A system for, and method of, compensating for codec DC offset and a modem incorporating the system or the method. In one embodiment, the system includes: (1) a DC offset compensator that develops and transmits a DC offset indicator signal corresponding to a DC offset present along a transmission path to a receiving codec and (2) a DC offset encoder, coupled to the DC offset compensator, that receives the DC offset indicator signal and applies a time-varying DC offset compensating signal based thereon to a user data symbol stream transmitted along the transmission path.

The present invention is directed, in general, to coder/decoders (codecs) and, more specifically, to a system and method for compensating for codec DC offset through a DC blocking channel and a modem incorporating the same.
xe2x80x9c56Kxe2x80x9d modems are currently the most popular means by which users can gain access to the Internet. 56K modems offer users asymmetric connection speeds. For data downloaded from the Internet to the user""s modem, a connection speed of over 50 thousand bits per second (kbps) is possible. For data uploaded from the user""s modem to the Internet, a maximum connection speed of 28.8 kbps is conventionally possible. The asymmetry is appropriate, because interacting with the Internet almost always results in more data being downloaded than uploaded.
While realizing a higher downloading speed has proven to be challenging, achieving a higher uploading speed is proving to be even more so. One significant problem standing in the way of increasing uploading speed is encountered at a codec employed on the receiving (Internet) end. A codec is employed at the receiving end to digitize the user data symbol stream generated by the modem. Unfortunately, codecs are subject to DC offset at their analog input when the user data symbol stream averages out to a nonzero voltage over time (which is almost always the case). Though codecs are provided with zero balancing circuits, DC offset often changes over time. Zero balancing circuits have proven to be unable reliably to compensate for time-varying DC offsets.
Compensating for DC offset is relatively straightforward if the codec in question is produces a linear digital output; the codec""s digital output can be incremented or decremented by a number corresponding to the DC offset. However, codecs often nonlinearly compress their digital output according to well-known A-law or xcexc-law compression techniques. DC offset does not evidence itself linearly in the output of these codecs, which renders linear DC offset compensation inadequate. Nonlinear digital compensation, while possible, is complex and difficult to implement.
It would, of course, be desirable simply to bias the user data symbol stream with a DC component to compensate for DC offset at the receiving codec. However, in the case of 56k modems, the transmission path, or channel, connecting the modem to the codec contains a DC blocking device. The DC blocking device, which usually takes the form of a transformer would serve to block any DC component before it could reach the codec and compensate for DC offset.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a way to compensate for codec DC offset that is compatible with DC blocking channels.
To address the above-discussed deficiencies of the prior art, the present invention provides a system for, and method of, compensating for codec DC offset and a modem incorporating the system or the method. In one embodiment, the system includes: (1) a DC offset compensator that develops and transmits a DC offset indicator signal corresponding to a DC offset present along a transmission path to a receiving codec and (2) a DC offset encoder, coupled to the DC offset compensator, that receives the DC offset indicator signal and applies a time-varying DC offset compensating signal based thereon to a user data symbol stream transmitted along the transmission path. The DC offset compensator can employ the DC offset compensating signal to remove at least a portion of the DC offset compensating signal to yield the user data symbol stream.
The present invention therefore introduces the broad concept of encoding compensation for codec DC offset in a deterministic, time-varying signal that is transmitted along with a user data symbol stream. Thus, the DC offset is, in effect, encoded into AC form.
The time-varying signal can traverse any DC blocking circuitry, such as a transformer, and thereby reach the receiving codec. Because the time-varying signal is deterministic, circuitry proximate the receiving codec can compute and remove the time-varying signal, leaving the user data symbol stream for digitization.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the DC offset compensating signal comprises a deterministic pseudo-random number sequence. Those skilled in the pertinent art are familiar with pseudo-random numbers and techniques for generating them. The present invention can make use of such techniques to generate the same pseudo-random number sequence at both the transmitting and receiving ends of a communications channel. The pseudo-random number sequence is first added to, and then subtracted from, a user data symbol stream to compensate for DC offset that may occur due to patterns in the user data symbol stream.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the DC offset compensating signal has a component that tends to average about an oppositely signed negative of the DC offset. In an embodiment to be illustrated and described, if the DC offset is represented by C, the component of the DC offset compensating signal tends to average about xe2x88x92C.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the DC offset compensator removes an entirety of the DC offset compensating signal. This maximizes compensation for DC offset. However, in some embodiments of the present invention, some portion of the DC offset compensating signal may, or may be allowed to, remain. In the broad scope of the present invention, at least some DC offset compensation occurs.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the DC offset compensator removes at least the portion of the DC offset compensating signal by recalculating the pseudo-random number sequence. Recalculation allows the pseudo-random number sequence to be at least partially removed from any user data symbol stream.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the DC offset compensating signal is capable of passing substantially undistorted through a DC blocking transformer. In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the DC offset indicator signal may be somewhat distorted (or attenuated), but DC offset compensation still at least partially takes place by virtue of its presence.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the DC offset encoder is associated with a 56K modem. Those skilled in the pertinent art will appreciate that compensation for any DC offset that may occur at the receiving codec allows for higher upstream communication rates with such modems. Those skilled in the pertinent art will also understand that the principles of the present invention may be broadly applied in a variety of circumstances in which a DC signal is required to be encoded into AC form for the purpose of traversing a DC blocking circuit.
The foregoing has outlined, rather broadly, preferred and alternative features of the present invention so that those skilled in the art may better understand the detailed description of the invention that follows. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter that form the subject of the claims of the invention. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they can readily use the disclosed conception and specific embodiment as a basis for designing or modifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. Those skilled in the art should also realize that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form.

System and method for compensating for codec DC offset through a DC blocking channel and modem incorporating the same


A system, method, and computer program product for distributed software code testing. When a data processing system is not being actively used, it will download and execute test code, and return the results to a server. This process increases the efficiency of code testing while exploiting otherwise-wasted processing power.

Product testing requires a large number of tests to be run, and each test result must be stored. For example, one software product in development can require a set of 16,500 tests to be regularly run to ensure proper operation. These tests can take 15 hours to run using one test machine. If a developer makes a code change there is the distinct possibility that one or more of the 16,500 tests will regress. Experience has shown that if the developers do not run the tests over their changed code on one day, they are highly likely to have a significant number of regressions to deal with the next day, and product development and release schedules will suffer.
Of course, each test is time consuming, and detracts from the progress of the product development as a whole. Further, when a data processing system is performing these tests, it is largely unusable for any other task, making it impractical to use many systems for this testing.
On the other hand, when a data processing system is not being actively used by a user, e.g., if the user was out for lunch, in a meeting or on vacation, the CPU time that could have been put to work to reduce the time required to run the test set was wasted by the machine being idle.
There is, therefore, a need in the art for a system, process and computer program product for performing efficient code testing while utilizing available data processing system processing power.

System, method, and computer program product for distributed testing of program code

Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc.


The specification describes a method for dispensing IC chips from a chip carrier tape for a flip-chip assembly operation. In a conventional assembly operation, the solder bumped side of the chip is the top side of the chip as loaded on the tape, and is normally the side of the chip that engages the head of the pick tool. For flip-chip assembly it is necessary to invert the chip for solder bonding to an interconnect substrate. In the technique of the invention, the chip carrier tape is inverted and inserted into the dispensing machine upside down. The IC chips are then ejected through the back of the tape instead of being lifted from the from of the tape. In this way the pick tool head engages the back side of the solder bumped chip and the chip is in the proper orientation for flip-chip placement and bonding on the interconnect substrate.

