An electromagnetic flow meter provided with a resin lining portion has a lining locking frame composed of a cylindrical plate with openings and a plurality of belt shaped ring plates. The cylindrical plate with openings is provided with not less than two cutout portions from an end which are provided alternately from the both ends in the pipe axis direction and so as to lap in the pipe axis direction. A first gap is provided between the inner face of the measuring pipe and the outer circumference face of the cylindrical plate with openings. The resin to be lined is filled between the measuring pipe and the lining locking frame via gaps formed by the cutout portions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electromagnetic flow meter, and more particularly to an electromagnetic flow meter provided with a measuring pipe to flow fluid to be measured in which a resin lining portion is lined by pressure molding.
2. Description of the Background
An electromagnetic flow meter generates a magnetic field in a measuring pipe by flowing current in a coil, and detects a magnitude of an electromotive force generated according to the dielectric constant of the fluid flowing in the magnetic field so as to measure a flow rate. At the inner face of the measuring pipe of such an electromagnetic flow meter, the lining is performed for insulation, by resin such as fluorine contained resin and polyurethane resin and so on.
As a resin lining method of the electromagnetic flow meter, a method called transfer molding is known, for example. In this method, a die is fitted on both ends and an inner portion of the measuring pipe, and these are heated to an approximately melting point of the resin to be lined, and then the melted resin is pressurized and inpoured in gaps between the measuring pipe and the die.
In addition, as another resin lining method, a method called mold forming or injection molding is known. In this method, a die is fitted on both ends and an inner portion of the measuring pipe, and these are heated but not to an approximately melting point of the resin to be lined, and then the melted resin is pressurized and inpoured in gaps between the measuring pipe and the die.
Further, as another resin lining method, a method is known further in which a die is fitted on both ends and an inner portion of the measuring pipe, pellets of the resin to be lined are preliminarily inserted in gaps between the measuring pipe and the die, these are heated till the resin pellets to be lined melt in the gaps between the measuring pipe and the die, and then the resin is pressurized and molded.
In addition, hereinafter, these three molding methods are called generally as pressure molding methods.
In a conventional electromagnetic flow meter with a measuring pipe in which resin lining is performed, so as to prevent a resin lining portion from peeling off from the measuring pipe in such a case that the inside of the measuring pipe becomes at a negative pressure for the ambient air, a technique is known that the resin is inpoured for lining after a cylindrical plate with openings is pasted on the inner face of the measuring pipe as a reinforcing member.
A following forming method is disclosed (refer to Patent Document 1, for example). That is, a forming method is disclosed in which a tubular body with openings is formed by winding a plate with openings as a reinforcing member to be embedded in the resin in a cylindrical shape so as to be inserted in the measuring pipe, and then spacers are fitted at the outer circumference face of the tubular body with openings, and after the tubular body with openings is inserted and fitted in the measuring pipe, the measuring pipe is coated with resin by mold forming. In the forming method, before mold forming the tubular body with openings, while contacting both ends of the plate with openings tightly in the circumference direction, the plate with openings is displaced in the axis line direction so as to increase the diameter of the tubular body with openings till the outer circumference faces of the spacers contact tightly with the inner circumference face of the measuring pipe to form the tubular body with openings.
In addition, as a technique to prevent a resin lining portion from peeling off from a measuring pipe without using a reinforcing member, a technique is known that dovetail grooves are formed in circumference shapes at the inner face of the measuring pipe, or dovetail grooves are formed at the inner face of the measuring pipe in the axis direction, and the resin is inpoured for lining (refer to Patent Document 2, for example).
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Publication (Kokoku) PH3-124
Patent Document 2: Japanese Utility Model Publication (Kokoku) US61-16493
A forming method of a resin lining of a conventional electromagnetic flow meter will be described with reference to FIGS. 8A, 8B, 8C. FIG. 8A is a diagram to explain a lining structure, and FIG. 8B is a perspective view showing an appearance of a lining locking frame 27 to prevent the lining from peeling off.
A side sectional view of an upper portion from a center of a pipe axis of a measuring pipe 1 in FIG. 8A indicates a state before resin lining. The measuring pipe 1 to flow fluid to be measured is composed of a pipe body 1a, a pair of flanges 1b provided at the end portions of the pipe body 1a, and a pair of internal substance storing boards 1c to store the loading substance such as a coil and so on, which are welded on the outer circumference of the pipe body 1a symmetrically to the center of the pipe axis in the pipe axis direction of the pipe body 1a.
In addition, a side sectional view of a lower portion from the center of the pipe axis in FIG. 8A indicates a state after resin lining to the measuring pipe 1. A resin lining portion 3 to be lined at the inner wall of the measuring pipe is made of an insulating material such as fluorine contained resin and polyurethane resin and so on. In addition, the lining locking frame 27 formed in a cylinder shape of a thin steel plate with a plurality of openings bored is embedded by mold forming.
The lining locking frame 27 is composed of a cylindrical plate with openings 2a and a plurality of belt-like ring plate 2b2 welded around the outer circumference of the cylindrical plate with openings 2a.
The lining locking frame 27 is loaded in the measuring pipe 1 so as to contact the outer face with the inner face of the measuring pipe 1.
Then, a lining molding die not shown is fitted around the measuring pipe 1 loaded with the lining locking frame 27. And the resin lining material is pressure injected from an end of the measuring pipe 1 between the lining molding die and the inner face of the measuring pipe 1. By this, the resin lining material is filled around the lining locking frame 27 via a lot of openings A of the lining locking frame 27, so that the resin lining portion 3 is formed by embedding the lining locking frame 27.
The resin lining portion 3 formed as described above is provided with a structure in which the resin lining portion 3 is locked by the lining locking frame 27 and is enforced, and in addition, the lining portion 3 is made possible to outstand the change in negative pressure and external pressure and is not peeled off easily from the measuring pipe 1.
Next, a problem of forming the resin lining portion 3 of the conventional electromagnetic flow meter constructed as described above will described with reference to FIG. 8C.
Regarding the lining locking frame 27, the belt-like ring plates 2b2 are contacted with, and a few of the belt-like ring plates 2b2 are spot welded to the inner circumference face of the measuring pipe 1. In this case, there is a problem that the diameter of the cylindrical plates with openings 2a made of the thin steel plate and the inner diameter of the measuring pipe 1 are contacted within a prescribed tolerance and are welded so that the cylindrical plates with openings 2a does not float from the inner face of the measuring pipe 1. Regarding this problem, a solving method is disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example.
But in the forming method of the resin lining disclosed in Patent Document 1, there is a problem as described below.
A radial thickness of the resin lining portion 3 is set by providing a prescribed gap x between the cylindrical plate with openings 2a and the measuring pipe 1 at the circumference of the lining locking frame 27 as shown in FIG. 8C. Regarding the gap x, the radial thickness t in the direction perpendicular to the pipe axis is set by a plate thickness t of the belt-like ring plates 2b2, for example.
The resin lining portion 3 is formed mainly by pressure injecting the melted lining resin in the space partitioned by the belt-like ring plates 2b2 from a lot of the openings A of the cylindrical plate with openings 2a. In this time, in order to keep the quality of a uniform strength at each portion of the resin lining portion 3, it is required to form the resin lining portion 3 without including the air bubbles and without remaining residual stress in the lining resin itself caused by the non-uniformity of the pressure at the pressing places.
For the reason, in case of the lining locking frame with a construction disclosed in Patent Document 1, there was a problem that a high level molding technique such as transfer molding or injection molding is required to heat the measuring pipe and the die for mold forming, and in addition, to inpour the lining resin by pressure melting at not less than the prescribed temperature.
In addition, in forming the resin lining according to the electromagnetic flow meter of above-described Patent Document 2, a technique is disclosed to perform lining by trenching a plurality of dovetail grooves extending in the direction of the entire length of the pipe axis along the circumference direction at the inner circumference face of the measuring pipe, so as to prevent the lining resin from peeling off from the measuring pipe.
However, so as to provide a plurality of such dovetail grooves, there is a problem that though it is possible to fabricate the dovetail grooves at the end portions of the measuring pipe, it is difficult to fabricate the dovetail grooves at the central portion of the measuring pipe. In addition, as the lining resin is to be inpoured at the acute portions of the dovetail grooves without including air bubbles, there is a problem after all that a high level molding technique such as transfer molding or injection molding is required.

