The apparatus for feeding fuel to a motor vehicle engine from a fuel tank includes a pump portion and a direct current drive motor located in a housing part and through which the fuel flows. The commutator device of the drive motor includes commutator brushes located on the positive side and on the negative side; brush contact springs made from electrically conductive material located on the positive side and on the negative side, and a collector having a sliding surface for the brushes which are pressed on it during operation by the contact springs. To improve reliability of operation of the apparatus a negative potential is applied to the brush contact springs on the positive side and on the negative side and the brush contact springs on the positive side are electrically insulated from the commutator brushes on the positive side.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for supplying or feeding fuel to a motor vehicle engine from a fuel tank. The invention also relates to a method for improving the reliability of operation of the apparatus for feeding fuel.
An apparatus for feeding fuel of this type is known and includes a pump portion and a direct current-drive motor through which fuel flows mounted in a housing part, which is provided with a commutator device, which has a collector, on whose sliding surface commutator brushes, which are part of the operating circuit of the drive motor, are pressed during operation of the drive motor by brush contact springs made from electrically conductive material.
So that this known fuel feed apparatus (DE-OS 30 16 086) can also be used for feeding a medium which acts like an electrolyte, the individual wires of copper conductor leading from the electrical terminals to the carbon brushes located in a box or pot-like housing or guide are enclosed in a protective jacket made from Nickel, Zinc, Silver or Aluminum. This is because in the alcohol fuel currently under consideration, which contains for example 15% methanol (M 15), the electrical conductivity is in the Micro-Siemens Region (uS). This is based on the fact that methanol combines with water. Pure methanol (M 100) or ethanol (E 100) fuel increases its conductivity, because of oxidation susceptibility and with it formation of formic acid (in M 100) and/or formation of acetic acid (in E 100). In regard to electrical conductivity in the Micro-Siemens Region, these fluids already act as electrolytes so that because of the potential differences in the electric motor a deposit occurs, particularly on the bare conductors which are exposed to the flowing fuel on the anode side.
With the conventional fuel, whose conductivity is in the Pico-Siemens Region (ps), these considerations play no roll. The features known from the above-mentioned state of the art for preventing the mentioned electroerosion stiffen the brush wires so much that the proper contact of the brushes on the contact surface of the commutator is no longer guaranteed under action of the conventional brush contact springs formed as coil springs. However a compensating stiffening of the contact springs increases the wear on the carbon brushes and lowers the efficiency of the electrical drive motor and thus also the fuel feed unit. Further background of the problems are described in DE-OS 30 16 086. Express reference is made to this publication so that the disclosure of that publication can be considered as part of the disclosure of this application.

Apparatus for feeding fuel to a motor vehicle engine from a fuel tank


A template of a biometric attribute for use with a biometric recognition device includes a long term component and a short term component. The long term component can include a plurality of nodes that each represents at least a portion of the biometric attribute. The short term component may include one or more newly captured nodes that each represents at least a portion of the biometric attribute.

Biometric data generally holds a wealth of unique identifying information that may be used in a variety of different ways, with security applications being a common use of biometric data. This is due, in part to the fact that biometric data is not easily counterfeited and is uniquely associated with a person. Fingerprint and retina recognition devices, for example, are relatively common biometric data collecting devices that are used to collect biometric data for security purposes.
A common approach to fingerprint identification involves scanning a sample fingerprint or an image thereof and storing the image and/or unique characteristics of the fingerprint image. The characteristics of a sample fingerprint may be compared to information for reference or enrolled fingerprints already in a database to determine proper identification of a person, such as for verification purposes. In some instances, a fingerprint recognition device may scan only a section of a fingerprint. The fingerprint recognition device can collect the fingerprint image sections to form a template of the fingerprint. Some systems store multiple templates for each user to account for different fingerprints and variations in the fingerprints.
After a template is enrolled for a given user, however, the skin on a user's finger can change over time which can make it difficult to match newly captured fingerprint images (or fingerprint image sections) with the enrolled template. For example, a portion of the skin on a finger can develop a callus over time that adversely affects the fingerprint matching process. Depending on the size and thickness of the callus, the fingerprint recognition device may not be able to match a recently captured fingerprint image or fingerprint image section with the template for that finger. Alternatively, the skin on a user's finger may have a normal moisture level when the template for that finger is enrolled with the fingerprint recognition device. Over time, however, the user's skin may become drier, which can make it more difficult to match a newly captured fingerprint image with the enrolled template for that finger.

Updating a template for a biometric recognition device


An information management system records in a server contents that need not be updated for a fixed time-period. The system accesses desired contents in a local device or the server storing the contents. A request for information is made from an information browsing unit to a local request relaying unit which receives the request and analyzes the request contents. The local request relaying unit acquires a server-side control file managed by the server to which the request is directed and also acquires a local-side control file from a duplicate information storing unit. Confirmation is made as to whether the latest version of the requested information exists in the duplicate information storing unit. If the latest version of the requested information exists in the duplicate information storing unit, the requested information is fetched from the duplicate information storing unit; otherwise the information is fetched from the server computer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information management system, a local computer, a server computer, a computer-readable recording medium recording an information acquisition program and a computer-readable recording medium recording a server program, and more particularly, to an information management system, local computer, server computer, computer-readable recording medium recording an information acquisition program and computer-readable recording medium recording a server program for handling information delivered through a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a result of recent rapid popularization of the Internet, it is usually the case that a plurality of servers are started within a server computer to provide a large number of users with innumerable contents such as HTML (HyperText Markup Language)-based text, JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) files, GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) files , and sound files. Image files like JPEG files and sound files have large file size as compared with text files, and thus take time to be transmitted. Consequently, the amount of information transmitted over lines drastically increases, causing overloading of lines.
To avoid such line congestion, contents once accessed are cached in a local medium (such as a hard disk unit). This permits the cached contents to be read out from the local medium when accessed again, so that the amount of information transmitted over communication lines can be reduced.
The method of caching contents is, however, associated with a problem that information must always be transferred from a server when accessed for the first time. Also, cached data is usually kept only for a limited term, and therefore, access after expiry of the term is influenced all the same by the capacity of transmission lines.
Meanwhile, some contents on the Internet are updated almost every day, while others need not be updated for a fixed period of time. For example, contents such as a list of participants in some meeting scarcely need to be updated after the meeting schedule and the participants are fixed until the end of the meeting. Moreover, if particular members alone are to attend such a meeting, it is enough that the contents about the meeting can be viewed only by the members concerned.
Such specific contents may therefore be recorded in CD-ROMs (Compact Disk Read Only Memories) and the CD-ROMs may be distributed to those who require the contents. In this case, however, when the contents are recorded in the media, inter-content links must be rewritten. Specifically, where HTML files exist in a server, links and image files to be shown in-line are designated by URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) assigned to respective designated files on the server. Accordingly, in the case of storing, in a CD-ROM, contents including linked files and image files to be shown in-line, the location of files to be designated should be the local medium. To permit the local medium to be accessed as the target of links, the URL specifications need to be rewritten so as to include the local name. Rewriting the URLs of all HTML files, however, consumes much labor and time.

Information management system retrieving recorded information version from server-side or duplicate local-side information storage


