drawings, but the specific features shown in the drawings should not be construed as limiting on the invention.


A display system includes a single image-projection device, and a reflective surface optically coupled to the image-projection device, wherein the reflective surface is configured to reflect a plurality of images projected by the image-projection device onto a plurality of display surfaces, the projection being along a same path as a collection of the plurality of images.

With today's digital technology, it is increasingly easier to capture and record high quality images. Digital cameras, camcorders, and other similar devices provide users with the ability to digitally capture and record a scene or a moment in time. Often, pictures and videos representing digitally captured and recorded scenes are presented on a screen or other flat surface using some type of projection device.
Image-projection devices such as liquid crystal display (LCD) projectors, digital light processing (DLP) projectors, film projectors, slide projectors, overhead projectors, etc. are used to project an image onto a surface. Typically, the receiving surface of a projected image is a wall or a screen. Projectors are commonly used to project images in a variety of places and applications. For example, projectors may be used in movie theaters, home theaters, classrooms, outdoor displays, conference rooms, or in other situations where one may desire to display an image.
Traditionally, image-projection devices have been used to project images onto a single flat or slightly curved surface. While this display method allows for multiple users to simultaneously view a two-dimensional image, an immersive environment is difficult to produce.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


The purpose of the present invention is to stop the power supply to a specified device among a plurality of devices to be supplied with power, and maintain the power supply to the other device. An IO-Link master is provided with: an upper-level communication control unit which receives a specification of a device to which the power supply is to be stopped; and a power supply control unit which controls a device power supply switching unit corresponding to the device to which the power supply is to be stopped, to stop the power supply to said device while maintaining the power supply to the other device.

Generally, an FA system includes a master device (control device), a slave device (relay device), and devices such as a sensor and the like. The master device controls the operations of the devices and receives output data of the devices through the slave device. Conventionally, improvements of such FA systems have progressed. As one such improvement of the FA systems, there is an improvement relating to the supply of power. For example, in the following Patent Literature 1, in a slave controller (equivalent to the slave device described above), a technology for achieving power saving while securing security by controlling the supply of power from a network power supply used for maintaining a network connection with another slave controller in accordance with a voltage of a main power supply has been disclosed.

Relay, control method, and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium for power supply control


An address lookup table in a multiport switch is implemented as a plurality of address sub-tables. Entries in the address sub-tables are stored at row addresses based on a hash of the information in the entry. Hash collisions are stored in a common heap as a linked list of chained values. Entries in the address sub-tables at any particular address are alternated between the address sub-tables. A search of the address sub-table for the particular entry is performed simultaneously on the plurality of address sub-tables. In this manner, the total memory size of the address table can be increased relative to a single address sub-table while decreasing the length of the longest chain length and the length of the average chain length.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to switches in a packet switched network, and more specifically, to address lookup tables for locating information relating to packets in a packet switched network.
2. Background Art
In computer networks, a plurality of network stations are interconnected via a communications medium. For example, Ethernet is a commonly used local area network scheme in which multiple stations are connected to a single shared serial data path. These stations often communicate with a switch located between the shared data path and the stations connected to that path. Typically, the switch controls the communication of data packets on the network.
The network switch includes switching logic for receiving and forwarding frames of information to the appropriate destinations. One arrangement for generating a frame forwarding decision uses a direct addressing scheme, where the network switch includes an address table storing switching information for the destination addresses.
For example, a frame may be received by the network switch with header information indicating the source address and destination address of the frame. The switching logic accesses the address table using the source address and destination address as lookups to find the appropriate frame forwarding information. The switch then uses this information to send the frame to the appropriate destination.
When all of the stations connected to the network are simultaneously operating, packet traffic on the shared serial path can be heavy with little time between packets. Accordingly, it is desirable to look up the frame forwarding information in the address lookup table as quickly as possible. By increasing the size of the lookup table, more information can be stored, thus increasing the chances that the frame forwarding information will be found in the lookup table, and thus potentially decreasing the average time to determine the frame forwarding information. Increasing the size of the lookup table, however, also has the undesirable property of increasing the average time to perform each lookup.
Thus, there is a need in the art to improve the functionality of the lookup table in network switches, such as an Ethernet switch.

