A spring compression device for a shock absorber of a motor car includes a hollow vertical post, a rack mounted inside the post engaged with a pinion and being movable upward or downward by a compression handle. A spring holder includes a spring hanger for hanging an absorber spring. One end of the holder is connected by a hinge to a head on the rack top so as to be rotated left and right. A pair of pivoting arms each include a boss, the arms being rotatively mounted on both sides of a second hinge so as to be widened left and right. A shock absorber holder is mountable at an outer end portion of the arms. A feed screw shaft moves the pivoting arms left and right, centering around the second hinge. A tightening handle is attached to one end of the feed screw shaft to perform loosening and tightening operations of the pivoting arms. A shock absorber holder includes an outer holding portion detachably engaged with the boss on each pivoting arm, one end of the absorber holder holding a shock absorber of a large diameter, and another end alternatively holding a shock absorber of a small diameter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a spring compression device for a shock absorber employed in mounting a spring in a shock absorber being mounted in a suspension system of a motor car. More particularly, it relates to a spring compression device for a shock absorber in which by varying the size and shape of a pivoting arm in correlation with the specification of a shock absorber, varying according to the kind of a vehicle, a wider range of spring set-up for the shock absorber can be performed.
The suspension system of a motor car is equipped with a shock absorbing apparatus of the motor car, and its main parts comprise upper and lower arms holding wheels and a shock absorber connecting the wheels with the upper and lower arms such that vibration or shock conveyed from the road surface during traveling can be absorbed by the shock absorber.
In the shock absorber, a spring for absorbing vibration or shock by means of elastic force is mounted, and normally, operations for exchanging and maintaining or repairing the shock absorber are conducted by more than two laborers who are compressing a highly resilient coil spring.
However, the spring compression operation is conducted in a very difficult way and requires a long time, and in a narrow place, more than two persons must conduct the operation thereby causing lots of inconvenience to the operation of maintenance or repair due to the restriction of an area.
2. Description of the Related Art
Accordingly, the prior art for solving such problems was disclosed in the Korean Utility Model Application Nos. 95-45543 (Title of a device: Spring Compression Device for a Shock Absorber of a Motor Car) and 83-7256 (Title of a device: Shock Absorber for a Motor Car) filed by the present applicant.
Before the present invention is described, the latest technology of the prior art, the Korean Utility Model Application No. 95-45543 is explained with reference to the accompanying drawings hereinafter.
FIG. 1 illustrates, as an example of such prior art in the field which the present invention pertains to, a spring compression device for a shock absorber comprising a hollow post 10 being vertically formed, a rack 19 being mounted inside the hollow post 10, being engaged with a pinion and being moved upward or downward, a compression handle 13 moving the rack upward or downward, a spring holder 15 having a spring hanger 15a for hanging a spring being connected by a hinge 15b to a head 17 formed at the top of the rack 19 so as to be rotated left and right, a pivoting arm 30 for pivoting a shock absorber being formed with an integral structure at the lower part of the hollow post 10, and a pivoting arm tightening handle 31 being screwed at one side of the pivoting arm 30 and tightening the pivoting arm 30 with a certain pressure.
In such conventional spring compression device for a shock absorber having the above described construction, operations for holding the shock absorber and mounting the spring are conducted. In such operations, a pivoting arm tightening element 32 and the pivoting arm tightening handle 31 are mounted so that the pivoting arm 30 is tightened and is tightly adhered to the shock absorber, by rotating the pivoting arm tightening handle 31.
After that, the shock absorber is pivoted to the pivoting arm 30, and then the spring holder 15 formed at the top of the hollow post 10 is adequately opened and the spring hanger 15a formed at the top of the spring holder 15 is mounted for hanging a spring of the shock absorber.
As such, after mounting a spring of the shock absorber in the spring holder 15, and rotating the compression handle 23 of the hollow post 10, the rack 19 being engaged with a pinion gear (not shown) goes down and at the same time, the head 17 mounted at the top of the rack 19 and the spring holder 15 go down, thereby compressing the spring of the shock absorber.
In the conventional spring compression device for the shock absorber as described above, when the shock absorber of a small diameter is mounted, pivoting status achieved by the pivoting arm 30 could be securely maintained. However, when the spring of the shock absorber applicable to a large vehicle is mounted, it had a structural drawback since pivoting by the pivoting arm 30 was not easy.
Namely, the conventional spring compression device has a structure including a reinforcing rib is mounted for supplementing structural strength between an upper flange of a large shock absorber and the outer surface. Accordingly, if this structure is mounted in the spring compression device of the shock absorber, the reinforcing rib formed at the periphery of the shock absorber is caught in the pivoting arm, and as the result, such structural problems cause difficult mounting operations.

Spring compression device for shock absorber of motor car


A color image forming apparatus and an image output method capable of producing a PDL output without interfering with the execution of a calibration procedure is provided. A main controller rasterizes PDL data from a network on a DRAM as image data. The main controller determines whether or not a calibration procedure is being executed. If it is determined that the calibration procedure is being executed, a production of a PDL image output is put in a queue until the calibration procedure is completed. If it is determined that the calibration procedure is not being executed, the image data on the DRAM is transferred to a printer portion at an appropriate timing so that the printer portion may produce a printed page of the image data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a color image forming apparatus and an image output method connected to a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the recent trend in more and more copying machines going digital, multifunctional machines equipped with a plurality of functions have been put into practical applications, including such applications as using a scanner or printer of a copying machine for transmitting and receiving data through facsimile and printing page image by reconstructing it from PDL (Page Description Language) data available from a computer or the like. Such a multifunctional machine is arranged so as to be able to operate even among a plurality of functions, such as, for example, transmitting PDL-converted image through facsimile, in addition to a single function of a copying function, a facsimile function, a PDL printing function, or the like. In addition, the multifunctional machine may also be configured so as to allow, when connected to an individual apparatus such as a computer or the like over a LAN, the computer or the like to use the functions provided by the multifunction machine.
In such multifunctional machines, a common control program for a printer portion is shared among the copying machine function and the PDL print function or facsimile function or the like. Or, a common control program for a reader is shared among the copying machine function and the facsimile function or a scanner function or the like. This approach allows the capacity required for the control programs for realizing the various functions to be reduced, thus achieving the required functions economically and in a simplified manner.
Further, by providing such a multifunctional machine with a large-capacity hard disk capable of storing image data, it is possible to store and control data representing an image scanned by the scanner, an image reconstructed through PDL, a document received by facsimile, or the like as an image file or a document file in the hard disk.
In a printing unit of a color printer in an image forming apparatus, on the other hand, it is known that variations in output characteristics and unit-to-unit variations as a result of these variations in output characteristics occur, which makes it difficult to achieve an output image of a uniform quality. It is known, for example, that printed images of different tones of color result each time a printing process is carried out even using the same original.
This is attributable to the following fact in a printing unit employing, for example, an electrophotographic method. Specifically, in such an electrophotographic process as laser exposure, formation of an electrostatic latent image on a photoconductive element, development of toner, toner image transfer to a paper medium, or fusing of the toner image onto the paper medium by heat, there occurs a change in an ambient temperature or humidity surrounding the apparatus, or a change in any of component parts of the apparatus with time, which eventually results in the amount of toner fused on the paper medium being varied. It is known that such instability in printing output characteristics is not unique only to the electrophotographic method, but the phenomenon occurs likewise in an ink jet method, a thermal transfer method, and other various methods.
Calibration processing is then carried out. In the calibration processing, an image of a predetermined test gradation pattern is produced, an image density of the pattern produced is measured, and printing characteristics of the printing unit are then corrected based on the results of the measurement of the image density.
An image forming apparatus itself is, however, used for producing a printed output of the test gradation pattern or processing measurement data of the image density of the test gradation pattern, even if an image data is transferred or a print command is issued thereto while the printing unit is being calibrated. This makes it impossible for the printing unit to execute the particular printing function. That is, a computer or the like requests a PDL print function, a facsimile function, or the like to be executed through a network, regardless of whether the calibration process is being carried out or not in the image forming apparatus. This results in a print command being rejected, or a process for generating image forming data, such as rasterization of PDL data, being initiated after the completion of calibration. As a result, printing processing is retarded.
It is therefore a first object of the present invention to provide a color image forming apparatus and an image output method capable of producing a PDL output without interfering with the execution of a calibration process, when the execution of a PDL print function is requested over a network during execution of the calibration process.
It is a second object of the present invention to provide a color image forming apparatus and an image output method capable of producing an output of a facsimile-received document without interfering with the execution of a calibration process, when the execution of a facsimile reception and print function is requested over a network during execution of the calibration process.

Color image forming apparatus and image output method


An acoustic meta material (AMM) spiral device for passive amplification of sound is described. The AMM amplifier device employs at least one deep sub-wavelength spiral design with high refraction index, based on an exponential spiral shape. The AMM spiral amplifier is used to focus on low frequency sound amplification and to cover broadband frequency range. Sound emanating from a speaker travels into a spiral channel until reaching the apex of the spiral. When twin spirals are used, the sound then enters a second spiral for radiating into open air.