An improved MRI magnet structure is created by utilizing a lower pole mounting support with one or more vertically extending yokes. The one or more vertically extending yokes mount an upper pole mounting structure including an upper pole mounting ring and at least one spoke connecting the ring to at least one of the vertically extending structural supports. The average effective spacing of the upper pole mounting structure is greater than the air gap between the upper and lower pole thereby resulting in improved uniformity of the B.sub.o field at the patient imaging volume. In a preferred embodiment, a pie-shaped cryostat encompasses a plurality of radially distributed superconducting electromagnets for generating a more uniform field in the patient imaging volume. The patient imaging field uniformity in some embodiments can be improved by the use of shim coils and/or shim rings associated with either the upper or lower poles to further modify the field within the patient imaging volume.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) utilizing nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) phenomena. More particularly, this invention is directed to a novel MRI magnet flux path for use in an MRI system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A detailed discussion of the existing prior art with respect to MRI magnetic flux path and the upper and lower poles and their interconnection to provide the necessary flux return path is set forth in the above prior art patents. As noted in the prior art, a great variety of MRI systems are now commercially available and they vary greatly in design criteria as well as purchase, installation and operating costs.
As discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,250,901 (hereinafter the '901 patent"), and as shown in FIG. 4 thereof, the cost of an MRI magnet generally increases as the required magnetic field strength increases if a permanent magnet is used to provide the B.sub.o field. However, if a traditional superconductive magnet is used, the higher initial cost is overcome at the higher field strengths. For the purposes of this discussion, a "low" strength field is one in the range of 0.00 T up to 0.3 T, a medium magnetic field strength is from 0.3 T to about 1.0 T and a high strength field is one having a field strength greater than 1.0 T and, in particular, field strengths of 1.50 T or greater.
Conventional wisdom is that the signal to noise ratio (S/N) of an MRI system is proportional to the magnetic strength of the B.sub.o field, but various improved signal processing procedures have permitted high S/N with relatively low strength fields. The Assignee of the present invention makes a series of highly successful permanent magnet MRI systems which are characterized by a low field strength. In such systems, the static magnetic B.sub.o field is created by a permanent magnet and the magnetic flux return path between pole faces comprises a series of vertically extending yokes which support and space apart the upper and lower poles. These vertically extending yokes are the only structure surrounding a patient located in the patient imaging volume.
One advantage of the above such systems, as discussed in the previous patents, is that the expense of maintaining a superconductive or resistive electromagnet is avoided. A further advantage is to alleviate to a large extent any patient discomfort caused by a claustrophobic reaction to conventional prior art MRI magnets using air as the magnetic circuit medium. An additional advantage of such open architecture is that easy access to the patient is provided during MRI scanning. This access facilitates the implementation of surgical procedures and/or patient diagnosis during MRI scanning.
Even with the advent of more sophisticated signal processing to provide improved S/N with the low field MRI systems, it is desirable to provide a medium field power system which, when combined with the advanced signal processing, provides a resolution equal to or greater than previous high power MRI systems. Unfortunately, the cost and weight of permanent magnets renders it impractical to use permanent magnets to provide the B.sub.o field with a field strength above 0.3 T. Consequently, the inductry has generally turned to superconducting materials to form high current, high magnetic field electric magnets with suitable iron cores to conduct the magnetic flux through the patient imaging volume. Because relatively high critical temperature (T.sub.c) (77.degree. k or higher) superconducting materials may become available and higher temperature superconducting materials are being developed, the use of the term "superconducting material" in this application encompasses all superconducting materials currently known and those developed in the future, regardless of their critical temperatures.
Existing superconductor electromagnetics are generally located and associated with both the upper and lower poles so as to generate a homogeneous magnetic field in the air gap between the pole faces, especially in the region of the patient imaging volume. Unfortunately, a consequence of the different locations of the two superconducting electromagnetics is the requirement of two separate cryostats, one for each electromagnet, along with the necessary linkage structure for linking the two electromagnet coils together and their associated linkage cryostat. Accordingly, as disclosed in the '901 patent, discussed above, an improvement in operating efficiency can be made if only a single cryostat is used to house all windings of the superconducting electromagnet (see FIG. 7 in the '901). However, the utilization of only a single cryostat causes some difficulties with respect to the uniformity of the magnetic field through the patient imaging volume.
One critical tradeoff requirement of MRI systems is the spacing between pole faces. In order to maintain the highest possible magnetic field strength, the pole faces should be very close together. However, the spacing between the pole faces must be sufficient for a patient or the object being imaged to be comfortably inserted into the field. This air gap distance between pole faces is conventionally on the order of 60 cm. In order to maintain a highly permeable flux path and to avoid saturation (and consequent reduction in the magnetic flux across the air gap), a rather substantial flux return path is provided between the pole faces.
Where a single cryostat embodiment is shown in the prior art (see FIG. 7 of the '901 patent), a substantial flux return path is provided so as to avoid saturation while at the same time maintaining a relatively high strength field. Unfortunately, and especially so with respect to a single superconducting electromagnet as shown in the prior art, the static magnetic B.sub.o field in the patient imaging volume can be relatively non-homogeneous and requires well-known shim coils or shim irons (a resistive coil or circle of iron placed adjacent the superconducting magnet to modify the field between the upper and lower poles).
To avoid the need for separate cryostats, the shim coils are generally resistive electromagnets, rather than superconducting electromagnets, further adding to the electrical power requirements of the system and generating additional heat which must then be removed from the system in order to avoid discomfort to the patient or damage to the operation of the magnet.