Electromagnetic flow meter having liner reinforcing plate and a cylindrical plate having cutout portions at the ends


A conveyor belt (11) is formed by coupling multiple chain links 15 aligned in a conveyance direction X. The chain link (15) is provided with multiple recess parts (15a) and first hinge parts (21) protruding in the conveyance direction X from positions between which each of the recess parts (15a) is placed. If some object hits on an outer end of the conveyor belt (11) to apply force to the first hinge part (21), a section including the first hinge part (21) and a bulging part (30) pivots about a fulcrum at an outer base end of the first hinge part (21) to deform this section. In this invention, a point of action where force acts on the conveyor belt (11) and the center of pivotal motion of the first hinge part (21) and the bulging part (30) are determined to be spaced by a relatively short distance.

A conveyor belt is used in a belt conveying device to convey an item. A conveyor belt such as a modular belt disclosed in patent documents 1 to 5 includes multiple balls (free balls) arranged in a vertical direction and a horizontal direction. The multiple balls are attached to the conveyor belt while protruding from a surface of the belt.
FIG. 7 shows an example of a conventional conveyor belt with balls. A conveyor belt 81 includes a belt part 84. The belt part 84 is formed of multiple chain links 82 each provided as an example of belt component. The multiple chain links 82 are aligned in the longitudinal direction of the belt parallel to a conveyance direction X. Each chain link 82 is arranged in a manner such that the longitudinal direction of the chain link 82 agrees with a width direction Y crossing the conveyance direction X. The belt part 84 is formed by coupling the multiple chain links 82 through a pin 83 in a manner that allows pivotal motion of the chain links 82. Each chain link 82 is provided with multiple recess parts 82a spaced at substantially constant intervals in the longitudinal direction of the chain link 82. The recess part 82a is formed in a manner such that an opening end of the recess part 82a is pointed toward a downstream side of the conveyance direction X. A ball unit 86 that holds a ball 85 in a manner that allows rotation of the ball 85 is attached to the recess part 82a. For example, a conveying device is formed by placing the conveyor belt 81 with balls on a driving mechanism that controls rotation of the ball 85. This conveying device has the function of conveying an item at double speed and the function of changing a direction of conveyance of an item that are carried out by controlling the rotation of the ball 85 with the driving mechanism.
The chain link 82 has one first hinge part 87 on each of opposite lateral sides of the recess part 82a. Each first hinge part 87 extends in a direction opposite to the direction in which the recess part 82a is recessed, specifically, in the conveyance direction X. The chain link 82 is provided with multiple second hinge parts 88 at its rear edge to be spaced at substantially constant intervals in the longitudinal direction of the chain link 82. Each second hinge part 88 protrudes from a position corresponding to the recess part 82a of the chain link 82.
Two adjacent chain links 82 are attached to each other while the second hinge part 88 is inserted between a pair of first hinge parts 87. The two adjacent chain links 82 are pivotally coupled to each other through the pin 83 inserted in respective pin holes of these chain links 82.
A first hinge part 87 among the multiple first hinge parts 87 placed an end portion of the chain link 82 is narrower than the other first hinge parts 87. This is done with the intention of placing the first hinge parts 87 adjacent to each other in the width direction Y at an interval the same as an interval between the other adjacent first hinge parts 87.

Conveyor belt and belt constituent members


A translational inkjet printhead servicing station for an inkjet printing mechanism, particularly one having imaging printheads for creating photographic quality images, includes a collapsible spittoon having a mouth that collapses during a portion of the servicing routine to save space. Spit ledges extend into the spittoon mouth to capture ink droplets and ink aerosol by-products, with the captured ink draining from the ledges into a catch basin below. The service station includes a printhead wiper blade having a tip that removes ink residue from the printhead. A dual-direction wiper cleaning system removes liquid components of the ink residue from the wiping tip in two opposing directions. In one direction, the liquid ink residue is pulled away from the wiper tip under capillary forces created by a series of grooves formed on the surface of the wiper blade, while in the opposite direction, the liquid components are absorbed off the tip by a wiper scraper. When the spittoon is collapsed, the wiper resides within a region previously occupied by the spittoon when open.

Inkjet printing mechanisms use pens which shoot drops of liquid colorant, referred to generally herein as "ink," onto a page. Each pen has a printhead formed with very small nozzles through which the ink drops are fired. To print an image, the printhead is propelled back and forth across the page, shooting drops of ink in a desired pattern as it moves. The particular ink ejection mechanism within the printhead may take on a variety of different forms known to those skilled in the art, such as those using piezo-electric or thermal printhead technology. For instance, two earlier thermal ink ejection mechanisms are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,278,584 and 4,683,481, both assigned to the present assignee, Hewlett-Packard Company. In a thermal system, a barrier layer containing ink channels and vaporization chambers is located between a nozzle orifice plate and a substrate layer. This substrate layer typically contains linear arrays of heater elements, such as resistors, which are energized to heat ink within the vaporization chambers. Upon heating, an ink droplet is ejected from a nozzle associated with the energized resistor. By selectively energizing the resistors as the printhead moves across the page, the ink is expelled in a pattern on the print media to form a desired image (e.g., picture, chart or text).
To clean and protect the printhead, typically a "service station" mechanism is mounted within the printer chassis so the printhead can be moved over the station for maintenance. For storage, or during non-printing periods, the service stations usually include a capping system which seals the printhead nozzles from contaminants and drying. To facilitate priming, some printers have priming caps that are connected to a pumping unit to draw a vacuum on the printhead. During operation, partial occlusions or clogs in the printhead are periodically cleared by firing a number of drops of ink through each of the nozzles in a clearing or purging process known as "spitting." The waste ink is collected at a spitting reservoir portion of the service station, known as a "spittoon." After spitting, uncapping, or occasionally during printing, most service stations have a flexible wiper that wipes the printhead surface to remove ink residue, as well as any media dust or other debris that has collected on the printhead.
Servicing pens has proved quite challenging, with one suitable service station design being a rotary device first sold in the Hewlett-Packard Company's DeskJet.RTM. 850C color inkjet printer, and later in the DeskJet.RTM. 820C and 870C color inkjet printers. This rotary device mounted the wipers, primers and caps on a motor-operated tumbler. A wiper scrapper and a primer blotter were pivoted to the service station frame and rotated into contact with their associated tumbler appliances by a camming mechanism. The wiper scraper had a series of ink wicking channels which drew liquid ink residue away from the scraper tip and toward the absorbent primer blotter pad. These pens were wiped using an orthogonal wiping technique, where the wipers ran along the length of the linear nozzle arrays, wicking ink along the arrays from one nozzle to the next to serve as a solvent to break down ink residue accumulated on the nozzle plate. This rotary service station used a dual wiper blade system, with special contours on each wiper blade tip to facilitate this wicking action and subsequent cleaning of the orifice plate.
A variety of different spittoon designs have been used in the past, including single-pen and multi-pen designs, large shallow designs, and tall narrow designs having a chimney through which ink was spit for collection below the other service station components. All of these earlier designs used a fixed rigid geometry for the spittoon, which adversely impacted the overall size of the printing mechanism because most spittoons were located between the printzone and the other servicing components, increasing the overall printer width, resulting in additional cost being added to the printer, in both material and shipping costs. Moreover, this greater printer width increased the overall printer size, yielding a larger "footprint," that is, a larger working space was required to receive the printing mechanism, which was undesirable to many consumers.
Early inkjet printers used a single monochromatic pen, typically carrying black ink. Later generations of inkjet printing mechanisms used a black pen which was interchangeable with a tri-color pen, typically one carrying the colors of cyan, magenta and yellow within a single cartridge. The tri-color pen was capable of printing a "process" or "composite" black image, by depositing a drop of cyan, a drop of magenta and a drop of yellow all at the same location. Unfortunately, images printed with the composite black usually had rough edges, and the overall image, even the color portions, often had a non-black hue or cast, depending for instance, upon the type of paper used.
The next generation of printers further enhanced the images by using a dual or quad pen system. The dual pen printers provided a black pen along with a tri-color pen carrying cyan, magenta and yellow ink, with both pens being mounted in a single carriage. The quad pen printers carried four cartridges in a single carriage, while the quad pen plotters used four separate cartridges, with the four pens each carrying one color, black, cyan, magenta or yellow. These dual and quad pen devices printed crisp, clear black text while also providing full color images. Unfortunately, both the dual and quad pen printing systems produced images, such as photographic images, which had a "grainy" appearance. Inkjet printing mechanisms are known as "binary drop devices" because they form images by either placing a drop of ink on the print medium or by not firing. Not firing a droplet leaves either the print medium, or a previously printed drop(s), exposed to view. Unfortunately, such binary drop devices give inherently grainy images due to the visual "step" between the "drop on" and "drop off" regions. For example, when printing a light colored portion of an image, such as a flesh tone, yellow dots were printed and lightly interspersed with magenta dots. When viewed at a distance, these magenta dots provided a flesh tone appearance; however, upon closer inspection the magenta dots were quite visible, giving the image an undesirable grainy appearance. This grainy appearance was similar to the graininess seen in newspaper photographs, or in photos taken using the wrong speed ("ASA" or "ISO" rating) of photographic film in low light conditions.
To provide consumers with near photographic image quality, as well as crisp black text and line art, an imaging inkjet cartridge system was developed for an inkjet printing mechanism, such as the model 693 DeskJet.RTM. inkjet printer sold by the Hewlett-Packard Company of Palo Alto, Calif., the present assignee. Here, a multi-pen carriage held either a tri-chamber full color (e.g. cyan, magenta and yellow) cartridge and a monochrome (e.g. black) cartridge, or the monochrome cartridge was replaced with an imaging inkjet cartridge. While the full color cartridge carried full colorant concentrations of inks, the imaging cartridge carried ink formulations having reduced colorant concentrations, such as cyan and magenta, with either a full or a reduced colorant concentration of black ink. Of course, these new cartridges brought new challenges to meet their servicing needs.