A variety of systems for conveying finished integrated circuit (IC) chips from the IC singulation operation to the IC packaging operation are available commercially. Many of these systems use an apertured tape with an adhesive backing as more particularly described in Industry Standard, EIA/IS-747, published by the Electronic Industries Association, Arlington, Va. Chips are mounted in the apertures with a pick and place tool, and are retained in the apertures by the adhesive tape backing. A widely used carrier tape system uses two parallel rails of adhesive tape which extend along the underside of apertured tape. See, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,143, issued Apr. 20, 1993. After the carrier tapes are loaded, the tapes can be conveyed directly to the next assembly operation, or more typically, are reeled for temporary storage. Tapes are then unreeled and the chips are picked from the adhesive carrier tape to be placed in a package assembly machine. With conventional pick and place tools the chips, which are carried circuit side up on the adhesive carrier tape, are seized on the circuit side by the vacuum head of the pick and place machine, and inserted circuit side tip in the next assembly station. For normal surface mount and wire bonded packages the circuit side tip position of the chip is the orientation desired. However, for flip-chip packages, this orientation is upside down.
Various methods have been employed to adapt adhesive carrier tape systems for flip-chip packaging. One of these is the Bare Die Dispensing System available from Tempo Electronics, Los Angeles, Calif. In this equipment, an inverter arm is used to pick the die from the carrier tape in the usual way, i.e. circuit side up, swing the arm of the pick tool through a 180.degree. arc, then pick the die with a second pick tool from the first pick tool, this time with the circuit side down. While this method is satisfactory, the use of two pick operations slows the chip handling operation and contributes error to chip position repeatability at the pick point. Other solutions for adapting carrier tape systems to flip-chip packaging are needed.


An aspect of the present invention provides an image taking device comprising an image pickup device which picks up an image in a field, a luminance measuring device which divides the image into the predetermined number of blocks to measure the luminance level of each block, a reference average luminance level calculating device which calculates an average luminance level in a predetermined reference area in the image, a bright block sampling device which compares the average luminance level in the reference area with the luminance level of each block to sample a bright block high in luminance level, a backlight determining device which determines whether the picked up image is backlit based on the average luminance level of the bright blocks and the average luminance level of the reference area, and an exposure controlling device which calculates an exposure value based on the result of the determination as to the backlight to control exposure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image taking device and a method of controlling exposure, and in particular, to a technique for controlling exposure at the time of picking up an image.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, there has been made a proposal that exposure is controlled with reference to the distribution of brightness in a screen (refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-295251). In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2004-235956 and 2004-341901 disclose a technique in which picked up image is subjected to backlight correction processing.
The technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-295251 is such that exposure is adjusted to one of a bright and a dark part in the screen. The technique, however, has a problem in that overexposure or underexposure is caused in the entire screen when the area of the bright or the dark part in the screen to which exposure is adjusted is smaller than that of the entire screen.
The technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2004-235956 and 2004-34190 has such a problem that it lacks in scene toughness because, when a backlight state (a state where a background is brighter than a main object or a difference between contrasts in an image is large) is determined, and unless patterns do not match with each other, it is not determined that it is in a backlight state. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-235956 describes that a luminance distribution histogram is formed. The process of the histogram is so complicated that it is caused a problem in that it is difficult to process the histogram in real time (for example, through image display).
The technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-341901 is such that a determination is made based on a percentage of dark picture elements to bright picture elements whether or not a picked up image is a backlit figure image. The technique consumes much time in process for determining lightness on a picture element basis, which causes a problem in that it is difficult to process in real time. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-341901 has also such a problem that it does not specifically describe an image process suited for a backlit figure image.

Image taking device which determines whether a taken image is backlit and controls exposure and method of controlling exposure for the same


A message handler may receive, for a roaming user within a visited network of a visited mobile service provider, a message in accordance with a first roaming protocol implementation of the visited mobile service provider, and may identify, from a mediation repository, a relationship between the first roaming protocol implementation of the visited mobile service provider and a second roaming protocol implementation of a home mobile service provider of which the roaming user is a subscriber. A packet inspector may determine, from the relationship, that the message requires modifications in order to comply with the second roaming protocol implementation, and a packet modifier may then modify the message to ensure compliance with the second roaming protocol implementation.

Mobile networks enable enormous quantities of wireless communications between many different types of mobile devices, and provide various types of services. Typically, the mobile networks are provided (e.g., owned, or leased) by mobile service providers, also known as carriers, mobile network operators (MNOs), or just as service providers, each of which maintains a number of subscribers. The subscribers of a given service provider have corresponding fee arrangements with their respective service provider, and, in return, are provided with access to the mobile network (and associated network resources) of the service provider, along with, e.g., various associated features, services, and devices provided by the service provider.
From a business perspective, then, the various service providers are in competition with one another, and seek, e.g., to increase their subscribers base (including winning subscribers from another service provider), provide value in the way of available services, service reliability, or service availability, or otherwise to increase profitability and competitive advantage. Nonetheless, for various technical, governmental, and/or business reasons, it is often necessary for the various service providers to cooperate with one another to some extent. For example, virtually all service providers have agreed to certain technical standards for implementing wireless communications, where such standards are typically updated or changed over time in a generally cooperative manner.
In related examples, a given service provider may provide mobile network resources in certain geographical areas, while another service provider provides mobile network resources in other geographical areas. Subscribers of both service providers will typically wish to have an option of using their subscription services (e.g., being able to make a telephone call, or access the Internet), even when travelling in the geographical area of the competing service provider. Therefore, it is to the advantage of each service provider to agree with the other to provide services to visiting subscribers. Such scenarios are generally known as roaming scenarios, i.e., the visiting subscribers are considered to be roaming outside of their home network, and within a geographical or other domain of a visited network.
Unfortunately, it is often difficult to enable desired communications between a visited network and a subscriber's home network in an efficient, scalable, cost-effective manner. For example, even though various technical standards have been developed to enable mobile communications, and even to enable inter-provider communications including basic roaming scenarios, it remains difficult to enable roaming scenarios in a way that facilitates subscriber desires, enhances service provider profitability and reputation, and minimizes resources of the various individual service providers during implementation of the roaming scenarios. In particular, although standard roaming protocols have been defined for enabling certain roaming scenarios, a given service provider may implement or extend a standard roaming protocol in a way that is not consistent with, or contemplated by, the base or existing version thereof.
In other words, provider-specific implementations or extensions of otherwise standard roaming protocols may be used that, while acceptable within a domain of the provider in question, may trigger an error or other malfunction when communicating with a mobile network of a different service provider during a roaming scenario. As a result, for example, roaming subscribers may be deprived of various services. Moreover, service providers may find it difficult to deploy and balance network resources efficiently, and/or may not have the knowledge or ability to invoice subscribers for services provided in roaming scenarios. Thus, service providers may suffer from decreased subscriber satisfaction and/or lost opportunities for profit.