Open configuration MRI magnetic flux path


A driving method of a stacked light modulating device for recording an image therein, which includes selective reflection layers each having a cholesteric liquid crystal, reflecting light with different wavelengths within a visible range, and being different in a lower threshold value of texture change from a planar to a focal conic texture with respect to an externally applied voltage and an upper threshold value of texture change from the focal conic to a homeotropic texture, and a pair of electrodes disposed outside, includes applying between the pair of electrodes voltages including a voltage V1 and have a same frequency, to select an area exceeding or not exceeding the upper threshold value in each of the selective reflection layers, and applying voltages including a voltage V2 and have a same frequency different from the voltage V1, to select an area exceeding or not exceeding the lower threshold value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a driving method and a driving device for writing an image in a stacked light modulating device, which contains plural selective reflection layer containing a liquid crystal and displays and records an image of two or more colors.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is increasing expectation of a rewritable marking technique as an alternative to paper as a hardcopy technique due to such reasons as protection of the global environment including forest resources and space saving.
A reflective liquid crystal display device is receiving attention as a display device for a compact information processing equipment and a personal digital assistant since it requires no dedicated light source like aback light, consumes a small amount of electric power, and can be constituted to a thin and small size.
Various techniques using a reflective liquid crystal display device have been proposed for the rewritable marking technique. Among these, the image writing and displaying method, which has been proposed by the inventors, by a threshold value shifting method using a stacked light modulating device provides significant advantages since two display layers can be independently controlled with one driving signal, which simplifies the structure of the medium and reduces the production cost (as described in JP-A-10-177191 and JP-A-2000-111942). Accordingly, the threshold value shifting method provides such a significant advantage that an image of two or more colors including a full-color image can be can be displayed and recorded with a simple manner at low cost.
The principle of the image writing and recording method using the threshold value shifting method will be described below.
FIG. 13 is a schematic cross sectional view showing a state of image writing by the threshold value shifting method. A stacked light modulating device 101 mainly has two display layers 107a and 107b each containing a cholesteric liquid crystal stacked between a pair of transparent electrodes 105 and 106.
A cholesteric liquid crystal having a positive dielectric anisotropy shows the following three states. That is, in a planar texture, the helical axis is perpendicular to the cell surface as shown in FIG. 14A, and the incident light is subjected to the aforementioned selective reflection phenomenon. In a focal conic texture, the helical axis is substantially in parallel to the cell surface as shown in FIG. 14B, and the incident light is transmitted with slightly forward scattering. In a homeotropic texture, the helical structure is unraveled to direct the liquid crystal director to the electric field direction as shown in FIG. 14C, and the incident light is substantially completely transmitted.
Among the three states, the planar texture and the focal conic texture can be bistably present under no electric field. Therefore, the texture state of a cholesteric liquid crystal is not determined unconditionally without the intensity of the electric field applied to the liquid crystal layer, and in the case where a planar texture appears as the initial state, the texture state is changed sequentially to a planar texture, a focal conic texture and a homeotropic texture in this order with increase of the intensity of the electric field, and in the case where a focal conic texture appears as the initial state, the texture state is changed sequentially to a focal conic texture and a homeotropic texture in this order with increase of the intensity of the electric field.
In the case where the intensity of the electric field applied to the liquid crystal layer is decreased suddenly to zero, the planar texture and the focal conic texture maintain the states as they are, and the homeotropic texture is changed to a planar texture.
Therefore, the cholesteric liquid crystal layer immediately after applied with a pulse signal shows a switching behavior as shown in FIG. 15. That is, when the voltage of the pulse signal applied is Vfh, 90 or higher, a selective reflection state where a homeotropic texture is changed to a planar texture appears. When the voltage is from Vpf, 10 to Vfh, 10, a transmission state with a focal conic texture appears. When the voltage is Vpf, 90 or lower, the state before applying the pulse signal is continued, i.e., a selective reflection state with a planar texture or a transmission state with a focal conic texture appears.
In FIG. 15, the ordinate shows the normalized reflectance, which is obtained by normalizing the reflectance with the maximum reflectance as 100 and the minimum reflectance as 0. A transition state appears among the planar texture, the focal conic texture and the homeotropic texture, and therefore, it is determined that the case where the normalized reflectance is 90 or more is designated as the selective reflection state, the case where the normalized reflectance is 10 or less is designated as the transmission state, the threshold voltage of texture transition from the planar texture to the focal conic texture is designated as Vpf, 90 and Vpf, 10 before and after the transition state, respectively, and the threshold voltage of texture transition from the focal conic texture to the homeotropic texture is designated as Vfh, 10 and Vfh, 90 before and after the transition state, respectively.
Particularly, in the PNLC (polymer network liquid crystal) structure or the PDLC (polymer dispersed liquid crystal) structure, in which a polymer is added to a cholesteric liquid crystal, the bistability of a planar texture and a focal conic texture under no electric field is increased with interference at an interface between the cholesteric liquid crystal and the polymer (anchoring effect), whereby the state immediately after applying a pulse signal can be maintained for a long period of time.
In the stacked light modulating device using the technique, (A) the selective reflection state with a planar texture and (B) the transmission state with a focal conic texture are switched independently from the respective layers with only one switching signal, so as to realize color display having a memory effect under no electric field.
In the stacked light modulating device 101 subjected to image writing by the threshold value shifting method, the operation threshold values of the cholesteric liquid crystals of the display layers 107a and 107b are differentiated from each other, whereby arbitrary one or both of the display layers are in a reflection state, or both of them are in a transmission state, depending on a voltage applied between the transparent electrodes 105 and 106.
FIG. 16 is a graph showing a switching behavior of the cholesteric liquid crystals of the display layers 107a and 107b. As shown in FIG. 16, both the cholesteric liquid crystals of the display layers 107a and 107b are changed from a selective reflection state of a planar texture or a transmission state of a focal conic texture to a transmission state of a focal conic texture when the voltage externally applied with an electric power source 117 is increased, and changed from the focal conic texture to a homeotropic texture when the voltage is further increased, and both the liquid crystals are changed to a planar texture when the applied voltage is released.
However, the threshold values (voltages), on which the texture changes occur, are different from each other between the display layer 107a and the display layer 107b, as shown in FIG. 16. That is, the threshold voltage of texture change from a planar texture to a focal conic texture (which is hereinafter referred to as a lower threshold value) is Vpfa for the display layer 107a and Vpfb for the display layer 107b, which is higher than Vpfa of the cholesteric liquid crystal of the display layer 107a. The threshold voltage of texture change from a focal conic texture to a homeotropic texture (which is hereinafter referred to as an upper threshold value) is Vfpa for the display layer 107a and Vfpb for the display layer 107b, which is higher than Vfpa of the cholesteric liquid crystal of the display layer 107a.
In the threshold value shifting method, the display layer 107a and the display layer 107b are independently controlled by utilizing the difference in threshold value.
More specifically, the display layers are selectively applied with a voltage within a range Vc, which is lower than the upper threshold value Vfpb of the display layer 107b but higher than the upper threshold value Vfpa of the display layer 107a, or a voltage within a range Vd, which is higher than the threshold value Vfpb of the display layer 107b, with the electric power source 117. In a part applied with the voltage with the range Vc, the display layer 107b is in a focal conic texture, and the display layer 107a is in a homeotropic texture. In a part applied with the voltage within the range Vd, the display layer 107a is in a homeotropic texture as similar to the part applied with the voltage within the range Vc, but the display layer 107b is changed to a homeotropic texture since the voltage exceeds the upper threshold value Vpfb.
Accordingly, the texture of the display layer 107b can be selected from either a focal conic texture or a homeotropic texture by selecting a voltage applied with the electric power source 117 from either a voltage within the range Vc or a voltage within the range Vd. When the applied voltage is quickly released in this stage, the homeotropic texture is changed to a planar texture, and the focal conic texture is maintained as it is. On the other hand, the display layer 107a is in a homeotropic texture with both the voltages applied before releasing, and the entire display layer 107a is changed to a planar texture by quickly releasing the voltage.
Thereafter, the display layers are selectively applied with a voltage within a range Va, which is lower than the lower threshold value Vpfa of the display layer 107a, or a voltage within a range Vb, which is higher than the lower threshold value Vpfa of the display layer 107a but is lower than the lower threshold value Vfpb of the display layer 107b, with the electric power source 117. In a part applied with the voltage with the range Vb, the display layer 107a undergoes texture change to a focal conic texture since the voltage exceeds the lower threshold value Vpfa, and in a part applied with the voltage within the range Va, the display layer 107a maintains the planar texture state since the voltage does not exceeds the lower threshold value Vpfa. On the other hand, the display layer 107b maintains the planar texture or the focal conic texture, which have been selected with respect to the upper threshold values, since both the applied voltages are lower than the lower threshold value Vfpb.
Consequently, the textures are selected with respect to each part of the display layer 107a to complete the writing operation.
That is, arbitrary one or both of the display layers 107a and 107b can be in a reflection state, or both of them can be in a transmission state, whereby a reflective image is displayed on the display surface. Accordingly, the two display layers can be independently controlled with one driving signal, which simplifies the structure of the medium and reduces the production cost.
There has been such a method as one embodiment of the driving method with the threshold value shifting method that a stacked light modulating device containing a photoconductor layer is used to enable switching by writing with exposure of light. FIG. 17 is a schematic cross sectional view showing a state of image writing by the threshold value shifting method using a stacked light modulating device containing a photoconductor layer. A stacked light modulating device 111 shown in FIG. 17 has two display layers 107a and 107b stacked between a pair of transparent electrodes 105 and 106 as similar to the stacked light modulating device 101 shown in FIG. 13, and further has a photoconductor layer 110 stacked between the display layer 107b and the transparent electrode 106. A colored layer 109 is further disposed between the photoconductor layer 110 and the display layer 107b.
In this embodiment, the entire display layers are applied with a voltage (reset voltage) within a range Vc, which is lower than the upper threshold value Vfpb of the display layer 107b but higher than the upper threshold value Vfpa of the display layer 107a, as a bias voltage with the electric power source 117, and simultaneously, the display layers are selectively exposed, whereby the resistance of the photoconductor layer 110 of the exposed part is changed (lowered) to increase the partial voltage of the display layers 107a and 107b. According to the operation, the voltage applied to the display layers 107a and 107b in the exposed part exceeds the upper threshold value Vpfb. In other words, the exposed part is applied with a voltage within a range Vd, but the non-exposed part is still applied with the voltage within the range Vc. Accordingly, the same selection of texture change of the liquid crystal as in the selective switching operation with intensity of the voltage described with reference to FIG. 13 can be attained by on/off of exposure.
The aforementioned principle of the switching operation can also be applied to the lower threshold values. That is, the entire display layers are applied with a bias voltage within a range Va, which is lower than the lower threshold value Vpfa of the display layer 107a, with the electric power source 117, and simultaneously, the display layers are selectively exposed to select texture change in a part exceeding the lower threshold value Vpfa and a part not exceeding the lower threshold value Vpfa.
Consequently, upon applying a driving method using the threshold value shifting method to a stacked light modulating device containing a photoconductor layer, a voltage determined with respect to the upper threshold values and the lower threshold values is applied to the display layers, and while maintaining the voltage application, the display layers are selectively exposed to accomplish the writing operation.
In order to enhance the operation margin for driving the plural display layers independently by using the threshold value shifting method (which is, in short, the distances in voltage of the upper and lower threshold values between the display layers, i.e., the widths of the ranges Vb and Vc in FIG. 16), it is generally considered to increase the ratio of the operation threshold value and the electric field between the display layers, or to increase the ratio of the electric fields applied to the display layers, which are determined by the dielectric constant and the thickness of the display layer.
However, a cholesteric liquid crystal generally has relationships between the relative dielectric constant and the refractive index anisotropy Δn and between the refractive index anisotropy Δn and the reflectance, and therefore, in the case where the ratio in dielectric resistance between the display layers is increased, it is difficult to obtain sufficient brightness with the display layer having a lower dielectric constant. Furthermore, a cholesteric liquid crystal having such a tendency that the threshold electric field is decreased with increase of the specific dielectric constant, and therefore, the voltages applied to the display layers and the threshold electric fields of the display layers may be reversed to each other, which makes enhancement of the operation margin difficult.
Accordingly, the invention is to provide such a driving method and a driving device of a stacked light modulating device utilizing the threshold value shifting method that enhance the operation margin while maintaining sufficient reflectance in display layers of the stacked light modulating device, so as to realize stable threshold value shifting operation.

Driving method of stacked light modulating device, and driving device of stacked light modulating device


A 4,6-hexadecadiene-2,4-dicarboxylic acid derivative represented by the following general formula (1) or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, each of which has an anti-tumor activity, and the like, are provided.

In cancer chemotherapy, various types of anti-tumor agents including drugs acting on microtubules such as taxanes and vinca alkaloids, topoisomerase inhibitors, alkylating agents, and the like have been used. However, these agents have problems that an adverse effect such as myelotoxicity or neurological disorder or drug resistance emerges, and therefore, a novel anti-tumor agent in which these problems are solved is always demanded.
On the other hand, a plant growth regulator having a 4,6-hexadecadiene-2,4-dicarboxylic acid structure is known (Patent Document 1, Non-Patent Document 1 and 2).

Abstract: [wherein, R1 represents hydroxy, —OR3 (wherein R3 represents optionally substituted lower alkyl or an optionally substituted aliphatic heterocyclic group), or —NR4R5 (wherein R4 and R5 may be the same or different, and each represents a hydrogen atom or optionally substituted lower alkyl) and R2 represents hydroxy or —OR6 (wherein R6 represents optionally substituted lower alkyl or optionally substituted aralkyl)].


In a user-interface application, a computing apparatus has a user-interface to assist the user in searching for information from a data array. In an example embodiment according to the present invention, the data array is an ordered list of addresses. In a UI so equipped, the user experiences a particular sequence of events. The user begins at a point on a list of addresses. After the user presses the scroll key, the list rolls down a low rate. As the user continues to hold down the scroll button the scroll accelerates. After a predetermined time, a helper character is displayed. This character may represent a first letter of a name or a first digit of a telephone number. The UI displays the helper character to the user. The user continues to hold the scroll button until a help character, corresponding to his/her desired selection, appears. The user releases the scroll button and may slowly browse among a smaller group of data to locate the particular selection.

The increasing functionality of electronic devices provides the user more convenience in adapting a piece of gear to his or her specific requirements. With the increasing number of features available in a piece of gear there has not been a concomitant increase of the gear's size. Technology has made it possible to pack many transistors in the underlying circuits that make up the gear. For example, computing capability that once required a space on a tabletop now fits in the palm of one's hand. Similar trends are exhibited in audio/visual equipment, wireless telephones, diagnostic medical equipment and the like. Consequently, the user-interface is scaled-down with the size of the equipment.
Although one can miniaturize the equipment, a challenge exists to enable the user to easily interact with such equipment and yet maintain features. Human physiology sets limits as to how small a piece of equipment may be made and yet still be sufficiently convenient and enjoyable to use. Attributes found on larger gear, for example a laptop computer, the keyboard and display provide high functionality and ease of use. The keyboard accommodates the hands and the display is easy to read. However, such attributes may have to be sacrificed in going smaller. However, the sacrifice cannot be so great as to render the miniaturized gear too bothersome and too limited in capability.