Translational service station for imaging inkjet printheads


Semiconductor lasers for respective wavelengths have window regions with different lengths so as to obtain optimum FFPs for emitted light of the respective wavelengths, and thus dependence on optical output can be equal between the wavelengths, facilitating the design of an optical system.

Digital video discs (DVDs) allowing high-density recording with a large capacity and DVD devices for reproducing DVDs have been commercially available at present and received attention as products growing in demand. Since DVDs allow high-density recording, AlGaInP semiconductor lasers having an emission wavelength of 650 nm are used as laser light sources for recording/reproducing DVDs. Thus, the optical pickups of conventional DVD devices cannot reproduce compact discs (CDs) and Mini Discs (MDs) which are reproduced using AlGaAs semiconductor lasers having an emission wavelength of 780 nm.
In order to solve this problem, an optical pickup is used in which laser chips are incorporated into separate packages which include an AlGaInP semiconductor laser having an emission wavelength in the 650 nm band and an AlGaAs semiconductor laser having an emission wavelength in the 780 nm band. However, the optical pickup including the two packages of the AlGaInP semiconductor laser and the AlGaAs semiconductor laser has a large size, increasing the size of the DVD device. In order to solve this problem, an integrated semiconductor laser is provided in which two or more kinds of semiconductor lasers have different emission wavelengths and a light-emitting device structure is formed of semiconductor layers grown on the same substrate.
Referring to FIG. 13, such a conventional multi-wavelength semiconductor laser will be discussed below.
FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing the structure of a conventional multi-wavelength semiconductor laser.
As shown in FIG. 13, in the conventional multi-wavelength semiconductor laser, an AlGaAs semiconductor laser LD1 having an emission wavelength in the 700 nm band (for example, 780 nm) and an AlGaInP semiconductor laser LD2 having an emission wavelength in the 600 nm band (for example, 650 nm) are integrated separately on the same n-type GaAs substrate 201. The n-type GaAs substrate 201 is, for example, a substrate having a plane direction (100) or a substrate having a principle plane is off from the plane (100) by, for example, 5 to 15°.
In the AlGaAs semiconductor laser LD1, an n-type GaAs buffer layer 211, an n-type AlGaAs clad layer 212, an active layer 213 having a single quantum well (SQW) structure or a multiple quantum well (MQW) structure, a p-type AlGaAs clad layer 214, and a p-type GaAs cap layer 215 are sequentially stacked on the n-type GaAs substrate 201. The upper part of the p-type AlGaAs clad layer 214 and the p-type GaAs cap layer 215 are shaped like a stripe extending in one direction. An n-type GaAs current constriction layer 216 is provided on both sides of the stripe and forms a current constriction structure. On the stripe-like p-type GaAs cap layer 215 and the n-type GaAs current constriction layer 216, a p-side electrode 217 is in Ohmic contact with the p-type GaAs cap layer 215. The p-side electrode 217 is, for example, a Ti/Pt/Au electrode.
In the AlGaInP semiconductor laser LD2, an n-type GaAs buffer layer 221, an n-type AlGaInP clad layer 222, an active layer 223 having an SQW structure or an MQW structure, a p-type AlGaInP clad layer 224, a p-type GaInP intermediate layer 225, and a p-type GaAs cap layer 226 are sequentially stacked on the n-type GaAs substrate 201. The upper part of the p-type AlGaInP clad layer 224, the p-type GaInP intermediate layer 225, and the p-type GaAs cap layer 226 are shaped like a stripe extending in one direction. An n-type GaAs current constriction layer 227 is provided on both sides of the stripe and forms a current constriction structure. On the stripe-like p-type GaAs cap layer 226 and the n-type GaAs current constriction layer 227, a p-type electrode 228 is in Ohmic contact with the p-type GaAs cap layer 226. The p-type electrode 228 is, for example, a Ti/Pt/Au electrode.
On the back side of the n-type GaAs substrate 201, an n-side electrode 229 is in Ohmic contact with the n-type GaAs substrate 201. The n-side electrode 229 is, for example, an AuGe/Ni electrode or an In electrode.
In this case, the p-side electrode 217 of the AlGaAs semiconductor laser LD1 and the p-side electrode 228 of the AlGaInP semiconductor laser LD2 are respectively soldered on heat sinks H1 and H2 which are electrically separated from each other on a package base 300.
In the conventional multi-wavelength semiconductor laser configured thus, the AlGaAs semiconductor laser LD1 can be driven by passing current between the p-side electrode 217 and the n-side electrode 229 and the AlGaInP semiconductor laser LD2 can be driven by passing current between the p-side electrode 228 and the n-side electrode 229. Laser light having a wavelength of the 700 nm band (for example, 780 nm) can be extracted by driving the AlGaAs semiconductor laser LD1, and laser light having a wavelength of the 600 nm band (for example, 650 nm) can be extracted by driving the AlGaInP semiconductor laser LD2. The AlGaAs semiconductor laser LD1 and the AlGaInP semiconductor laser LD2 can be selectively driven by the switching of external switches and the like.
As described above, the conventional multi-wavelength semiconductor laser has the AlGaAs semiconductor laser LD1 having an emission wavelength in the 700 nm band and the AlGaInP semiconductor laser LD2 having an emission wavelength in the 600 nm band, and thus laser light for DVDs and laser light for CDs and MDs can be separately extracted. Therefore, DVDs, CDs, and MDs can be all reproduced or recorded by installing the multi-wavelength semiconductor laser as a laser light source in the optical pickup of a DVD device. The AlGaAs semiconductor laser LD1 and the AlGaInP semiconductor laser LD2 form a laser structure including the semiconductor layers grown on the same n-type GaAs substrate 201, so that only a single package of the integrated semiconductor laser is necessary. Thus the optical pickup can be minimized, reducing the size of the DVD device.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


The present invention relates to a clipping machine for producing sausage-shaped products by filling a flowable filling material into a tubular or bag-shaped packaging casing and closing said packaging casing by at least one closure means, the clipping machine comprises a filling tube, having a central axis and a filling outlet, for feeding said filling material in a feeding direction via said filling outlet into said packaging casing, a displacement device for gathering the filled packaging casing and for forming a plait-like portion thereto, at least substantially free from filling material and a clipping device for applying at least one closure means to said plait-like portion. The displacement device of the inventive clipping machine is arranged in a replacement assembly group, wherein the group is removably arrangeable at the clipping machine in an engagement position, in which the replacement assembly group is coupled to the clipping machine for production process.