Loudspeakers are integral/critical parts of all audio systems. Loudspeakers convert electrical energy into mechanical energy, which in turn is converted into acoustic energy. Ideally, a loudspeaker should create a sound field proportional to the electric signal of the amplifier. Due to the physics of sound radiation, this paradigm has not been achieved, particularly in the low frequency region (<300 Hz). Thus, loudspeakers are known as the weakest link in any sound reproduction scheme. A well-designed speaker may only be around 5% efficient. The low efficiency of the loudspeaker generates more heat than sound power output while adding undesired distortion to the output signal. The frequency response of a conventional loudspeaker usually rolls off faster at low frequencies (<300 Hz). Consequently, most loudspeaker systems employ more than one driver; such as subwoofers (very low frequencies); woofers (low frequencies); mid-range speakers; tweeters; and sometimes super-tweeters, to adequately reproduce a wide range of frequencies with even coverage. Also, the production of a good high-fidelity loudspeaker has required that the speakers be enclosed in a ported box, which acts like a Helmholtz resonator.
Miniaturization and integration of acoustic devices have been an important consideration in recent times. Consumer electronic devices, such as cell phones, laptops, tablets, and the like, with more features and capabilities, are ubiquitous and are positioning to become audio entertainment centers. However, they also exhibit severe audio deficiencies and pose many additional challenges to maintain the acoustic performance as enclosed acoustic volume size, power and membrane size are reduced significantly. Due to the smaller size of the speaker used in such devices, the low frequency response is severely affected. For example, as the size of the cell (or mobile) phone decreases, the volume of air behind the diaphragm is reduced. This small amount of volume behind the diaphragm is reduced, thus limiting the range of motion of the diaphragm. The speaker does not produce enough force to compress the air beyond a certain point, hence causing the air to push back. This reduces the displacement of the speaker diaphragm, which in turn lowers the output. Thus, low frequencies are affected the most by this phenomenon as the diaphragm moves with the largest amount of displacement at these frequencies. Consequently, the frequency response usually rolls off faster at low frequencies, herein referred to as "bass frequencies" which are those which are audible or able to be sensed by a human and are below 300 Hertz.
While the video screens of smartphones, tablets and notebooks have seen stunning improvements, audio performance has lagged far behind. Smartphone speakers still sound quiet and metallic, and are limited by their tiny size. Because micro speakers must be small, it is easy to move the diaphragm further than the maximum allowable excursion (typically around 0.4 mm). As speakers get thinner, the excursion becomes smaller, which is a major restriction on output sound level. A speaker's biggest excursion problem comes at and near its resonant frequency. The resonant frequency of micro-speakers is typically around 1000 Hz. At the resonant frequency the membrane moves easily, so small amounts of power can push the speaker beyond its limit. Micro speaker systems normally add a high-pass filter at around 1000 Hz to reduce the excursion. This can minimize the impact of the resonance peak, but losing the bass significantly degrades the sound quality.
Acoustic performance of micro speakers used in smartphones and other devices such as laptops and notebooks usually drops below 1000 Hz for the reasons mentioned in Section [4]. For example, audio performance of a smartphone speaker drops by about 40-50 dB below 1000 Hz (e.g., between 100-1000 Hz). The low and mid-frequency performance of smartphone speakers is thus significantly deteriorated.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,161,119 to Powell is directed toward a speaker system with an enclosure having a spiral pathway. The speaker system includes an electro-acoustic transducer that generates sound according to an audio input. The speaker system also includes an enclosure having an interior pathway defined by a wall that is curved substantially as a spiral. The speaker system is configured such that the sound generated by the electro-acoustic transducer travels along at least a portion of the curved pathway, before leaving the enclosure (Abstract).
However, as seen FIG. 6 of the patent to Powell, the transducer is positioned so that the sound is projected into the tightest region of the spiral, and travels therefrom through the spiral to the broadest point thereof, from which the sound exits the speaker. However, this construction is disadvantageous and would be inefficient for micro speakers used in smartphones and other small devices in the low to mid-frequency range as a single spiral may provide insufficient expansion in a small space for acoustic impedance of the speaker source to be reduced to that of the ambient medium.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a speaker that accurately reproduces and amplify sound when wavelengths far exceed that of the available length to propagate a wave.

Acoustic meta material passive spiral audio amplifier and a method to make the same


The invention relates to an external optical modulator comprising a Mach-Zehnder having a signal electrode including at least four sections of unequal length to one another positioned over an alternating domain structure in an electrooptic substrate, and including a center section, or center pair of sections disposed asymmetrically between pairs surrounding sections. The surrounding pairs, comprise the two sections adjacent the center section or pair of sections, and each two sections adjacent the previous pair of sections, moving outwardly from the center to the final outermost pair, L1 and LN at the RF input 2 and RF output 4. In each pair, the section lengths are equal, or the section closer to the RF output 4 has a longer length than the section closer to the RF input 2. The surrounding pairs have lengths that decrease from the innermost pair to the outermost pair. For a zero chirp structure, the section lengths are selected to maintain an equivalent length for the inverted and uninverted domain sections. The present invention has found that constant chirp solutions can be found for all frequencies.

