In an apparatus and method for controlling an interface, a user interface (UI) may be controlled using information on a hand motion and a gaze of a user without separate tools such as a mouse and a keyboard. That is, the UI control method provides more intuitive, immersive, and united control of the UI. Since a region of interest (ROI) sensing the hand motion of the user is calculated using a UI object that is controlled based on the hand motion within the ROI, the user may control the UI object in the same method and feel regardless of a distance from the user to a sensor. In addition, since positions and directions of view points are adjusted based on a position and direction of the gaze, a binocular 2D/3D image based on motion parallax may be provided.

1. Field
Example embodiments relate to an apparatus and method for controlling an interface, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for controlling a 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional graphic user interface (2D/3D GUI).
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a natural interface technology has been on the rise. A natural interface enables more natural and intuitive communication between a person and a computer. Active research is underway to recognize a user's intention and motion and therefore achieve interactive communication between the person and the computer. In particular, an interactive display is being rapidly developed to provide a more natural computing environment than a keyboard and a mouse which are typical user interfaces (UI).
According to conventional interactive displays, a UI may be operated by multi-touch and hover performed on a surface of the display. Whereas the mouse and the keyboard provide an indirect interaction where a gaze and an operation space of the user do not correspond to each other, the multi-touch and hover enables a direct interaction where the gaze and the operation space correspond to each other, thereby achieving a more natural operation. However, the multi-touch method provides only a 2-dimensional (2D) interaction applicable only on a displaying surface. That is, when an operation object of the UI is 3D, the object may not be intuitively operated as though the user were manipulating an actual object. In case of the hover method, the object may not be operated immersively and unitedly only by information regarding the hand of the user.
Currently, a display apparatus providing 3D images is widely used. A person may perceive a 3D image by a stereoscopic method that inputs images to both left and right eyes and a motion parallax method that varies a distance of an object and a horizontal movement of left and right images according to a person's point of view. Demand for the 3D image are steadily increasing.
Accordingly, a 3D user interface (3D UI) providing a more immersive feel and sense of unity, and an improved apparatus and method for controlling the 3D UI is desired.

Apparatus and method for controlling interface


Provided is a method for manufacturing optical elements, the method including the following processes: a process to determine the wave-front aberration for a lens fabricated using a reference die, and then choose the integer multiple of a predetermined constant that is closest to the difference between a lens design value and the wave-front aberration for the lens fabricated using the reference die; and a process to determine the amount of aberration correction that cancels out the aforementioned integer multiple aberration, change the lens design so that either the low-order spherical aberration or the low-order astigmatism therefor becomes equal to the aberration correction, and fabricate a correction die from either a first or a second die, with the shape of the molding surface thereof changed on the basis of the changed design value. Then the die design value is decided upon, yielding a final die.

In optical disc devices in which optical discs such as DVDs (digital video discs) are used as recording media, for optical pick-up devices thereof, pick-up lenses produced by molding glass or plastics are used. Over recent years, in optical discs, blue wavelength is used, and thereby in pick-up lenses, severe lens shape accuracy in the order of 0.1 μm is required. Thereby, even when molding is carried out using a die produced based on a lens design value, a desired lens shape or optical performance may not be realized. This fact results from occurrence of thermal contraction of a lens material and a die. Therefor, methods of die production in which these factors are considered in advance have been proposed.
For example, a method is proposed in which the amount of deviation from a design value of the spherical aberration of a provisional lens molded using a tentative die produced using a design value is detected and then with respect to the amount of deviation, a table, in which of design values of dies, the relationship between a high-order aspherical constant and a spherical aberration amount generated thereby is determined in advance, is referred to and of corresponding aspherical constants, the amount of small change of high-order term is added to an aspherical constant as an adjusting value to design a final molding die (refer to Patent Document 1).
In the method disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to prepare, in advance, a table in which the relationship between the amount of small change of high-order term regarding an aspherical constant of an aspherical expression and the amount of variation of a spherical aberration value is determined. However, to enhance the accuracy of this table, it is necessary to fabricate a large number of dies and thereby to press a large number and a wide variety of lenses to measure optical performance.
To solve such problems, a method is proposed in which the wavefront aberration of a first tentative optical element molded using a tentative die produced using a design value is measured and then a correction wavefront aberration so as to offset the wavefront aberration is calculated to design a second tentative optical element in which the shape is optimized so as to have the correction wavefront aberration; and based on the shape of the second tentative optical element, a regular die to mold regular optical elements is designed (refer to Patent Document 2).
Further, the method disclosed in Patent Document 1 cannot respond to an unexpected aberration which is not provided in the table.
Therefore, a method is proposed in which a lens is molded using a provisional die produced using a design value, and when the spherical aberration of the thus-molded lens has deviated from a predetermined value, the amount of deviation is adjusted by lens thickness (axial thickness) (refer to Patent document 3).

Method of manufacturing optical elements


A pair of electrode panels are supported by plural spacer walls made of photo-resist resin to form a cell gap between electrode panels. The cell gap is filled with liquid crystal, preferably, antiferroelectric liquid crystal. The spacer walls are formed on an orientation layer formed on either panel. A thin layer is also formed on the orientation layer together with formation of the spacer walls as a residual layer. The residual layer has to be sufficiently thin not to disturb orientation of the liquid crystal and to attain a sufficiently high display contrast. The thickness of the residual layer is indirectly detected by an X-ray electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA), and the residual layer is made sufficiently thin by setting a temperature of a preliminary baking process, which is carried out before formation of the spacer walls, in a proper range.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal cell having spacer walls formed between a pair of electrode panels and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of Related Art
A liquid crystal cell having spacer walls formed between a pair of electrode panels has been known hitherto. The spacer walls serving as spacers for forming a cell gap between a pair of electrode panels and for giving more mechanical strength to the cell are usually made of photo-sensitive resin called a photo-resist. An example of this kind of cell is disclosed in JP-B2-2-36930, in which chairal liquid crystal is used. The spacer walls are formed on an orientation layer made on one of the electrode panels. A photo-resist layer is coated on the orientation layer and preliminarily baked. Then, a pattern of the spacer walls is formed in a photolithography and developing process. After rubbing the surfaces of the orientation layers on both electrode panels, both panels are overlapped with each other, thereby forming a single cell. Then, the cell is baked while imposing pressure thereon, and finally a space formed in the cell is filled with liquid crystal.
In the developing process, photo-resist layer covering a pixel area other than the spacer walls is intended to be removed completely. However, it is unavoidable that some thickness of the photo-resist layer is left on the area covering the pixels. Such a residual photo-resist layer reduces orientating ability of the orientation layer, and accordingly the liquid crystal in the cell is not properly oriented. This results in a lower display contrast of the liquid crystal cell because luminance of the pixels at a dark mode is increased by the improper orientation of the liquid crystal.

Liquid crystal cell and its manufacturing method


The present disclosure relates to the technical field of light emission of an LED and discloses a light emitting diode assembly, a backlight module, a liquid crystal display and an illumination device. The LED assembly comprises a lamp base and at least one pair of LED dies. The lamp base has a mounting groove. A pair of the LED dies are mounted at a bottom surface of the mounting groove, and two LED dies in the pair of LED dies are disposed symmetrically about an axis of the mounting groove. Among angles formed by intersection of planes where light exit surfaces of the two LED dies lie, an angle facing the bottom surface of the mounting groove is greater than 0 degree and less than 180 degrees. The light emitting diode assembly has a larger light exit angle and exhibits a simple structure.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to the technical field of light emission of an LED, and particularly to a light emitting diode assembly, a backlight module, a liquid crystal display and an illumination device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Currently a mainstream method of increasing a light exit angle of an LED is to add a lens at a surface of the LED. For example, N plus of Japan holds a patent application in this regard. The method of adding the lens at the surface of the LED may expand the light exit angle and can ensure even distribution of light intensity. However, this method requires use of the lens and is structurally complicated.

Light emitting diode assembly, backlight module, liquid crystal display and illumination device

BOE OPTICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A floating platen system for use in connection with a packaging system that processes tube stock continuous film media to form bags that are filled with product. The floating platen system includes a floating platen that is maintained in a substantially stationary position by use of magnetic forces acting on the floating platen.