Mediation for provider-specific implementations of roaming protocols for mobile networks


A compact video cassette player for children is provided including a housing with a front face, a rear face, a top face, a bottom face and a pair of side faces. The top face has a handle mounted thereto. A light assembly is equipped with a lamp for illuminating upon the receipt of power. Further included is a video cassette player assembly having a display mounted on the front face of the housing; a plurality of control buttons including a start button, stop button, rewind button, eject button and actuator button; and a speaker positioned on the housing. The video cassette player assembly also has a video cassette player mechanism having an inlet for receiving a video cassette so as to display video and audio signals from the video cassette via the display and the speaker, respectively, in accordance with the depression of the control buttons. Further, a power unit is provided for supplying the light assembly and video cassette player assembly with power.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to video cassette recorders and more particularly pertains to a new portable video cassette player for entertaining children.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of video cassette recorders is known in the prior art. More specifically, video cassette recorders heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art video cassette recorders include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,843,477; 4,012,787; Des. 310,522; 3,908,083; and 5,387,136.
In these respects, the portable video cassette player for children according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of entertaining children.

Portable video cassette player for children


The invention refers to signal processing circuits, more particularly, to switch capacitor circuits, and methods for reducing inter-symbol-interference. A switch capacitor circuit with reduced Inter-Symbol-Interference effect is provided, comprising: a voltage source, a first capacitor, a second capacitor, and at least one switch configured to be switched in a way that the first capacitor is charged to a first voltage by means of the voltage source, and then discharged by means of the second capacitor, thereby reducing the Inter-Symbol-Interference effect.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to signal processing circuits, and more specifically to a switch-capacitor circuit for reducing the Inter-Symbol-Interference (ISI) effect.
2. Background Art
Switch-Capacitor (SC) circuits are widely used in all kinds of signal processing circuits and are based on capacitors that are switched to signal voltages. Typically, the switching takes place at the beginning of every clock cycle. After the switching, the capacitor is charged to the signal voltage. This process takes some time and the speed of charging depends on the time constant involved.
At the same time the capacitor is being charged up to its new voltage, it is being discharged from the voltage it had at the end of the previous clock cycle.
Both the charging and discharging process can be described by the same time constant and therefore can have the same speed. Because the discharging is imperfect, some voltage from the previous clock cycle may remain. This phenomenon is called Inter-Symbol-Interference (ISI).
For most circuits, the accuracy that is required for the charging process is usually similar to the accuracy required for the discharging process. In such a case, ISI does not significantly limit the maximum clock frequency. However, there exist certain types of circuits which do not require a high level of accuracy for charging, but still require a high level of accuracy for discharging. In such cases, ISI does limit the maximum clock frequency. Thus, if the ISI problem could be reduced in these types of circuits, the maximum clock frequency of such circuits could be increased. For example, a SubRange ADC consisting of a Coarse and Fine ADC is a circuit affected by ISI. Here, ISI leads to errors in the decision of both the Coarse and Fine decision.
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a simple prior art switch-capacitor circuit 100 having a voltage source 102 having a variable voltage output Vin, an output resistance 104, a capacitor 106, and switches, 108a, 108b, and 108c, that are operated during non-overlapping clock phases phi(1) (switches 108a, 108b) and phi(2) (switch 108c). Vin may be the output voltage of a circuit, such as a Track-Hold (TH) amplifier (not shown).
As can be seen from FIG. 1, the voltage source 102 is coupled to the switch 108a via a line 102a. The switch 108a is coupled to the capacitor 106 via a line 106a, and to the switch 108c via a line 106b. Further, the capacitor 106 is coupled to the switch 108b via a line 106c. As is further shown in FIG. 1, the voltage source 102 is coupled to the switch 108c via a line 102b, and a line 102c, and to the switch 108b via the line 102b, and a line 102d.
During clock phase phi(1), the capacitor 106 is charged to Vin through resistance 104. During the same time interval, capacitor 106 is also being discharged through resistance 104. The effect of discharging of the previous voltage across the capacitor 106 is clearly visible in the nodal voltage Va. At the beginning of phi(1), Va starts at the previous value of Vin. Because Va is not equal to Vin at the end of phi(1), Vb during phi(2) is also not equal to Vin during phi(1). Thus, both voltages Va and Vb are not ideal.
Some circuits are negatively impacted by the non-ideal behavior of Va and others more by the non-ideal behavior of Vb. For example, a SubRange ADC with a Coarse and Fine ADC is negatively affected by the non-ideal behavior of Va. The ISI kick comes from the Fine ADC (modeled by the capacitor C). The Coarse ADC is also connected to node a during phi(1). The amplifiers inside the Coarse ADC amplify Va. The outputs of these amplifiers are highly distorted because of the ISI kick and this has a negative impact on the Coarse-Fine timing of the SubRange ADC. An example of a circuit that is sensitive to the non-ideal behavior of Vb is the Fine ADC of a SubRange ADC. When Vb differs too much from Vin, distortion inside the ADC occurs. Thus, what is needed is an improved switch-capacitor circuit that improves the non-ideal behavior of Va and Vb.
One method for reducing the ISI effect is to increase the bandwidth of the circuits. However, because this solution also increases current consumption, it is neither an attractive nor practical solution.
Another method for reducing ISI is based on shorting the capacitor 106 for a short amount of time. Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a switch-capacitor circuit in which ISI cancellation is achieved by shorting the capacitor (here: a capacitor 206). Corresponding to the switch-capacitor circuit 100 shown in FIG. 1, the switch-capacitor circuit 200 shown in FIG. 2 comprises a voltage source 202 having a variable voltage output Vin, an output resistance 204, a capacitor 206, and switches, 208a, 208b, and 208c, that are operated during non-overlapping clock phases phi(1) (switches 208a, 208b) and phi(2) (switch 208c). Further, the switch-capacitor circuit 200 comprises a switch 208d for shorting the capacitor 206.
As can be seen from FIG. 2, the voltage source 202 is coupled to the switch 208a via a line 202a. The switch 208a is coupled to the capacitor 206 via a line 206a, and to the switch 208c via a line 206b. Further, the capacitor 206 is coupled to the switch 208b via a line 206c. As is further shown in FIG. 2, the voltage source 202 is coupled to the switch 208c via a line 202b, and a line 202c, and to the switch 208b via the line 202b, and a line 202d. In addition, the switch 208d is coupled to the capacitor 206 (and to the switches 208a, 208c) via a line 208e, and to the capacitor 206 (and to the switch 208b) via a line 208f.
The above shorting of the capacitor 206 by the switch 208d is illustrated by switch phi(3) at the beginning of the clock cycle phi(1). Although this solution is relatively simple to implement, this technique has several disadvantages. One disadvantage is that the output terminal of the amplifier is temporarily shorted which creates huge current spikes in the amplifier. Another disadvantage is that the time to charge the capacitor 206 up to Vin (during phi(1)) effectively becomes shorter since no charging is possible during phi(3). The charging of the capacitor 206 begins after phi(3). As a result, the maximum clock frequency of the circuit effectively decreases depending on the duration of phi(3).
Therefore, what is needed is a new technique and circuit that reduces the ISI effect without the problems encountered in the prior art.