Rapid retrieval user interface designed around small displays and few buttons for searching long lists


A micro-electro-mechanical device formed by a body of semiconductor material having a thickness and defining a mobile part and a fixed part. The mobile part is formed by a mobile platform, supporting arms extending from the mobile platform to the fixed part, and by mobile electrodes fixed to the mobile platform. The fixed part has fixed electrodes facing the mobile electrodes, a first biasing region fixed to the fixed electrodes, a second biasing region fixed to the supporting arms, and an insulation region of insulating material extending through the entire thickness of the body. The insulation region insulates electrically at least one between the first and the second biasing regions from the rest of the fixed part.

Various processes are known for manufacturing micro-electromechanical structures, such as micro motors or micro-actuators that can be used for fine position control of reading and writing heads in hard-disk drives.
In particular, in more recent times, to prevent burdensome steps for removing buried sacrificial layers, it has been proposed to use two distinct semiconductor wafers: a first wafer is designed to house the microstructures, while a second wafer operates as a support for the microstructures and integrates the control circuits of the microstructures.
EP-A-1 151 962, which is incorporated by reference describes a manufacturing process of the above-referred type, which uses integrated silicon plugs for electrically connecting the second wafer to the front of the first wafer, on which the electrical interconnections are formed. The rear of the wafer is, instead, fixed to a protective cap, a read/write head or a further wafer.
The above known solution, albeit representing a considerable improvement over previous solutions, is still complex and entails high manufacturing costs.
Therefore, a need has arisen for a micro-electro-mechanical device and the manufacturing process thereof which overcomes the disadvantages referred to above.

Micro-electro-mechanical actuator for positioning a device such as a read/write head in a disk drive


A method for controlling a motor of a vehicle and the vehicle are presented. The vehicle includes the motor, a control unit, a continuously variable transmission (CVT) comprising a primary pulley, a secondary pulley, and a belt looped around the primary and secondary pulleys, the belt transmitting torque between the primary and secondary pulleys and at least one ground engaging member operatively connected to the secondary pulley. The method is performed at least in part by the control unit. The method comprises determining a CVT ratio of the CVT; determining a current power output of the motor; determining a power boundary based in part on the CVT ratio; determining, when the current power output of the motor is greater than the power boundary, a torque setting based at least in part on the CVT ratio; and controlling the motor to operate under conditions corresponding to the torque setting.

Certain wheeled vehicles with an internal combustion engine are provided with a continuously variable transmission (CVT) to transfer torque from the engine to the wheels. A CVT has a primary pulley, a secondary pulley and a belt looped around the pulleys to transmit torque between the pulleys.
For vehicles with CVTs using rubber belts, certain ranges of CVT ratios and engine speeds can cause heating of the CVT pulleys and/or the CVT belt. Certain of these ranges can cause more heating than others. For example, at the beginning of movement of the vehicle, there can be substantial slipping between the belt and the primary pulley until the pulleys are synchronized. If the CVT were to remain in this configuration and at this speed, parts of the CVT could overheat and may eventually become damaged.
A similar situation can arise when the vehicle is under load, such as when it is pulling a heavy load or traveling through deep mud or sand, where there can be substantial slipping between the belt and one or both of the pulleys. If operated in these conditions for an extended time, the CVT can generate too much heat and may eventually cause the CVT to become damaged.
If a motor to which the CVT is connected develops more power than that for which the CVT was originally designed for, yet another situation can arise where the CVT can generate too much heat and may become damaged, especially if there is a large excess of power applied or if that additional power is applied over a long period of time.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a method for allowing a vehicle with a CVT to operate under high load conditions without producing too much heating the may induce damage in the CVT.

Method for controlling a motor of a vehicle


Apparatus and method for the treatment of computer vision syndrome using a computer including a screen, a processor, memory and an I/O device. A set of instructions for the computer that includes programs for conducting hand-eye exercises in preselected sequences are loaded into the computer and run. Alternately, a pair of hand wands having a handle at one end and an LED light positioned on the other end are held by a user in front of the computer and a plurality of slap switches having means for detachably attaching the slap switches to a surface are positioned relative to the user and the computer. The user through the use of the slap switches and the hand wands carry out sequences of exercises that will rehabilitate the user regarding computer vision syndrome. The results of the exercises are communicated wirelessly from the hand wands and the slap switches to the computer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus and method for the treatment of computer vision syndrome. More particularly, the invention relates to apparatus and method for the treatment and recovery of normal human performance lost due to trauma and/or injury, and post-traumatic injury and loss of normal performance of the human neuro-muscular, sensor-motor and psycho-physiological systems as a consequence of any physical and/or psycho-physiological "trauma/insult", but most particularly in regard to trauma or injury due to computer vision syndrome (CVS).
2. Prior Art
Many apparatuses and methods have been advanced for the treatment and recovery of normal human performance lost due to trauma and/or injury. These apparatuses and Methods seek to prevent, treat, protect, and reverse the discomfort and compromise imposed upon normal human functions (i.e., eye-hand coordination/reaction; eye movement; neuro-muscular tension; visual focusing; visual acuity; depth perception; peripheral vision; neuromuscular movement; vestibular function; equilibrium; perceptuo-motor function, visual/auditory spatia-orientation; and related psychological/emotional function) due to traumatic brain/neurological insult (including "Repetitive Stress Trauma") by means of a computer applied/assisted/presented/measured/analyzed regimen of programmed human "tasks and exercises" (i.e., Physical; Cognitive; Psychomotor; Kinesthetic; Proprioceptive, etc.) which are medically designed to rehabilitate, reestablish, reeducate, reinforce, and protect the Users normal range of comfortable, unrestricted function and performance in the User's surrounding real-world volume of three-dimensional unencumbered "free-space". Whereas the prior art apparatuses and methods deal with all general aspects of the problem, none offer a simple and effective apparatus and method for a computer user to deal with problems of CVS including computer tunneling vision.


In a rail track system having transition points, a locomotive having a navigation system (such as a combined inertial/GPS location system) moves along an initially known track and enters the “halo” surrounding a track transition to begin data collection/logging to accumulate successive position information data points as the locomotive moves into, progresses through, and exits the “halo.” The collected data for movement within the “halo” is then subject to a best fit assessment relative to the data pre-stored in the track database.

The present invention relates to system and method for positionally locating a train/locomotive on a trackway system.
Various systems have been developed to track the movement of and/or location of railway locomotives on track systems including the system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,641,090 issued Nov. 4, 2003 to Thomas J. Meyer and in common assignment herewith in which inertial components (including accelerometers and gyroscopes) cooperate with GPS information to provide location data.
Track databases are maintained that store track information including the absolute and relative position of tracks and track transitions such as, for example, switches and turnouts. Ideally, railroad tracks are perfectly uniform and remain consistent with their original design as straight tangent sections connected by constant curve and spiral sections. In practice, however, weather and geographical conditions, train speeds, tonnage, and continued maintenance requirements contribute to railroad track non-uniformities. The Federal Track Safety Standards (FTSS) divide railroad track into nine (9) speed-related classifications as a function of speed with permissible variations of track geometry provided for each track class. Although the FRA (Federal Rail Administration) regulates the amount of track irregularities permitted for each track class (Class 1-7), most track database information carries errors that can change with time and which are often difficult to and expensive to ascertain with accuracy. Regardless of the issues related to the positional changes in the track consequent to time and usage, track surveys are rarely conducted with the accuracy required for positive train control.
As is often the case, disparities arise between the output of the train/locomotive mounted location determining system and the corresponding database information; at times, the disparities can be such that resolving these disparities sufficiently to resolve to a specific track with a high degree of confidence can be difficult.

Locomotive/train navigation system and method


A method for generating smart contents includes contents protected by a digital right management (DRM) technology; and metadata including information necessary to use the contents. Further, the method includes a smart code for protecting copyright of the contents and position information which the smart code is downloaded.