In order to satisfy the demand for higher bit rate optical transmission, for example 40 Gbits/s, a number of non-binary encoding schemes are considered such as Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK), Differential Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (DQPSK), or Duobinary. External modulators constructed on z-cut lithium niobate are attractive for their lower drive voltage requirements and larger bandwidth capabilities. But z-cut modulators have an asymmetric structure that causes chirp, that is, the ratio between residual phase modulation and the intensity modulation generated. Prior art external modulators in lithium niobate have offered zero chirp within narrow frequency limitations. But over the broader frequency range of high bit rate transmission, the frequency dependence reveals an unacceptably high chirp for non-binary encoding schemes.
FIG. 1 shows a simple prior art Mach-Zehnder (MZ) modulator 10 made in a z-cut lithium niobate substrate 12, having an optical input 14 and output 16, two y-junctions 18, 18′ for splitting and combining light, respectively, and two waveguides 20, 22 of length, L, that make up the arms of the Mach-Zehnder. A signal electrode 24 having an RF input 2 and an RF output 4, and two ground electrodes 26 apply an electric field to the two waveguides 20, 22 in the MZ 10. The RF signal electrode 24 is much narrower than the ground electrodes 26, hence the electric field is much more focused underneath the signal electrode 24, causing an imbalance in the strength of modulation in the two arms of the MZ. For typical electrode designs, the modulation in the waveguide 20 underneath the ground electrode 26 is approximately ⅙th of the modulation of the waveguide 22 under the signal electrode 24. The relative modulation strength, EOi, is defined to be ratio of the modulation in the ith waveguide to the total modulation needed to switch the modulator output from on to off. EO1 and EO2, corresponding to the waveguides 22, underneath the signal 24 and ground 26 electrodes, respectively, are 0.85 and 0.15.
FIG. 2 shows the chirp parameter as a function of frequency. The chirp parameter, α is defined by Equation 3 from F. Koyama and K. Iga, "Frequency chirping in external modulators," IEEE Journal of Lightwave Technology," Vol. 6, No. 1, January 1988, pp. 87-93, which can be rewritten in the form
                    α        =                                            ⅆ              ϕ                                      ⅆ              t                                                          1                              2                                                                                I                                                                                ⅆ                I                                            ⅆ                t                                                                        (        1        )            where φ is the net optical phase modulation output by the modulator and I is the intensity of light exiting the modulator. Chirp is referred to as the alpha (α) parameter, which should not be confused with α used to describe the RF loss in an RF electrode. In this application, the chirp parameter is referred to simply as "chirp" to avoid confusion with RF loss.
The chirp is constant but non-zero in FIGS. 2A and B. Depending on which quadrature point of the Mach-Zehnder is chosen as the bias point, the slope of intensity vs. drive voltage can either be positive or negative, causing the calculated chirp value from Equation 1 to be either +0.7 as shown in FIG. 2A or −0.7 shown in FIG. 2B. In all graphs of chirp that follow, it is assumed that the quadrature point corresponding to a chirp value of +0.7 is chosen, for the purpose of defining chirp according to Equation 1.
A prior art modulator with a more complex architecture is shown in FIG. 3. The Dual Parallel Mach-Zehnder (DPMZ) Interferometer 30 has two simple Mach-Zehnder Interferometers 32, 34 nested in the arms of a larger Mach-Zehnder Interferometer 36. This modulator 30 is sometimes used for Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) or Differential Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (DQPSK) transmission at 40 Gb/s. There are two independent RF signal electrodes 38A and 38B for the "inner MZ's" 32, 34 and bias electrodes 40 for the larger "outer" MZ 36. Not shown are bias electrodes in the inner MZ's 32, 34, which typically follow the RF signal electrodes 38A and 38B. Note that an x-cut lithium niobate electrode configuration is shown, where the waveguides 31, 33 are positioned between signal 38A and 38B and ground 39 electrodes. This configuration has balanced modulation in the two arms 31, 33 of the inner MZ's resulting in zero chirp for the inner MZ's 32, 34. Another configuration uses z-cut substrate and electrode configuration along with the invention, which permits zero chirp operation. In such a configuration, the waveguides of the inner MZ are underneath the signal and ground electrodes.
In one version of a QPSK system, the two inner MZ's 32, 34 are biased at null while the outer MZ 36 is biased at quadrature as disclosed by T. J. Schmidt, et. al., "Spectrally efficient and impairment-robust modulation techniques for 40 Gb/s optical transmission systems," NFOEC 2002, Dallas, Tex. A 40 Gb/s signal is split into two 20 Gb/s signals with an encoder. The two 20 Gb/s digital signals are fed into the two RF signal electrodes of the DPMZ. The two modulation signals create optical modulation signals that are orthogonal to one another in optical phase. These two transmitted signals are often referred to as I and Q signals. These two optical signals can be detected independently of one another using a coherent receiver which mixes the received optical signal with a signal from a local oscillator. FIGS. 4A and B show simulation results for the two received signals corresponding to the I and Q transmitted signals in the absence of any chromatic dispersion or other degradation caused by the optical fiber. Note that the two signals are free of distortion.
One problem with the zero-chirp x-cut lithium niobate modulators is the requirement for a higher drive voltage than can be implemented using chirped z-cut lithium niobate modulators. For example, by implementing ridge waveguides in z-cut modulators as described in K. Noguchi, et. al., "Millimeter-wave Ti:LiNbO3 optical modulators," IEEE Journal of Lightwave Technology, Vol. 16, No. 4, April 1998, pp. 615-619, the drive voltage can be reduced significantly. However, conventional chirped z-cut Mach-Zehnders are unsuitable for use in a DPMZ architecture, as the chirp would severely compromise the orthogonality of the I and Q signals.
Prior art methods for converting a chirped z-cut modulator into a zero-chirp modulator are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,501,867, 7,058,241, 7,088,875, and in the publication literature N. Courjal, et. al., "LiNbO3 Mach-Zehnder modulator with chirp adjusted by ferroelectric domain inversion," IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Vol. 14, No. 11, November 2002, pp. 1509-1511. Such designs are desirable to allow for reduced drive voltage available with z-cut lithium niobate technology. While many of the designs are adequate for conventional On-Off Keying (OOK) transmission, they introduce some performance penalty for QPSK transmission due to the residual chirp. There are other transmission formats that require zero-chirp modulators, as well, for example, duobinary.
Electro-optic external modulators made of lithium niobate or lithium tantalite, or electro-optic polymer can be subjected to poling to reverse the crystal structure. Other external modulators are manufactured in semiconductor material such as InP or GaAs.
FIG. 5 shows a prior art single drive z-cut lithium niobate modulator 50 having a two-section MZ 52. The ferroelectric domain has been inverted in section 57 while section 55 is in the original state and the signal electrode 56 moves from waveguide 53 to waveguide 51 in the domain inverted section 57. The sections are defined by the lengths L1 and L2, shown by dashed lines, where the signal electrode 56 overlaps alternate waveguides 51, 53. Throughout this application the labels L1 to LN for the lengths of the N sections are used such that L1 is disposed closest to the RF input 2, and LN is disposed closest to the RF output 4. The electrode 56 cross-over portion is not included in the section length. The two ground electrodes adjacent to the signal electrode 56 are not shown for ease of illustration. The alternating electrode path 56 reverses the asymmetric structure when the domain is reversed in order to preserve the polarity of the accumulated modulation. If the two sections 55, 57 have equal length, chirp is zero at low frequency, but becomes non-zero at higher frequencies, due to RF loss in the electrode 56 that reduces the signal voltage at the beginning of the second section 57 relative to the first section 55. One can partially compensate for the RF loss by making the length L2 of the second section 57 longer than the length L1 of the first section 55. FIG. 6 shows chirp as a function of frequency for such a design, where lengths L1 and L2 normalized to the total length of the MZ are 0.42 and 0.58, respectively. The modulator is assumed to be velocity-matched, that is the optical and RF velocities are the same. The RF loss in the RF electrode is given by Equation 2, where the assumed values of a00 and a01 are 0.0 Nepers/(cm-(GHz)) and 0.0311 Nepers/(cm-(GHz)0.5), respectively, and L equals 5 cm. The assumed values of a00 and a01 correspond to 0.0 dB/(cm-(GHz)) and 0.27 dB/(cm-(GHz)0.5), respectively. The values in units of dB must be converted to Nepers by multiplying ln(10)/20, before inserting into Equation 2 and all following equations.α(f)L=(α00f+α01√{square root over (f)})L  (2)
For this two-section modulator 50, chirp is about −0.1 at low frequency, is zero at about 18 GHz, and increases to about +0.06 at 40 GHz. Note that the choice of lengths that produce zero chirp at 18 GHz are different if the coefficients defining RF loss are different.
FIGS. 7A and B show simulation results of the received I and Q signals for the case that the two section MZ 52 is used as the inner MZ's 32, 34 of a DPMZ 30 (as in FIG. 3). There is distortion in the signals. The distortion is due to crosstalk between the two 20 Gb/s bit streams caused by the residual chirp. FIGS. 8A and B show the simulated crosstalk in the two received bitstreams. In these simulations, the I signal at the transmitter is turned off, and the resulting received I signal is calculated. Similarly, the received Q signal is calculated for the case where no Q signal is transmitted. Ideally, the two signal amplitudes should always be zero, but are non-zero due to the transmitted I and Q signals not being completely orthogonal to one another. The amplitude of the crosstalk signals are on the order of 10% to 12% of the amplitude of the main signal.
A prior art three section single drive MZ modulator 60 is shown in FIG. 9, as taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,058,241 and 7,088,875 assigned to Fujitsu Limited. As disclosed in one embodiment, the domain inverted section L2 is centered along the length of the MZ 60, and L1 is equal to L3. In addition, the total length of the uninverted sections (L1+L3) is equal to the length of the inverted section (L2). The normalized lengths L1, L2, and L3 are 0.25, 0.50, and 0.25, respectively. RF signal electrode 66 is disposed over waveguide 63 at RF input 2 in section L1 and crosses to waveguide 61 in section L2 over the domain inverted section 67 and returns to waveguide 63 in section L3 where it is coupled to the RF output 4.
FIG. 10 shows the chirp vs. frequency plot for the prior art three-section MZ 60 with centered domain inversion section. Residual chirp is much lower than for the two-section design. Chirp is zero at low frequency and steadily increases to about 0.02 at 40 GHz. FIGS. 11A and B show crosstalk in the I and Q signals for a 40 Gb/s QPSK system. The amplitude of the crosstalk is only about 1% of the main signal. This cross-talk is a consequence of the chirp shown in FIG. 10, showing that the I and Q orthogonal signals are not completely independent due to the chirp. This level of crosstalk may be adequate for 40 Gb/s QPSK, however, there may be some small yet significant performance penalty associated with this crosstalk. There may be other performance issues related to small amounts of residual chirp.
FIGS. 12-18 describe the performance of a prior art three-section MZ 60 for cases where the device parameters are slightly different from the optimal design. It is important that any design be relatively insensitive to variation in device parameters that are likely to occur in manufacture.
FIGS. 12 and 13 show chirp vs. frequency for a prior art three-section MZ 60 with +0.05 and −0.05 velocity walk-off (ΔNRF) between RF and optical signals, respectively. The velocity walk-off value refers to the difference between the optical and microwave indices. Note that the residual chirp increases to a larger value of 0.04 at 40 GHz for either case. FIGS. 14A and B show the simulated crosstalk in the received I and Q signals for the prior art three-section MZ with +0.05 velocity walk-off. The crosstalk amplitude increases to about 2% to 3% of the main signal for this case.
FIGS. 15 and 16 show the chirp vs. frequency for a prior art three-section MZ with 20% higher and 20% lower a01, respectively, while FIGS. 17 and 18 show similar plots where the intrinsic chirp parameter is 0.8 and 0.6, respectively, instead of 0.7. Intrinsic chirp refers to the chirp for the same MZ geometry as a single section without domain inversion. This typically ranges from 0.5 to 1.0 depending on the MZ geometry. Note that changes to RF loss or intrinsic chirp only produce a minor change to the resultant chirp at any frequency from DC to 40 GHz.
FIG. 19 describes a prior art four-section MZ 70, where all the sections are of equal length, as taught in FIGS. 2 and 3 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,501,867 assigned to Lucent Technologies Inc. RF signal electrode 76 is coupled from RF input 2 over waveguide 73 in section L1, and section L3 and alternates over waveguide 71 in the domain inverted regions 77 for sections L2 and L4. Those figures show two-section and seven-section MZ designs, where all the section lengths are equal. The text does not teach a specific length for the sections. FIG. 3 in N. Courjal, et al., referenced above, shows chirp as a function of frequency for a two-section MZ for five different choices of length. The choice closest to zero chirp is the one where the two lengths are equal to one another.
FIG. 20 shows chirp vs. frequency for a prior art four-section MZ 70 where L1=L2=L3=L4 as shown in FIG. 19. Chirp is zero at low frequency, but increases to >0.08 at 40 GHz.
FIGS. 21A and B show crosstalk in the I and Q signals for the prior art four-section MZ 70, for a 40 Gb/s QPSK system. Simulations assume a structure similar to FIG. 3, where each of the smaller MZ's within the structure contain a four-section zero-chirp MZ. The amplitude of the crosstalk is as much as 6% of the main signal, which is likely to have some impact on system performance. The high amount of residual chirp may introduce other system penalties.
Accordingly, a low voltage external optical modulator that can provide a constant chirp versus frequency response remains highly desirable; particularly an external single drive optical modulator suitable for non-binary encoding schemes is desired.