The present invention relates to a clipping machine for producing sausage-shaped products according to the preamble of independent claim 1 as well as a replacement assembly group comprising a displacer device for gathering a filled packaging casing for production of sausage-shaped products according to the preamble of independent claim 15.
In particular, the present invention relates to a clipping machine for producing sausage-shaped products, like sausages, by filling a flowable filling material into a tubular or bag-shaped packaging casing and closing said packaging casing by at least one closure means, like a closure clip. The clipping machine comprises a filling tube, having a central axis and a filling outlet, for feeding said filling material in a feeding direction via said filling outlet into said packaging casing. The filling machine further comprises a displacement device for gathering the filled packaging casing and for forming a plait-like portion thereto, at least substantially free from filling material. Furthermore, the clipping machine comprises a clipping device for applying at least one closure means to the plait-like portion.
Moreover, the present invention relates to a replacement assembly group comprising a displacement device for gathering a filled packaging casing for production of sausage-shaped products and for forming a plait-like portion thereto and a coupling device.
In the practice, it is known that, e.g. in the production of sausage-shaped products like sausages, a filling material is fed by a filling machine through a filling tube of a clipping machine into a tubular casing material, which is stored on the filling tube and which is closed at its front end, referred to the feeding direction, by a closing clip. The tubular casing material is pulled off from the filling tube while being filled. After a predetermined volume of filling material is filled into said tubular casing material, a displacement device with at least a first and a second pair of displacement elements forms a plait-like portion of the tubular casing material, and the clipping machine places and closes at least one closing clip at the plait-like portion forming the back end of the sausage-shaped product just produced and the front end of the next sausage-shaped product to be produced by respective closing tools which are reversibly movable towards the plait-like portion. After that the sausage-shaped product just produced, is separated from the remaining casing material by a knife or the like of a cutting device of the clipping machine and is transferred to a storage device or another machine for the next producing step.
Moreover, it is known to produce sausage-shaped products, in particular sausages, having different kinds of cross-sections, e.g. circular or non-circular cross-section, like a rectangular cross-section or a cross-section with at least two flattened side surfaces. Beyond that the sausage-shaped products to be produced may also vary in the dimension of its cross-section, e.g. diameter, height or width.
For shifting production for sausage-shaped products to sausage-shaped products with different cross-section and/or dimension, the clipping machine has to be reconfigured by replacing at least the displacement elements of the displacement device. For this operation, the clipping machine has to be stopped, fixation means of each displacement element detached, the actual displacement elements removed, the replacement displacement elements installed and secured by the fixation means. Furthermore, in many cases the clipping device has to be adjusted or replaced as well.
Accordingly, the replacement procedure of the displacement elements bears two major problems. Firstly, the procedure requires the operator to use both hands, e.g. for simultaneously holding and securing the respective displacement element. Secondly, the accessibility of the displacement elements is often limited, due to the position of the displacement elements and/or other machine parts, e.g. protective sheets, hence, constraining and slowing down the replacement procedure. Beyond that, the amount of work steps of the replacement procedure makes the whole procedure extremely time-consuming. As a matter of fact, the clipping machine must remain shut down and cannot produce during the replacement procedure. However, idleness of production machines reduces the overall productivity and increases the production costs consequently.
Hence, it is an object of the present invention to provide a clipping machine and a replacement assembly group, with which the above mentioned drawbacks can be overcome, in particular with which at least the displacement elements can be replaced one-handed and with significantly reduced setup time.

Clipping machine with replaceable replacement assembly group


A circuit and design structure for a streaming digital data filter embodied in a machine readable medium, the design structure including: a data processing unit and a pointer processing unit, the data processing unit and the pointer unit connected to a control logic; the pointer processing unit consisting of n serially connected pointer processing stages from a first to a last pointer processing stage, each pointer processing stage except for the first and last processing stages of the pointer processing unit including a pointer register and a multiplexer, wherein n is a positive integer greater than 2; the data processing unit consisting of n serially connected data processing stages from a first data processing stage to a last data processing stage, each data processing stage including a multiplexer, a data register and a comparator; and one or more filter output stages connected to the data processing unit.

Digital filters are used to modify digital data streams and find wide use in picture and video processing for such process as, for example, noise filtering. Digital filters find use in other applications as well (e.g. digital signal processing). A problem with existing digital filters is the delay they insert in the data stream because they take time to process the data. When large amounts of data are being processes, as, for example, in video applications these delays can be significant, particularly when video data has been encoded in multi-dimensional formats and several types of information must be filtered and subsequently processed and coordinated for display on a video device or used for other analysis. In video applications, these delays can manifest themselves in delays in display when video equipment such as satellite and cable set-top boxes are operating. Therefore, there is an ongoing need for faster digital filters.

Circuit and design structure for a streaming digital data filter

International Business Machines Corporation


Presented herein are altered polymerase enzymes for improved incorporation of nucleotides and nucleotide analogues, in particular altered polymerases that maintain high fidelity under reduced incorporation times, as well as methods and kits using the same.

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology relies on DNA polymerases as a critical component of the sequencing process. Reduction of the time for sequencing a template while maintaining high fidelity is desirable. Reducing each cycle of a sequencing by synthesis (SBS) process is a useful step to achieving a shorter sequencing run time. One approach to reduce cycle time is to reduce the time of the incorporation step. However, while reductions in incorporation time could offer significant improvement to the overall run time, they typically do so at the expense of fidelity. For instance, phasing rates, pre-phasing rates, and/or bypass rates increase, and as a consequence error rate is increased. At low error rates, during a sequencing run most template molecules in a cluster terminate in the same labeled nucleotide and the signal is clear. In contrast, at reduced fidelity, during a sequencing run an increasing number of template molecule in a cluster terminate in the incorrect labeled nucleotide and the signal can become too noisy to accurately determine which nucleotide was incorporated.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Polymerases, compositions, and methods of use


An ink-jet recording ink is disclosed. The ink contains colored particles each composed for Resin A containing a colorant, or colored particles each comprising a core composed of Resin A containing a colorant and a shell composed of Resin B covering the core, a water miscible solvent and water, and absorption coefficient “a” of the ink as itself and absorption coefficient “b” of the ink in which the colorant is dissolved satisfy the relation of 0.50≦a/b≦0.95.

In the ink-jet recording, micro droplets of an ink are filed by various driving principles to record images and characters. The ink-jet recording method has merits such as that the high speed, low noise and multi-color recording can be easily attained.
The ink-jet recording using a dye ink is spread accompanied with nearing the image quality to that of silver salt photograph and the lowering of the price according to the recent progress of the technology.
The dye is soluble in a solvent, and the dye molecular forms color in a state of a molecular or a cluster. Accordingly, the absorption spectrum is sharp and the color is highly pure and clear since the surroundings of the molecules are similar with each other. The ink-jet image with high transparent feeling and clear hue can be obtained by the dye ink since granular pattern caused by the presence of particles is not formed and scattered or reflected light is not occurred. Moreover such the ink has a high reliability with respect to that the blocking of the printer is difficultly occurred. Thus the dye ink has been most commonly used.
On the other hand, the dye ink has a drawback such as that the color fastness is low because the reducing of the number of the molecules directly reflects to the color density when the molecule is decomposed by a reaction such as photochemical reaction. The image recorded by the ink-jet using the dye ink is unavoidably limited in the use and degraded in the quality since the ink is an aqueous solution of a dye and easily spread on the recording medium even though high image quality can be obtained. The dye ink further has a problem that the dye ink is permeable into the recording medium so that high density difficultly can be obtained compared with an ink using a pigment.
The pigment ink, in which the pigment having high light fastness is used as the colorant, is applied for the use requiring an image with high fastness. However, the pigment ink is inferior in the color reproducibility to the dye ink since the pigment exists in a state of pigment particles. Therefore, the pigment more easily scatters light compared with the dye and gives the image with low transparent feeling.
As the means for solving the above-mentioned problems of the aqueous ink using the water-soluble dye, addition of fine resin particles such as emulsion and latex has been investigated. Japanese Patent Publication Open to Public Inspection, hereinafter referred to as JP O.P.I. Publication, No. 55-18418 describes a proposal relating to a recording medium for ink-jet recording in which latex defined as "a kind of colloid liquid formed by dispersing a component such as rubber and resin by a emulsifying agent in a state of fine particle in water". An amount of latex two times or more of the mount of the dye is necessary to improvement the light fastness and the spread prevention by the addition of the latex such as that proposed in the publication. Consequently, the stability of the dispersion and the release of the ink are difficultly held and the image equal to that by the silver salt photography in the granularity and the glossiness cannot be obtained yet.
Inks for ink-jet recording containing aqueous dispersion of resin colored by an oil-soluble dye or a hydrophobic dye are proposed for solving the problems of low image density and the low light fastness of the aqueous ink using the water-soluble dye. For example, JP O.P.I. Publication Nos. 55-139471, 58-45272, 3-250069, 8-253720, 8-92513, 8-183920 and 2001-11347 each proposes an ink using emulsion polymerized polymer or dispersed polymer particle each dyed by the oil-soluble dye. In such the ink using the colored fine particles, the effects of the ink is reduced when the dye is at the surface or outside of the particle. Moreover, problems of the reducing of the image glossiness, increasing of image spreading and lowering of the adhesiveness between the recording medium and the image formed thereon are newly found when the recorded image is stored for a long period under high humidity.
As the method for raising the penetration speed of the ink into the ink-jet recording medium and improving the anti-spreading ability and the glossiness, it has been known to use a solvent capable of lowering the dynamic surface tension of the ink such as triethylene glycol monobutyl ether. However, in the aqueous ink containing the colored particle which is comprised of colorant included in the resin, the solvent such as triethylene glycol monobutyl ether is penetrated into the resin constituting the colored fine particle so as to solve out the colorant included in the resin to the aqueous medium of the ink. Therefore, lowering of the image density, blocking of the ink-jet head, adhering of the recording medium surface, lowering of the penetration speed of the ink into the recording medium, overflowing of the ink and occurring of unevenness of the image are caused. Accordingly, the using amount of the solvent capable of lowering the surface dynamic tension of the ink is inevitably limited.
As above-mentioned, the aqueous ink containing the colored fine particle using the oil-soluble dye or the pigment has various problems and is required to further improvement even though it has latent possibility of solving the problems of the usual aqueous ink using the water-soluble dye or the pigment dispersion.