As well known in the art, digital right management (hereinafter referred to as 'DRM') technology is a technology which manages copyright of digital works, and may be used by only an authorized user. Further, the DRM technology may limit how to use, the number of usage, duration and the like according to information such as permission limitation (condition).
The structure and the name of each object in the DRM technology are slightly different depending on various standards and commercial products, but the basic structure and operation method are very similar to each other.
The term of 'N-screen' is a technology or a service that one multimedia contents, e.g., movies, music and the like may be continuously enjoyed on the N number of devices. For example, the N-screen allows a broadcast or a movie being watched on TV at home to continuously watch through a smartphone or a tablet PC (or a notebook). That is, the following scenes from the last watched scene may be watched on the N number of any devices. Further, it is possible to y watch additional information, e.g., unpublished images, location/props Information and the like through the smartphone or the tablet PC.
The N-screen is a kind of cloud service that users store formally purchased multimedia contents not in their IT device but in a media sever of their own mobile carrier and access to the media server through internet when necessary. Therefore, the users may watch the multimedia contents anytime, anywhere whenever any one of the tablet PC or the smart phone.
On the other hand, when the N-screen service based on the digital rights management technology needs to be provided, some problems may occur.
The most important module in the DRM technology is a DRM agent. In order to use the protected contents, the DRM agent acquires a permission object (or license) by contacting with a rights issuer, and controls such that the multimedia contents may be used depending on the given conditions based on the acquired permission object (or license). The original contents protected by the DRM may be leaked when the DRM agent is exposed by attacks such as hacking. Therefore, it is essential that environment for safely driving the DRM agent be provided.
Because of security reasons described above, the DRM agent is typically mounted on the platform of the terminal, thus the DRM technology is dependent on the terminal. Because of characteristic in which the DRM technology is dependent on the terminal as described above, installing a new DRM agent takes a lot of work and cost. Actually, a lot of effort and time corresponding to, e.g., firmware update or operating system upgrade costs to load a new DRM agent on the platform of the terminal. Currently, dozens of standards for the DRM technologies exist. Further, if a service provider or a developer is different, developed DRM technology become also different even in the same standard, thus numerous DRM technologies currently exist.
In order to share the copyrighted contents on various terminals, the same DRM needs to be loaded on each. However, such reasons described above, i.e., increase in time and cost when installing the new DRM, which is caused by the presence of numerous DRM technologies and the terminal-dependent characteristic of the DRM makes it difficult to share the copyrighted contents through the N-screen.
The scenarios of problems which may occur when such copyrighted contents need to be shared through the N-screen is as follows. For example, Mary and John purchases smartphones in which an OMA (Open Mobile Alliance) DRM is loaded with built-in, and they would receive the N-screen service for a copyrighted educational video at home. Here, the educational video which John wants to watch is Widevine DRM-protected video, and the educational video which Mary wants to watch is Microsoft DRM-protected video. At this time, because the smartphones purchased by Mary and John and DRM formats of the educational video are different from each other, these educational videos may not be serviced through the smartphones purchased by Mary and John.
In reality, it is difficult for a manufacturer the smartphone to individually load the DRM necessary to the environment of a buyer when they release the smartphone, and also difficult for the manufacturer to additionally and separately load the DRM after the smartphone, i.e., a terminal is released. Finally, Mary and John may not receive the copyrighted educational video protected by the DRM which they want through the N-screen service.
Due to the reasons described above, the N-screen is mainly serviced for free contents that is not protected by copyright of, the N-screen is a very limitedly serviced (e.g., only if the terminal is a particular operator's service terminal and a specific manufacturer's terminal, it is possible to share the copyrighted contents) even if the N-screen is serviced for the copyrighted contents.
As the conventional technology for sharing the copyrighted contents, there are t DRM-compatible technologies such as Coral, EXIM using a DRM conversion and the like.
The DRM-compatible technologies use a conversion method based on a mediator to convert the DRM contents to fit to the DRM loaded on the terminal to which the DRM contents would be transmit. The mediator is a type of the DRM for a predetermined conversion in the EXIM. For example, supposing that the DRM A is loaded on a terminal A and the DRM B is loaded on a terminal B. In order to share the copyrighted contents received from the terminal A that is protected by the DRM A with the terminal B, the copyrighted contents need to be converted into a type of the DRM B. To do end, first, the terminal A converts (exports) contents to which the DRM A is applied into the mediator Next, the terminal B again converts (imports) the mediator converted from the contents to which the DRM A is applied into the contents to which the DRM B is applied. The conversion of the contents may be performed in each terminal and may be performed through a separate server.
The copyrighted contents may be shared using the DRM-compatible technology, but there are burdens that each operator develops the conversion technology that converts the contents into the mediator and converts the converted mediator to the contents. Further, N*N type of conversions (i.e., N*N number of conversions) are necessary to employ the numerous DRM contents and there are many limitation in employing the DRM-compatible technology. Actually, mutually reliable ways are necessary for conversion between DRMs, and when functional difference caused by the different function provided by each DRM exist, it is necessary for the reliable third object to eliminate the functional difference. Consequently, the complex conversion process of the N*N type is required.

Method for generating smart contents, method for executing smart contents and method for providing N-screen service of smart contents

ELECTRONICS AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH INSTITUTE


A low turn-on voltage volcano-shaped field emitter, a method of fabrication, and integration into an addressable array suitable for applications in field emitter displays and other electron generating applications are disclosed. In one embodiment, the device is fabricated using a stepped insulator in which the distance between the gate and the emitter near the emission surface is significantly reduced with respect to the thickness of the insulator and separates the gate from the emitter. By keeping the large gate-to-emitter distance, the device capacitance is reduced and fabrication yield is increased, since pinholes in the insulator are significantly reduced. In another embodiment of the present invention, the integration of the device into an addressable array suitable for electron emission is described. The array incorporates a network of resistors which assures uniform emission.

This invention relates to a field emission device and its integration into an addressable array. Applications are in areas in which a plurality of small cathodes are used as cold electron emission sources such as in field emitter displays (FEDs), electron amplifiers, sensors, electron injection devices, and others.
Most cold electron source arrays consist of conical-shaped conductors or semiconductors that are surrounded by small gates with typical diameters ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 .mu.m. Metallic cone emitters are disclosed, for example, by C. Spindt in U.S. Pat. No. 3,665,241, and semiconductive cone emitters are described, for example by H. Busta in U.S. Pat. No. 5,227,699, entitled "Recessed Gate Field Emission", issued Jul. 13, 1993. See generally:
(1) Presentations by Silicon Video Corporation, Micron Display Corporation and FED Corporation at the ARPA High Definition Systems Information Conference, Arlington, Va., Apr. 30-May 3, 1995. PA1 (2) J. Levine, "Field Emission Displays," American Vacuum Society Test Panel Display Processing and Research Tutorial, Jun. 21, San Jose, Calif. 1995. PA1 (3) J. P. Spallas et al., "Field Emitter Array Patterning for Large Scale Flat Panel Displays Using Laser Interference Lithography," Technical Digest Eighth Intern. Vacuum Microelectronics Conf., Portland, Oreg., p. 103, 1995. PA1 (4) J. E. Pogemiller, H. H. Busta and B. J. Zimmerman, "Gated Chromium Volcano Emitters," J. Vac. Sci. Technology B 12 (2), p. 680, 1993. PA1 (5) Busta, et al., "Volcano-shaped Field Emitters for Large Area Displays," IEDM 95 Technical Digest, (The International Electron Devices Meeting), pp. 405-408.
To form these cone arrays, typical photolithographic processing tools as they are used in the manufacture of integrated circuits on eight inch diameter wafers, are employed. Such processing tools include UV light optical steppers and electron beam exposure systems. For arrays that can be fabricated on eight inch diameter substrates, these tools are perfectly adequate. However, for FEDs having principal dimensions of 12" to 20" and larger, adequate photolithographic tools do not yet exist for exposing these small (micron and submicron) gate diameters. See in this regard:
Fortunately, different field emitter structures exist in which the small spacing between the extraction gate and the emitter is obtained by a thin film deposition step and not by lithography. These devices are typically referred to as volcano-shaped field emitters or as vertical (thin film) edge emitters. A production technique has been proposed wherein these devices are employed to fabricate arrays using printed wiring board-type lithography. See the following publication:
Typical examples and emission results of single gated devices are discussed in the following publication, which is incorporated herein by reference:
By adding one insulating layer and a metallic layer to the single gated structure, a dual gated structure can be constructed which may exhibit lowered gate current. However, as is apparent, fabrication of such an arrangement becomes more complicated. Such a device is disclosed by Gray and Hsu in U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,185, entitled "Thin-Film Edge Field Emitter Device and Method of Manufacture Therefor," issued Jan. 17, 1995.
Investigators of practical field emitter displays and other cold emission sources have encountered and continue to encounter a variety of technical challenges. As noted above, practicality necessitates fabrication of larger arrays at reasonable cost. The performance capabilities of the field emitter devices should be in consonance with available and practical driver circuitry. This calls for gate-to-emitter structures exhibiting lower capacitance levels adequate to achieve practical turn-on voltages. The physical integrity of the devices also must be assured to achieve stable performance. In this regard, electrode spacing dielectric components must be configured having an extent or thickness sufficient to avoid pinhole phenomena and the like. In contrast, effective device performance calls for closer gate-to-electrode spacing with consequently evolved higher capacitance. Higher capacitance calls for more elaborate and more expensive driver circuits or higher current drive schemes. In further contrast, closer gate-to-electrode spacing serves to reduce required turn-on voltage.

Low turn-on voltage volcano-shaped field emitter and integration into an addressable array


An air pump comprises a diaphragm pump with a diaphragm connected to a vibrator driven by an electromagnet. The air pump has a main casing body divided into three chambers: an air pump chamber which houses the electromagnet, vibrator and diaphragm pump; a sucked air noise reduction chamber into which air is sucked from outside the casing as the volume of the diaphragm chamber of the diaphragm pump is expanded; and a discharged air noise reduction chamber through which air is discharged to the exterior of the casing as the volume of the diaphragm chamber is decreased. A first air passage connects the sucked air noise reduction chamber to an inlet opening of the diaphragm chamber and a second air passage connects an outlet opening of the diaphragm chamber to the discharged air noise reduction chamber. A portion of the noise resulting from operation of the diaphragm and the inlet and outlet valves to the diaphragm chamber is propagated from the diaphragm chamber through air in the first and second air passages and is reduced as the sound waves expand upon entering the noise reduction chambers. In a second embodiment the main casing body is divided into only two chambers and the electromagnet, vibrator and diaphragm pump are disposed in one or the other of these chambers.