External optical modulator with domain inversion for providing constant chip versus frequency


A current lead-in conductor for an illumination lamp with a glass base and formed of an austenitic stainless steel with additives of Ni and/or Cr, or formed as carrier core made of a non-austenitic carbon steel with alloying additives and surrounded with a Ni-sheath.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a current lead-in conductor for an illumination lamp with a glass base, which conductor is made of metal.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Illumination lamps include incandescent lamps, gas discharge lamps, flash lamps and the like. An illumination lamp has a hollow glass body and a substantially massive or solid glass base connected with the hollow glass body. The current lead-in conductor is partially fused into the glass base and partially projects outwardly from the base. The current lead-in conductor is a heavy solid body made of an appropriate alloy. The known current lead-in conductors for the illumination lamps are made of an alloy consisting of 98% Ni by weight and 2% Mn by weight. Nickel is a rather expensive metal and, of course, it is desirable to be able to make the current lead-in conductors of a cheaper material. However, the current lead-in conductors should meet certain requirements which the desired cheap materials (substitute metals) should satisfy. These requirements are:
The use of a substitute metal should not make the production of the current lead-in conductors more difficult.
The substitute metal should, during fusing-in of the conductor into the glass base, withstand the fusing temperatures of about 1,200.degree. C.
The substitute metal should have a good electrical conductance to insure current supply into the interior of the illumination lamp.
The substitute metal should have a good heat conductance to be able to carry away heat from the lamp interior.
The substitute metal should be able to withstand operational temperatures of 150-200.degree. C. which prevail at the outwardly projecting portion of the current lead-in conductor.
The substitute metal should have a very good corrosion resistance in the presence of oxygen and heat.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a relatively cheap metallic material for making the current lead-in conductors which would meet all of the above-listed requirements.

Low voltage halogen lamp having a pin base and a lead-in conductor partially fused into the pin base


A method of rolling steel sections, particularly in a universal section mill, wherein X-shape rolling and H-shape rolling are carried out alternatingly and specifically directed cooling of the steel section is carried out during rolling. During roughing rolling in a X-shaped groove a cooling water channel is formed at each side of the steel section at the connecting locations between web and flange. The roll cooling water flowing off from the H-shaped rolls is concentrated in the cooling water channels. An additional quantity of water may be added either without pressure or in the form of spray water to the concentrated roll cooling water.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of rolling steel sections, particularly in a universal section mill, wherein X-shape rolling and H-shape rolling are carried out alternatingly and specifically directed cooling of the steel section is carried out during rolling.
2. Description of the Related Art
Methods and rolling mills or rolling trains for rolling steel sections or girders are well known in the art, for example, from EP-A-0 256 409 and EP-B-0 498 733. When rolling steel sections, such as H-beams, U-beams and I-beams, significantly different temperature conditions occur over the cross-section due to the mass distribution at various intermediate cross-sections. During normal or forced cooling of the rolled girders to room temperature, these temperature differences produce stresses in the section which may result in distortions and/or curvatures which reduce the load-bearing capability of the girder. These temperature differences and the effects thereof are very difficult to eliminate in the finish-rolled girder and impair or may even make entirely impossible the cooling measures to be carried out for annealing from the rolling heat or for thermomechanical rolling.
Cooling devices used in the past are based on immersion cooling or spray cooling, as disclosed by "Stahl und Eisen" 109, (1989), No. 9, 10, pages 497 to 502, for a method of the above-described type. In the thermomechanical rolling process for heavy girder sections described in this reference, the method is composed of a combination of thermomechanical treatment and selective cooling of the flange/web connecting zone during rolling. The purpose of this is to achieve a uniform temperature distribution in the flange and, thus, to improve the homogeneity of the material properties over the product cross-section. It is attempted to spray the transition or connecting zone between flange and web either from the outside toward the flange side middles, or from the inside and outside. Both measures require extensive cooling stretches with adjustable nozzles. The cooling devices are either arranged between the roughing stands or following the finishing stands. In tandem reversing trains, the cooling devices are arranged on one side of the roll stands, so that the section or girder can be cooled during roughing rolling or after the finishing pass.


A device for adjusting seat components as a function of a signal from a video sensor system. Furthermore, a safety belt is adjusted as well as a function of the signal. This adjustment is carried out as a function of the occupant class, the occupant volume, the occupant pose, and the head position.

From PCT International Patent Publication No. WO 01/64468 a method for adjusting parameters that are relevant to the use of a motor vehicle is known where the position of at least one body part of an occupant is ascertained with the aid of a three-dimensional imaging method, at least one component relevant for the use of the vehicle being moved into a position as a function of the position of the surface region.
In addition, from German Patent No. DE 101 33 759 a device is known for detecting the extension of the safety belts in the vehicle, such detection being carried out with the aid of an image-generating sensor.


A fluid bed reactor is provided having a grid baffle structure to provide increased theoretical stages within the reactor to enable the reactor to be used for time/temperature dependent reactions requiring a number of mixing stages and/or an increased particle residence time. The preferred baffle structure comprises a plurality of staggered first and second vertical members extending partly across the reactor from opposed sides of the reactor which form a path for the feed to travel therethrough from the inlet to the outlet of the reactor with the vertical members having vertical cross-members, preferably shorter than the vertical members, extending completely between adjacent vertical members and/or partly in the space between the members to form reaction stage sections whereby feed entering the reactor moves in a serpentine path and/or a sequential underflow and/or overflow path through the reaction stage sections of the baffle from the inlet of the reactor to the reactor outlet.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to fluid bed reactors and, in particular, to fluid bed reactors having a grid baffle structure in the reactor which divides the reactor into reaction stage sections through which feed to the reactor flows sequentially through the reaction stage sections from the inlet of the reactor to the outlet of the reactor and which baffle structure increases the staging of the reactor and therefore provides a relatively uniform average particle retention time in the reactor. The reactor is especially suitable for performing time/temperature dependent chemical reactions such as the reduction/reaction of iron ore to iron carbide.
2. Description of Related Art
Fluid bed reactors are well known and have been applied to a number of industrial processes. The reactors may be used as chemical reactors for endothermic reactions such as the calcination of phosphate rock and the reduction of iron ore. Exothermic reactions such as roasting of zinc sulfide ores may also be performed in a fluid bed reactor. The reactors are also used as dryers for drying granular materials such as sand, plastics, detergents and the like. Combustion fluid bed systems have been used for the closely controlled disposal of toxic liquid and semi-solid wastes such as activated sludge, pulping waste and other organic wastes. The reactors are also used as boilers and steam generators and such reactors include fluid bed boilers, package and field erected boilers, superheaters and air heaters. The reactors can be used on a wide variety of feeds including coal, oil, gas and industrial and home refuse.
Fluid bed reactors typically comprise a vertical vessel having a lower horizontal plate, i.e., an air distributor or constriction plate, which supports a bed of particulate solids in a reaction chamber and separates the reaction chamber from a windbox or plenum below the plate. Combustion air is introduced into the windbox and passes upward through openings in the air distributor plate in sufficient volume to achieve a gas velocity that expands or fluidizes the solids, suspending the particulate solids of the bed in the flowing air stream forming a fluid bed and imparting to the individual solid particles a continuous random motion. Some important advantages of conducting a reaction or other heating or cooling process in a fluidized bed includes the substantially uniform bed temperature, combustion at relatively low temperatures and a high heat transfer rate.
The suspension of solids by an upward gas stream in the fluid bed reactor resembles a bubbling fluid, i.e., boiling water. The suspension is typically contained in the lower-middle portion of a vertical reactor termed a reaction chamber and is bound laterally by the reactor walls and below by a constriction plate beneath which is the windbox. The top of the bed looks like an irregular splashing, boiling surface and turbulence in the bed and intimate solid to gas contact provides a near ideal environment for carrying out chemical reactions, heating, cooling, combustion and other unit operation processes. The fluid bed for many operations is typically silica sand or other inert material and provides the area in the reactor in which most of the fluid bed process reactions occur. The bed may also be materials which are converted such an iron ore to iron carbide.
The intimate mixing in the bed provides high reaction kinetics and/or heating and/or combustion which increases process efficiency and enhanced energy utilization. The high turbulence and relatively long gas residence times of 5-8 seconds or more is satisfactory for most operations such as calcination, incineration and the like since for these reactions, the reaction kinetics are very rapid. The absence of interior moving parts in the reactor also provides minimal maintenance requirements. The bed provides a thermal fly wheel which minimizes temperature fluctuations due to variations in the feed and permits intermittent or batch operation with little or no auxiliary feed and avoids thermal shock to the refractory system. Capital and operating and maintenance costs are substantially less than for comparable rotating furnaces or multiple hearth furnaces. Staffing is usually one operator per shift or less.
As with all systems utilizing turbulent flow there is a natural back mixing in fluid bed reactors which enhances thermal efficiency. For many reactions the kinetics are very rapid and there are no negative aspects of back mixing. For time/temperature dependent reactions however, high conversion or completion of reaction are not feasible in the conventional fluid bed reactor which is considered a single stage reactor. Backmixing provides a non-uniform bed solids residence time profile. Particles which have short residence times are incompletely reacted. Excessive residence time has no beneficial effects. To increase the staging, multiple fluid bed reactors with series solids flow (gas flow either countercurrent in series or parallel) or parallel baffles in the reactor (sometimes radial baffles), have been used to generate a more uniform solids residence time profile closer to plug flow rather than turbulent flow. When residence time in the reactor is a factor in the process being performed and/or a great number of stages of operation are required, classical methods of staging using multiple reactors and/or increasing the staging in a single conventional fluid bed reactor, are technically not viable and/or are economically unattractive.
Time/temperature dependent reactions as noted above, are not feasible in a single stage fluid bed reactor and a number of processes and specially designed fluid bed reactors have been used in the past. A particularly important time/temperature dependent reaction is the reduction and reaction of iron ore (such as iron oxide) to produce iron carbide which may then be more easily used to produce iron or steel and the following description will be directed to this reaction although it will be appreciated that the invention is useful for other such time/temperature dependent reactions needing multiple staging.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,082,545 shows the direct reduction of iron ore in a system of multiple fluidized bed reactors to which the iron ore is successfully fed in series with the result that in each reactor, the iron ore is progressively reduced until a desired reduction of about 95% is achieved in the final reactor. The reducing gas is introduced into the bottom of each of the fluidized bed reactors and flows countercurrent to the direction of iron ore flowing through the reactors.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,985,547 iron ore is reduced in a single fluid bed reactor wherein multiple vertical superposed bed levels are provided in the reactor tower and the ore passed by gravity downwardly from bed level to bed level. The lowermost and all superposed beds are fluidized by off gasses from which carbon dioxide and water have been stripped and by combusting methane with a substoichiometric quantity of oxygen and introducing the combustion products into an intermediate level of the column. U.S. Pat. No. 3,236,607 relates to a process for reducing iron ore to metallic iron in multiple stages in a single fluid bed reactor wherein the reactor is separated into two or more stages or chambers by placing one or more vertical transverse baffles extending across the diameter of the reactor and providing means for the transfer of solids from one side of the baffles to the other side by gravity with minimal back mixing of the solids.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,672,069 shows a fluidized bed cooler in which a plurality of parallel compartments are arranged side by side and are separated by respective baffles forming a weir or overflow arrangement whereby particles move from one compartment to another by gravity overflow and each compartment is fluidized by the introduction of a carrier or fluidizing gasses from below.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,718 shows an apparatus for drying particulate materials such as seeds and grains in which an air drier having superposed vertically spaced drying stages having mesh openings at least equal or larger than the suspension speed of the particles to be dried so that the seeds are temporarily suspended by the drying air flow until enough are accumulated to provide sufficient weight or downward pressure for the particles to overcome the upward air flow and pass downward through one or more mesh screens and reach the bottom of the dryer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,671 shows a fluidized bed heat exchanger having a plurality of chambers formed in the housing wherein the chambers communicate to permit the material to flow from the feed inlet to at least one chamber and eventually out of one of the chambers and from the exchanger.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,021,184 is of interest to show a fluidized bed waste incinerator which uses cyclones to return particulate solids to the reactor which solids have been carried out of the reactor with the exhaust gases.
Bearing in mind the problems and deficiencies of the prior art, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a fluid bed reactor having a number of theoretical stages in a single reactor for efficiently and effectively performing time/temperature dependent reactions and other processes requiring an increased number of reaction or conversion stages in the reactor.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a method for performing time/temperature dependent reactions in a single fluid bed reactor.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent from the following description.