An adhesive bandage pad module, and a method of making adhesive bandage pads, are disclosed. The adhesive bandage pad module, and method of making an adhesive bandage pad, include a servo motor which rotates a knife roll, a transfer roll, and an infeed assembly, a continuous pad strip fed to the infeed assembly, a knife roll and a blade that cuts the continuous pad strip against an anvil, that tangentially contacts the knife roll, on the knife roll. In the module, the amount of pressure exerted by the blade upon the anvil, and transferring of the cut pad onto an adhesive backing on the transfer roll are controlled.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed generally to a method and apparatus for making adhesive bandages and, more particularly, to an adhesive bandage pad module and a method for making adhesive bandage pads.
2 . Description of the Background
Adhesive bandage pads have long been used to provide a protective cover for a wound, while isolating the wound from the adhesive used to fasten the bandage to the skin. One type of bandage has a continuous narrow strip of pad material placed transversely across the center of a continuous strip of adhesive backing, and the pad and backing material is then cut along the width of the adhesive backing. This method produces a bandage with a pad that extends to the edges of the adhesive backing. This type of pad is known as a full width pad. Manufacture of a full width pad bandage is straight-forward and known in the art.
A second design places discrete pads onto the center of an adhesive backing. This type of pad, known in the art as an xe2x80x9cisland pad,xe2x80x9d provided adhesive at the edges of the pad. Island pad bandages are currently produced using a xe2x80x9ccut and placexe2x80x9d method, wherein individual pads are first cut from a strip and then mechanically placed with precision onto an adhesive strip. The cut and place method of making island pads has proven relatively slow and inaccurate. In response, some suppliers moved to xe2x80x9cfull widthxe2x80x9d bandages, in order to achieve improved production efficiency. Additionally, xe2x80x9cfull widthxe2x80x9d bandage machines, as well as prior xe2x80x9cisland padxe2x80x9d machines, were often not removable, and thus were difficult to maintain.
Therefore, the need exists for a module and method that can quickly and accurately cut an island pad and transfer it to an adhesive backing to create an adhesive bandage pad at a production efficiency comparable to that achieved in connection with xe2x80x9cfull widthxe2x80x9d bandages, and for a module that is removable to provide ease of maintenance.
The present invention is directed to an adhesive bandage pad module. The adhesive bandage pad module includes an infeed assembly which receives a continuous pad strip, and a knife roll having a plurality of blades placed laterally thereon. The knife roll receives the continuous pad strip from the infeed assembly. An anvil tangentially contacts the knife roll and presses the continuous pad strip into contact with the knife roll at the tangency. The knife roll then carries the cut pad to a transfer roll. The transfer roll carries an adhesive backing to receive a cut pad from the knife roll. A gear aligner allows for positioning of the cut pad from the knife roll to the transfer roll. At least one servo motor drives the infeed assembly, the knife roll, and the transfer roll. In a preferred embodiment, the anvil is not driven, thereby reducing wear from knife blade strikes. In one embodiment, a force adjustor is used to control the amount of force exerted by the anvil against the knife roll during cutting.
The present invention also includes a method of making an adhesive bandage pad. The method of making an adhesive bandage pad includes rotating a servo motor, which servo motor rotates at least one of a knife roll, a transfer roll, and an infeed assembly; feeding a continuous pad strip to the infeed assembly; cutting the continuous pad strip against the anvil with a blade located on the knife roll; and transferring the cut pad onto an adhesive backing. In one embodiment, the method also includes controlling an amount of pressure exerted by the blade upon the anvil during the cutting step.
The present invention solves problems experienced with the prior art because the use of a servo motor prevents the slow speed and excessive skewing encountered during use of one or more clutch driven motors. Further, the use of a force adjustor improves accuracy in the cutting of the pads. Thus, the present invention offers speed approaching that of full width pad production for island pad production, while providing ease of maintenance due to a stand-alone pad module. Those and other advantages and benefits of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description of the invention hereinbelow.

Adhesive bandage pad module and method for making and applying adhesive bandage pads to a web


An improved light-readable information recording medium is provided that comprises an optical data storage structure having lands and pits, in which the depth of the pits is about:

This invention relates to an improved design of information recording media, for example in the form of light-readable discs, and an improved design of optical reading equipment used for reading such information recording media. These improved designs, among other advantages, will allow greater tolerances in manufacturing of the information recording media and will permit the use of less expensive optical reading equipment.
Information recording media in the form of light-readable discs are well known, as shown, for example in Kramer U.S. Pat. No. 5,068,846 and Mecca U.S. Pat. No. 5,995,481. Commercially available audio compact discs ("CDs") and compact disc read-only memories ("CD-ROMs") are examples of recording media of this general type.
The predominant portion of a typical light-readable disc comprises a transparent material, such as polycarbonate plastic. Information in the form of binary data is contained in a pit and land structure impressed along the top surface of this transparent material. The structure is covered by a very thin metal reflective layer, typically aluminum. A protective layer, typically lacquer, is then placed over the reflective layer, so that the protective layer fills the indentations in the reflective layer and provides a smooth, substantially planar upper surface for the disc on which a label or other information may be placed.
The pits and lands optical structure of the light-readable discs medium can be read by a laser beam focused on the reflective layer. The laser beam passes through the bottom of the transparent material and through the optical structure of pits and lands (which is seen by the laser from below as a series of bumps and lands), and is reflected off the reflective layer, through the transparent material and out of the medium to an optical reading structure.
Several publications conclude, based on elementary properties of interference between the incident and reflected waves, that the maximum extinction of the returned light is obtained when the light reflected by a pit is in antiphase with the light reflected by the surrounding land, namely, when the pit depth/bump height (depending on the plane of reference) is a quarter-wavelength. (G. Bouwhuis et al., Principles of Optical Disc System, 1st ed.(1985); K. Pohlmann, The Compact Disc, Updated ed. (1992); Dil et al., J. Opt. Soc. Am., 69: 950 (1979)). This has led to the standardization of pit depth/bump height (depending upon the plane of reference) in commercial light-readable information recording media at just less than approximately one-quarter of the wavelength of the laser light within the transparent material.
However, recent findings revealed that the quarter wavelength criterion did not predict optimum results under all circumstances. As reported in Mecca U.S. Pat. No. 5,995,481, it had been determined that an improved light-readable recording disc was achieved by designing the pit depth/bump height to be approximately one-half of the wavelength of the laser light source. Not only such a disc had been found to be operable, but it had been determined that the intensity difference between the bump and land areas detected by an optical reader was actually greater than for the one-quarter wavelength pit previously thought to be optimal.
Numerous efforts had been undertaken to understand and/or explain the unexpected and improved results obtained by controlling pit height to approximately one-half the wavelength of light. None have borne fruit until now.
The present invention provides a way to optimize performance of both information recording media and the optical reading equipment by using a two-point-source model to simulate the waves reflected from the data surface of the recording media. The improved results promise substantial savings in the design and manufacture of less sensitive and less costly light-reading systems, as well as in disc manufacturing. Since a higher intensity signal difference is generated, manufacturing tolerances can be relaxed without sacrificing quality in the output and reading of data, leading to higher yields and lower costs.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of this invention to provide a light-readable information recording medium and an optical reader that generate greater signal intensity difference, which can improve the quality of reproduction, reduce the cost and complication of optical reading devices, and provide for greater tolerance in the manufacturing of such recording media.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Optical information recording medium based on interference of converging spherical waves

Abstract: λ              2                n                        m              1        +                  M          T          2                      ,wherein λ is the wavelength of light used to read the information recording medium, m is the order of interference selected from a group consisting of odd integers, MT is the transverse magnification, and n is the refractive index encountered by the reading light inside the pits. The invention also provides an improved optical reading system with the parameters satisfying the relationship:

Abstract: nd    =                  λ                  2                    n                                  m                  1          +                      M            T            2                                ,wherein λ is the wavelength of light used to read the information recording medium, m is the order of interference selected from a group consisting of odd integers, MT is the transverse magnification, n is the refractive index encountered by the reading light inside the pits, and d is the depth of the pits.