Some existing packaging systems are adapted for packaging products using a tube stock continuous film media, rather than a bag on a roll. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,956,929 to Yisha et al. (issued Sep. 28, 1999) describes such a packaging system, said patent fully incorporated herein by reference. In packaging systems using tube stock continuous film media a floating platen (also referred to as a "puck") may be inserted into a tube formed by upper and lower layers of the media, in order to isolate the upper layer from the lower layer during a cutting operation. The cutting operation forms an opening in the media that is used to fill a package or bag with product. The platen is maintained generally stationary relative to the media, in alignment with a cutting blade, as the media advances through the processing path of the packaging system. Accordingly, the upper and lower layers of media respectively flow over and under the platen, as the media advances. As shown in FIG. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,956,929, the platen is maintained generally stationary to the media by having a protruding portion that is trapped by a locating roller.
Some drawbacks have been observed with respect to the existing floating platen system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,956,929. In this regard, the floating platen system has "pinch points" that can impede movement of the media through the processing path, thereby resulting in misalignment of the media. For example, media 22 is pinched between the surface of tail portion 34 of floating platen 30 and the surface of locating roller 50 (see FIG. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,956,929). A pinch point can result in additional strain being placed on the drive motor and rollers used to advance the media. Furthermore, the pinch point can make it particularly difficult to advance certain types of media made of materials having higher friction surfaces.
The present invention addresses these and other drawbacks of the prior art to provide an improved floating platen system that eliminates pinch points.


An integrated energy storage component that includes a substrate supporting a contoured layer having a region with a contoured surface such as elongated pores. A stack structure is provided conformally over the contoured surface of this region. The stack is a single or repeated instance of MOIM layers, or MIOM layers, the M layers being metal layers, or a quasi-metal such as TiN, the O layers being oxide layers containing ions, and the I layer being an ionic dielectric. The regions having a contoured surface may be formed of porous anodized alumina.

Various technologies have been developed for integrating passive components, such as energy storage components, capacitive devices, etc. in/on substrates such as silicon wafers.
There is a general desire to construct integrated energy storage components that provide a high energy storage density. Various approaches have been tried in this regard. In the case of capacitive devices, conventional approaches for increasing capacitance include reducing the thickness of the dielectric layer (subject to the constraint of avoiding dielectric breakdown when the operating voltage is applied) and selecting a material having high dielectric constant as the material of the dielectric layer.
More recently, proposals have been made to form the conductive layers and dielectric layer of an integrated energy storage component conformally over a contoured surface (i.e. forming the conductive layers and dielectric layer so that their shape conforms to the shape of the underlying surface) rather than employing planar layers. Energy storage components of this type may be referred to as "three-dimensional"components (to differentiate them from planar devices). As an example, the PICS technology proposed by Murata Integrated Passive Solutions employs three-dimensional capacitive components and allows high density capacitive components to be integrated into a silicon substrate.
Recently, three-dimensional capacitive components have been fabricated by embedding a Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) structure in a porous anodized material, for example in porous anodized alumina (PAA). This technology provides highly-integrated capacitance which can be used for many applications. This technology implements a capacitive stack (for example a MIM stack, or a MIMIM stack) in a porous structure which is formed above a substrate such as a silicon wafer. The porous structure may result from the anodization of a thin layer of aluminum deposited above the substrate (e.g. deposited on the substrate or deposited on one or more layers which are themselves formed on the substrate). The anodization process converts the Al into alumina, which is porous (PAA). A mask may be formed over the aluminum layer before anodization takes place, so that the anodization process forms islands of porous material).
In prior proposals the Metal-Insulator-Metal structures embedded in PAA typically employ paraelectric dielectric layers (mainly alumina, or hafnium oxide) and two semi-metal or metal electrodes (that are typically made of TiN or Ru or Pt). Pores formed in PAA can have a high aspect ratio (i.e. the pores are elongated but have only small mouths/small cross-sectional area). This produces a confined geometry into which material must be introduced in order to embed the Metal-Insulator-Metal layers of the capacitive components in the pores. As a consequence, atomic layer deposition (ALD) processes are generally used to fabricate the embedded MIM structure. However, even in the case of using an MIM structure having a thin dielectric layer (typically 10 nm) embedded in a PAA structure, the capacitance that can be obtained is not as high as desired: typically, not exceeding areal energy densities of approximately <10 nA·h/mm2.
Proposals have been made to increase the capacitance density of capacitive components by making use of energy storage mechanisms that are different from those usually employed in capacitive components which comprise dielectrics made of paraelectric materials.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,339,768 proposes making use of "pseudocapacitance", that is Faradaic electrochemical reactions, in capacitive components which comprise electrodes made of metal nanotubes (or nanorods) coated by metal oxide, used in conjunction with electrolytic solutions.
Another proposal, making use of so-called "ionic dielectrics", is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 8,830,656. U.S. Pat. No. 8,830,656 proposes planar capacitive components formed on a silicon substrate and employing metal-oxide electrodes used in conjunction with relatively thick, solid ionic dielectrics. The expression "ionic dielectrics" may be used for such materials, even though ionic conduction takes place through them when an electric field is applied, in view of the fact that these materials are located where a capacitor's dielectric layer traditionally is positioned and they are dielectrics with respect to the electrons. They may also be referred to as electronic-insulators ("I" layer) in view of the fact that they are resistant to the flow of electrons.
The paper "An all-in-one nanopore battery array" by Chanyuan Liu, et al, in NATURE NANOTECHNOLOGY 9, 2014, 1031-1039, proposes a three-dimensional energy storage component composed of an array of nanobatteries connected in parallel, each composed of an anode, a cathode and a liquid electrolyte confined within the nanopores of anodic aluminum oxide, as an all-in-one nanosize device.
The above-mentioned battery structure is completed by a first current collector provided on the pore wall and extending down from the top of the pore over a distance of about a third of the height of the pore, and a second current collector provided on the pore wall and extending up from the bottom of the pore over a distance of about a third of the height of the pore (so as to avoid coming into contact with the first current collector; such contact would cause a short circuit). An oxide layer may be provided between each current collector and the electrolyte.
However, the above-described proposals have deficiencies either because they are only suitable for use in limited applications and/or because they still do not achieve as high an energy storage density or as fast charge/discharge or as high charge/discharge current or a sufficiently linear capacitance/voltage relationship as is desired nowadays.
The present invention has been made in the light of the above problems.

COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES


A modular platform is provided and includes a platform having upper and lower surfaces. The modular platform further includes one or more propulsion units, mesh coverings, jack elements and a lock mechanism. The one or more propulsion units are embedded within the platform to generate upward thrust. The mesh coverings overlay each of the one or more propulsion units in the upper surface. The jack elements are coupled to the lower surface and support the platform above an underlying substrate. The lock mechanism connects the platform to a neighboring platform. A power storage unit is embedded in the platform and powers the one or more propulsion units, the jack elements and the lock mechanism. A control unit is embedded in the platform and controls operations of the one or more propulsion units, the jack elements and the lock mechanism.

The present invention generally relates to platforms and, more specifically, to dynamic platform creation.
Disaster areas are often present after major events, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, and wars. The disaster areas are typically characterized as having casualties and large amounts of rubble. The large amounts of rubble can be unsteady and can block access pathways. The passage of rescue and clean up vehicles is thus made difficult if not impossible. For example, if a city block is destroyed in an earthquake, the rubble from the buildings can block all the surrounding roads and make it very hard for rescue vehicles to gain access to the interior of the city block to remove rubble and to save people who may be trapped.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A waveguide optical gyroscope is disclosed. The waveguide optical gyroscope includes a laser, two detectors, a set of couplers and a set of waveguides. The laser generates a light beam. A first waveguide guides the light beam to travel in a first direction, and a second waveguide guides the light beam to travel in a second direction. The first and second waveguides are coupled to several ring waveguides via the couplers. The first detector detects the arrival of the light beam traveling from the first waveguide, and the second detector detects the arrival of the light beam traveling from the second waveguide.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to optical gyroscopes in general, and in particular to high-performance waveguide optical gyroscopes.
2. Description of Related Art
Optical gyroscopes can sense rotation by measuring the difference in time for two light beams (or other electromagnetic waves) to pass in opposite directions through a common loop path. During rotation, the two opposite light beams within an optical gyroscope are out of phase. Specifically, the light beam moving in the direction of rotation will arrive at a detector at a later time than the light beam moving in opposite to the direction of rotation. Thus, by measuring the phase difference between the two opposite light beams within the optical gyroscope, rotation information can be obtained.
However, if the two opposite light beams within the optical gyroscope are only slightly out of phase, then the change in phase difference between the two opposite light beams may not be significant enough to be measured by a detector. For example, prior art optical gyroscopes tend to have less than optimal performance because they are not able to measure very small changes in phase difference between two opposite light beams. Consequently, it would be desirable to provide an improved optical gyroscope having higher detection capabilities.

High-index contrast waveguide optical gyroscope having segmented paths

BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc.