Alternately accessed parallel lookup tables for locating information in a packet switched network


A process for corona treating a polymer is described. The process involves exposing at least one surface of an article comprising a polymeric material selected from the group consisting of fluoropolymers, polycarbonates, and polyimides to a corona discharge in an atmosphere containing nitrogen and about 0.01 to about 10 percent of an additional gas selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, ammonia and mixtures thereof.

Corona treatment of polymer film surfaces is well known. "Corona," as used herein, refers to electrical discharges that occur at substantially atmospheric pressure, and is to be distinguished from sub-atmospheric and vacuum-pressure electrical discharges or processes, as well as from subatmospheric and atmospheric "glow" discharges as described in European Patent Publication No. 603784.
One purpose of corona treatment, or "corona-priming," of a polymer surface is to improve the interaction of the polymer surface with adhesives. Another purpose of corona treatment is to improve wettability of the surface. Corona priming of polymer films in air to increase interaction with adhesives and wettability of the surface is a well-known commercial process. Air corona priming is typically performed in the presence of ambient atmospheric gases (i.e., nitrogen and oxygen and trace gases) at atmospheric pressure. Corona processes are generally faster, cheaper, and more susceptible of application to in-line industrial processes than are sub-atmospheric and vacuum-pressure processes.


A manufacturing system is provided comprising a plurality of work stations having one or more tools for processing a work item, at least one carrier for moving a work item among the plurality of work stations, and a platform for connecting the plurality of work stations. In a further embodiment, at least one of the plurality of work stations is not on a line with the other work stations and may include a lift machine for raising and/or lowering the at least one carrier and the work item. The platform also may preferably comprise at least one rotator for changing the direction of movement of the at least one carrier on the platform. The system also may preferably comprise at least one conveyer for transporting the at least one carrier to the platform.

In conventional manufacturing and assembly lines, such as those used in the aerospace industry for manufacturing of aircraft, attempts to automate manufacturing and assembly lines generally have been limited to straight-line towing of a nearly completed assembly, such as an airplane. Assembly operations, such as riveting, typically take place in traditional fixed locations, thereby requiring use of conventional crane to move a carrier containing a work item into position for assembly. For example, assembly jigs are regularly used as carriers in the manufacturing and assembly of bonnets for aircraft. In a conventional aerospace assembly line, an assembly jig might be located in a high bay on the manufacturing floor for pre-riveting operations. When it is time to perform riveting operations, the assembly jig must be lifted using a conventional crane and delivered to an automatic riveting machine found in another workstation on the manufacturing/assembly floor. Upon completion of riveting operations on the automatic riveting machine, the assembly jig must again be lifted using the conventional crane and returned to its high bay location.
Loading a carrier for large work items, such as bonnets, onto a conventional crane often requires between 45 minutes and 1 hour of manufacturing/assembly floor time, and this estimated time period presumes that the crane is even available for use in lifting operations. This same estimated amount of time then may be required to return the carrier to its original location in the high bay upon completion of manufacturing/assembly operations, such as riveting. This results in 1½ hours minimum of lost floor time and machine time, resulting in at least 3 hours manufacturing time lost per work item (i.e., bonnet). Further, when the crane is in use, the manufacturing/assembly floor is unable to be effectively used for other manufacturing/assembly operations in order to address safety concerns with respect to workers performing tasks on the manufacturing/assembly floor in proximity to these carriers moving sometimes quite large work items around the floor.