A video white compression and peaking arrangement comprises a plurality of inverting amplifier transistors each tied to a common threshold level. RGB input video signals are applied to the inverting amplifier transistors which are ineffective for signals below the threshold level. The transistors are progressively turned on for input signals that exceed the threshold level resulting in non-linear negative feedback signals that compress the output signals by subtraction. A tuned circuit is coupled across the input of each inverting amplifier transistor for bypassing selected frequencies from the negative feedback effect and relatively peaking those frequencies in the output signal.

This invention relates generally to video signals and particularly to means for compressing video white signals and improving their transient response.
Video enhancement techniques have been used for many years to improve the display characteristics of video signals on cathode ray tubes (CRTs). Due to the limitations on electron beam focusing or spot size control in CRTs, peak white signals have an annoying tendency to cause "blooming" (defocusing) of the electron beam which can seriously degrade the display. Prior art techniques have been used to control blooming by limiting the CRT beam current to an arbitrarily selected acceptable level. There are also white compression circuits which limit peak white video signals resulting in severe signal compression or "white crushing" as the beam current approaches the limit. Most prior art video compression techniques have one or more drawbacks and are often characterized by a "washed out" appearance of the video display.
Another aspect of video enhancement is generally referred to as peaking or transient improvement. Peaking is performed by sharpening video transitions, i.e. the edges of video images, to emphasize the transition. Video peaking is considered to be beneficial in many situations but may be detrimental, especially in darker areas of the display. In accordance with the present invention, video peaking may be accomplished simultaneously with white compression.

Video white signal compression and peaking


A seating assembly may employ one or more of: a seat stagger, a seat overlap, and a seat angling to offer significant width and comfort gains and reduce the negative impact of width and leg room gains on seating density. With one seat of a pair staggered forward with respect to the other seat each may then be moved laterally and overlap (as seen from the front). The seating positions may be further improved by angling each seat away from their center arm rest area, reducing the encroaching effect of the overlap by pointing the passenger away from the overlap, reducing the visual impact of the staggered seating by pointing the passenger away from the nearest seat ahead, and improving leg room by directing the passenger's legs forward at an angle.

Aircraft seating space is naturally limited. Typically, there is a compromise between passenger space and aircraft seating density. The compromise is between the seating density that provides the desired revenue per flight and the space per passenger that provides for a comfortable flight. As aspect of this compromise is that the premium economy-seat market is a growing market. It is situated between business class and economy class in terms of comfort and density. The existing seating arrangements for premium economy are usually very simple—including simply a bigger and wider version of an economy class seat, which impacts seat density proportionally. Similarly, for business classes that offer bed options, the typical arrangement negatively impacts seat density.
Thus, there exists a need for seating assemblies that offer significant width and comfort gains and reduce the negative impact on seating density.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Disclosed is a method for etching the inside of a tungsten CVD reaction room, in which tungsten deposited on the inside of the reaction room by a film-forming gas when a tungsten CVD reaction is conducted is removed by plasma, and which has the steps of: exhausting a remainder of the film-forming gas in the reaction room; and then supplying a high-frequency electric power into the reaction room while keeping a predetermined degree of vacuum in the reaction room and leading a mixing gas of sulfur hexafluoride and oxygen into the reaction room to generate the plasma.

In a conventional method for fabricating a semiconductor device, an electrically conducting hole, i.e., a contact needs to be provided at a predetermined position. As a conductive material, aluminum(Al) which is supplied by sputtering has been used for a long time. However, along with recent high-integration of semiconductor device, a diameter of contact reaches a level of sub-micron and the aspect ratio(a ratio of height and width) increases, thereby deteriorating a step coverage in the aluminum contact and causing a short circuit.
To solve this problem, a method has been developed in which tungsten is buried into a contact before sputtering. For example, tungsten film is first formed on a semiconductor substrate by using the CVD method, thereafter etching back the entire surface of the tungsten film by dry etching. At this time, the tungsten film on the surface of the substrate can be removed, but tungsten buried into the contact remains. Then, aluminum is sputtered to contact the tungsten in the contact, thereby forming an electric conduction therebetween. In this method, the process of tungsten CVD will be explained referring to FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional tungsten CVD device. As shown, in a reaction room 1 which is made of metal, a cathode 2 and an anode 3 are disposed opposite to each other, where the bottom part of the cathode 2 has many small holes that function as inlets leading gas. Furthermore, the cathode 2 is connected to a high-frequency power source 4, and the anode 3 also functions as a ground. To the exhaust of the reaction room 1, a removal device 7 as to nitrogen trifluoride(NF3) is connected through a pump 6.
In operation, a semiconductor substrate 5 is disposed on the anode 3, then flowing a gas such as tungsten hexafluoride(WF6) of 200 to 400 sccm from the gas inlets the into the reaction room 1 while generating a high frequency of 13.56 MHz at 100 to 300 W from the high-frequency power source 4. Then, by adjusting the inner pressure of the reaction room to be about 0.5 to 0.7 Torr by controlling the amount of exhaust gas and raising the temperature of the anode 3 at 300.degree. to 500.degree. C., tungsten film can be formed on the semiconductor substrate 5.
The tungsten film is also formed on the inside wall of the reaction room 1, the surface of the cathode 2 and the surface of the anode 3 except the surface where the semiconductor substrate 5 is disposed, and the deposition thickness is gradually increased with the progress of deposition. Since the deposition film of tungsten on the inside wall of the reaction room 1 etc. causes particles released from there as the film thickness is increased, they should be removed.
This removal is conducted after the tungsten film is formed on the semiconductor substrate 5 and the semiconductor substrate 5 is taken out from the reaction room 1. After taking out the substrate 5, the reaction room 1 is vacuumed to exhaust the remainder of WF6 gas used in the deposition of tungsten film, thereafter leading a fluoride gas such as nitrogen trifluoride(NF3) of 100 to 200 sccm into the reaction room 1, then generating a high frequency of, for example, 13.56 MHz at 300 to 500 W while holding the degree of vacuum of the reaction room 1 to be, for example, 100 to 150 mm Torr.
The time required in this removal treatment is determined by the thickness of the tungsten film attached to the inside of the reaction room 1. For example, if the deposition of 500 nm film is once conducted, the removal treatment on the above condition takes about 2 min. and 30 sec. Such etching treatment can be conducted after the tungsten CVD of the semiconductor substrate 5, thereby removing the tungsten film attached to the inside of the reaction room 1 etc. to prevent the particles from releasing. The etching reaction is progressed as shown by: EQU W+2NF3.fwdarw.WF6+N2 (1)
On the other hand, the NF3 remainder gas which is not reacted with W is exhausted through the pump 6 into the removal device 7, where it is treated to exhaust only nitrogen(N2). The removal device 7 contains a material for adsorbing fluorine which is changed once about three to six months. Thus, the NF3 gas which is harmful can be prevented from directly exhausting into the air. WF6 obtained by the above reaction (1) is diluted by a sufficient N2, thereafter released into the air, therefore causing no problem in safety.
However, since NF3 used in the plasma etching to the reaction room 1 is an earth-warming-substance, it may be prohibited in the future. Furthermore, there is a problem that the removal device for treating the harmful NF3 gas is costly.