A linear drive mechanism comprises an electromechanical conversion element for producing repeatable linear displacements in a predetermined direction, a working member fixedly connected to said electromechanical conversion element for simultaneous displacement therewith and having a guide surface formed in the direction of displacement of said electromechanical conversion element, a moving member frictionally contacting with the guide surface of said working member, and a pushing member furnished on said working member for pushing said moving member against said guide surface of the working member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a linear drive mechanism using an electromechanical conversion element for moving mechanical components of cameras and other precision machines.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a drive pulse comprising a moderately rising part followed by a sharply falling part is applied to a piezoelectric element, a displacement extending in the thickness direction of the piezoelectric element is gently generated by the moderately rising part of the drive pulse, and a sharp compression displacement is generated by the sharply falling part of the drive pulse. Linear drive mechanisms are known which use this characteristic to generate a linear movement of a movable member friction-bonded to a drive member by applying a drive pulse of the aforesaid waveform to a piezoelectric element and repeatedly discharging at different speeds to produce vibration in the piezoelectric element in the thickness direction at different speeds, thereby reciprocally moving at different speeds a drive member fixedly attached to said piezoelectric element (e.g., Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 6-123830).
FIG. 4 shows an example of the construction of a photographic lens drive mechanism of a camera using the aforesaid type of linear drive mechanism. In FIG. 4, reference number 51 refers to a lens barrel at the left end of which is fixedly mounted a holding frame 52 of a first lens L1, and at the right end of which is formed a holding frame 51a of a third lens L3. A holding frame 53 of a second lens L2 is disposed within lens barrel 51 so as to be movable in the optical axis direction. Reference number 54 refers to a drive shaft for driving lens holding frame 53 in the optical axis direction, said drive shaft 54 being supported by a first flange 51b of lens barrel 51 and a flange 52b of lens holding frame 52 so as to be movable in the optical axis direction, and one surface of a piezoelectric element 55 is fixedly adhered to one end of said drive shaft 54.
Piezoelectric element 55 is displaced in the thickness direction, thereby displacing drive shaft 54 in the axial direction; one end of piezoelectric element 55 is fixedly adhered to drive shaft 54, and the other end of piezoelectric element 55 is fixedly adhered to the second flange 51c of lens barrel 51.
The lens holding frame 53 supporting the second lens L2 is provided with a contact member 53b as a movable member extending in a downward direction, and drive shaft 54 passes through said contact member 53b. A notch 53c is formed on the bottom surface of the contact member 53b. The contact member 53b and drive shaft 54 are friction-bonded by a suitable friction force via pressure contact of a pressure spring 53d inserted between the top surface of contact member 53b and the notch groove 53c. FIG. 5 shows the construction of the contact portion between drive shaft 54 and contact member 53b; the view is a section view along the X--X line of FIG. 4.
Another notch (not shown in FIG. 4) is formed at the top of lens holding frame 53, and engages a guide shaft 59 so as to prevent rotation of lens holding frame 53. Reference number 60 refers to a mount for attaching the lens to a camera.
The control operation is described hereinafter. When it is necessary to move lens L2 in the arrow a direction, a drive pulse having a waveform comprising a moderately rising part followed by a sharply falling part is applied to piezoelectric element 55, as shown in FIG. 6.
The piezoelectric element 55 generates a moderate displacement extending in the thickness direction, and displaces the drive shaft 54 in the axial direction indicated by arrow a.
Thus, lens holding frame 53 can be moved in the arrow a direction because pressure spring 53c presses against drive shaft 54 so as to produce a frictional bond with contact member 53b of lens holding frame 53 and causing movement in the arrow a direction.
The sharply falling part of the drive pulse generates a rapid compression displacement in the thickness direction of piezoelectric element 55, such that drive shaft 54 is also displaced in an opposite axial direction to the direction of arrow a. At this time, lens holding frame 53 does not move because the contact member 53b of lens holding frame 53 pressed against drive shaft 54 by pressure spring 53c substantially stays at said position due to the inertial force produced by the friction force between said contact member 53b and drive shaft 54.
In this case "substantially" pertains to movement in the arrow a direction and the opposite direction producing a follow-up movement of slipping of the frictional bonded surfaces between drive shaft 54 and the contact member 53b of lens holding frame 53, and includes an overall movement in the arrow a direction caused by the difference in drive times.
The lens holding frame 53 can be consecutively moved in the arrow a direction by applying consecutive drive pulses of the aforesaid waveform to piezoelectric element 55.
When moving the lens holding frame 53 in the opposite direction to the arrow a direction, such movement can be accomplished by applying to piezoelectric element 55 a drive pulse having a waveform comprising a sharply rising part followed by a moderately falling part.
In the aforesaid construction, drive shaft 54 is displaced in a relatively narrow range following the telescopic displacement produced in piezoelectric element 55, and contact member 53b which is in a state of friction contact with drive shaft 54 slides so as to follow in a predetermined direction. When drive shaft 54 is relatively long, however, i.e., when the length of the drive shaft is such that there is a long distance from the end of the drive shaft in contact with the piezoelectric member to the part friction-bonded to the contact member, the drive shaft is not displaced in following the telescopic displacement of the piezoelectric element due to elastic deformation of the drive shaft, thereby producing a phenomenon wherein the contact member cannot move. Therefore, there are limitations on the length of the drive shaft which are inconvenient inasmuch as the driving range of the lens L2 cannot be increased.
The above described construction of a lens device is a generally used lens barrel construction wherein a first lens L1 and lens holding frame 52 shown in FIG. 4 are removable and lens L2 is fixed or capable of extension from the camera, but such a construction is disadvantageous when a linear drive mechanism is applied inasmuch as lens L2 can be retracted into the lens barrel but the drive shaft protrudes a constant length regardless of the position of lens L2, such that the length (thickness) of the fixed lens barrel including the drive shaft or the camera in the optical axis direction cannot be made more compact.

Linear drive mechanism using electromechanical conversion element


A therapeutic agent for a corneal epithelial disorder, containing a miR-203 inhibitor; an agent for promoting proliferation of corneal epithelial cells, containing a miR-203 inhibitor; a liquid culture medium for use in the manufacture of a corneal epithelial sheet, containing a miR-203 inhibitor; and a method for producing a corneal epithelial sheet, including the step of culturing corneal epithelial cells using a liquid culture medium containing a miR-203 inhibitor. According to the present invention, a therapeutic agent for a corneal epithelial disorder, an agent for promoting proliferation of corneal epithelial cells, a liquid culture medium for use in the manufacture of a corneal epithelial sheet, a method for producing a corneal epithelial sheet, including the step of culturing corneal epithelial cells using the liquid culture medium, and a method for treating a corneal epithelial disorder can be provided. The present inventors have also found that not only the above effects are exhibited by inhibiting miRNA richly contained in tears, but also the agent specifically acts on eye surfaces, so that the present invention can be expected to show high safety.

Corneal epithelial disorders have been posing some problems as symptoms of ophthalmic diseases caused by progression of dry eye or an inappropriate use of contact lenses.
On the other hand, microRNA (miRNA) is a noncoding RNA of 25 nucleotides or so in length that does not contain genetic information, and has a role of binding with messenger RNA (mRNA) within a cell to inhibit the translation to a protein. It has been elucidated that a single kind of miRNA suppresses expression of plural target mRNAs, and that a single kind of mRNA is controlled by plural miRNAs. Further, it has been expected that at least 30% of human genes, or more of gene expressions is controlled by these miRNAs.
In the recent years, a large number of reports have been made on the involvement of miRNA in suppression of cancer or natural immunoreactions, so that the importance of its role is even more remarked. In addition, it has been found that miRNA not only functions in the expressed cells but also is included in membrane vesicles called exosomes to be exported from the cells and transported to other cells through body fluids, so that the translation of mRNA to a protein is also inhibited in the same manner in other cells.
miR-203 is miRNA that is found to be expressed highly in skin, and suggested to be involved in regulation of epidermal differentiation, formation of barrier functions of skin and skin diseases such as psoriasis (Non-Patent Publication 1). miR-203 reportedly has a function as a suppressive factor for cancer or tumors (Non-Patent Publications 2 and 3). In addition, miR-203 reportedly acts to suppress proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells but not to suppress proliferation of venal epithelial cells of human umbilical chords (Non-Patent Publication 4). However, as far as we know, there are no reports that suggest the associations between corneal epithelial cells and miR-203 at all.

Therapeutic agent for corneal epithelial disorder


A modulator for supporting arms of a rear bicycle carrier comprises a support frame including a central post having two ends with which first and second supporting arms are connected; a ratchet holder integrally formed with or separately disposed on the connecting position of the central post, and including a plurality of inner teeth arranged around the internal periphery thereof; a connecting shaft inserted through the ratchet holder, on the two sides of an intermediate seat of the connecting shaft being mounted two ratchet members for engaging with the inner teeth of the ratchet holder; a control unit fixed on a predetermined position of the rear bicycle carrier for being rotated clockwise or counterclockwise to disengage at least one ratchet member from the inner teeth of the ratchet holder such that the first and second supporting arms can be adjusted toward a suitable angle relative to the central post.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rear bicycle carrier, and more particularly to a ratchet modulator that can be adjusted in a multi-section adjustable positioning manner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional rear bicycle carriers are assembled onto the rear bumpers on the rear sides of automobiles.
However, as illustrated in FIG. 10, in order to open the car trunk easily, a support frame of the rear bicycle carrier is tilted outward to a predetermined angle, and two supporting arms of the support frame also become slanted, accordingly the bicycle hanged on the supporting arms of the support frame bumps the ground, damaging the support frame or bicycle wheels.
Furthermore, even through an improved angle-adjustable rear bicycle carrier has been developed, the supporting arms of the support frame of the rear bicycle carrier is adjustable troublesomely and limitedly.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages.