There is provided a hot forged product having excellent wear resistance and fatigue strength even when the hot forged product is produced with a thermal refining treatment and a case hardening thermal treatment after hot forging omitted, and having a chemical composition consisting of, in mass %, C: 0.45 to 0.70%, Si: 0.01 to 0.70%, Mn: 1.0 to 1.7%, S: 0.01 to 0.1%, Cr: 0.05 to 0.25%, Al: 0.003 to 0.050%, N: 0.003 to 0.02% with the balance being Fe and impurities. The matrix at the depth of 500 μm to 5 mm from an unmachined surface of the forged product is a ferrite-pearlite structure, in which a pro-eutectoid ferrite area fraction is 3% or less or a pearlite structure, and the average diameter of pearlite colonies in the pearlite structure at the depth of 500 μm to 5 mm from the unmachined surface is 5.0 μm or less.

In recent years, a hot forged product produced with a thermal refining treatment omitted (forged crankshaft, for example) has been provided. The thermal refining treatment is hardening and tempering that improve the mechanical characteristics of steel, such as strength. A hot forged product produced with a thermal refining treatment omitted is hereinafter referred to as a non-heat treated hot forged product.
A steel material that forms a non-heat treated hot forged product typically contains vanadium (V). A non-heat treated hot forged product is produced by hot-forging steel and allowing the hot-forged steel to cool in the air. The structure of the steel material that forms a non-heat treated hot forged product is a ferrite-pearlite structure. V in the steel forms minute carbides in the steel during the cooling process after the hot forging, and the minute carbides improve the fatigue strength of the steel. In short, even a thermal refining treatment is omitted, a non-heat treated hot forged product containing V has excellent fatigue strength. A non-heat treated steel containing V for hot forging is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 09-143610 (Patent Literature 1). The non-heat treated steel disclosed in Patent Literature 1 is formed of a ferrite-pearlite structure, and V precipitates and strengthens ferrite. Patent Literature 1 describes that the fatigue strength of the non-heat treated steel therefore increases.
V is, however, expensive and the production cost of a non-heat treated hot forged product therefore increases. A non-heat treated hot forged product containing no V but having excellent fatigue strength is therefore required.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-226847 (Patent Literature 2) and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 61-264129 (Patent Literature 3) each proposes non-heat treated steel for hot forging and a hot forged product containing no V but having high fatigue strength.
The non-heat treated steel disclosed in Patent Literature 2 consists of, in mass %, C: 0.30 to 0.60%, Si: 0.05 to 2.00%, Mn: 0.90 to 1.80%, Cr: 0.10 to 1.00%, s-Al: 0.010 to 0.045%, and N: 0.005 to 0.025% with the balance being Fe and impurities, has post-hot-forging hardness of 30 HRC or less, has a ferrite-plus-pearlite structure, has pearlite lamellar intervals of 0.80 μm or less, and has a pro-eutectoid ferrite area fraction of 30% or less. Patent Literature 2 describes that when non-heat treated steel having the chemical composition described above is hot-forged and allowed to cool in the air, very small pearlite lamellar intervals are achieved, and the pro-eutectoid ferrite area fraction decreases, resulting in an increase in the fatigue strength.