Method for etching inside of tungsten CVD reaction room


An apparatus and method for securing a plurality of modules to a frame to form a box spring includes a base for supporting the frame and the modules, a support, and a drive mechanism coupled to the support and the base. The drive mechanism is configured to provide relative movement between the support and the base. The apparatus also includes a camera coupled to the support. The camera provides an image signal indicative of an actual position of the modules relative to the frame upon relative movement of the support and the base. The apparatus further includes a tool coupled to the support for securing each of the modules to the frame using the image signal from the camera.

The present invention relates to a vision guided fastener apparatus and method. More particularly, the present invention relates to a stapler apparatus for assembly of a box spring, or the like, automatically using a vision guided control.
Conventional box springs which are used to support mattresses include a wood frame which supports a plurality of spring modules spaced apart on the wood frame. The modules are coupled to a wire grid which forms the top surface of the box spring. Bottom ends of the modules are typically stapled directly to the wood frame of the box spring.
During conventional assembly of the box spring, a worker must manually staple each of the plurality of modules to the wood frame using an industrial stapler. Therefore, the manufacturing process is limited to the capability of the individual hired to staple the box spring to the modules.
The apparatus of the present invention is designed to automate the box spring stapling process. The apparatus of the present invention includes a vision guided stapling apparatus which automatically locates the modules on the wood frame and then guides the stapler into proper position to secure the modules to the wood frame automatically. The apparatus of the present invention is designed to accommodate different size box springs, such as twin, full, queen, and king sizes. In addition, the apparatus of the present invention may be programmed to secure any type of module to the wood frame of the box spring.
In one illustrated embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus includes a base having two separate sides for supporting two box springs. Therefore, the apparatus can be used to staple modules to a first wood frame on the first side while another box spring is being loaded on the second side of the base. Once the first box spring is completed, the apparatus moves over the second side to staple modules to the second wood frame while another box spring is loaded on to the first side of the apparatus.
According to one aspect of the present invention, an apparatus is provided for securing a plurality of modules to a frame to form a box spring. The apparatus includes a base for supporting the frame and the modules, a support, and a drive mechanism coupled to the support and the base. The drive mechanism is configured to provide relative movement between the support and the base. The apparatus also includes a camera coupled to the support. The camera provides an image signal indicative of an actual position of the modules relative to the frame upon relative movement of the support and the base. The apparatus further includes a tool coupled to the support for securing each of the modules to the frame using the image signal from the camera.
In the illustrated embodiment, the apparatus still further includes a controller for guiding movement of the drive mechanism relative to the base and for controlling movement of the tool to secure each of the modules to the frame as the support moves relative to the frame and the modules located on the base. The controller includes a memory for storing an optimum position for each of the modules on the frame relative to the base. The controller also includes means for guiding the tool to the stored optimum position for securing each module to the frame.
The controller receives the image signal from the camera. The illustrated controller includes means for adjusting the position of the tool from the optimum position to an actual position of the module based upon the image signal to engage the module with the tool. The controller compares the actual position of each module to the optimum position of each module stored in the memory to generate a correction signal to adjust the position of the tool and the module before the module is secured to the frame.
The controller including means for storing an image of the module in the memory, and means for storing at least one designated tool target on the module. The controller compares the image from the camera to the stored module image to control the drive mechanism to move the support and the tool. The controller includes means for calculating position error of the module relative to the frame by comparing the actual image signal from the camera to the stored module image for an optimum module position. The controller also includes means for generating a control signal to move the module to the optimum module position prior to securing the module to the frame. A modem is coupled to the controller for accessing the controller from a remote location.
Also in the illustrated embodiment, the camera is pivotably mounted to the support. The camera pivots about 10.degree. from an initial position aligned generally perpendicular to the base. The tool is also pivotably coupled to the support. Illustratively, the tool is mounted in a gimble coupled to the support. The gimble is pivotable about a first axis and about a second axis normal to the first axis. The tool is also rotatably coupled to the support. The tool is movable from a retracted position to an extended position to engage a module and secure the module to the frame.
The illustrated apparatus includes first and second cameras coupled to the support on opposite sides of the tool. The first camera provides the image signal when the support is moving in a first direction, and the second camera provides the image signal when the support is moving in a second direction. The second camera may provide inspection for the tool when the support is moving in the first direction, and the first camera may provide inspection for the tool when the support is moving in the second direction, if desired.
The illustrated embodiment also includes a bottom gantry movable below the base. The bottom gantry includes an alignment tool configured to position the modules on the frame. The bottom gantry moves the alignment tool relative to the base using a cable drive mechanism.
In one illustrated embodiment, the base includes a first base section for supporting a first frame and a plurality of first modules, and a second base section for supporting a second frame and a plurality of second modules. The drive mechanism is configured to move the support over both the first and second base sections.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for securing a plurality of modules to a frame to form a box spring. The method includes the steps of providing a base for supporting the frame and the modules, providing a tool for securing the modules to the frame, storing an image of an optimum position for each of the modules on the frame relative to the base, and providing relative movement between the tool and the base to move the tool to the optimum position for each module. The method further includes the steps of generating an image signal using a camera to indicate an actual position of each module relative to the frame, comparing the optimum position of the module to the actual position of the module, adjusting the position of the tool based on the comparing step, and securing the module to the frame.
The illustrated method further includes the steps of storing a plurality of different optimum positions in the memory corresponding to a plurality of different frame and module configurations, and selecting a particular frame and module configuration based upon the actual frame and module configurations that are located on the base.
The method further includes the step of determining whether the module should be moved by the tool relative to the frame based on the comparing step before the tool secures the module to the frame in the securing step. The illustrated method also includes the step of aligning the modules on the frame substantially in the optimum position prior to the securing step.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, an apparatus is provided for securing a module to a frame. The apparatus includes a base for supporting the frame and the modules, a support including a track extending across the frame, and a first drive mechanism coupled to the support and the base. The first drive mechanism is configured to move the support along a first axis over the base. The apparatus also includes a fastener assembly including a plate movably coupled to the track of the support for movement along a second axis which is generally perpendicular to the first axis, a gimble pivotably coupled to the plate about both the first axis and the second axis, and a tool coupled to the gimble for movement about a longitudinal axis for securing the module to the frame. The apparatus further includes a second drive mechanism coupled between the support and the plate for moving the plate along the second axis relative to the support, a third drive mechanism coupled between the plate and the gimble for pivoting the gimble about the first axis, a fourth drive mechanism coupled between to the plate and the gimble for pivoting the gimble about the second axis, and a fifth drive mechanism coupled to the tool for moving the tool up and down along its longitudinal axis. The apparatus still further includes a controller coupled to and configured to actuate the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth drive mechanisms for guiding movement of the support, the plate, the gimble, and the tool to secure the module to the frame.
The illustrated apparatus further includes a camera coupled to the support. The camera provides an image signal indicative of an actual position of the module relative to the frame upon movement of the support relative to the base. The controller includes means for storing an optimum position of each module relative to the frame, means for moving the tool to the optimum position, means for comparing the optimum position to the actual position of the module based on the image signal from the camera, and means for adjusting the position of the tool to engage the module.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for controlling a stepper motor includes a motor driver coupled to the stepper motor. The motor driver provides an output signal to the stepper motor to index the stepper motor. The motor driver also sets a micro-step resolution for the stepper motor. The apparatus also includes a controller coupled to the motor driver. The controller transmits control data to the motor driver for instructing the motor driver whether to index the stepper motor and whether to change the micro-step resolution setting. The motor driver is configured to decode the control data received from the controller, to index the stepper motor, and to change the micro-step resolution setting during continued operation of the stepper motor.
In the illustrated embodiment, the control data includes first data for instructing the motor driver whether to change the micro-step resolution setting of the stepper motor, and second data to representing the desired new micro-step resolution setting. Also illustratively, the control data is a serial byte of data. The first data includes a first data bit, and the second data includes at least three data bits to provide a plurality of different desired the micro-step resolution settings for the stepper motor.
The controller transmits data to the motor driver at a preset period to control a micro-step rate of the stepper motor. The period is adjustable during operation of the stepper motor to change the micro-step rate of the stepper motor.
According to an additional embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus for controlling a stepper motor includes a motor driver coupled to the stepper motor. The motor driver provides an output signal to the stepper motor to index the stepper motor. The motor driver also sets a power level at which the stepper motor is operated. The apparatus also includes a controller coupled to the motor driver. The controller transmits control data to the motor driver for instructing the motor driver whether to index the stepper motor and whether to change the power level setting. The motor driver being configured to decode the control data received from the controller, to index the stepper motor, and to change the power level setting during continued operation of the stepper motor.
In the illustrated embodiment, the control data includes first data for instructing the motor driver whether to change the power level setting of the stepper motor, and second data to representing the desired new power level setting. The first data illustratively includes a first data bit, and the second data includes at least three data bits to provide a plurality of different power level settings for the stepper motor.
Additional objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.