It is well known to provide tanks, generally referred to as fish tanks, having transparent walls so that fish, swimming in water in the tanks, may be observed from the exterior of the tank. The fish may be bred, grown or maintained as a hobby, or tanks containing the fish may be displayed for their decorative or aesthetic effect to enhance the ambience of a home, office or place of public accommodation such as a hotel, motel, etc. The fish require oxygen for survival so an air pump is provided for supplying fresh air to the water.
FIGS. 11 and 12 show one example of an air pump P presently used to feed air into the water contained in a fish tank. The pump casing 1A comprises a plastic main casing body 1, open at the bottom side as viewed in FIG. 12, and a cover 6 detachably fitted to the casing body 1 so as to close the bottom side. Disposed within the casing body are an electromagnet 2, a vibrator in the form of an arm 4 mounted on a support 10 and having a permanent magnet 3 fixed to one end, and an elastic diaphragm member 5a made of rubber and interfitted with a second member 5d to form a pump chamber 5e. Member 5d is provided with an inlet valve 5b connected to an air suction opening 8 and a discharge valve 5c connected to an air discharge opening 9. The vibrator arm 4 is fastened to the diaphragm member 5a.
When an alternating voltage is applied through the power supply cord 11, the electromagnet 2 is actuated and the vibrator arm 4 vibrates, as indicated by the double-headed arrow in FIG. 12, as a result of the electromagnetic forces acting between the electromagnet 2 and the permanent magnet 3. As arm 4 vibrates, it moves the diaphragm member 5a fastened thereto so that the volume of the pump chamber 5e alternately increases and decreases and air in the chamber is alternately expanded and compressed. During the time of the expansion, the inlet valve 5b is opened and the discharge valve 5c is closed so that air A is sucked into the diaphragm chamber 5e from the interior of the casing. An air inlet 7 in the casing cover 6 permits entry of replacement air into the casing. During the time of the compression, the inlet valve 5b is closed and the discharge valve 5c is opened so that air in the diaphragm chamber 5a is discharged through the air discharge opening 9 to the outside of the casing. A flexible hose 12 conveys the discharged air to the water in a tank.
An air pump having the arrangement shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 is simple in structure, can be produced at a low price and exhibits a stable operation so that the rate of air discharge (volume per unit of time) is substantially constant. However, the air pump does have disadvantages, the most serious being that it generates considerable audible noise. When the background noise level in the surrounding environment is comparatively high, as in the lobby of a hotel in the daytime for example, the noise of the pump is not a serious problem. On the other hand, when the background noise level is low, as might be the case at night in sleeping quarters for example, the noise generated by operation of the pump becomes more noticeable. The pump thus generates noise which cannot be ignored, is irritating to those who hear it, and disturbs sleep or concentration at work or study.
Workers in the art have attempted to reduce the pump noise by various methods including (1) improving air-tightness of the casing, (2) mounting the electromagnet 2 and the components forming pump 5 to the main casing body 1 through a vibration preventing material, or (3) by a combination of improved air-tightness and improved mounting of the components. The first method, that is, improvement of the air-tightness of the casing, is the most frequently used. In this case through-holes in the casing body 1 and the cover 6, such as the through-hole for electrical leads 11, and the narrow spaces at the joint between the casing body 1 and cover 6 are filled with a sealing material such as a silicone resin. The air inlet 7, which permits entry of replacement air, can not be sealed so it is filled with a filter material 7a which may be glass fiber or similar material.
The above sealing arrangement considerably reduces the noise emitted into the surrounding environment by the pump P. FIGS. 13 and 14 are plots of measured acoustic pressure level in decibels versus frequency for a conventional unsealed air pump P (FIG. 13), and for the same pump sealed with a silicone resin sealing material as described above (FIG. 14). In both cases the measurements were made in an otherwise noiseless room with a silencer installed on the outlet of the pump.
Comparing FIGS. 13 and 14, it is seen that in the case of the sealed air pump P, the noise is reduced slightly at 60 Hz and greatly in a frequency range above 200 Hz. On the other hand, there is only a slight reduction of noise in the low frequency range between about 60 Hz to 200 Hz. Thus, noise abatement by the sealing arrangement does not completely solve the noise problem. In situations where the background noise level is low, such as at night in a comparatively quiet neighborhood, the noise produced by the pump is sufficiently loud to be a source of annoyance and irritation.
In the second method of reducing pump noise, the pump 5 and the electromagnet 2 are fixed to the casing body 1 through vibration-proof rubber, etc., and the cover 6, which serves as the base of the air pump, is made of rubber so that a vibration absorbing arrangement is obtained and the noise is reduced. This method reduces noise propagated through solid parts of the pump but does little to suppress noise propagated by air. When the noise of the vibration-proof type air pump P is actually measured, it is found that the noise reducing effect is similar to that of the sealed air pump. Therefore, the noise cannot be reduced to a satisfactory degree using vibration suppression in spite the large number of parts employed and the high manufacturing costs involved.
Further, the inventor of the present invention has found that in an air pump as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, vibrations of the electromagnet 2, vibrator arm 4 and diaphragm 5a, do not comprise the only sources of noise. Operations of the inlet valve 5b and the discharge valve 5c also generate noise. Based on this finding he has previously invented a low-noise air pump having an arrangement such that a synthetic resin pipe about 30 to 50 cm long is provided in the casing body 1, and air introduced into the casing through the pipe is sucked into the diaphragm chamber 5e of the pump.
It was found that the above method using the synthetic resin hose can reduce the noise of the air pump P greatly and produce an excellent practical effect. However, in order to provide the synthetic resin hose in the casing body 1, a winding bobbin and a holding member for holding the bobbin are additionally required. Contact of the synthetic resin hose with the casing body 1 becomes a new source of noise. For this reason, the bobbin around which the synthetic resin hose is wound should be installed accurately, and thus this method has a disadvantage in that it requires great care during assembly of the pump.
The hose reduces noise at the inlet side of pump P. Since the noise at the discharge side of the pump P should be also be reduced, as by using an expansion-type silencer, accessories for the pump increase its cost.

Air pump with noise reduction partitions in the housing


An audio interface adapter device and an audio signal receiving apparatus are provided. The audio interface adapter device comprises an audio interface having a pin 1, a pin 2, a pin 3 and a pin 4. The pin 1 and/or the pin 2 is used as an audio pin of the audio interface. One of the pin 3 and the pin 4 is used as a microphone pin, and the other one of the pin 3 and the pin 4 is used as a ground pin. The audio pin is connected with the pin 3 via a first unidirectional conductive element, and connected with the pin 4 via a second unidirectional conductive element. A conductive direction of the first unidirectional conductive element is from the audio pin to the pin 3, and a conductive direction of the second unidirectional conductive element is from the audio pin to the pin 4.

An audio interface (such as a headphone socket) of an existing audio signal sending apparatus (such as a mobile communication terminal) and an audio interface of an audio signal receiving apparatus (such as a headphone) generally use a four-section interface, in which a pin 1 and a pin 2 are audio pins, i.e., a left-channel pin and a right-channel pin respectively. However, a pin 3 and a pin 4 of different types of audio interfaces play different roles, that is, there are two types of audio interfaces: the pin 3 is a MIC pin (a microphone pin) and the pin 4 is a GND pin (a ground pin); the pin 3 is a GND pin and the pin 4 is a MIC pin.
As different types of audio interfaces exist, when the audio interface of the audio signal sending apparatus (such as the mobile communication terminal) and the audio interface of the audio signal receiving apparatus (such as the headphone, a headset) do not match, the audio signal sending apparatus can neither communicate with the audio signal receiving apparatus via the MIC pin of the audio interface, nor transmit an audio signal to the audio signal receiving apparatus via the audio pins (i.e., the left-channel pin and the right-channel pin) of the audio interface normally.

Audio interface adapter device and audio signal receiving apparatus


A lifting assembly for a chassis having structural members wherein the lifting assembly comprises a first lift handle sub-assembly and a second lift handle sub-assembly. Each lift handle sub-assembly includes a first lifting bracket slidably mounted to a first chassis structural member and a second lifting bracket slidably mounted to a second chassis structural member positioned from the first lifting bracket. A lift handle is attached at each end thereof to one end of the first and second lifting brackets. Attached to a second end of the first and second lifting brackets is a lower stop bar sliding within the chassis structural-members. Attached to the chassis structural members in the path of movement of the lower stop bar is a slide stop bar that establishes the limit of movement of the lift handle to a gripping position.