Modulator for supporting arm of rear bicycle carrier


A holder for field glasses has a pair of substantially similar resilient receptacles that each has a main body with an open bottom and a narrower neck with an open top. A slot is located in each neck portion while a slit extends between each slot and its respective open bottom. The two receptacles are attached to each other so as to be parallel to one another and so that each slit generally faces the other receptacle. A pair of binoculars is inserted, ocular lens side first, through the bottoms of each main body by gapping each receptacle with the bridge of the binoculars passing through the gapped slits. Once the bridge is received within the slots of the two receptacles, the slits are degapped. Alternately, the binoculars themselves may have the form of a pair of drink receptacles.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novelty holder for field glasses (binoculars) wherein the holder has the look of a pair of joined beverage receptacles.
2. Background of the Prior Art
Spectator sports are catering to ever increasingly larger crowds as the size of the stadiums grows with the television audience likewise growing. As a result, more and more spectators are located in the farther reaches of the stadium so that seeing the action with reasonable clarity becomes challenging. Even in a small venue, a person in a good seat behind the home team, may have a tough time seeing the action that is taking place on the visiting team's side. In auto racing, due to the necessary size of the racing field, almost all of the action tends to be far away for all, both those in premium seats and those in general seats. As a result, bringing binoculars to a sporting venue is becoming increasing popular with the relatively small field glasses being a popular pick for the type of binoculars brought. The popularity of field glasses is due to their relatively compact size of and their having good optics in a well lit area such as at a sporting event. The binoculars let fans see the action up close irrespective of where a particular fan's seat may be located and where within the venue the particular action to be observed is occurring. The binoculars bring the action closer than can be achieved with the naked eye and also allow a fan to people watch, one of the benefits of going to a sporting event.
Also popular at sporting events is the desire of many fans to show spirit above that achieved with simple clapping and yelling. Increasingly, fans are turning to various novelty items as part of their regular sporting day paraphernalia as a spirit enhancing tool. Such novelty items include such simple items as hats or shirts that have a team's colors or a particular athlete's name thereon, to more exotic "clothing" such as face paint or body paint, to non-wearable items such as flags, towels, and novelty lights. These various novelty items help many fans get into and stay in the spirit of the event being attended.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to take the functional properties of a pair of binoculars and enhance them with a novelty motif that can help fans get into the sporting event spirit. Advantageously, such a device should be of simple design and construction yet have a high recognition factor by others. Such a device should be relatively low cost so that it is readily affordable to a large fan base. Such a device should not detract or otherwise limit the functional properties of the pair of binoculars.


A computer-implemented method of calculating a value of a benefit for an annuity contract including a minimum contract accumulation value provision is disclosed. The method includes determining a current minimum contract accumulation value, determining a current value of the annuity contract investments, determining a predetermined reset percentage contained in the annuity contract, calculating the product of the current value of the annuity contract investments and the reset percentage and a fifth step of resetting the minimum contract accumulation value to the greater of the minimum contract accumulation value or the product of the current value of the annuity contract investments and the reset percentage.

Annuities have become a more attractive option for retirement savings. Once considered noncompetitive and inflexible, annuities have become more popular as annuity providers have introduced products with a variety of flexible tax-deferred savings options. An annuity is a tax-deferred savings vehicle packaged as an insurance product. In most cases when an annuity is bought, its earnings are tax-deferred until the beginning of withdrawal of the interest or other income earned. Often an annuity includes a mandatory waiting period between the purchase of the annuity contract and the first withdrawal period. Because the owner is not paying taxes on gains made during the waiting period, the owner has the chance to earn gains on untaxed money, which may grow more quickly than a taxable account does. Indeed, earnings have the potential to compound more quickly and when the owner reaches retirement age, their tax bracket in retirement is often lower than it is in the income-earning years.
Annuities were classified as either fixed or variable. A fixed annuity provided a set minimum guaranteed rate of return backed by an insurance company, much as a bank provides a stated rate of return on a certificate of deposit. Although the rate of return varied somewhat depending on the prevailing interest rates, the minimum rate of return provided more stability than a variable annuity. Funds in a variable annuity were to be invested in stocks, bonds, or money market funds, depending upon the type of subaccount chosen. Usually, the subaccount was selected based on the level of risk and return wanted in the annuity, just as when purchasing a mutual fund. The amount of return depended on the actual return of the subaccount investment and there was not minimum guaranteed rate of return associated with a variable annuity.

System and method for determining and administering an annuity with guaranteed minimum accumulation benefit


An ATCA board compatible hard disk mounting structure is disclosed to include a cover fastened to an ATCA board to hold a hard disk, a bracket fixedly fastened to the front side of the cover, a plurality of electric fans mounted in the bracket, an insulative member mounted in between the cover and the bracket to isolate the cover from the bracket, and a face panel fastened to the bracket and fitted into one PMC slot of an I/O face panel of the ATCA board.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hard disk mounting structure and more particularly, to a ATCA board compatible hard disk mounting structure, which fits one PMC slot of the ATCA (advanced TCA) board, isolate the hard disk from hot air in the machine case, enhances circulation of air to dissipate heat from the hard disk efficiently, and provides regular grounding and digital grounding effects.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, many enterprises install relatively cheaper mini servers to satisfy network traffic requirements. In order to improve further economic effect, blade servers are developed. A blade server is a thin, modular electronic board, containing at least one microprocessor and memory, which is intended for a single, dedicated application and that can be easily inserted into a rack with many similar servers.
A blade server machine case can accommodate several tends of blade servers or more, and blade server is equivalent to a regular server. These blade servers share the same resources such as server machine case, display, keyboard and power supply unit, achieving easy connection to the big scale data center. Further, the server machine case has installed therein an intelligent system that provides internal resource-related information. The intelligent system can discriminate webbed blade server resources, specific tasks, or application software run on the blade servers, allowing flexible application of every blade server in the server machine case. The most attractive advantage of a blade server is its high reliability and extendibility because every blade server has the backup function. The hot plugging of the server machine case that supports blade servers and system component parts provides high applicability. When one blade servers failed, another blade server can take the place without interrupting the service. When wishing to increase the handling power, it needs only to insert more blade servers and to arrange these resources at the place where the demand is most strong.
In order to satisfy the demand of next generation communication equipment and the market demand for high traffic data bandwidth, server blades follow the modular design of Compact PCI specifications. The structural design includes the definition of the server machine case, the main board, the back board, the dimensions of the rear I/O extension board, the height limitation, the connector used, the front panel, the hot plugging handle, and etc. According to this new definition, the 8U long space of the front face panel is sufficient for accommodating four standard PMC slots and four standard LED displays and can support the hot plugging function of the main board when used with a specific handle. However, a PMC module's user must accurately know the transmission mode, interconnection between V I/O and rear I/O, and the compatibility of the supported bus arbitration to the carrier board. Further, the power demand for the interface of relatively higher speed and the expansion of next generation silicon circuit requires a change of PMC's specification. These drawbacks impart a barrier to the use of PMC module. Further, a blade server defines the hard disk to be a part of digital ground. Further, when a hard disk is installed in a blade server, it is exposed to the outside and not well protected. This arrangement does not provided an environment for quick dissipation of heat from the hard disk. In a blade server architecture, the hard disk cannot be set in the most proper location to save the server case space effectively.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an ATCA board compatible hard disk mounting structure that saves and fully utilizes space, protects the hard disk against hot air produced by the dual CPU cooler module in the server machine case, and provides the hard disk with an efficient cooling environment.