A medical device comprises a catheter with an expandable member, fibers extending from the outer surface of the expandable member, and therapeutic agent coated on the fibers or carried in the spaces between the fibers. Upon expansion of the expandable member, the therapeutic agent is delivered from the medical device. A surfactant may be coated on the fibers. A method of manufacturing comprises coating the outer surface of an expandable member with a metallic layer, coating the metallic layer with at least one polymeric layer, forming a plurality of holes in at least one polymeric layer, forming fibers in the holes, and removing at least one polymeric layer.

Catheters are used in a wide variety of minimally-invasive or percutaneous medical procedures. For example, balloon catheters having drug coatings may be used to treat diseased target tissue, such as portions of blood vessels. Typically, for treatment of blood vessels, the balloon is inserted through a peripheral blood vessel and then guided via a catheter through the vascular system to the target intravascular site. However, as the balloon travels through the body, the flow of blood may wash away some of the drug coating, or the drug coating may otherwise become detached. This not only can result in an undesired loss of drug, but it can also result in drug being supplied to undesired parts of the body.
In certain drug delivery balloon catheters as have been proposed in the art, the surface of the balloon is coated with a coating containing the therapeutic agent to be delivered. When the balloon is expanded, the coating is pressed against the lumen wall, thereby delivering the drug. Such a system at times can be inefficient with respect to the delivery of the drug. Potential drawbacks that can be encountered with respect to drug delivery balloon catheters include not being able to deliver enough or the correct amount of the drug, not being able to deliver the drug quickly enough or in the desired time period, portions of the drug becoming dislodged during tracking of the catheter, and/or portions of the drug becoming dislodged during expansion of the balloon.
There is a continuing desire for improved catheter-based devices for drug delivery to a target site.

Balloon catheters with fibers for delivery of therapeutic agent and methods of making the same


A notification appliance and an alarm system are provided. The notification appliance comprises an alarm indicator and a control module, which is configured to perform notification applications by turning on/off the alarm indicator. The control module receives at least one of command instructions and notification signals, and directs the operation of the alarm indicator based on the command instructions and notification signals. The power condition of the notification appliance within the alarm system may be determined by comparing the notification signal and a predefined operating range for the notification signal. A fault indicator indicates a relationship between the notification signal and the predefined operating range.

This invention relates generally to fire alarm systems, and more particularly, to methods and apparatus for indicating power conditions at notification appliances installed within fire alarm systems.
In general, alarm systems include several notification appliances that are joined to common power lines extending from a system controller. The power lines experience a voltage drop along the lines due to line resistance.
Notification appliances have one or more alarm indicators (i.e. strobes and horns) to notify people in the area of an alarm condition. Notification appliances include various electronic components that have certain power requirements. The notification appliances are generally powered by a remote power supply located, for example, in the system controller or some other remote site. Each notification appliance has a power operating range within which the device operates to provide the appropriate alarm indicators. A predefined or predetermined power (e.g., voltage and current) operating range may be set by a manufacturer or a regulatory body such as Underwriters Laboratories (UL). Different types of notification devices may have different voltage and/or current operating ranges.
Prior to installation, voltage drop calculations are obtained for the alarm system. The voltage drop calculations may be based on blueprints or other plans of the layout of the building and a lump sum calculation of voltage drop. However, the actual wire distances installed are typically different than as estimated, as the wire is run based on the actual physical building layout and obstacles. Therefore, estimating practices using the lump sum method of calculating voltage drops also add a margin of safety to the calculation. However, the margin of safety does not guarantee that the installed appliances are within the estimated distances of the system controller.
Therefore, after notification appliances are installed in a fire or other alarm system, the power, signal and/or voltage level at each of the notification appliances is verified to assure that the level of interest is within the desired range for operation. The verification is obtained by manually testing with a test meter a notification appliance circuit at each of the notification appliances. If the voltage level is outside the range (i.e. too high or too low) the notification appliance may not operate properly. Voltage that is below the operating range of the notification appliance can cause the appliance to produce visible signal intensities or sound pressure levels that are below the levels of the designed system. Also, voltage that is outside of the designed operating range may damage components, leading to premature failure. Depending upon the number of notification appliances installed, this manual testing process can be time consuming and adds significant labor cost to an installation. The voltage verification can also be disruptive, especially in buildings such as hospitals which do not typically have an unoccupied period during which testing can be performed.
In addition to testing the system upon installation, the system may need to be tested periodically, such as annually or semi-annually depending upon prevailing fire code and regulations, and the type of system and/or appliances and devices installed. System overloading may also occur after a system has been installed if devices are added to the system without verifying the system load capacity. This may cause the system to not function properly or experience premature failure as discussed above. Also, if the system is overloaded and already operating at a lower voltage level, the appliances may not operate as designed when the incoming AC power nears a brownout condition or after operating on battery power for a length of time.
Therefore, a need exists for an improved way to verify the power, signal and/or voltage levels at each notification device after installation and during an inspection. Additionally, a need exists for an improved way to verify that a system has not been overloaded by additional devices. Certain embodiments of the present invention are intended to meet these needs and other objectives that will become apparent from the description and drawings set forth below.

Method and apparatus for indicating a power condition at a notification appliance


The invention relates to new protein derivatives of blood, blood-protein containing raw materials and hemoglobin, and more particularly to processed globin products, and to processes for producing these products. The processed globin products have an isoelectric point at a pH value below 5.5, an iron content of less than 1000 ppm, a ratio of His : Lys between 0.6 and 1.5, a Tyrosine content of at least 0.5% by weight, a Methionine content of at least 0.5% by weight, and a Lysine content of at least 5% by weight. The method for the production of the processed globin products according to the invention comprises treating the starting material at a pH above 12 and an the oxidizing treatment step the pH is kept below 12 while maintaining the temperature below 50.degree. C.

Large quantities of blood from slaughterhouses are sent to working-up plants, where the blood is processed into dried blood products which are primarily used in fodder mixtures for livestock, or where it is fractionated to recover the blood plasma for use in all kinds of food products. The major part of the valuable protein content, present in the hemoglobin fraction of whole blood, is however currently used mainly as an animal feed additive since minor amounts of hemoglobin impart an undesirable dark colour and an unpleasant odour and taste to food products. Other factors that limit the use of blood products in food or even as a additive to animal feed are their high iron contents and their insufficient functional properties.
Over the years, various attempts have been made to remove the iron from whole blood and blood fractions, in particular from the hemoglobin fraction, and to decolourize the product.
Danish Patent Application No. 5508/86 discloses a process for producing decolourized hemoglobin by mechanical opening of the blood cells, adjusting the pH to 1 of 2 by means of an acid and adding 1 to 5% by weight / volume of an oxidising agent, in particular hydrogen peroxide, in the presence of carbohydrate derivative containing dienol groups, such as ascorbic acid. After oxidation, side products such as cell debris and heme-groups are removed and the decolourized protein fraction is recovered.
In European Patent Application No. 148 114, a process for producing decolourized hemoglobin is disclosed that encompasses treating whole blood in the presence of a proteolytic enzyme at a pH of 3.5 to 4 to denature the globin chains and thus render the heme-group more accessible to the action of an oxidising agent.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,180,592 discloses decolorization of blood by treating blood with an excess, e.g. 3 to 6% by weight, of an oxidising agent such as hydrogen peroxide after which excess hydrogen peroxide is removed by adding a further amount of blood.
The currently known methods apparently aim at separating the heme-group from the globin fraction either starting from whole blood or from the hemoglobin fraction.
These known methods aim at reducing the taste, odour an colour drawbacks of the resulting protein products by substantially removing the iron / heme fraction from the product. These methods however are still unsatisfactory either in that they require large amounts of oxidising agents, which affects the production costs as well as the properties of the protein products due to the oxidative action on sulfur containing amino acids such as Cystin, Cystein, Histidin and Methionin, and/or require rather expensive process adjuvents to avoid the latter drawbacks, in that they yield protein products having properties which are still not optimal in respect of taste, odour and colour or in that they yield protein products having low functionalities.
A totally different approach to processed hemoglobin products is known from EP 0 460 219. This patent discloses processed hemoglobin having an iron content of not less than 2 mg per g of solid content resulting from treating washed hemoglobin under alkaline conditions and treating the resulting product under oxidizing conditions.
However, a very important drawback of globin protein products known in the art is that they all have an isoelectric point in the range of 6-7, which isoelectric point corresponds to the isoelectric point of the hemoglobin.
This fact considerably affects the application possibilities in food products of the currently available blood protein and globin protein products. The solubility of proteins is indeed very low at their isoelectric point and food products usually have a pH value ranging from 5 to 9. In particular processed meat products have a pH value ranging from 5.5-7.0.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a new globin protein product having properties and characteristics unknown before in the art, in particular a bland, colorless protein product with a solubility pattern, emulsifying capacity, emulsion stability and waterbinding properties similar to those of caseinates, in particular to those of the so called "high viscous type" caseinates, and to those of other functional proteins such as soy isolates.