Ink for ink-jet recording and image forming method


A folding agricultural implement including a center frame section, a plurality of wing sections and first and second hinge systems. The plurality of wing sections are positioned on opposite lateral sides of the center frame section, and include an inner wing section, a middle wing section and an outer wing section, each outer wing section being configured to fold laterally inward and over a respective middle wing section. Each middle wing section is configured to fold laterally inward and over a respective inner wing section. The first hinge system is coupled to both the outer wing section and the middle wing section. The first hinge system having a first pivot axis. The second hinge system is coupled to the middle wing section and the inner wing section, and has a second pivot axis that is vertically higher than the first pivot axis when the implement is in an unfolded state.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to agricultural implements, and, more particularly, to agricultural tillage implements.
2. Description of the Related Art
Farmers utilize a wide variety of tillage implements to prepare soil for planting. Some such implements may include two or more sections coupled together to perform multiple functions as they are pulled through fields by a tractor. For example, a field cultivator is capable of simultaneously tilling soil and leveling the tilled soil in preparation for planting. A field cultivator has a frame that carries a number of cultivator shanks with shovels at their lower ends for tilling the soil. The field cultivator converts compacted soil into a level seedbed with a consistent depth for providing excellent conditions for planting of a crop. Grass or residual crop material disposed on top of the soil is also worked into the seedbed so that it does not interfere with a seeding implement subsequently passing through the seedbed.
A field cultivator as described above may also include an optional rear auxiliary implement for finishing the seedbed for seeding. For example, a rear auxiliary implement may include a spike tooth harrow, spring tooth harrow, rolling (aka. crumbler) basket, etc., or any combination thereof.
As tillage implements become wider and wider over time, it becomes more difficult to convert the tillage implement from an operating mode to a transport mode, or vice versa, without requiring too much time and difficulty on the part of the operator. It is desirable for the tillage implement to be converted from one mode to the other while the operator remains within the operator cab, through the use of hydraulics or other actuators. It is also desirable for the tillage implement to remain within certain geometric constraints so that it is not necessary to use a separate "escort vehicle" or the like when traveling on public roads.
What is needed in the art is an agricultural implement which can fold, using a hinge system to allow a triple-fold configuration with a wide operating width, e.g., greater than 50 feet, while still being folded remotely to a compact transport position.

Folding agricultural implement hinge system


A bicycle lighting system comprising a dynamo generator, integrated rechargeable batteries and an integrated electronic circuitry, the bicycle being an exemplary embodiment of pedal-driven vehicles provided with standard front and rear lamps. Hitherto known systems operate with conventional dynamos having an efficiency far too low to provide power to energize lamps and simultaneously charge batteries at speeds below 15 kmph. The inventive generator is constructed such that a rotating magnetic-circuit arrangement with a stationary air-core coil and specially defined pole shoes achieve 90% efficiency. At 5 to 7 kmph, at least 4 W energy is available for energizing lamps and rapidly charging batteries. From standstill to approximately 5 kmph, the batteries energize the lamps. The electronic circuitry comprises a converter having a special voltage set-up and voltage set-down function such that for a determinate output voltage, the input voltage can be lesser than, equal to or greater than the determinate output voltage. Above 5 kmph, energy apportioning for energizing lamps and simultaneously charging batteries in ratios of 1-2:1 is rendered possible.

The present invention relates to a bicycle lighting system comprising a dynamo system drivable by a ridden bicycle and mounted thereupon, at least one front light or headlamp and at least one rear light or tail lamp, both of which are supplied with electric power from the dynamo system, and an electronic circuitry which converts the electric power produced by the dynamo system into a regulated direct-current voltage for the purpose of generating light and charging an accumulator or storage battery. The invention also relates to a new and improved generator for general applications, particularly however for use as a bicycle dynamo generator.
Conventional and marketable bicycle lighting systems have to comply, with respect to the electric power and voltage, with the Standards determined by law. At a traveling speed of 15 kilometers per hour and beyond that, these Standards specify a maximum voltage of 7 V for the dynamo output voltage applied to the lamps. In accordance with legal regulations, the minimum value of the output voltage of the dynamo lies between 3 V at 5 kmph and 5.8 V at 15 kmph and--as indicated in FIG. 5a of the annexed drawings--must not fall short of 5.8 V at a speed beyond or better than 15 kmph. On the basis of the aforementioned regulations, present-day or state-of-the-art dynamos allow producing merely 1.4 W power at a bicycle traveling speed of 5 to 6 kmph. If such power or output of present-day conventional dynamos is increased, it would be physically impossible to meet or observe the legally specified maximum voltage of 7 V at 15 kmph or beyond such speed. Only by taking respective load measures would it be possible to prevent exceeding the legally specified maximum value. As a result, the power dissipation or loss would greatly increase and the efficiency would then considerably decrease.
Therefore, conventional bicycle lighting systems cannot be additionally loaded in the lower speed range for the purpose of charging a rechargeable accumulator battery. Only from a traveling speed of approximately 15 kmph, conventional dynamos will generate sufficient power that could be used for charging the rechargeable accumulator battery, the efficiency of these known systems being extremely low when the traveling speed is below the aforementioned speed of 15 kmph. Laterally mounted dynamos have an efficiency of approximately 17% to 24%, roller dynamos can achieve an efficiency of 30% to 35% at the most, and the efficiency of hub dynamos is approximately 40%. When the traveling speed of the bicycle exceeds 15 kmph, the efficiency additionally decreases because of the power draw or consumption while charging the accumulator battery. Under such circumstances, the bicycle rider is obliged to expend additional physical energy for actuating the dynamo.
Those skilled in the art have criticized the aforementioned limitations and drawbacks of prior-art constructions and have realized that conventional dynamos and bicycle lighting systems do not correspond at all with the state of present-day engineering knowledge.


The present invention relates to methods of producing unique varieties of triploid watermelon with diverse rind patterning. More specifically, a new watermelon variety designated ‘Harvest Moon’ is described. ‘Harvest Moon’ is a seedless, spotted watermelon variety with improved flesh quality and deeper red color than traditional spotted watermelon varieties.