The present invention provides a technique to improve the display quality of an electro-optical device using an electro-optical element which emits light with a brightness corresponding to a driving current. Each pixel can include an organic EL element OLED which emits light with a brightness corresponding to a driving current, a capacitor for storing an electric charge corresponding to data supplied via a data line, a drive transistor for setting a driving current according to the electric charge stored in the capacitor and for supplying the set driving current to the organic EL element OLED, and a control transistor which repeats interruption of a current path for the driving current in one vertical scanning period.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an electro-optical device using an electro-optical element whose brightness is controlled by a current, a method of driving the electro-optical device, and an electronic apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a technology for interrupting a current path for a driving current.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, flat panel displays (FPDS) using organic EL (electroluminescence) elements are of high interest. An organic EL element is a typical current-driven element which is driven by a current flowing therein, and emits light with a brightness corresponding to the current level. Driving methods for active-matrix displays using organic EL elements are roughly grouped into a voltage-programmed type and a current-programmed type.
As an example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-60076 discloses a voltage-programmed pixel circuit having a transistor (TFT3 shown in FIG. 5 of this document) in a current path for supplying a driving current to an organic EL element so as to interrupt the path. The transistor is turned on in the first half of one frame period, and is turned off in the last half thereof. Thus, for the first half period in which the transistor is turned on to let the driving current flow, the organic EL element emits light with a brightness corresponding to the current level. For the last half period in which the transistor is turned off to interrupt the driving current, the organic EL element is forcibly extinguished and is displayed as black. This technique is called blinking, and the blinking technique allows an after image left in the human eye to be stopped, thus improving the display quality of moving pictures.
As other examples, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-147659 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-514320 disclose current-programmed pixel circuit structures. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-147659 refers to a pixel circuit using a current mirror circuit formed of a pair of transistors. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-514320 refers to a pixel circuit that reduces current nonuniformity and threshold voltage variations in drive transistors as sources that set the driving current supplied to organic EL elements.

Electro-optical device, method of driving electro-optical device, and electronic apparatus


A magneto-optical recording medium capable of performing light-intensity-modulation direct overwrite and having excellent practical characteristics is provided. A magneto-optical recording film is formed by stacking a reproducing layer made of a magnetic material from which a large Kerr rotation angle can be obtained, a memory layer made of a magnetic material having great magnetic anisotropy, an intermediate layer having small magnetic anisotropy and made of TMrich rare earth-transition metal amorphous alloy, a recording layer having a Curie temperature higher than those of the memory layer and the intermediate layer and made of TMrich rare earth-transition metal amorphous alloy, a switching layer made of a magnetic material having a Curie temperature lower than that of the recording layer and an initializing layer made of a magnetic material having a Curie temperature higher than those of the reproducing layer, the memory layer, the intermediate layer, the recording layer and the switching layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magneto-optical disk having a multilayered magnetic film formed by stacking a plurality of magnetic layers and capable of performing a light-intensity-modulation direct overwriting operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a requirement for raising the transfer rate has arisen in the field of the magneto-optical recording and reproducing technical field. To meet the foregoing requirement, a variety of techniques have been put into practical use. Among the practical techniques, light-intensity-modulation direct overwrite has been known as a representative technique.
When a signal is recorded on a magneto-optical recording medium by the light intensity modulation method, a weak DC magnetic field is generally applied to the magneto-optical recording medium to modulate a laser beam depending upon whether or not a signal exists so as to apply the modulated laser beam to the magneto-optical recording medium. Therefore, the magneto-optical recording and reproducing apparatus adapted to the light intensity modulation method must renew recording after a recorded portion has been erased when a signal is recorded on a portion on which a previous signal has been recorded. Therefore a signal cannot directly be written over a recorded portion, that is, so-called direct overwrite cannot be performed.
Therefore, a major portion of magneto-optical recording and reproducing apparatuses put into practical use must initially perform an erasing operation prior to performing an operation for recording a new signal. Thus, there arises a problem in that at least time required for the magneto-optical recording medium to rotate at least two times is required. It leads to a fact that the transfer rate cannot be raised.
The light-intensity-modulation direct overwrite has been contrived to overcome the above-mentioned problem, the light-intensity-modulation direct overwrite being a technique adapted to the light intensity modulation method and enabling direct overwrite to be performed.
A specific method of the light-intensity-modulation direct overwrite has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-175948. The foregoing method is arranged such that a magneto-optical recording medium is formed by stacking two magnetic layers having different magnetic characteristics in such a manner that the switched connection is established between the two layers. A recording and reproducing apparatus according to the foregoing method includes an optical system which is capable of applying a laser beam controlled to a binary value consisting of a high level and a low level when a recording operation is performed; a recording magnetic field generating unit of a type for use in a usual magneto-optical recording and reproducing apparatus; and an external magnetic field generating unit which is capable of inverting only one of two magnetic layers at room temperature, that is, a so-called initializing magnet.
However, the above-mentioned method attempted to realize light-intensity-modulation direct overwrite must be provided with the initializing magnet for generating an initializing magnetic field of several kOe. The foregoing structure raises a problem when the magneto-optical recording and reproducing apparatus is designed.
Accordingly, reduction in the initializing magnetic field has been attempted by a method disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-185853. As a result, the initializing magnetic field has been reduced to about 2 kOe, which is considerably larger than the recording magnetic field which is about 300 Oe. The large initializing magnetic field prevents practical use of the above-mentioned method.
On the other hand, another method has been investigated individually from the foregoing attempt to reduce the initializing magnetic field in order to essentially overcome the above-mentioned problem. The method is attempted to enable light-intensity-modulation direct overwrite to be performed without use of the initializing magnetic field. As a result, magneto-optical recording mediums, disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-268103 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-219449, have been contrived.
The magneto-optical recording mediums have the basic structure formed by adding a magnetic layer serving as the initializing magnet attributable to switched connection to the magneto-optical recording medium disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-175948. When a magneto-optical recording medium of the foregoing type is used, the light-intensity-modulation direct overwrite can be performed without use of the initializing magnet.
However, the magneto-optical recording medium enabled to perform the light-intensity-modulation direct overwrite by adding the magnetic layer serving as the initializing magnet attributable to the switched connection cannot simultaneously satisfy the required characteristics, including the sensitivity to the recording magnetic field, the quality of the signal and stability of the overwriting operation. The known magneto-optical recording mediums capable of performing light-intensity-modulation direct overwrite cannot simultaneously satisfy the above-mentioned characteristics and practical use has not been realized.

Rewritable high density magneto-optical disk


A connector includes a connector terminal electrically connected with a terminal (a counterpart terminal) of a counterpart component and a connector housing holding therein the connector terminal. The connector terminal includes a cylindrical terminal insertion section into which the counterpart terminal is to be inserted, a spring section which is brought into contact with the counterpart terminal in a cylinder of the terminal insertion section, and a displacement restriction section restricting excessive displacement of the spring section in the cylinder of the terminal insertion section when the spring section is brought into contact with the counterpart terminal, and the displacement restriction section includes a stabilizer which extends outward from the terminal insertion section while being supported continuously to a restriction part for the spring section.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a connector which is to be electrically connected with a counterpart component (for example, each of various kinds of electronic components mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile) and specifically relates to a terminal structure of a connector terminal.
2. Related Art
Patent Document 1 discloses one configuration example of such a connector. The connector disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a connector terminal to be connected with a terminal of a counterpart component and a connector housing holding therein the connector terminal. In addition, the connector terminal includes a cylindrical terminal insertion section into which the terminal (a counterpart terminal) of the counterpart component is to be inserted and a spring section which is brought into contact with the counterpart terminal in a cylinder of the terminal insertion section.
In addition, in some cases, the connector terminal is provided with a member (a stabilizer member) adapted to promote prevention of improper assembly when assembling the connector terminal to the connector housing, posture stabilization after the assembly, an improvement in rigidity of the terminal and so forth as disclosed, for example, in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2. In addition, as disclosed in Patent Document 3, in some cases, the connector terminal includes a member (a displacement restriction member) adapted to restrict excessive displacement of the spring section when the spring section is brought into contact with the counterpart terminal. Further, there is also known a connector terminal configuration that a slip-out prevention member (such as, for example, a locking section or the like which is engageable with a spring piece (a lance) provided on the connector housing) is included in order to promote slip-out prevention after the assembly to the connector housing.

Connector terminal having a cylindrical terminal insertion section


A wall assembly used in the construction of passenger boarding bridges or other box type structures. The wall assembly includes an exterior panel with V-shaped folds or corrugations and a vertical flange on the end of each panel for attachment to adjacent panels.

Passenger boarding bridges such as those used at airports and on cruise ship docks have traditionally been constructed from sheet metal with corrugated panels on their exterior for strength and support. These exterior panels are welded together to make the wall, floor and roof portions of the boarding bridge. The conventional panel design has a generally symmetrical cross-section with the corrugations running normal to the longitudinal axis of the boarding bridge. Conventional panels slightly overlap each other creating a vertical seam which is continuously welded along with the top and bottom of each panel.
The conventional exterior panel design results in a substantial portion of the wall assembly having no insulation and requires a sixty inches wide strip of sheet metal to produce a finished panel forty eight inches wide. Therefore, it is highly desirable to construct a wall assembly with a greater insulation R value, more economical use of raw material, reduced welding requirements and lighter in weight with more interior design flexibility.