Protein product from blood and/or hemoglobin


A float plate for a connector interface includes: at least one substantially planar body panel; at least one opening in the body panel, the opening having a perimeter; and a plurality of fingers extending from the perimeter of the opening within a plane defined by the body panel, each finger extending from the perimeter at an oblique angle to a diameter of the opening originating at a fixed end of the finger.

Coaxial cables are commonly utilized in RF communications systems. Coaxial cable connectors may be applied to terminate coaxial cables, for example, in communication systems requiring a high level of precision and reliability.
Connector interfaces provide a connect/disconnect functionality between a cable terminated with a connector bearing the desired connector interface and a corresponding connector with a mating connector interface mounted on an apparatus or a further cable. Some coaxial connector interfaces utilize a retainer (often provided as a threaded coupling nut) that draws the connector interface pair into secure electro-mechanical engagement as the coupling nut, rotatably retained upon one connector, is threaded upon the other connector. Alternatively, connection interfaces may be also provided with a blind mate characteristic to enable push-on interconnection, wherein physical access to the connector bodies is restricted and/or the interconnected portions are linked in a manner where precise alignment is difficult or not cost-effective (such as the connection between an antenna and a transceiver that are coupled together via a rail system or the like). To accommodate misalignment, a blind mate connector may be provided with lateral and/or longitudinal spring action to accommodate a limited degree of insertion misalignment. Prior blind mate connector assemblies may include one or more helical coil springs, which may increase the complexity of the resulting assembly and/or require additional assembly depth along the longitudinal axis.

Float plate for blind matable electrical cable connectors


A radiation treatment bra is disclosed. In the illustrative embodiment, the bra includes adjustable elements and a medial window. During radiation treatment planning, the elements are adjusted to establish a reference breast geometry. The reference breast geometry is reproduced prior to an actual treatment session by repeating the original adjustment of the elements, as necessary. The medial window enables a light field to be projected onto the patient's chest, and read therefrom, thereby establishing proper alignment of the patient to the radiation treatment machine.

In 2010, approximately 250,000 women developed invasive or in-situ breast cancer in the United States. The majority of those women sought medical treatment for their disease. Women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer have several options for treatment. The surgical options include mastectomy, with or without reconstruction, or lumpectomy followed by radiation therapy and possibly chemotherapy.
Women choosing lumpectomy and radiation therapy undergo breast-conserving surgery followed by approximately three to six weeks of radiation therapy. The radiation is intended to kill any tumor cells remaining in the breast after surgical removal of the primary tumor. A specialist physician (i.e., radiation oncologist) works in conjunction with a team of physicists, dosimetrists, and radiation-therapy-machine operators ("therapists") to plan and deliver the radiation treatment.
It is particularly important that radiation is delivered to the affected tissue (1) precisely and (2) in reproducible fashion. In particular, the high-energy photons must be delivered to the same planned volume of tissue—the "target"—each session. Care must be taken to avoid irradiating tissues surrounding the target, most importantly lung and heart tissue. Since multiple radiation treatment sessions are required, a reproducible set-up is necessary to ensure that the target site receives the intended cumulative dose of radiation. Receiving the full cumulative dose reduces the patient's risk of developing a local recurrence of the cancer in the treated breast or metastatic spread of the disease.
As such, the best outcomes are achieved when (a) precise radiation treatment parameters are followed, (b) a favorable breast geometry is attained, and (c) a reproducible set-up is established. Satisfying requirements (b) and even more so, (c), can be challenging, as discussed further below.
A woman's breast geometry will change somewhat each time she is on the treatment table. That is, particularly for a large-breasted woman, the shape of the breast is altered as a function of how the breast lies on her chest (e.g., falling off to the side, lying flat, etc.). This complicates the ability to precisely reproduce, during actual treatment, the position/geometry of the breast during the original radiation-planning scan. As a consequence, during an actual treatment, the treatment machine—a very valuable resource—must be idled while time is spent adjusting the patient's position on the treatment table to try, with varying success, to reproduce the original breast geometry and position.
The majority of patients are treated in a supine position with the arm on the affected side "chicken-winged" out of the radiation field over their head. The affected breast can therefore be isolated and treated. The ideal breast geometry for treatment is akin to a tight compact breast mound with no folds of skin.
Women with large, pendulous, ptotic breasts pose challenges for the radiation oncology team. Because of the anatomical shape of the treatment volume and frequent dose variations, acute skin toxicity occurs in "hot spots" such as the axillary tail and the inframammary folds. In addition, breast overhang both in the inferior and/or lateral directions often requires enlargement of the radiation field, which disadvantageously captures larger areas of normal tissue in the radiation tangential fields. Dry and moist desquamation (i.e., raw, peeling areas of skin) can develop in hot spots and in areas where tissue folds upon itself. These problems can necessitate treatment breaks until the skin recovers. These treatment breaks compromise the efficacy of the radiation in killing cancer cells. Furthermore, if a large, pendulous breast falls superiorly, physicians may need to use an inclined breast board (wedged board) to shift the breast. This board must be moved on and off the treatment table before and after each treatment session.
Another treatment strategy for large-breasted women is to place them in the lateral decubitus position with a wedge. Yet a further approach is to have the patient in a prone position wherein their ptotic breast hangs through a "breast board." For many patients, this is a difficult position to achieve and maintain. More importantly, when a patient is in this position, there can be a tradeoff in terms of adequate treatment of the chest wall. Elderly and obese women find the prone set-up position difficult for other health reasons. Additionally, polyvinyl rings are sometimes strapped to large breasts to attain a desired geometry, but it is not possible to reliably reproduce such a set-up. All of these alternative strategies/approaches/positions consume valuable time on the treatment table.
Women with widely spaced, large, pendulous breasts also pose challenges for homogenous treatment. Often, higher-energy radiation is required to achieve homogeneity. Unfortunately, many radiation centers do not have dual-energy machines. Moreover, the higher-energy radiation results in a higher skin dose, which often causes increased skin reaction.
Currently, immobilization devices for women on the treatment table include cradles, plastic molds and netting. There are drawbacks to all such forms of immobilization. Simply put, exact, reproducible, comfortable set-up devices do not exist.
With current treatment regimens, a patient is completely exposed from the waist up while receiving treatment. For many women, this loss of privacy adds to feelings of exposure and vulnerability.


A six-primary solid state illuminator includes a first light source, a second light source, a third light source, a first photoluminescence device, a second photoluminescence device, and a multi-band filter. The first light source provides a light with a first wavelength. The first photoluminescence device under excited state provides a light with a second wavelength. The second light source provides a light with a third wavelength. The third light source provides a light with a fourth wavelength. The second photoluminescence device under excited state provides a light with a fifth wavelength. The light beams of the first light source, the second light source, and the first photoluminescence device are converted to a first primary combination after passing through the multi-band filter. The light beams of the third light source and the second photoluminescence device are converted to a second primary combination after reflected at the multi-band filter.

Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a six-primary solid-state illuminator. More particularly, the present invention relates to a six-primary solid-state illuminator providing a stereoscopic display.
Description of Related Art
By exploiting the binocular parallax of humans, a stereoscopic display device provides two slightly different images to an observer's left and right eyes so as to generate a stereoscopic image for the observer. According to the ways of providing the different images, the general stereoscopic display technologies are divided into a polarization 3D technology, an anaglyphic 3D technology, and a wavelength multiplexing 3D technology.
The stereoscopic display device with the wavelength multiplexing technology generates a stereoscopic image by providing images with different wavelength ranges to observers. The general color display device produces various colors in the color space by mixing the additive primary colors, i.e. red (R), green (G), and blue (B). Therefore, the stereoscopic display device with the wavelength multiplexing technology can separately produce left-eye images with a set of primary colors R1, G1, and B1, and right-eye images with the other set of primary colors R2, G2, and B2.
The conventional stereoscopic display device with the wavelength multiplexing technology produces two sets of three primary colors by using two light sources. A laser is generally used as the light source. However, the efficiency of the laser with green wavelength is low, and the laser is expensive such that the proportion of the cost for the light source is significantly high. Therefore, how to improve the aforementioned disadvantages when providing two sets of three primary colors is a constant striving in the industry.

Six-primary solid state illuminator and operating method using the same