This invention. relates to a lifting assembly and, more particularly, a low-profile lifting assembly retractable within a chassis structure.
Presently available commercial and military handle lifting assemblies are large and bulky and not suitable for use in an environment that requires a small footprint and retractable within a chassis structure. In addition, existing lifting assemblies are unnecessarily complex and expensive to manufacture and many designs expose a user to hand injury. In addition, available lifting assemblies are not designed for comfortable use with non-slip grip features.
The present invention comprises a lifting assembly having first and second lift handles, each retractably mounted within structural members of a chassis to distribute weight to the chassis structure. Each lift handle comprises a first lifting bracket slidably mounted within and to a chassis structural member and a second lifting bracket also slidably mounted within and to a chassis structural member in a position displaced from the first lifting bracket. Attached to one end of the first and second lifting brackets is a lifting bar, wherein the lifting bar is attached on each end thereof to one end of the first and second lifting brackets. A lower stop bar is attached at each end thereof to a second end of the first and second lifting brackets, the lower stop bar is slidable within the structural members with movement of the first and second lifting brackets. Attached to the chassis structural members is a slide stop bar. The slide stop bar is positioned in the path of movement of the lower stop bar to limit displacement thereof and thereby establish a gripping position for the lifting bar.
Further in accordance with the present invention, the first and second lifting brackets, the lower stop bar and the slide stop bar are mounted within the chassis to maintain EMI/RFI integrity for utilization of the chassis to support radio equipment.
Further in accordance with the present invention, the lifting assembly provides the technical advantage of distributing weight along chassis structural members, hereby minimizing concentration of lifting forces.
Further, the lifting assembly provides the advantage of a low profile, simplicity in structural members, and assembly into a chassis.
Other technical advantages will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art from the following figures, description, and claims.


A composite tubular member having an outer generally cylindrical member containing fibers oriented to resist internal and external pressure and provide low bending stiffness, and two inner areas of axial reinforcement located near the neutral axis of the composite tubular members containing fibers oriented to provide high axial stiffness, high tensile strength and low bending stiffness; and fibers oriented to resist shear stress, positioned opposite each other within the walls of the outer member. These inner areas define a minor moment of inertia of bending extending diametrically through said inner areas and a major moment of inertia of bending generally orthogonal to said minor moment of inertia. Energy conductors integral to the tubular member are arranged in a plane along the minor moment of inertia formed in the tubular member.

Coiled steel tubing finds a number of uses in oil well operations. For example, it is used in running wireline cable down hole with well tools, such as logging tools and perforating tools. Such tubing is also used in the workover of wells, to deliver various chemicals downhole and perform other functions.
Steel coiled tubing is capable of being spooled because the steel used in the product exhibits high ductility (i.e. the ability to plastically deform without failure). The spooling operation is commonly conducted while the tube is under high internal pressure which introduces combined load effects. Unfortunately, repeated spooling and use causes fatigue damage and the steel coiled tubing can suddenly fracture and fail. The hazards of the operation and the risk to personal and the high economic cost of failure in down time to conduct fishing operations forces the product to be retired before any expected failure after a relatively few number of trips into a well. The cross section of steel tubing expands during repeated use resulting in reduced wall thickness and higher bending strains with associated reduction in the pressure carrying capability. Steel coiled tubing is limited as to internal pressures up to about 5000 psi. Higher pressures significantly reduce the integrity of the tubing so that it will not sustain continuous flexing and thus severely limit its life, even to a single field application.
It is therefore desirable to provide a non-steel coil tubing which is capable of being deployed and spooled under borehole conditions, which does not suffer from the limitations of steel tubing and is highly resistant to chemicals.
Additionally, present steel coiled tubing logging operations sometimes utilize a wireline cable inserted within the bore of the coiled tubing to transmit data, or when real time data is not required, a logging tool capable of collecting and storing data downhole. When real time data is required, a dedicated reel of coiled tubing is used with the wireline permanently installed in the tubing. This takes up substantial cross-sectional space within the tubing and thus renders the coiled tubing unsuitable for other operations requiring a flow path or open bore through the tubing. Fluids are sometimes transported from the surface to a downhole location through the tubing to provide means for treating formations or for operating a mud motor to drill through the formations. In addition, it may be desirable to pump devices through the coiled tubing bore to a downhole location for various operations. Therefore, an open bore within the coiled tubing is essential for many operations and for this reason it is desirable not to have electrical conductors or the like positioned within the open bore portion of the tubing.
External pressures on the coiled tubing are also a major load condition and can be in excess of 2500 psi.
The Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 3,554,284 to Nystrom teaches the use of a logging cable in which two inner layers of fibers are wound at .+-.18.degree. and two outer layers are wound at .+-.35.degree..
U.S. Pat. No. 4,255,820 to Rothermel et al. discloses a prosthetic ligament formed with a densely woven cylindrical core that provides the axial stiffness for the prosthesis.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,530,379 to Policelli teaches a composite fiber tubing with a transition to a metallic connector. The fibers may be graphite, carbon, aramid or glass. These fibers, in one embodiment, are alternatively laid in .+-.15.degree. orientations to the longitudinal axis. In the FIG. 4 embodiment, "a wider choice of axial angles of filaments in the layers" is permitted. Further, "This embodiment can be employed in a fluid conveyance pipe having bending loads in addition to internal pressure loads and in structural members having bending and axial stiffness requirements". Policelli suggests that the fiber angles can be selected in a range between 5.degree. and 75.degree. as measured from the axis.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,556,340 to Morton discloses the use of an externally mounted strip on a flexible pipe. The strip may be of any material having large axial stiffness in tension and low axial stiffness in compression. The strip provides "brased bending" (or preferred axis bending).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,224 to Salama discloses a composite mooring tendon on interspersed layers of carbon fibers and aramid fibers, the fibers being axial or low angle helical wrap. A layer of 90.degree. wrap fibers can be provided as an external jacket.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,336,415 to Walling shows a composite flexible tubing assembly for wellbore use with provisions for conveying production fluids and electrical power conduits.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,604,461 to Matthews is concerned with a multiple layer high pressure hose which can slip at the core, i.e. on the inner liner, but be tightly bound at the periphery. The layers of strands are cross plied to one another and are arranged to prevent the migration of the bonding agent through the layers to ultimately prevent the liner from being attached to the outer fibrous layers. The structure of strand layers is thus arranged to move relative to the liner or inner tube of the hose.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,856,052 to Feucht shows a flexible hose with reinforced portions in the sidewalls and parallel to the longitudinal axis to provide longitudinal tensile strength. This makes the hose easily collapsible through one axis and capable of being easily reeled upon itself.
U.S. Pat. No. 646,887 to Stowe et al. has a conductor(s) incorporated in one side-wall of a hose.
For the most part prior-art tubular structures that are designed for being spooled and also for transporting fluids, are made as a hose whether they are called a hose or not. For example the Feucht structure in U.S. Pat. No. 3,856,052 has longitudinal reinforcement in the side walls to permit a flexible hose to collapse preferentially in one plane; however the structure is a classic hose with vulcanized polyester cord plies which are not capable of carrying compression loads or high external pressure loads. Hoses typically use an elastomer such as rubber to hold fibers together but do not use a high modulus plastic binder such as epoxy. Hoses are designed to bend and carry internal pressure but are not normally subjected to external pressure or high axial compression or tension loads. For an elastomeric type material such as used in hoses the elongation at break is so high (typically greater than 400 percent) and the stress-strain response so highly nonlinear; it is common practice to define a modulus corresponding to a specified elongation. The modulus for an elastomeric material corresponding to 200 percent elongation typically ranges from 300 psi to 2000 psi. The modulus of elasticity for typical plastic matrix material used in a composite tube is from 100,000 psi to 500,000 psi or greater, with representative strains to failure of from 2 percent to 10 percent. This large difference in modulus and strain to failure between rubber and plastics and thus between hoses and composite tubes is what permits a hose to be easily collapsed to an essentially flat condition under relatively low external pressure and eliminates the capability to carry high axial tension or compression loads while the higher modulus characteristic of the plastic matrix material used in a composite tube is sufficiently stiff to transfer loads into the fibers and thus resist high external pressure and axial tension and compression without collapse. The procedure to construct a composite tube to resist high external pressure and compressive loads involves using complex composite mechanics engineering principles to ensure that the tube has sufficient strength. It has not been previously considered feasible to build a truly composite tube capable of being bent to a relatively small diameter, and be capable of carrying internal pressure and high tension and compression loads in combination with high external pressure requirements. Specifically a hose will not sustain high compression and external pressure loads.
Matthews U.S. Pat. No. 3,604,461 on the other hand shows a tubular member for carrying relatively high internal pressures but is still a hose made up of layers of fiber strands that are joined to adjacent strand turns. The strands and layers are attached by an adhesive but the adhesive does not impregnate the fibers so that the adhesive does not penetrate to the plastic core. Matthews teaches to position the strands so that they do not shift relative to one another but flexibility would be impaired if the adhesive surrounded the fibers and layers. If the fibers are not individually encapsulated by the matrix, the fibers do not have the capability to carry significant compressive or external pressure loads, a characteristic which is essential to performance of the invention in coiled tubing applications which requires bending as well as pushing on the tube and the ability to withstand external pressure. In this regard Matthew teaches that the liner must not be bonded to the hose. The Matthews structure would permit high external pressures to penetrate to the liner plastic core and collapse it.
The references which show the use of electrical conductors in a hose do so by making them inclusions in the walls of the hose and not as integral structural members which function to strengthen the hose or provide it with particular structural qualities. The electrical and optical conductors as positioned at or near the minimum moment of inertia to isolate them from significant bending strains imposed during bending were they positioned elsewhere. The prior art hoses with conductors are not particularly concerned with protection of the conductors from bending forces imposed by spooling the hose since the hose can be flattened to reduce the effect of bending. In the current invention, the tube must stay generally circular and be able to resist collapsing as high bending strains are imposed during spooling and as the tube buckles as it is pushed into the wellbore.
The Invention
In accordance with the invention, composite tubing is provided for borehole operations such as for use in well logging and workover operations in oil wells. The tubing which is preferably spoolable comprises a composite tubular member having an outer composite structure containing high strength and stiffness fibers embedded in a resin material such as epoxy. The fibers are oriented to resist internal and external pressure and provide low bending stiffness. Two inner areas within the outer structure are located near the neutral axis of the composite tubular member and positioned in diametrically opposite walls of the outer composite structure to provide selective reinforcement within these opposite walls. The inner areas define a minor moment of inertia of bending extending diametrically through the inner areas and a major moment of inertia of bending generally orthogonal to the minor moment of inertia, the inner areas including composite structures oriented along the axis of the tube to provide high axial stiffness and strength to the outer tubular member such that the composite tubular member has significantly greater bending stiffness about the major axis as compared to the bending stiffness about the minor axis thereby providing a preferred direction of bending for the composite tubular member when spooled and unspooled. The arrangement of fibers or other structural material in said inner areas is oriented to provide high axial stiffness, high compressive and tensile strength and low bending stiffness and to resist shear stress. Fibers of high strength and modulus are embedded and bonded into a matrix that keeps the fibers in position, acts as a load transfer medium and protects the fibers from environmental damages. The plastic binder in which the fibers are embedded to form the matrix will have a modulus of elasticity (hereinafter modulus) that exceeds 100,000 psi. The liner also serves as a pressure containment member to resist leakage of internal fluids within the tubing. The liner in one configuration has a circular bore which is required in some downhole operations. In another configuration the liner is made concave to accommodate selective reinforcement members in the sidewall of the outer structure which in turn permits the outer surface of the composite coiled tubing to be substantially circular.
The outer composite structure is comprised of layers or plies of oriented fibers embedded as described in a matrix, which outer composite structure is bonded to a liner so that the liner is integrally attached to the outer composite structure to prevent external pressures from being applied directly to the outer surface of the liner, to thereby prevent collapse of the liner. Additionally, energy conductors including electrical wiring or fiber optics may be made integral to the tubular member, and also arranged to augment the desired physical characteristics of the tubing. Energy conductors commonly have low strain capability and thus can be damaged easily by large deformation such as imposed by bending. Placement of the energy conductors within the inner area ensure that the energy conductors are not exposed to significant bending strains.