A system for directing a communication beam from a transmitter at a first location onto an optical target of a receiver at a second location uses a terrestrial free-space optical data link. The system includes an optical fiber which emanates the communication beam at a first wavelength in the intermediate infrared range onto an optical element of the transmitter. The optical element then collimates and directs the communication beam, together with a beacon beam of a second wavelength in the near infrared range, in a common beam along a path toward the receiver. At the second location, the receiver collects the common beam and focuses it to a focal point. A camera in the receiver then receives scattered light of the beacon beam from the focal point to determine a displacement distance between the focal point and the target. The focal point and target are then aligned with each other to reduce the displacement distance to a null and thereby make the focal point of the common beam incident on the target. Accordingly, the communication beam is directed onto the target which may either be an optical detector or another optical fiber.

The present invention pertains generally to communication data links. More particularly, the present invention pertains to transceivers which are useful in terrestrial free-space optical data links. The present invention is particularly, but not exclusively, useful as a method, or a system, for optically aligning a transceiver at a first location with a transceiver at a second location.
A basic requirement in all modern day societies, in both the government and private sectors, is the ability to effectively and accurately communicate between two or more locations. As is well known, such communication can be accomplished in any of several different ways. For example, wire communications such as a telephone exchange, may be either automatic or manual. The common characteristic of wire communication systems, however, is that they have a continuous connection through a system. On the other hand, wireless communications systems, such as radio, have no connecting wires and, instead, involve methods of signaling through space by means of electromagnetic waves. Not surprisingly, communication systems which incorporate interconnecting links of wire and wireless components have also been used.
In recent years, optics have been used in an ever-increasing number of applications for both wire and wireless type links in communication systems. One particularly popular component which is used as a wire link in an optical communications system is the optical fiber. In general, an optical fiber is made of ultra-pure glass and has a central core having a higher refractive-index glass than its outer cladding. Importantly, with this construction an optical fiber is capable of conducting modulated light signals by total internal reflection. Depending on the particular application, an optical fiber may be either a single mode fiber or a multi-mode fiber. More specifically, for a single mode fiber, the diameter of the inner core is comparable with the wavelength of the transmitted light. Thus, there is only one mode of light propagation through the fiber, and distortion is minimized or eliminated. In comparison, a multi-mode optical fiber has a core diameter which is sufficiently larger than the wavelength of the transmitted light. This allows propagation of the light energy in a large number of different modes. Typically, multi-mode optical fibers are used as wire links for data networks which are located inside of buildings where high loss, and therefore short distances, can be tolerated. Further, multi-mode optical fibers are relatively inexpensive and are easier to couple into and out of with other network components than are single mode fibers. High speed telecommunications, however, often require the use of single mode optical fibers which have less loss and which are useable over longer distances than are the multi-mode optical fibers. The single mode fibers, however, are relatively more expensive and are harder to couple into and out of with other network components. Thus, the trade-offs can be significant.
Regardless of whether a single mode or a multi-mode optical fiber is used, in all instances the benefits of using an optical fiber include small diameters, high potential bandwidth and lower costs. Further, optical fibers can be used either alone, or they can be bundled into cables. In certain respects, however, an optical fiber communications system suffers the same shortcomings as any other wire system. Namely; not all communications systems are able to effectively and efficiently incorporate optical fibers throughout the entire system. Indeed, optical communications links across free-space may be necessary and desired.
The question of incorporating a terrestrial free-space optical data link for use with an optical fiber system raises several interesting issues. These include: the possible need for amplification of the optical signal before its transmission from the optical fiber across the free-space; the need to maintain the integrity of the optical signal during its transmission across the free-space; and, the detection, alignment, and focusing of the optical signal after it has been transmitted across the free-space. As implied above, the use of optical fibers in a communication system means that the communication beam will have an extremely small diameter. Multi-mode optical fibers, for instance, can have core diameters as small as about fifty microns. Single mode fibers are even smaller, and can have core diameters of only around ten microns. The ability to focus light into such a small diameter after propagation through free space in a manner which will allow for effective transmission of the data carried on the beam is of no small concern. The problems are further complicated by the fact that effective wavelengths for communication beams are longer than the wavelength of visible light and, therefore, require expensive, specialized equipment for their detection. Additionally, the use of longer wavelengths for the communication beam is preferable due to the fact that amplification of the light beam is more easily accomplished at such wavelengths.
In light of the above it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and a system which are capable of continuing the high speed telecommunications data transmitting capacity of an optical fiber over a terrestrial free-space optical data link. Another object of the present invention is to provide a system and a method which will interconnect an optical fiber with other optical elements for the uninterrupted transmission of a communication beam between the optical fiber and another medium, such as the earth""s atmosphere. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a system and a method which will align a communication beam with an optical target, such as an optical fiber or an optical detector, wherein the target has a reception area that is less than approximately two hundred microns in diameter. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a system and a method for directing a communication beam over a terrestrial free-space optical data link which is easy to manufacture, relatively simple to use, and comparatively cost effective.
In accordance with the present invention, a system for directing a communication beam from a first location through a transit distance to a second location over a terrestrial free-space optical data link includes an optical fiber which emanates the communication beam at the first location. Preferably the wavelength of the communication beam is in the intermediate infrared, and is approximately 1550 nm, so that it may be amplified by an erbium doped optical amplifier before being transmitted over the data link.
A transmitter is positioned at the first location and is optically connected with the optical fiber. Specifically, the transmitter includes an optical element for collimating and directing the communication beam along a path toward a target at the second location. Additionally, the transmitter at the first location includes a laser diode for generating a beacon beam which is also optically connected with the optical element of the transmitter. The optical element of the transmitter thus collimates and directs both the beacon beam and the communication beam along the path as a combined common beam. In one embodiment of the present invention a coupler is used to couple the beacon beam directly with the communication beam in the optical fiber before the two beams emanate from the optical fiber. In another embodiment, the transmitter transmits the communication beam along a first path while it transmits the beacon beam along a second path. For this embodiment, the second path is substantially parallel to the first path so that there is an overlap region which is established beyond an overlap distance from the transmitter. Once the beams overlap beyond the overlap distance, a portion of the communication beam and a portion of the beacon beam will then travel further on the path as the common beam. Importantly, for either embodiment, both the communication beam of one wavelength and the beacon beam of another wavelength are combined into a common beam before the common beam arrives at the second location.
At the second location there is a receiver which is positioned to collect the common beam and to then focus the common beam to a focal point on an optical target. Included in the receiver at the second location is a camera which receives scattered light from the optical target which will include an image of the focal point. By detecting this scattered light, the camera is able to locate the focal point. For the present invention the camera can be a CCD type camera, a CMOS type camera, or any other similar type camera which will detect visible or near infrared light from the beacon beam. Preferably, the camera is relatively inexpensive.
As used in the present invention, based on the known location of an optical target on the detector in the receiver, and the detected location of the focal point of the received common beam, the camera determines any displacement distance which may exist between the focal point of the common beam and the optical target. As contemplated for the present invention, the optical target can be the core of a single mode optical fiber wherein the core has a diameter of approximately ten microns (10 xcexcm). Alternatively, the target can be part of a larger optical detector or multi-mode fiber having a diameter in a range of approximately thirty to seventy microns (30-70 xcexcm). In either case, the objective of the present invention is to then reduce the displacement distance between the focal point of the common beam and the optical target to a null. In effect this will make the focal point of the common beam incident on the optical target.
In order to align the focal point of the common beam with the optical target, an adjuster is used which will move the focal point relative to the target. For one embodiment of the present invention, the adjuster can be a mechanical linkage which is manually operable to position the focal point of the common beam on the target. For another embodiment of the present invention, the alignment of the focal point with the optical target can be accomplished using a computer. If used, the computer will be programmed to receive input from the camera and to generate an error signal that is indicative of the displacement distance between the focal point of the common beam and the target. Further, the computer will also include electronics for activating the adjuster to reduce the error signal to a null. The computer can be used thereafter to substantially maintain the error signal at the null.
It is contemplated that the data communication link which is established by the present invention may be either a one-way communication link, such as described above, or a two-way communication link. For the latter case, the system can include a first base on which are mounted: a transmitter, a beacon beam generating laser diode, a receiver, a camera and an adjuster with or without an associated computer. This first base can then be positioned at the first location and optically connected with an optical fiber which will provide the out-going communication beam and an optical fiber which will receive the in-coming communication beam. At the second location there will then be a second base on which are mounted a transmitter, a beacon beam generating laser diode, a receiver, a camera and an adjuster with or without an associated computer. Similar to the first base, the second base can be connected with optical fibers which will provide the out-going communication beam and receive the in-coming communication beam. The two-way communication link can thus be established between the first location and the second location.