In Patent Literature 3, steel containing, in mass %, C: 0.25 to 0.60%, Si: 0.10 to 1.00%, Mn: 1.00 to 2.00%, and Cr: 0.30 to 1.00% is heated to an Ac3 transformation point or more to 1050° C. or less for hot forging and then cooled into a ferrite-pearlite structure having a pro-eutectoid ferrite quantity F (%) satisfying F≤5-140C % (%) and a pearlite lamellar interval D (μm) satisfying D≤0.20 (μm). Patent Literature 3 describes that an Mn content of at least 1.00% and a Cr content of at least 0.30% allow the pro-eutectoid ferrite quantity F and the pearlite lamellar intervals D to fall within the ranges described above, resulting in excellent balance between the strength and toughness.
A hot forged product also needs to have wear resistance as well as fatigue strength. For example, a crankpin of a crankshaft, which is a hot forged product, is inserted into the large end of a connecting rod. When the crankshaft rotates, the crank pin rotates relative to the inner surface of the large end of the connecting rod via a sliding bearing. The surface of the crankpin therefore needs to have excellent wear resistance.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-328193 (Patent Literature 4) and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-256384 (Patent Literature 5) each discloses non-heat treated steel containing no V but aiming to improve wear resistance.
The non-heat treated steel for hot forging disclosed in Patent Literature 4 has a ferrite-pearlite structure. In the non-heat treated steel for hot forging disclosed in Patent Literature 4, Si and Mn are dissolved in ferrite to reinforce the ferrite. An attempt to improve the wear resistance is thus made.
The non-heat treated steel for crankshaft disclosed in Patent Literature 5 has a structure primarily containing pearlite having a pro-eutectoid ferrite fraction less than 3% and contains sulfide-based inclusions having a thickness of 20 μm or less. Further, the Si content is 0.60% or less, and the Al content is less than 0.005%. Wear resistance and machinability are thus improved.
To improve the wear resistance of a hot forged product, the hot forged product typically undergoes a case hardening thermal treatment. The case hardening thermal treatment is, for example, induction hardening or nitriding. The induction hardening forms a hardened layer on the surface of the hot forged product. The nitriding forms a nitride layer on the surface of the hot forged product. The hardened layer and the nitride layer have high hardness. The wear resistance of the surface of the hot forged product is therefore improved.
Performing the case hardening thermal treatment, however, increases the production cost. It is therefore required to provide a non-heat treated hot forged product containing no V but having excellent wear resistance even when the hot forged product is produced with the case hardening thermal treatment omitted.
The wear resistance of a hot forged product produced by using the non-heat treated steel disclosed in any of Patent Literatures 2 to 5 is likely to decrease when the case hardening thermal treatment is omitted.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2012-1763 (Patent Literature 6) describes a forged crankshaft having excellent wear resistance even when the crankshaft has undergone no thermal refining treatment or case hardening thermal treatment after hot forging.
The forged crankshaft disclosed in Patent Literature 6 is made of a non-heat treated steel material that satisfies 1.1C+Mn+0.2Cr>2.0 (in the expression, into the symbol of each of the elements is substituted the content (mass %) of the element) and has a ferrite-pearlite structure having a pro-eutectoid ferrite area fraction less than 10% or a pearlite structure.
Patent Literature 6, however, does not examine the fatigue strength.