A method and apparatus for creating firestopping barrier in a partition, such as a wall, floor, or ceiling, that is mounted adjacent the opening includes a housing containing a central opening. The cross-sectional area of the housing is greater than the cross-sectional area of the through-penetration opening, and the housing is arranged external to the through-penetration opening with at least a portion thereof extending along a surface of the partition thereby to allow the housing to be installed adjacent the through-penetration opening. Firestop material is arranged within the housing.

One way smoke and fire spreads from one part of a building to another is through passages or openings, often referred to as through-penetrations, in floors, walls, ceilings, or the like. Such openings are provided in the building to allow cables, wires, pipes or the like to pass from one area of the building to another.
One technique currently used to prevent the spread of fire and passage of smoke through such openings uses intumescent sheets that are cut to follow the contour of the penetrating cables. A bead of moldable intumescent putty is then provided along the perimeter of the sheets. Other techniques utilize intumescent bricks or pillows.
While such techniques are generally satisfactory for resisting the spread of fire and preventing the passage of smoke from one room or compartment of a structure to another, installation is time consuming and expensive. In addition, when intumescent sheets, bricks, or pillows are used, they must be mechanically attached to, or physically compressed in, the opening, or both, to pass the hose stream portion of the fire test defined in ASTM E814-02. In addition, firestops fabricated in this manner do not lend themselves to repeated re-entry without the likelihood of material damage or damage to the perimeter of the opening, do not remain in the opening during the cable work leading to potential omission of essential fire stop material upon re-closure, and do not lend themselves to ease of inspection without removal of at least a portion of the completed assembly. In addition, removing cables from a typical through-penetration currently requires the existing intumescent material to be removed, discarded, and replaced completely or in part with new intumescent material. This procedure is time consuming, expensive, and wasteful. Because through-penetrations may be opened and closed numerous times during the service life of an opening to add or remove items from the opening, the costs associated with such systems can be significant.
Furthermore, such systems, installed in floor openings, require cover plates to meet fire and architectural demands. Cover plates are typically made of 0.25 inch (6.4 millimeters) steel which makes them difficult to modify after initial fabrication and installation. Typically, such cover plates must be removed from the area of the through-penetration or even from the building to make necessary modifications. In addition, adjusting the contour of the cover to match the profile of the new cable bundle can be time consuming.
Techniques for fire stopping through-penetrations are also known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,496,790 (Spencer), for example, discloses a self-anchoring poke-thru wiring device for the extension of communication and/or electrical wiring through a passage in a floor designed to prevent the spread of fire from one side of the floor to the other.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,493,173 (Kohaut) discloses a cable passage closure and sealing device for positioning in an opening in a structure such as a floor or wall that is used for passing or connecting a cable or cables and cable conduits there through. The device automatically expands and seals itself and the cables and the cable conduits in the structural opening upon exposure to excess heat or fire.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,304,079 (Thorsten) discloses a cable penetration matrix structure comprising a plurality of individual penetration cells that is cast into the building floor during construction.
These prior devices and techniques, however, tend to suffer from one or more disadvantages, drawbacks or shortcomings. For examples, these prior devices are mounted in the opening making installation difficult and occupying space in the opening that could otherwise be used to pass items from one room of the building to another. Accordingly, there exists a need in the industry for a method and apparatus for firestopping a through-penetration that is easy to install, allows the maximum percentage of the opening to be used to pass items through the partition, and allows items passing through the opening to be readily added or removed. Such a firestop device can provide considerable long-term cost saving to firestop users over currently available systems and techniques.

Method and apparatus for firestopping a through-penetration


In one of many possible embodiments, a system includes a session sender configured to define and transmit a sender test packet, and a session reflector communicatively coupled to the session sender. The session reflector is configured to receive the sender test packet from the session sender, determine whether the sender test packet is received by a predetermined time. Upon a determination that the sender test packet is received by the predetermined time, the session reflector is configured to define a response test packet and transmit the response test packet to the session sender. The response test packet is defined to include data for calculating at least one two-way performance metric. In some embodiments, the session reflector is configured to record information for calculating at least one one-way performance metric. In certain embodiments, a fetch client is configured to remotely retrieve the recorded information from the session reflector.

Advancements in network technologies have increased the number and types of services provided over networks. Many network-based services provide guaranteed levels of service that generally stipulate a need for monitoring network performance in order to maintain or verify the guaranteed service levels. Consequently, performance monitoring technologies have been developed to measure network performance. Unfortunately, many performance monitoring technologies are proprietary to vendors and unavoidably force network service providers to rely on a specific vendor. Moreover, existing technologies dedicated to monitoring network performance are typically resource hungry. That is, the existing technologies typically impose high loads on network resources.
Other existing performance monitoring technologies require use of a control protocol to establish test sessions between network endpoints. Unfortunately, the required use of a control protocol adds overhead costs to each test session, especially when the control protocol requires in-band messages to be exchanged between network elements. Moreover, the levels of control and monitoring provided by in-band control sessions are generally limited. For example, an in-band control session is generally unable to provide information about a test session failure because the in-band control session is usually affected by the same failure.

System and methods for measuring network performance


An apparatus for diagnosing an insulation condition between a battery pack and the ground includes a first resistor element electrically connected between a positive terminal of the battery pack and the ground, and a control circuit. The control circuit records a current flowing through the first test port as a first test current, while a high-level voltage is being applied between the positive terminal and the ground. The controller diagnoses the insulation condition between the battery pack and the ground, based on the first test current.

Recently, the demand for portable electronic products such as notebook computers, video cameras and portable telephones has increased sharply, and electric vehicles, energy storage batteries, robots, satellites and the like have been developed in earnest. Accordingly, high-performance batteries allowing repeated charging and discharging are being actively studied.
Currently commercially available battery packs include rechargeable power storage devices such as nickel cadmium batteries, nickel hydrogen batteries, nickel zinc batteries, lithium ion batteries and the like. In particular, in case of a battery pack applied to a large electric product requiring high voltage such as an electric vehicle, if the insulation between the battery pack and the ground is not maintained completely, peripheral circuits may malfunction and also there is a great risk of electric shock or the like.
Patent Literature 1 discloses a circuit for measuring an insulation resistance between the battery pack and the ground. However, Patent Literature 1 uses only a pack voltage, which is a voltage across the battery pack, so that the accuracy of diagnosis of the insulation condition is not high.
(Patent Literature1) Korean Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-2010-0105962 (publication date: Oct. 1, 2010)

Apparatus and method for diagnosing insulation condition between battery pack and ground, and battery pack including the apparatus


A conductive polymer composition comprising: (a) a conductive polymer; (b) a solvent; and (c) an acid or a salt.

As one of applications of a conductive polymer, a solid electrolyte for a capacitor can be given. By using a conductive polymer, it is possible to produce a capacitor having a high heat resistance and low resistance, and in recent years, such a capacitor has become popular in automotive applications.
Patent Document 1 discloses a method for forming a solid electrolyte layer in which a capacitor device is immersed in a conductive polymer solution, thereby to allow a conductive polymer to be infiltrated into the capacitor device, followed by drying, to form a solid electrolyte layer.