All cultivated forms of watermelon belong to the polymorphic species Citrullus lanatus. As a crop, watermelons are grown commercially wherever environmental conditions permit the production of an economically viable yield. Cultivated watermelons grow as annual plants with large, broad leaves. The leaves may be lobed or simple and are typically orbicular to triangular-ovate in shape. The flowers are monoecious, producing both male and female flowers. The flesh color of cultivated watermelons is red, yellow, or white with ovate to oblong strongly compressed seeds that may be brown or white in color. The characterization of the mature fruit can vary widely among varieties of watermelon. Fruits may be round to oblong or elliptical with rind colors varying from dark green to yellow and rind patterning varying widely.
Many changes that occurred with the domestication of the watermelon relate to fruit morphology, with a specialization in fruit shape, size, and flavor. Cultivated watermelons can vary from 5 to 45 pounds, depending on the variety. In the United States, watermelon is grown in at least 44 states, but the principal watermelon growing states are Georgia, Florida, Texas, and California. Asia is the largest producer of watermelon, with 83.4% of the world production in 2011. Fresh watermelons are consumed in many forms, generally fresh, sliced, or as an ingredient in prepared foods. Over 80% of watermelons grown in the United States are triploid seedless varieties, preferred for their ease of consumption, increased yield, and premium market value over diploid seeded varieties.
Citrullus lanatus is a member of the family Cucurbitaceae. The Cucurbitaceae is a family of about 90 genera and 700 to 760 species, mostly of the tropics. The family includes melons, pumpkins, squashes, gourds, cucumber, loofah and many weeds. The genus Citrullus, to which the watermelon belongs, consists of 4 species, including C. colocynthis, C. rehmii, and C. ecirrhosus, all of which may be crossed with each other successfully. The watermelon is believed to be native to southern Africa and has been cultivated there for about 4000 years.
Regular, seeded watermelon has eleven pairs of chromosomes (2n=2x=22). There also exist tetraploid varieties, which have 44 chromosomes in their somatic cells (2n=4x=44). Popular "seedless" varieties are triploid, meaning they have 33 chromosomes in their somatic cells (3x=33) and are derived from a cross between male diploid and female tetraploid parents. Triploid plants are unable to produce viable gametes; therefore, when triploid plants are grown in the presence of diploid plants, the triploid plants produce seedless fruit. These seedless varieties may sometimes produce fruit with small, edible white ovules, similar to those in immature cucumbers.
Watermelon is an important and valuable field crop. Watermelon may have a wide variety of rind colorations and patterns, from solid green to yellow, to striped, mottled, or spotted. Generally, these traits are naturally-occurring, and fruit exhibiting such patterning may or may not contain the desired attributes of a high-yield, high-quality watermelon suitable for commercial production. Thus, there is a need to provide a diverse array of rind patterning for commercially viable fruits.


The present invention relates to an air driven and manual rachet wrench. The wrench of the present invention includes a rotor which is rotated by way of an oscillatory member. The oscillatory member, in turn, is driven by way of an air powered drive assembly. A star shaped aperture is centrally formed within the rotor. This aperture is adapted to accept the stems of a variety of sockets. Although the rotor only rotates in one sense, the sockets can be inserted into either of the opposing faces of the rotor. Thus, through changing the face into which the socket is inserted, both clockwise and anti-clockwise socket rotation can be achieved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rachet wrench and more particularly pertains to a rachet wrench which can hold a variety of different sockets in one of two orientations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of a rachet wrenches is known in the prior art. More specifically, ratchets wrenches are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,174,176 to Krivec discloses a reversible rachet wrench with an integrated dual pawl. This wrench includes a drive lug onto which a socket is attached. U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,288 to Anderson discloses a power driven rachet wrench with an associated reciprocal pawl. U.S. Pat. No. 4,722,252 to Fulcher discloses a power driven wrench with a drive stud which accepts conventional sockets. U.S. Pat. No. 4,475,420 to Atkinson discloses a wrench apparatus with an engaging end designed to engage a conventional socket. U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,181 to Tinsley illustrates a compact power wrenching machine. U.S. Pat. No. 4,346,630 to Hanson discloses a rachet wrench with a square item adapted to have a socket fitted thereon. U.S. Pat. No. 4,308,768 to Wagner discloses a ratchet lever with an interchangeable locking ring. U.S. Pat. No. 3,732,756 to Thomasian discloses a ratchet wrench with a socket facing each of its sides. U.S. Pat. No. 3,621,738 to Northcutt discloses a powered ratchet wrench with an associated socket wrench engaging stud. U.S. Pat. No. 3,529,498 to Northcutt discloses a power wrench with an associated stud. U.S. Pat. No. 3,145,594 to Peters discloses a ratchet wrench with a socket projection. U.S. Pat. No. 2,978,081 to Lundin discloses a drive assembly with an associated engaging end. Additionally, U.S. Design Pat. No. 289,135 to Doman and U.S. Design Pat. No. 269,938 to Izumisawa each disclose wrench designs.
Thus, the majority of prior art wrenches include socket engaging studs for cooperation with female socket tools. Additionally, the prior art wrenches employ reciprocal pawls.
In this respect, the rachet wrench of the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art. Specifically, the ratchet wrench of the present invention includes a rotor and associated aperture which function to lockingly engage a male socket stem. Additionally, the socket can be driven in a clockwise sense by positioning the socket in a first rotor face, and in an anti-clockwise sense by inserting the socket in the opposing rotor face. Thus, the need for pivotal pawls, spring tension on reverse handle, reverse levers or other such gearing means, is eliminated.


A clamshell carton wherein the tray includes a partition panel integral with the upper edge of the front wall and folded to overlie the interior of the front wall and a major portion of the bottom panel. The partition panel including a partition section selectively upwardly foldable at an intermediate and preferably central portion of the tray to define two food-receiving compartments therein.

The present invention broadly relates to containers for use in the fast food industry. Such containers, preferably formed of folded paperboard, cardboard and the like, come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Many factors go into the design of such containers including the nature of the food product or products to be received therein, the cost of the material involved, the ease of manufacture and use thereof, the adaptability of the formed container to convenient shipping and storage, and like factors which ultimately result in an economically feasible and practical food container.
One basic form of container is what is commonly referred to as a clamshell or clamshell carton which includes a tray with upwardly and slightly outwardly flaring peripheral walls, and a similarly configured inverted cover, integrally with one of the tray walls and overlying the tray, with appropriate latch means releasably joining the cover to the tray. Such cartons come in many sizes and shapes to accommodate particular foodstuffs.
Other known cartons are provided with internal partitions, dividing the interior thereof into plural compartments, normally to accommodate different foodstuffs in a single carton.


A method for surgically enlarging an arterial lumen totally occluded by a stenotic lesion, and a unique balloon catheter used during that operation. The balloon catheter is generally rod shaped and includes an elongated tubular member having a double central lumen with a proximal end and a distal end and a balloon portion having a concave distal tip smaller in diameter than the proximal tip. The method takes advantage of the catheter design and includes positioning of the catheter in close proximity to a total occlusion and inflating the balloon to form a plaque cleft.

Atherosclerosis is a disease that is characterized by irregularly distributed lipid deposits, called plaque. Plaque is deposited in the lumen or central portion of large and medium-sized arteries and results in a narrowing of the lumen. Atherosclerosis usually occurs in the second or third decade of life and typically affects the entire length of the coronary artery in varying degrees. In some portions of the coronary artery, the arterial lumen exhibits a more severe narrowing called "stenosis." When the stenosis severity reaches across 75-80% of the cross sectional area of the artery, symptoms of myocardial ischemia, the inadequate circulation of blood to the myocardium, the muscular layer of the heart, occur. Myocardial ischemia is sometimes accompanied by angina pectoris, a severe constricting pain in the chest radiating from the chest into the shoulder and down the left arm. Also attendant with the progression from stenosis to total occlusion of the coronary artery are coronary spasms and the formation of intraluminal coronary thrombi or blood clots.
Plaque consists of acellular fibrous tissue, calcified tissue and amorphous debris that includes cholesterol clefts containing extra-cellular lipid, called pultaceous debris. It is known that plaque morphology varies as a function of cross-sectional narrowing of the artery. That is, the amount of plaque increases as the severity of stenosis increases and at times, produces total occlusion of the coronary artery that requires reconstructive revascularization by the traditional method called coronary transluminal angioplasty.
Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), using a balloon catheter was first introduced in the mid-1970's and has become one of the recognized methods for treating obstructed coronary arteries. The procedure is generally performed by making a needle puncture in the patient's groin to gain access to the femoral artery and a sheath or introducer is inserted into the wound. A guidewire is passed through the sheath and routed through the vascular system until the distal end of the wire reaches the coronary ostium, the opening from the ascending aorta into the coronary artery. A guiding catheter is next advanced over the guidewire until its distal end exits over the distal end of the guidewire. A special PTCA wire is then advanced through the guiding catheter into the proximal coronary stump, the area between the ostium and the occlusion, up to the origin of the total occlusion. The physician, by manipulating the proximal end of the wire, attempts to pass it across the stenotic lesion that is obstructing the artery. If the physician successfully manipulates the guidewire past the stenotic lesion, a PTCA balloon angioplasty catheter is passed over the guidewire by feeding the distal end of the balloon catheter over the proximal end of the guidewire and then pushing the balloon catheter over the guidewire until the balloon is adjacent to the stenotic lesion. In position, the balloon is inflated to press the occlusion against the wall of the artery thus restoring patency to the artery.
Frequently, however, the traditional method of transluminal angioplasty using a balloon catheter is not successful because it depends on the ability to insert the guidewire through the stenosis. If the stenosis is so dense that the guidewire cannot be inserted through it, the balloon catheter will also not be able to pass through the stenosis. Rather, the balloon can only be advanced up to the tip of the wire, just outside the occlusion, and then inflated. In this case arterial patency will not be restored.
Another problem associated with the traditional method is due to the fact that total occlusions frequently occur very close to the ostium. Thus, a very short area in which the physician may manipulate the balloon is provided ( the "coronary stump"). PTCA balloons are commercially available in lengths of at least two centimeters. If the balloon is inflated in a coronary stump of less than two centimeters, it may displace the guiding catheter away from the occlusion and into the arterial wall and the balloon may tear.
In addition, conventional balloon catheters have tapered oval ends with a shaft tip extending three to five millimeters beyond the distal portion of the balloon. If the physician is unable to direct the shaft tip to the ideal location relative to the total occlusion, the tip may bend thereby reducing the extent to which the physician may advance it further into the artery. Furthermore, the shaft tip prevents the balloon from entering the most proximal portion of the total occlusion. If the balloon cannot enter the occlusion, it cannot be inflated directly adjacent to the total occlusion. This reduces the chances of restoring patency to the totally occluded artery.
A tapered balloon has the added undesirable effect of allowing the arterial wall in the area adjacent to the total occlusion to recoil, which prevents the development of a cleft. Cleft formation during percutaneous transluminal angioplasty is desirable because it provides the pathway through which the guidewire may be inserted across the total occlusion. This in turn enhances the successful completion of the procedure.
The success rate of the conventional method is further mitigated by abrupt total occlusion of the artery without tapering, total occlusion of the artery of greater than six months duration, stenotic lesions greater than three centimeters in diameter, and occlusion that is flush at the ostium of the vessel that allows no stump with which to start the procedure.
Objects and advantages of the present invention in achieving these and other goals will become apparent from the following descriptions, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein are set forth by way of illustration and example certain embodiments of the present invention.