Provided is an ultraviolet curable inkjet ink and an inkjet image formation method that uses said inkjet ink. The inkjet ink can be ejected from an inkjet head without being diluted by a solvent, has high photo curing sensitivity and produces high quality images with excellent weather resistance (smear resistance). The inkjet ink is characterized by a polymerizable compound which contains a maleimide compound having a chiral group and a compound selected from a vinyl ether compound and a N-vinyl compound.

The inkjet recording method is currently achieving rapid development in various fields, because the high-definition image can be recordable by relatively simple apparatus. The inkjet recording method is applied to various fields and the recording medium or the inkjet inks (hereinafter also simply referred to as an ink) are used just for each purpose. Recently, the recording speed is extremely increasing and the development of printer which has performances applicable for the light printing.
In the inkjet recording method, the image is formed by ejecting an inkjet ink from inkjet head and depositing these droplets on the recording medium. Low viscosity is required for the inkjet ink because droplets of inkjet ink have to be ejected stably from inkjet head. On the contrary, since color mixing phenomena so called bleed tends to occur by depositing plural of inkjet inks having different colors on the recording medium, thereby it is required to use inkjet inks having high viscosity so as to prevent bleed.
As one of the methods to solve this dilemma, an ultraviolet curable inkjet is put to practical use in which a photo curable ink is used. In this image forming method, balance between stable ejection and prevention of bleed is achieved by adding a photo curable monomer and a photo polymerization initiator in an ink and by curing the ink via irradiating light just after depositing on the recording medium. However this method still has other essential problems.
That is, photo-curing conditions are restricted by a polymerization inhibition. Polymerization systems are classified broadly into a radical polymerization and a cationic polymerization. Photo polymerization is inhibited by oxygen in a radical polymerization and by water in the air in a cationic-polymerization system. Therefore, in an inkjet method in which the dots by small droplets are formed by non-contact on a substrate, so as to resolve above inhibition factors, countermeasure is necessary such as using a large-sized ultraviolet irradiation apparatus with high illumination and high intensity for a radical polymerization system, and controlling humidity for a cationic-polymerization system.
Moreover, in case of the light printing use, printed image has to have high weather resistance. Since these inhibitions for curing cause worse weather resistance, an ink which has no curing inhibition and high weather resistance is desired.
As a general method of reducing oxygen inhibition in a radical polymerization, used is a method in which amine such as triethanol amine is added into ink in order to trap oxygen radical. Moreover, recently proposed is a method which uses a monomer having an amino group (for example, Patent documents 1 and 2), but the effect is restrictive.
Also proposed is a method which adopts a polymerization system which is insusceptible to oxygen inhibition. As the polymerization system which is insusceptible to oxygen inhibition, known are an ene-thiol polymerization system (for example, refer to Patent document 3) and a polymerization system using a charge transfer complex in which a monomer having excess electrons such as vinyl ether compound and an electron-poor monomer such as the maleimide compound are used in combination (CT polymerization system (Sonny Jonsson, et. al, Polymer Materials Sci. & Enginer. 1995 and 72, 470-472). However, since an ene-thiol polymerization system has an offensive odor peculiar to thiol, and used maleimide compound has poor solubility, it is not able to use as inkjet ink as it is.
As an attempt to increase a solubility of the maleimide compound used in CT polymerization system, proposed is a maleimide compound which has alkylene oxide in the central part (for example, refer to Patent document 4) or a maleimide compound derived from oleic acid dimer (for example, refer to Patent document 5). However, these compounds have too high molecular weight and viscosity of the ink becomes high, thereby it is difficult to eject this ink stably.
Since there is an attempts to eject an ink of CT polymerization system from an inkjet head by diluting with solvents and lowering viscosity (refer to Patent document 6), it is inadequate as inkjet ink because it cannot be fixed without dryer or it occurs head clogging caused by drying the solvent from head surface.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Inkjet ink and inkjet image formation method using same


The invention concerns a device for rinsing a fluid-storage space that is provided with a rising chamber fillable with a fluid arranged in the region of the high point of the storage-space floor, which chamber, when the storage space runs empty, abruptly lets the fluid run out through a rinse opening as a rinsing torrent. The rinsing device has a container that serves to hold the rinse fluid; the container is either raisable, so that rinse fluid floods out through its bottom opening, or else the upper edge of the container is lowerable, so that the rinse fluid, coming forth from here, can flood out radially.

The invention concerns a device for rinsing a fluid-storage space, which is provided with a rinsing chamber, fillable with a fluid, arranged in the region of the high point of the floor of the storage space, which rinsing chamber when the storage space runs empty, abruptly lets the fluid flow out through a rinse opening as a rinsing flood.
From EP 0 211 b1 is known a fluid storage space, in particular a rain basin or a canal reservoir, with a rinsing chamber, fillable with storage fluid, arranged in the region of a high point of the floor of the storage apace, which an the storage apace empties abruptly lets the storage fluid flow out as a rinsing flood through a rinse opening toward the drain of the storage space. The rinsing flood is released from the rinsing chamber by abruptly opening a flap pivoted above, which is controlled by the fluid level in the storage space. From this document is also known a circular storage space, in which rinse chambers are arranged radially on the outside, which are provided with cover doors and are flushed toward the middle of the storage space.
From CH 590 990 is known a tilting rinsing device arranged above the floor that is filled with water from above, and by change of location of its center of gravity tilts when filled, whereby the fluid gathered in the tilting rinsing device exits as a rinsing flood.
From DE-AS 23 02 583 is known a rinsing device arranged centrally in a circular storage space, which device rinses toward the outside. The rinsing device is designed as a rotating water wheel or as a pump for boosting and distributing the rinsing fluid.

Device for rinsing a fluid-storage space