Alignment system for laser communication beam


Disconnector contact drive devices for switchgear for power supply and distribution are described, in particular for air-insulated medium-voltage switchgear, having movable pole units. In where in a first movement sequence, the disconnector contacts are separated from fixed mating contacts of the switchgear. In a second movement sequence, the pole units are displaceable to achieve the isolating distance, and the disconnect contacts are moved to disconnect them by force components acting in the x/y directions. The disconnector contact drive devices are equipped with linear guide shafts. The pole units contain pole box frames which are linearly movable along the guide shafts from an ON position stop to an OFF position stop due to the forces acting on the toggles. The toggles each have four pivot bearings. The first pivot bearing is coupled to a linear actuator shaft, the second and third pivot bearings are bearings of the toggle and the fourth pivot bearing is connected to the pole box frame The linear actuator shafts are connected to the rotary actuator shafts by corner gears.

The present invention relates to disconnector contact drive devices for switchgear for power supply,and distribution, in movable pole units, so that in a first movement sequence, the disconnector contacts are separated from fixed mating contacts of the switchgear, and in a second movement sequence, the pole units are displaceable to yield the isolating distance, and the disconnect contacts are moved to disconnect them by force components acting in the x/y directions.
Disconnector contact drive devices of the above-identified type are described in German Patent Application 196 33 522. In a first movement sequence, the disconnector contacts are first moved out of the area of the fixed mating contacts of the switchgear, and then in a second movement sequence they displace the entire pole units to the extent that the isolating distances required for operator safety are reached.
In conjunction with operator safety, however, there are conventional switchgear panels having additional disconnect switches whose contact gaps form the required isolating distances.
In addition, with regard to the movability of the pole units, movable inserts with disconnect contacts have also been used, where the extent of their movability is also predetermined by the required isolating distances.
An object of the present invention is to provide a disconnector contact drive device which allows a compact design at minimal expense, but with which the drive energy to be expended is as low as possible and occurs largely uniformly over the entire movement process.
According to the present invention, this is achieved with the following features;
the disconnector contact drive devices are equipped with linear guide shafts,
the pole units contain pole box frames which are linearly movable along the guide shafts from an ON position stop to an OFF position stop due to the forces acting on the toggles,
the toggles each have four pivot bearings, with the first pivot bearing coupled to a linear actuator shaft, the second and third pivot bearings being bearings of the toggle, and the fourth pivot bearing connected to the pole box frame, and
the linear actuator shafts are connected to the rotary actuator shafts by corner gears.
The pole box frames are thus moved with the movable disconnect contacts in a straight line between the switch positions ON and switch positions OFF in parallel with the guide shafts. The disconnector contact drive devices of the pole box frames having toggles designed as four-bar linkage and the linear actuator and rotary actuator shafts that work together with them are implemented by, for example gears with a non-uniform transmission ratio controlling the movement processes of the pole box frames while maintaining the required isolating distances in two stages in the shortest paths in the switchgear.
Due to the special design of the toggles with their four toggle pivot bearings in conjunction with the linear actuator and rotary actuator shafts, the loads occurring non-uniformly over the entire movement sequences, results in a largely uniform load on the drives with the gears having a non-uniform transmission ratio.
The toggles which are completely extended in the ON switch positions also define the position of the pole box frames acting symmetrically and without reaction for the drives in the retracted state. Due to the non-uniform transmission ratios, the pole box frames are not moved at the start of rotation of the drive shafts, practically in the range of approx. 15xc2x0, so that in this phase the drives can be used to control auxiliary switches so that displays of faulty state information can be triggered promptly.
The gears formed from the toggles and the linear and rotary actuator shafts thus also function in transmission of the respective drive power, with these processes taking place in two successive steps.
According to an advantageous embodiment of the present invention,
the parts of the toggles that are movable about the third pivot bearing are engaged with a tension spring so that the force of the tension spring is effective in the ON position stop and in the OFF position stop.
The positions of the pole box frames in the retracted state are additionally stabilized by this measure. The tension springs also act as energy storage devices which supply increased drive forces on actuation of the disconnector contacts without any reaction effect on the actual drives and thus contribute toward further uniformization of the drive powers.
In another advantageous embodiment of the present invention,
the rotary actuator shafts are each connected to a drive motor.
In this way, the disconnector contact drive devices can be controlled by motors.
In another advantageous embodiment of the present invention,
the rotary actuator shafts can each be controlled by manually operable hand cranks.
Due to this measure, the rotary actuator shaft can be controlled independently of the system status of the switchgear.
In another advantageous embodiment of the present invention, provides the features:
the rotary actuator shafts are each coupled to a drive motor; and
the rotary actuator shafts can be controlled by manually operable hand cranks.
Thus, the rotary actuator shafts can be driven optionally by the drive motors and the hand cranks.

Disconnector contact drive devices for switching installations which supply and distribute power


A shield assembly is provided for use in combination an ink jet printer and is operative to provide a smooth planar surface for printing on a print media. The described embodiment includes a shield having first and second contact surfaces to define an opening therebetween. The opening of the shield assembly is aligned with the print head of the ink jet printer for permitting the deposition of ink through the opening. The assembly further includes a pivot mount operative to pivot the shield about a rotational axis which is substantially parallel to the feed path of the print media and orthogonal to the motion of the print head. Moreover, the assembly includes a means for pivoting the shield about the rotational axis in a first and second direction thereby causing one of the contact surfaces to engage the print media upstream of the print head when depositing ink on the print media.

Conventional inkjet printers employ a print head assembly having an array of individual nozzles for deposition of ink onto a substrate media or material e.g., plain white paper or a mailpiece envelope. The print head assembly is adapted to accommodate one of two types of print/feed mechanisms, namely, shuttle and in-line printing. Shuttle motion printers employ a moveable print head assembly capable of shuttling back and forth in a direction orthogonal to the direction of paper feed. Consequently, shuttle print head assemblies are capable of fully covering the printable area of a page in bands of coverage. In-line printing, in contrast, employs a stationary print head assembly having a fixed width. Generally, in-line print head assemblies comprise a plurality of adjacent print heads to cover a predetermined print area or region as paper is fed beneath the print heads.
In FIGS. 1a and 1b a conventional prior art shuttle print head assembly 100 comprises a carriage assembly 110 for containing one or more individual print heads 112. The carriage assembly 110 is typically connected to a guide rail 114 to fix the print head 112 in two axes and a positioning mechanism (not shown) to control movement in an axis perpendicular to the feed path (in the direction of arrow FP) of the media 116. As mentioned in a preceding paragraph, the shuttle print head assembly 100 is capable of covering the entire face surface of the media 116, i.e., bi-directionally along arrow SP (see FIG. 1a), by incrementally moving media 116 through the print station as the print head 112 passes back and forth in bands of coverage.
To ensure that the print head 112 prints on a substantially planar surface, it is common to employ a movable shield 120 proximal to the print head 112 to press the media 116 against an underlying support structure 122, i.e., typically a resilient elastomer roller or feed cylinder. Furthermore, the shield 120 may be adjusted vertically along bi-directional arrows AV to accommodate thickness variations in print media 116 such as mailpiece envelopes. Due to the bi-directional motion SP of the print head assembly 100 and the direction FP of the feed path, the shield 120 must necessarily be disposed behind the print head 112 and parallel its shuttle motion SP. While the shield 120 is as close as practicable to the print head 112, it will be appreciated that the ability to control the surface contour of the print media diminishes as the distance from the shield increases. Consequently, as best seen in FIG. 1b, the shield 120 exerts less influence over a region D which distally located as compared to region A which is proximal to the shield 120.
In FIG. 1c, an in-line print head assembly 200 is depicted wherein the carriage assembly 210, including the print head 212, is essentially fixed relative to a supporting rail 214. The underlying print media 216 is conveyed along feed path a FP by linear belts 218 which pass beneath the print head 212. Such in-line print heads 212 typically employ a fixed shield 220 disposed along the leading edge LE of the print head 212, i.e., laterally of the print head 212, and in-advance of the print media 216. Further, to minimize complexity, the fixed shield 220 is typically rigidly mounted to the carriage assembly 210, near the print head 212, and spring biased against the print media 216.
The shield 220 may be configured and mounted in the manner described above principally due to the unidirectional motion of the underlying print media 216. That is, inasmuch as the ink requires a fixed amount of time, albeit small, to dry, the shield 220 may be located along the leading edge LE or upstream of the print head 212, to avoid contact with the drying ink. Additionally, the shield 220 may optimally positioned along side the print head 212 to further improve the efficacy of printing, i.e., controlling the surface contour in region A with greater precision.
While the mounting arrangement of the shield 220 is optimally suited for in-line printing assemblies 200, i.e., wherein the print media 216 moves in a single direction relative to the print head 212, it will be appreciated that a similar mounting arrangement is not possible for shuttle motion printers. That is, should a pair of shields be disposed on each side of a shuttling print head, one of the shields, i.e., the shield disposed downstream of ink deposition will interfere with the drying ink.
A need, therefore, exists for a shield assembly which optimally controls the surface contour of underlying print media while enabling both in-line and shuttle ink-jet printing.