Apparatus for arterial total occlusion plaque separation


A retainer for attachment to the body of eviscerated poultry having a spine and hocks to hold the hocks together. The retainer includes an anchor element having an arcuate central portion and opposed hooks extending from the central portion for hooking about the spine. An apparatus is provided for holding the hocks together in juxtaposition to each other. At least one connector joins the anchor element to the holding apparatus. In the preferred embodiments, the anchor element, holding apparatus and connector are integrally formed from plastic. The anchor element is generally annular and the central portion thereof is generally planar.

1. Field of the Invention.
This invention relates in general to a new and improved poultry hock retainer for poultry or fowl and pertains, more specifically, to a retainer for holding together the hocks of the fowl during processing, transportation, storage and cooking.
2. Prior Art.
Retainers have been provided for trussing the hocks of turkey and other fowl during processing and shipping and for facilitating ease of inspection of the eviscerated fowl. Some of these retainers are secured inside the fowl and have bridles or similar apparatus for retaining the hocks in the desired position. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,615,075, 4,653,146, 4,739,538 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,771,509 issued to Volk which each show an integral retainer having a bridle and a beam member. The beam member has opposite ends for disposition within the kidney holes of the fowl's pelvic structure so as to secure the retainer thereto. The bridle serves to hold the hocks in trussed position. Although desirable in many respects, these retainers are not readily adaptable to automated insertion in the fowl.
Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved poultry hock retainer which overcomes the disadvantages and limitations of the retainers currently provided.
Another object of the invention is to provide a poultry hock retainer of the above character which can be mounted inside the fowl in an automated process.
Another object of the invention is to provide a poultry hock retainer of the above character which can be attached to the spine of the fowl.


A blank sheet of foldable material having a plurality of laterally spaced parallel fold lines dividing the sheet into five consecutive panels to allow for folding of the panels into overlapping engagement. A first leg formed from folding panels two and three so that the top side of panel two is placed in face-to-face contact with the top side of panel three. A second leg intersecting the first leg formed from folding panels one, four, and five so that the top side of panel one is placed in face-to-face contact with the top side of panel four, and the top side of panel five is placed in face-to-face contact with the bottom side of panel one. An adhesive placed between panels two and three, panels one and four, and panels one and five for securing the panels to maintain the legs in a fixed folded arrangement with each other.

Edge protectors, corner posts, and the like are generally known in the packaging industry to prevent damage to the edges of articles, as well as add strength to lightweight containers such as cardboard boxes to prevent crushing when stacked.
The prior art is replete with edge or corner protectors, or corner post supports. Examples can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,613,985; 3,982,682; 4,247,289; 4,399,915; 4,771,893; 5,431,985; 5,813,537; and 6,595,367, each of which have one or more of the following problems. While some provide good cushioning protection, they do not provide a load bearing capacity that strengthens a lightweight container sufficiently to allow for heavy stacking of multiple containers. Others that do provide structural reinforcement tend to be bulky, requiring large amounts of material that wastes valuable packaging space and add unwanted weight to the container. In either case, most protectors are typically expensive and time consuming to manufacture. Additionally, and perhaps the worst problem with most corner protectors is that they fail to hold their shape, causing them to be difficult to handle and properly place in a container or around the edge of an article. Sometimes, the edge protector may deform after it is placed in the container, leading to a structural collapse of the container and damage to the item contained therein.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an edge protector that maintains its shape once folded.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an edge protector that is easy and fast to assemble while being economical to produce.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an edge protector that works both as a cushioning member to protect articles, as well as a structural reinforcing member when placed in a container.


A semiconductor transistor device includes a first doped region 34 of a first conductivity type; a second doped region 30 of the first conductivity type formed at the surface of the first doped region 34, the second doped region 30 has a higher doping concentration than the first doped region 34; a source region 24 of a second conductivity type formed at the surface of the second doped region 30; a lightly doped drain region 28 of the second conductivity type surrounding the first doped region 34, the lightly doped drain region 28 has a lower doping concentration than the source region 24, the lightly doped drain region 28 is spaced apart from the second doped region 30; a buried layer 40 of the second conductivity type below the first doped region 34 and coupled to the lightly doped drain region 28; and a gate 32 overlying and spaced apart from the first doped region 34 and the second doped region 30.

Typical prior art NMOS devices usually handle the least voltage of all the devices in a BiCMOS process. This is due to the ability of the device to easily avalanche and cause excess electron flow, the electron being the majority carrier for this device. Additionally, in a typical CMOS process, (P substrate), this device must have its back-gate tied to substrate, causing undesirable threshold voltage shifting due to the body-effect when the source is raised in potential above the substrate. Lastly, NMOS devices typically have a lower output impedance per unit of channel length than do PMOS devices, again due to the ability of the N type drain material to create a strong depletion region. Low output impedance is generally undesirable as it causes non-linearities in analog circuitry.
Often it is necessary to achieve higher voltages than a normal CMOS process typically allows. Additionally, in linear circuits, especially when source-followers are needed, the increased threshold voltage created by back-gate tied to a P-substrate while the source goes to a positive voltage (body effect) can cause loss of headroom. Also, a device, especially in source followers, can often need to have a low threshold voltage to achieve headroom. Lastly, the output impedance of shorter channel NMOS devices can be lower than desired.

High-voltage isolated high output impedance NMOS


A confocal microscope with improved light use efficiency is provided. Thus, the confocal microscope has a section which concentrates illumination light to a target point of a specimen and non-target points adjacent thereto for simultaneous illumination; a section which receives light entering into a light reception portion conjugated with the target point, without distinguishing light emitted from the target point and light emitted from the non-target points, and outputs a light reception signal according to the intensity of the light; a section which changes the number of non-target points and successively captures the light reception signals before and after the change in the number of the target points; and a section which generates a confocal signal according to intensity of light emitted from the target point, based on a relationship between the captured light reception signals and the number of non-target points.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a confocal microscope for confocal observation of a specimen.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a confocal microscope, illumination light is concentrated at one point of a specimen. The intensity of light emitted from the point is measured by a sensor. The same operation is repeated while the measured point is two-dimensionally scanned on the specimen. Thus, an image intensity distribution of the specimen is obtainable with high resolution, enabling confocal observation. To effectively perform the confocal observation, there has been proposed a multi-point scanning system using a Nipkow disc, for example (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 9-325279). In this case, adjacent measured points are set with an interval in accordance with an interval of adjacent pinholes of the Nipkow disc, thereby preventing light emitted from the measured points from mixing each other on the sensor (namely, a confocal effect is maintained).
However, the multi-point scanning system has a problem of low light use efficiency since the aperture ratio of pinholes of the Nipkow disc is low, so that among light emitted from a light source, only a small amount of light that passes through the pinholes illuminates a specimen.