Conductive polymer composition, conductive-polymer-containing porous body and manufacturing method therefor, and solid electrolytic capacitor and manufacturing method therefor


A print finishing machine has a die and a drive mechanism. The drive mechanism is driven by a motor and the drive mechanism is configured to drive a stack of sheets of material through the die in order to cut the stack according to the shape of the die.

When printing, for example, playing cards, it is most time and resource efficient for multiple playing cards, arranged in a grid, to be printed onto a single sheet of card. After printing, the single sheet of card may be passed through a slitting machine which cuts out the individual playing cards.
It is important that each and every playing card is the same size in order to form a high quality uniform deck to make the deck easy to handle and shuffle. Slitting machines typically do not offer sufficient precision to cut each and every playing card to exactly the same size such that the deck would have a high quality and uniform finish. Additionally, slitting machines are only capable of cutting straight edges, and it is desirable to round the corners of the playing cards.
So, it is common to arrange the slitting machine to leave a border around the edge of the printed playing cards. The individual playing cards are collated together to form a deck and a die cutter is used to cut the whole deck, resulting in a more uniform finish to the deck and rounded corners.
However, there are problems with existing die cutters. Most die cutters require the playing cards to be hand-loaded, meaning that the collated decks must be retrieved from the slitting machine by an operator and loaded by hand into the die cutter. Once cut, the cut decks then need to be removed from the die cutter by hand and passed on for further operations, such as wrapping and packing.
These hand-loaded die cutters tend to be driven by hydraulic or pneumatic systems which are complicated to build and maintain, and which do not offer a high degree of positional accuracy. A lack of positional accuracy can lead to poor quality decks being produced, increasing wastage, and can lead to an increase in the time required to process each deck, adding to the manufacturing costs.
The only die cutters that do not require hand-loading and are designed to work in-line as a component in a continuous print finishing process tend to be complicated to adjust, have a tendency to be unreliable, and are prone to twisting and movement during operation which can lead to poor quality decks.
It would therefore be desirable to find a die-cutter which overcome these disadvantages, and which does not require hand-loading.


In various embodiments of the invention, a unique construction for Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) with at least one luminescent rod and extracting optical elements used to generate a variety of high brightness light sources with different emission spectra. In an embodiment of the invention, forced air cooling is used to cool the luminescent rod. In an embodiment of the invention, totally internal reflected light can be redirected outward and refocused. In another embodiment of the invention, light emitted by the luminescent rod is out-coupled for use in a variety of applications.

There is a significant need for high brightness broad band illumination sources to provide optical fiber coupled illumination for surgical endoscopy and other applications where extremely high brightness sources are needed such as in projection systems and high speed industrial inspection. Prior art typically utilize short arc lamps such as high pressure mercury, metal halide, and xenon. These lamps are capable of very high luminous emittance and are therefore suitable sources for the etendue limited fiber optic coupled illumination systems. Approximately 85% of the high brightness illumination sources in use in the operating room today are based on compact short arc xenon lamps. The problems associated with these lamp technologies, however, include poor luminous efficacy thereby requiring high power and associated means of cooling, short lifetime, high voltage operation (typically kilovolts required to turn them on), high cost, and use of mercury which is becoming an environmental hazard and is in the process of undergoing regulations in numerous countries throughout the world.
Only recently has there been recognition that LEDs may provide sufficient illumination to be used to replace more traditional light sources in endoscopic illumination systems. In particular, LEDs provide much improved lifetime, lower cost of ownership, lower power consumption (enabling some battery operated portable devices), decreased cooling requirements, and freedom form mercury relative to conventional arc lamps. Additionally they can be readily modulated which can be a significant advantage in many applications. To date no LED based endoscopic illumination system commercially exists that equals or exceeds the luminous intensity of the compact xenon arc lamp systems. The invention described herein has the potential of meeting and exceeding the output of the best arc lamps systems available today

Light emitting diode illumination system


A system includes a hybrid power train having an internal combustion engine and an electrical torque provider that combine to provide a total machine torque. The system includes a controller that functionally executes operations to control the hybrid power train. The controller interprets a total machine torque target value and determines a torque contribution for each of the internal combustion engine and the electrical torque provider in response. The controller interprets a supplemental torque contribution value, and controls the internal combustion engine and the electrical torque provider in response to the torque contributions and the supplemental torque contribution value. The supplemental torque contribution value is applied as a limiting value, a target value, or a prescribed ratio for one or both of the torque contributions.

The technical field generally relates to control systems for hybrid power trains. Hybrid power trains utilize more than one power source to generate the torque and power needed to meet the current demands for the application in which the hybrid power train is installed. The various power sources and peripheral devices may be supplied by a number of different manufacturing entities. Various devices may include electronic controls that manage the sensors and actuators related to each device. Further, some system manufacturers prefer to control some devices that are not directly supplied by the system manufacturer. As an example, a transmission manufacturer may wish to control the torque output of the engine and/or motor portions of a hybrid power train, either continuously or intermittently.
Adding control from a manufacturer for a device that is not supplied by the manufacturer creates a complex controls environment. Control elements provided on separate computing devices introduce potential lag periods within the control loop. The lag periods may be managed by using synchronous datalink communications and/or dedicated hardware communications, but these solutions are expensive and must be customized for each application.
Control elements can be combined into a single electronic device with content contributed by several different manufacturers, but this requires that all manufacturers have access to the controller, which may introduce conflicts in control and ownership of the content of the final controller. Several manufacturers contributing to the content of a single electronic device also introduces complications in manufacturing and limitations in final application design. Further, it may be difficult or impractical to coordinate all manufacturing entities to create software control elements that are compatible, that meet requirements for memory consumption in storage and in real-time operation, that use the correct data types, that are delivered on time and in the correct versions, etc.
Additionally, various system manufacturers have differing preferences for the amount of control content they wish to contribute. The contributed control content may also vary over time, with the specific application, and/or with a model year for a specific application. A control system for a hybrid power train that is specifically tailored for each manufacturer is expensive, unreliable, and must be updated for each change in the control content contributed by the various manufacturers. However, a control system that does not accept control inputs from various manufacturers will not provide acceptable flexibility to many manufacturers.
Therefore, further technological developments are desirable in this area.

Hybrid power train flexible control integration


A dental adhesive delivery system provides a single usage amount of dental adhesive in a non-resealable container for use in treating a single patient. The packaged amount of adhesive may include up to the amount required to treat all of the teeth needing treatment of not more than a single patient, for example in the range of approximately 0.05 to 1.0 ml. The packaged amount may include a dose only large enough for the treatment of a single tooth or for the application of a single restoration, for example, in an amount of about 0.1 ml. The adhesive is one that includes a volatile solvent or other liquid carrier, such as, for example, water or an organic liquid such as acetone or alcohol. In the preferred embodiment, an alcohol based adhesive is provided having a filler of approximately 25% by weight. The single use container is preferably formed of injected molded plastic and includes a reservoir section that contains the adhesive and a break off section that surrounds an opening that receives a snap fit cap. A plastic and foil pouch constitutes a secondary containment volume or vapor seal which limits the escape of evaporated organic carrier or solvent. The cap and break off section are discarded and the adhesive is removed with the tip of a wand for application to the teeth of a patient, whereupon the container, which is not resealable, is discarded.