A lens specifying apparatus is provided which includes a lens meter (1) for measuring and obtaining the lens refraction characteristic distribution information of a subject lens (30), an information recording/regeneration unit (104) on which lens information has been recorded, an arithmetic control circuit (101a) for comparing the lens refraction characteristic distribution information measured by the lens meter (1) with the lens information recorded on the information recording/regeneration unit (104) and judging to which lens information the measured lens refraction characteristic distribution information corresponds.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lens specifying apparatus that specifies, for example, the lens type, such as a far point importance type, a near point importance type, and a far-near importance type, the maker, and the kind (maker model type) of a subject lens from lens refraction characteristics, such as the refractive power distribution and astigmatism distribution of the subject lens.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, progressive power lenses and far-point aspherical lenses have spread wide as eyeglass lenses. For example, the progressive power lens has a far point portion where the spherical degree does not change and a near point portion where the refractive power changes continuously from the boundary between it and the far point portion. Generally, the far point portion is roughly located on the upper side of the lens center, and the near point portion is offset slightly right and left from the lens center and roughly located on the lower side of the lens. Furthermore, the near point portion and the intermediate portion between the near point portion and the far point portion, which are actually usable, are not provided over the lower portion of the lens, rather extend from the lens center to the lower edge in a relatively narrower width.
However, for the position, configuration, and refractive power variations from the intermediate portion to the near point portion, in the present condition, various types are available in correspondence with the environment in which eyeglasses are used. Also, even in the case of the same type and even in the case of the same maker there are a wide variety of model types.
Therefore, if a person wearing eyeglasses consisting of progressive power lenses of a certain model type wears eyeglasses consisting of progressive power lenses of a different type, there will be cases where a person cannot get accustomed to eyeglasses and will feel usage is poor.
However, since few people memorize the maker and model type of such eyeglasses, it is difficult to select the same lens in the case where a new lens is put in an eyeglass frame when eyeglasses are damaged,
In addition, a multiplicity of eyeglass types have been employed in correspondence with places where eyeglasses are used. For example, there are sport types, driving types, and indoor types (far-near type, intermediate near point type, near point type, far point type, etc.). However, the number of cases where it is unknown which type of eyeglasses is currently used is not few. For example, in the case where eyeglasses currently being used is an intermediate near point type, if the eyeglasses are used in driving a vehicle due to no knowledge of the eyeglass type, there will be cases where the driver will feel eye fatigue. In such a case, it cannot be judged what cause gives rise to eye fatigue.


The Plastic Magnetic Sweeper is designed with lightweight plastic. Its overall weight is eighteen pounds or less. The load release system is contained inside handle. The Plastic Magnetic Sweeper is light weight for easy storage. The Plastic Magnetic Sweeper has a removeble wheel support bracket that is optional for use. The overall design of this tool is new to the art of removing metal objects from floors.

The Plastic hand operated Magnetic Sweeper has always been needed in such businesses as: Sheet Metal Shops, Factory Assembly Plants, Roofing Industry, Recycling Plants, and Parking Lots. Out of these industries, the Plastic Lightweight Magnetic Sweeper was born.
Due to the need of maintaining a clean and safe environment in these industries, this tool was developed. Within the last 100 years, there has not been an invention such as the Plastic Lightweight Hand Operated Magnetic Sweeper.
The Plastic Lightweight Hand Operated Magnetic Sweeper is the solution to todays problem of cleaning areas of small pieces of metal objects. The Plastic Lightweight Hand Magnetic Sweeper enables a person to get into small places to get metal. It is also very light so that a person can lift steel metal objects off the floor. Its weight is only eighteen pounds or less. It also allows a person the ability to pick-up metal and release metal with the push and pull of the handle. It also has two inch rubber wheel casters and a eleven inch roller bar which helps it to roll across the floor easily. This is optional for this tool.


A miniature zoom lens comprises a front housing, a rear housing communicated with the front housing to form a receiving space, a connecting plate for connecting the front housing with the rear housing, a guiding module provided with at least one guiding rod, and a lens module provided with at least one lens assembly. The guiding rod passes through the lens assembly to position the lens assembly with each other in the receiving space. The lens assembly has at least one supporting base formed with at least one lens connecting portion, and at least one lens unit screw-connected to the lens connecting portion. The supporting base has an outer peripheral surface formed with a plurality of permanent magnets while the receiving space of the front and rear housings has an inner peripheral surface mounted with at least one driving coil corresponding to the permanent magnets and spaced apart from each other in a predetermined interval. The driving coil is powered to generate an electro-magnetic force interacting with the permanent magnets to actuate the lens assembly to linearly move relative to the guiding rod so that the lens assembly is used as a zoom mechanism for adjusting the focus of the lens unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical zoom lens, and more particularly to a miniature zoom lens which has at least one driving coil generating an electromagnetic force interacting with at least one permanent magnet of at least one lens assembly so as to actuate the lens assembly to linearly move relative to a guiding rod for adjusting the focus of at least one lens unit on the lens assembly.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Referring now to FIG. 1, a mechanically actuated zoom mechanism 90 used in a conventional camera device is illustrated, which is provided with a precise driving unit 91 with high manufacturing cost (for ex., stepping motor, ultrasonic motor, piezoelectric switch, and etc.), a lens unit 92, a supporting base 93 supporting the lens unit 92 and actuated by the precise driving unit 91, and other driving elements so as to complicate the entire structure of the conventional camera device and the assembling steps thereof while being disadvantageous to reduce the volume, the manufacturing cost, and the power consumption thereof.
In early stages, conventional photographic technologies were very complicated, and only provided manual functions for manually metering, zooming, and film-winding so as to create problems in imprecision. Especially, during an important occasion, if the conventional photographic technologies only take an unclear picture of an important view, the important view might passed away and not be taken another clear picture again so that the experience of a photographer is important to the quality of photograph. In the 1950's and 1960's, mechanical automation of photographic technology was developed, and more and more people believe that automation thereof is a future trend of development and research in the photographic field. The originally developed technologies of automatically metering and film-winding are evidence for automation of photographic technology, wherein a key for accelerating the velocity of a camera shutter is an "automatic zoom system" which plays a critical role in development and research of the photographic industry.
As photographic technology advanced, the conventional camera device is improved to provide a novel product with higher resolution and more compact volume for fulfilling requirements of customers in the modern information society. However, a mechanical zoom lens actuated by a stepping motor has a larger volume which can not be further reduced to become a more compact volume so as to cause a limit to improve the mechanical zoom lens. In another aspect, an electromagnetic technology is developed, and it provides an electrically feedback control system to control the offset of a voice coil motor (VCM) which is a more compact actuator used to replace the conventional stepping motor. Furthermore, various electrical mechanisms having different functions are integrated into a unit. For example, a photographic mechanism is selectively integrated into a mobile phone with a telecommunicating function, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or a notebook computer so that the mobile phone, the PDA, or the notebook computer will be able to further provide a photographic function. Thereby, when the integrated mechanisms as described above are mounted in a common device using a common power supply, it is important to develop how to reduce the entire volume, the manufacturing cost, and the power consumption thereof so as to be advantageous to increase the standby time and the communicating time of the integrated mechanisms if mounted in the same device using the same power supply of equal capacity. It is therefore tried by the inventor to develop a miniature zoom lens to solve the problems existed in the conventional mechanically optical zoom lens.


The characteristics of a heat radiation member used in a semiconductor module are improved.

A technique using a heat radiation member over which fins are arranged (heat sink) is known as one of techniques for cooling a semiconductor element which generates heat at the time of operation. The semiconductor element is thermally connected to such a heat radiation member to form a semiconductor module. Traditionally, a metal material, such as copper or aluminum, which has good thermal conductivity has widely been used for making a heat radiation member.
With a heat radiation member made mainly of copper, high heat radiation efficiency is obtained. However, the entire weight is heavy and the cost is high. Accordingly, a composite heat radiation member formed by integrating a member of copper with a member of aluminum which has the advantage in cost or fabrication is also proposed.

Semiconductor module and heat radiation member

Abstract: A heat radiation member (10A) including an aluminum type member (20) which contains aluminum and a copper type member (30) which contains copper, which is embedded in the aluminum type member (20), and sides of which are enclosed by the aluminum type member (20) is formed. A semiconductor element is thermally bonded to the heat radiation member (10A) to fabricate a semiconductor module. The heat radiation member (10A) includes the aluminum type member (20) and the copper type member (30). As a result, it is possible to realize light weight while ensuring certain heat radiation. In addition, the copper type member (30) is enclosed by the aluminum type member (20). Accordingly, the strength of the heat radiation member (10A) can be increased.