Spoolable composite tubular member with energy conductors


The present invention is directed to compounds which inhibit farnesyl-protein transferase (FTase) and the farnesylation of the oncogene protein Ras. The invention is further directed to chemotherapeutic compositions containing the compounds of this invention and methods for inhibiting farnesyl-protein transferase and the farnesylation of the oncogene protein Ras.

The Ras gene is found activated in many human cancers, including colorectal carcinoma, exocrine pancreatic carcinoma, and myeloid leukemias. Biological and biochemical studies of Ras action indicate that Ras functions like a G-regulatory protein, since Ras must be localized in the plasma membrane and must bind with GTP in order to transform cells (Gibbs, J. et al., Microbiol. Rev. 53: 171-286 (1989). Forms of Ras in cancer cells have mutations that distinguish the protein from Ras in normal cells.
At least 3 post-translational modifications are involved with Ras membrane localization, and all 3 modifications occur at the C-terminus of Ras. The Ras C-terminus contains a sequence motif termed a "CAAX" or "Cys-Aaa.sup.1 -Aaa.sup.2 -Xaa" box (Aaa is an aliphatic amino acid, the Xaa is any amino acid) (Willumsen et al., Nature 310: 583-586 (1984)). Other proteins having this motif include the Ras-related GTP-binding proteins such as Rho, fungal mating factors, the nuclear lamins, and the gamma subunit of transducin.
Farnesylation of Ras by the isoprenoid farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP) occurs in vivo on Cys to form a thioether linkage (Hancock et al., Cell 57:1167 (1989); Casey et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86:8323 (1989)). In addition, Ha-Ras and N-Ras are palmitoylated via formation of a thioester on a Cys residue near a C-terminal Cys farnesyl acceptor (Gutierrez et al., EMBO J. 8:1093-1098 (1989); Hancock et al., Cell 57: 1167-1177 (1989)). Ki-Ras lacks the palmitate acceptor Cys. The last 3 amino acids at the Ras C-terminal end are removed proteolytically, and methyl esterification occurs at the new C-terminus (Hancock et al., ibid). Fungal mating factor and mammalian nuclear lamins undergo identical modification steps (Anderegg et al., J. Biol. Chem. 263: 18236 (1988); Farnsworth et al., J. Biol. Chem. 264: 20422 (1989)).
Inhibition of Ras farnesylation in vivo has been demonstrated with lovastatin (Merck & Co., Rahway, N.J.) and compactin (Hancock et al., ibid; Casey et al., ibid; Schafer et al., Science 245:379 (1989)). These drugs inhibit HMG-CoA reductase, the rate limiting enzyme for the production of polyisoprenoids and the farnesyl pyrophosphate precursor. It has been shown that a farnesyl-protein transferase using farnesyl pyrophosphate as a precursor is responsible for Ras farnesylation. (Reiss et al., Cell, 62: 81-88 (1990); Schaber et al., J. Biol. Chem., 265: 14701-14704 (1990); Schafer et al., Science, 249: 1133-1139 (1990); Manne et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA, 87: 7541-7545 (1990)).
Inhibition of farnesyl-protein transferase and, thereby, of farnesylation of the Ras protein, blocks the ability of Ras to transform normal cells to cancer cells. The compounds of the invention inhibit Ras farnesylation and, thereby, generate soluble Ras which, as indicated infra, can act as a dominant negative inhibitor of Ras function. While soluble Ras in cancer cells can become a dominant negative inhibitor, soluble Ras in normal cells would not be an inhibitor.
A cytosol-localized (no Cys-Aaa.sup.1 -Aaa.sup.2 -Xaa box membrane domain present) and activated (impaired GTPase activity, staying bound to GTP) form of Ras acts as a dominant negative Ras inhibitor of membrane-bound Ras function (Gibbs et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86: 6630-6634 (1989)). Cytosollocalized forms of Ras with normal GTPase activity do not act as inhibitors. Gibbs et al., ibid, showed this effect in Zenopus oocytes and in mammalian cells.
Administration of compounds of the invention to block Ras farnesylation not only decreases the amount of Ras in the membrane but also generates a cytosolic pool of Ras. In tumor cells having activated Ras, the cytosolic pool acts as another antagonist of membrane-bound Ras function. In normal cells having normal Ras, the cytosolic pool of Ras does not act as an antagonist. In the absence of complete inhibition of farnesylation, other farnesylated proteins are able to continue with their functions.
Farnesyl-protein transferase activity may be reduced or completely inhibited by adjusting the compound dose. Reduction of farnesyl-protein transferase enzyme activity by adjusting the compound dose would be useful for avoiding possible undesirable side effects resulting from interference with other metabolic processes which utilize the enzyme.
These compounds and their analogs are inhibitors of farnesyl-protein transferase. Farnesyl-protein transferase utilizes farnesyl pyrophosphate to covalently modify the Cys thiol group of the Ras CAAX box with a farnesyl group. Inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase blocks Ras membrane localization in vivo and inhibits Ras function. Inhibition of farnesyl-protein transferase is more specific and is attended by fewer side effects than is the case for a general inhibitor of isoprene biosynthesis.
Previously, it has been demonstrated that tetrapeptides containing cysteine as an amino terminal residue with the CAAX sequence inhibit Ras farnesylation (Schaber et al., ibid; Reiss et. al., ibid; Reiss et al., PNAS, 88: 732-736 (1991)). Such inhibitors may inhibit while serving as alternate substrates for the Ras farnesyltransferase enzyme, or may be purely competitive inhibitors (U.S. Pat. No. 5,141,851, University of Texas).
The compounds of the present invention are peptide analogs containing two reduced peptide bonds and of the general structure C--[.psi.CH.sub.2 NH]Xaa.sup.1 --[.psi.CH.sub.2 NR] Xaa.sup.2 --Xaa.sup.3 where C is Cysteine and Xaa.sup.1-3 is any amino acid and the nitrogen between Xaa.sup.1 and Xaa.sup.2 is alkylated. The compounds of this invention are stable inhibitors of Ras farnesyl-transferase. The presence of the reduced amide linkages confers metabolic stability to these inhibitors such that they are capable of inhibiting ras farnesylation in vivo. Reduction of the first and second peptide bonds may also lead to an unexpected enhancement of intrinsic enzyme-inhibitory activity. Alkylation of the reactive nitrogen between Xaa.sup.1 and Xaa.sup.2 confers chemical stability to these analogs, thus enhancing their activity in vivo (cell culture). Of particular utility is the observation that the lactone or ester forms of these inhibitors are prodrugs that efficiently deliver the active hydroxy acids or acids, respectively, to the intracellular compartment that is the site of Ras farnesylation.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to develop tetrapeptide-based compounds with two reduced amide linkages, wherein the nitrogen between Xaa.sup.1 and Xaa.sup.2 is alkylated, and which will inhibit farnesyl-protein transferase and the farnesylation of the oncogene protein Ras. It is a further object of this invention to develop chemotherapeutic compositions containing the compounds of this invention, and methods for producing the compounds of this invention.

Inhibitors of farnesyl-protein transferase