The application of dental restorations to the teeth of patients requires the use of specially formulated dental adhesives that will be effective to form a bond with a surface of the patient's dental anatomy. The more effective of the adhesives currently having the most widespread use include resins that are applied to a tooth surface, for example, and then cured with ultraviolet or visible light. With certain formulations of such light cure adhesives, a small amount of such light is sufficient to start an adhesive curing reaction that will propagate through the entire dose of adhesive. Other types of adhesives require larger exposures to such light for the cure of the entire body of the adhesive. Such adhesives are used for the bonding of more transparent or semi-transparent restorations, such as direct restorations, veneers and other thin, small or in situ formed composite restorations.
The more effective of the dental adhesives for the uses discussed above have been provided to dentists in multiple parts. The various parts of these multi-part adhesive systems take advantage of the different properties at different parts of the system at the different stages of their use. A first part of the system may include, for example a primer, which is painted onto an area of the tooth to which the restoration is to be attached. The primer dries the surface and penetrates to form a basis for an effective bond. A second part may include a filled or an unfilled resin that is applied over the first part to interact with it and form a bond. In some forms, the second part is itself supplied in two parts. In a superior form a subpart of the second part is a resin and the other subpart is a fill material in the form of minute glass beads. The fill, which is mixed to a content of about 48% of the mixture with the resin, contributes strength and shock absorbency to the bond. Multi-part adhesives of this type are available in an alcohol base and marketed under the trademarks Optibond and Optibond FL by Kerr Dental Materials Center of Orange, Calif.
The application of each part of the multi-part adhesive system by a dentist calls for the coating of a small area of a patient's tooth, for example, with a small quantity of each part of the adhesive system being applied. The coating with each adhesive part is followed by the placement of the restoration, which may be a restoration formed in a dental laboratory on a model of the patient's teeth that is transferred by the dentist onto the patient's dental anatomy or may be a restoration formed in situ by the dentist, usually from a composite material. The different parts of the multi-part adhesive systems are traditionally packaged in containers designed to hold a quantity of material sufficient for bonding multiple restorations and which can be resealed after each use. In a one part adhesive, a single container designed to hold a quantity of material sufficient for bonding multiple restorations in the treatment of multiple patients and which can be resealed after each use is used. To use such containers, the dentist or dental assistant is required to retrieve the containers for each part of the adhesive system from a storage area, open each container, dispense from each container into another container (typically a container which constitutes an open well) the required amount of the adhesive part being dispensed, reseal each container for each adhesive part and return the containers to the storage area.
If the adhesive system being used has multiple second parts, the different parts are generally dispensed into the same container well and mixed before application to the tooth. If the system is a one part adhesive, only one container must be opened.
After the adhesive parts have been applied to the tooth, the containers into which the adhesive parts were dispensed is generally disposed of.
The handling and use of multiple part adhesives is regarded by many dentists as inconvenient. With direct restorations particularly, the need to handle and mix separate parts of the adhesive is an inconvenience, in part because the composite material of which the restoration is formed also must be handled and mixed. While one part or premixed adhesives are available, such adhesives do not include fills or fluoride release and many are formulated with an acetone base. Acetone based adhesives tend to degrade after being opened as their solvent components tend to evaporate, altering the adhesive composition, and are regarded as less desirable by many dentists or patients.
One such acetone based adhesive is a one part adhesive comprised predominantly of an acetone solvent and a Penta-P adhesion promoter. The composition contains no fluoride release system or fillers. The adhesive is characterized by high shrinkage. Another one part adhesive that is available is comprised predominantly of an acetone solvent and a BPDM adhesion promoter. The adhesive also contains no fluoride release system or fillers. It provides only a medium bond strength and also is characterized by high shrinkage.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,988 discloses a dentin bonding system which utilizes unsaturated carboxy esters as bonding agents produced by the reaction of unsaturated alcohols with cyclic acid dianhydrides, with BPDM as part of the dentin bonding system. The system also comprises a dentin conditioner which is the reaction product of a cyclic acid anhydride with an ethylenically unsaturated alcohol, and a two-part dentin primer, the first part of which comprises the reaction product of an N-arylglycine with glycidyl methacrylate. The second part of the two-part dentin primer is selected from products such as BPDM. The patent also discloses the use of a solvent such as acetone. The composition is applied in solution to an area to which a bond is desired, and the bond is completed by use of a self-curing initiator or a light cure system. Other materials such as camphoquinone are disclosed as being useful. Premixed or one part adhesives that are water based are also available. The water based adhesives, while more stable than the acetone or alcohol based adhesives, require a predrying of the tooth area on which the adhesive is being applied, because moisture on the surface of the tooth can change the properties of the adhesive. Water based adhesives have also been found to be less strong.
The adhesives of the prior art that are discussed above possess a common problem of the evaporation of the product. This is particularly a problem with the one part organic solvent based adhesives, but is also true of water based and other solvent based adhesives. Such adhesives possess the desired composition upon the first opening of the bottle or container in which they are delivered, but before a substantial portion of the adhesive is used, evaporation of a portion of the solvent and other high volatility components occurs, leaving the balance of the adhesive with increased composition of the other components and increased viscosity. This change in concentrations adversely affects the application of the adhesive and the quality and resulting performance of the bond.
In addition, the use of bulk delivery systems for packaging one part adhesives has had several undesirable features. One such feature has been the multiple number of times that the container must be opened, handled and resealed. Each time the container is opened and handled, a potential exists for contaminating the entire contents of the container. For example, if the container is sealed with a cap which must be removed to dispense the adhesive, the cap may become contaminated if placed on a dental operatory tray or any other resting place while the contents of the container are being dispensed. When the cap is reset on the container to reseal it, the contents of the container may become contaminated. In addition, the dentist or dental assistant whose hands may have had contact with the mouth of a patient being treated may contaminate the cap while holding it or may contaminate the opening in the container through which the contents are dispensed.
Another undesirable feature of the bulk delivery system is that the dentist or dental assistant is required, each time the adhesive system is used, to accurately dispense the correct amount of adhesive from the container. If an insufficient amount is dispensed, the steps involved in dispensing the adhesive must be repeated. If an excessive amount of adhesive is dispensed, the excessive adhesive is wasted.
A further undesirable feature of the prior art systems is that they increase the opportunity for evaporation of portions of the adhesive. This can occur when the container holding the adhesive is unsealed. In the unsealed state, the adhesive is exposed to the atmosphere of the dental office. This can cause the portions of the adhesive to evaporate which will affect the performance of that portion of adhesive remaining in the container when it is later used. If the container remains unsealed for an extended period of time, an amount of the adhesive base sufficient to affect the performance of the adhesive may evaporate.
As a result of the above, there has been a demand for some time by dentists for adhesives that are more convenient, easier to use, and less susceptible to degradation prior to their use and for a delivery system that will preserve the purity of the adhesive, deliver a pre-measured amount of adhesive and reduce the likelihood of evaporation of the adhesive contents. Notwithstanding this demand, an effective combination of adhesive and container for delivery to the dentist has not been found. Accordingly, a need remains for an adhesive delivery system, particularly for use in applying dental restorations.

Single dose dental adhesive delivery system and method and adhesive therefor


A time limiter protects a light emitting diode coupled to an output of a current driver by preventing the light emitting diode from working overtime under a high current and from being overheated and burnt down, no matter whether a pulse width of an input pulse is larger or shorter than a delay time of the time limiter. The input pulse may be a periodic continuous input pulse, or a continuously-enabled pulse generated from a run-time error of software or hardware. The time limiter should be coupled with a discharging circuit for discharging the capacitor in the RC circuit while a periodic continuous input pulse was inputted, to keep the precise original pulse period and pulse width of the enabling signal to be outputted, and to prevent the time limiter from malfunctioning.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a time-limiting protection and control circuit, and more particularly, to a time-limiting protection and control circuit for protecting an element by limiting a pulse width of an input pulse.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A specification of a conventional electronic product having light emitting diodes is usually defined in detail for introducing properties of the light emitting diodes well. Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a diagram of a curve relating to a forward current and a relative luminosity of a light emitting diode of an electronic product having a flashlight. As shown in FIG. 1, when an ambient temperature of the electronic product is 25° C., the curve relating to the forward current and the relative luminosity gradually rises, so as determine a rated continuous forward current, which is about 30 mA as shown in FIG. 1, of the light emitting diode, and for determining a maximal current, which is about 100 mA as shown in FIG. 1, of reaching a maximal luminosity. The rated continuous forward currents and the maximal currents of different light emitting diodes also differ. Take the light emitting diode described in FIG. 1 as an example, when the light emitting diode continuously luminesces in an intermediate degree for lighting up an electric light or a flashlight of a camera, the light emitting diode is biased with the rated continuous forward current or a smaller current instead of being biased with the maximal current. When the light emitting diode luminesces in a high degree, such as for lighting up a flashlight of a camera, the light emitting diode is biased with the maximal current, which is 100 mA as exemplified in FIG. 1, for reaching a maximal luminance. Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a diagram illustrating a relation between a duty ratio and an allowable forward current of the light emitting diode described in FIG. 1 and biased with the maximal current, for describing properties of a light emitting diode of a flashlight of a camera. As shown in FIG. 2, when the duty ratio of the light emitting diode is below 10%, the light emitting diode may be biased under the maximal current, which is 100 mA as exemplified above. However, when the duty ratio of the light emitting diode is above 10%, with the increase of the duty ratio and the ambient temperature of the light emitting diode, the allowable forward current for biasing the light emitting diode decreases significantly. Please refer to FIG. 3, which is a diagram of an ambient temperature versus an allowable forward current of the light emitting diode described in FIG. 1 while the light emitting diode operates continuously, for describing operating properties of the light emitting diode utilized for an electric light. As shown in FIG. 3, when the ambient temperature of the light emitting diode is below 25° C., a maximal allowable forward current of the light emitting diode is 30 mA. However, when the ambient temperature of the light emitting diode is above 25° C., the maximal allowable forward current of the light emitting diode decreases continuously. As a constant-current driving integrated circuit of an electronic device continuously provides a forward current for the light emitting diode, the ambient temperature of the light emitting diode increases accordingly. When the ambient temperature of the light emitting diode is above 85° C., as shown in FIG. 3, the light emitting diode burns down so that the electronic device malfunctions.
Please refer to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5. FIG. 4 is a diagram of a control integrated circuit having single function. The control integrated circuit shown in FIG. 4 may be utilized for a flashlight of a camera or an electric light of a cell phone. Through single current, the control integrated circuit may be utilized for managing a forward current of a light emitting diode, which is designed to be operated continuously or is required to manipulate a length of an operation time with a duty ratio. FIG. 5 is a diagram of a control integrated circuit having two functions. The control integrated circuit shown in FIG. 5 has two enabling terminals for simultaneously manipulating a duty ratio of a light emitting diode of a flashlight of a camera and a switch-on function of an electric light of a cell phone. Therefore, the control integrated circuit provides different currents at the same time for both the light emitting diodes biased for different usages. Both the control integrated circuits shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 determine respective forward currents by enabling. However, when a corresponding microprocessor or a corresponding central processing of a control integrated circuit malfunctions or has certain executing errors so that an enabling signal of the control integrated circuit is continuously enabled, light emitting diodes of the control integrated circuit would be easily burnt down, as described in FIG. 3. Moreover, conventional mechanisms including an over current protection (OCP) and an over temperature protection (OTP) utilized for such control integrated circuits are not able to provide in-time and efficient protection for light emitting diodes.

Time-limiting protection and control circuit for protecting an element by limiting a pulse width of an input pulse


A multilayer all-solid-state battery having a plurality of first internal electrodes that include a plurality of first-first internal electrodes and a plurality of first-second internal electrodes. The first-first internal electrodes are exposed to a first edge. The first-second internal electrodes are exposed to a first end surface. An end on a second end surface side of an internal electrode of the first-first internal electrodes disposed nearest a first main surface is closer to the first end surface than any of the ends on a second end surface side of the first-second internal electrodes.

For conventionally known all-solid-state batteries, no electrolytic solutions are used, and instead solid electrolytes are used. Since no electrolytic solutions are used, such all-solid-state batteries do not cause electrolytic solution leakages and moreover can operate even under a high-temperature atmosphere. For this reason, all-solid-state batteries are attracting strong interest.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-266034


The present invention relates to establishing a communication channel between two communication systems having computer telephony integration (CTI). Many CTI systems are configured into incoming and outgoing lines according to the anticipated demands. Consequently, if sufficient outgoing or incoming capacity is unavailable at a given time to support a communication channel of required characteristics, the users of such a system must conventionally wait until sufficient capacity becomes available. However, the present invention determines who the intended addressee is and can instruct the CTI system associated with that addressee to instigate the establishment of a communication channel to the user who originally desired the connection. The instructions can be sent to the intended addressee using for example, another communication network, such as the Internet or other data communications network. This arrangement also allows the call to be placed in the reverse direction, where this is favourable for tariff reasons. The invention also includes the automatic selection of a telephone network carrier based on tariff data requested over a data network such as the Internet.

With prior art telephony systems, if a user of a telephone in an organisation having a switch configured above wishes to establish, say, an outgoing call, and all outgoing lines are currently fully utilised, that user will have to wait until an outgoing line or sufficient outgoing capacity is available. Similarly, if a third party wishes to call that user and all of the incoming lines to that organisation are busy, that third party would have to wait until an incoming line is available.
The same situation may arise with any communication system which has a limited bandwidth over which information or data can be transmitted. For example, with a multi-media computer capable of generating a plurality of information media types, such as video, data or sound, if there is insufficient outgoing capacity to support a communication link between, say, two such computers used for collaborative or group working, then users of those computers will have to wait until sufficient outgoing capacity to support communication therebetween is available.
Another concern that has arisen is the asymmetric nature of telephone costs. In other words, the price of a call of a given length between A and B may depend on whether A initially dialled B, or vice versa. These differences tend to be particularly significant for international calls, but may also exist for example where the parties are very disparate in size, and one has negotiated a discounted rate in view of its high volume of calls. However, it has been very difficult in the past to be able to exploit such charging differences in order to minimise call costs.
A further concern is that tariff charges vary depending on the telephone provider as well as on the country from which the call is initiated and when the call is made. Previously, in the majority of countries where there is limited or no competition, enterprises have been forced to buy international telephone calls at fixed tariffs offered by local suppliers and as a result providers have been making excess profits from international calls. However there now exist alternative network providers or agencies which buy international telephone capacity in bulk and sell it at a discount. Users can call the local offices of the agency who then set up the call over the agency's network and call the user back when the connection is made. Unfortunately this manual process is tedious and discourages users. Other agencies re-sell their bulk purchased capacity by updating the call routing tables in the user's telephone switch. This can be very time consuming as the agency has to manually reprogram the call routing tables and has a further disadvantage that the user is still closely tied to a single agency or network provider.

International Business Machines Corporation