A removable modular bamboo-based solar landscape lamp is provided. The lamp includes a base, a bamboo-based pole, a bamboo-based beam, a bamboo-based sparrow brace, an LED lamp, a solar power system, and a control module, where a lower end of the bamboo-based pole is disposed on the base, an upper end of the bamboo-based pole is vertically connected to the bamboo-based beam, and the solar power system is disposed above the bamboo-based beam; the LED lamp is disposed under one side of the bamboo-based beam, and the bamboo-based sparrow brace is disposed on a joint between the other side of the bamboo-based beam and the bamboo-based pole; the solar power system is used to supply power to the LED lamp, the solar power system, and the control module; the control module may control on and off of the LED lamp.

Pole materials of outdoor street lamps mainly include cement, iron, glass fibers, stainless steel, and aluminum alloys. At present, iron street lamp poles are the most widely used on the market, which are manufactured by rolling and welding high-quality Q235 steel and then through hot-dip galvanization and plastic spraying. However, the iron street lamp poles are prone to corrosion for long-term use. Cement street lamp poles are out-of-dated due to heavy weights, high dangers, and inconvenient transportation. Even though glass fiber reinforced plastic poles have desirable insulation performance, heat resistance, and corrosion resistance, and high strength, such a material is brittle and presents relatively poor abrasion resistance. Therefore, there are few glass fiber reinforced plastic poles on the market. Made of high-strength aluminum alloys, aluminum alloy street lamp poles have strong corrosion resistance and desirable decorative effects. However, there are high costs and environmental pollution in the manufacturing processes. As hot-dip galvanization is performed on surfaces, stainless steel lamp poles present desirable chemical and electrochemical corrosion resistance with a product life of up to 15 years. However, there are also concerns about energy saving, ecological protection, and environment protection.

Removable modular bamboo-based-based solar landscape lamp

International Center for Bamboo and Rattan


The blood volume contained in a soft-shell venous reservoir is measured by using strain gauges to detect variations in the expansion stress imposed upon the reservoir material or a film overlying the reservoir as the reservoir fills.

Heart-lung machines conventionally include a venous reservoir which receives the patient's blood at a variable rate during open-heart surgery and releases it at a substantially steady rate to the oxygenation circuit from which it is returned to the patient. In the operation of the heart-lung machine, it is important for the perfusionist to be continuously advised of the exact volume of blood in the reservoir, as this information is needed to maintain the correct diluted blood volume in the patient and to calculate the proper doses of infused drugs.
Rigid hard-shell reservoirs lend themselves well to this purpose because accurate graduations can readily be inscribed on their surface. However, because the volume of the hard-shell reservoir itself is constant, it will discharge potentially lethal air into the blood circuit of the heart-lung machine if it is allowed to become empty.
Collapsible soft-shell reservoirs (i.e. plastic bags) have the advantage of increasing and reducing their volume in accordance with the amount of blood they contain, and they consequently need no airspace that could produce emboli. On the other hand, soft-shell reservoirs, because they are always exactly filled with blood, cannot provide a visible volume indication by way of graduations.
In the past, perfusionists have estimated the blood volume in soft-shell reservoirs by the appearance of the reservoir bag, but this requires experience and is not sufficiently accurate for modern requirements. To remedy this deficiency, it has previously been proposed to position the reservoir bag between two parallel plates which are biased against the bag, and whose distance from each other is indicated by a tape measure. That system, however, is not very accurate and is awkward to observe.

Strain gage measurement of blood volume in soft-shell venous reservoirs


A tilting device for repeatedly tilting light reflected from a micro-mirror panel is disclosed. A vibration type tilting device, comprising a mirror positioned on a light path which reflects light transmitted from a digital micro-mirror panel, a mirror holder having the mirror joined to a side thereof, a coil joined to the reverse side of the mirror holder, and a magnet which generates a magnetic field passing through the coil, where portions of the mirror holder are removed to decrease the mass moment of inertia of the mirror holder, may not only provide a smooth and natural display by periodically tilting light reflected from a digital micro-mirror panel in constant time intervals but also may improve the tracking ability of the mirror and reduce residual vibration.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a tilting device, and in particular, to a vibration type tilting device in which the mass moment of inertia is decreased for superior vibration performance.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image projection device using digital light processing (DLP), in which the mosaic phenomenon in pixels, a problem in regular liquid crystal display (LCD) imaging devices, is eliminated to improve the ability to reproduce original colors, is used widely in theaters, conference rooms, and projection TV's, etc. The image projection device can be divided into a Front Projection device and a Rear Projection device according to the projection method.
The Front Projection device adopts the method of projecting image signals from the front, and is generally used in theaters, conference rooms, etc. On the other hand, the Rear Projection device adopts the method of projecting image signals from the rear of the screen. The Rear Projection device is commonly used in the form of projection TV's. In particular, Rear Projection devices are used more often than Front Projection devices, because of its ability to display a relatively bright image even in a bright environment.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a conventional image projection device, and FIG. 2 is a schematic drawing illustrating the pixel structure shown on a screen by a conventional image projection device.
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional image projection device comprises a lamp 11, a condenser lens 13 which collimates and irradiates light emitted from the lamp 11, a color wheel 15 which separates the collimated white light into red (R), green (G), and blue (B) colors and illuminates ⅓ for every frame, a collimation lens 17 which irradiates parallel the light emitted from the color wheel 15 for each color, a digital micro-mirror panel 19 (hereafter referred to as "DMD") which adjusts the reflection angle for each pixel of the light collimated from the collimation lens 97 for each color to form a picture, and a projection lens 21 which projects the light from the DMD to a large display of a screen S.
On the DMD 19 are formed numerous micro-mirrors (not shown), which are minute in size and are associated with a pixel structure on a silicon wafer, and these micro-mirrors convert the path of the incident light on/off by individually undergoing a highly rapid tilting motion according to the digital information provided to the DMD 19 by a controller. The pixels controlled individually by the DMD 19 are magnified through a projection lens 21 so that a large display picture is formed on the screen S.
As described above, since conventional image projection devices form a large display simply through the magnified projection of the small original picture, there is the problem that the picture quality is degraded due to the grid pattern formed between each pixel P, as seen in FIG. 2. Also, there is a problem in that when the picture moves rapidly or where the line of sight of the viewer moves rapidly, the picture is formed on the screen with rainbow colors showing where the contrast ratio is great, for example where there are black stripes on a white background, or with the grid pattern between each pixel notably significant.


The present invention can provide a system and method for DLCO quality control testing and can include an apparatus for testing a pulmonary diagnostic device capable of performing single breath carbon monoxide uptake measurement, comprising: a single gas-tight chamber, with a gas port configured to receive gas from or to expel gas to the exterior of the chamber and a partition configured to change the volume of the single gas-tight chamber; the single gas-tight chamber capable of expanding and contracting; a member disposed within the single gas-tight chamber and configured to limit the movement of the partition, the member being adjustable to set a predetermined maximum volume of the single gas-tight chamber and a predetermined volume of DLCO test gas that the single gas-tight chamber can receive; and an interface configured for the transfer of gas between the pulmonary diagnostic device and the simulation device via the gas port.

Current DLCO simulators require large and expensive dual-syringe devices. For example, the Hans Rudolph DLCO simulator, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,415,642 requires two syringes (3 and 5 liters) that are joined by a manifold via a three-way valve. The manifold is connected to the DLCO equipment. Prior to the start of the simulation test, the 3-liter syringe is filled with a precision gas mixture emulating typical alveolar gas concentration seen in patients. Using the three-way valve, the 5-liter is connected to the DLCO equipment while the 3-liter syringe is isolated with the prefilled precision gas mixture. During the inhalation phase of the DLCO test maneuver, the 5 liter syringe simulates tidal breathing, exhalation to residual volume, and rapid inhalation to TLC. During the breath hold period, the 3-way valve is turned redirecting the DLCO device to the 3 liter syringe. After the breath hold, the content of the 3-liter syringe is emptied into the DLCO device.
The Hans Rudolph simulator "establishes" approximate target DLCO values for the DLCO device under test by controlling the inspired volume as well as the inspired and alveolar gas concentrations. To verify equipment performance over its specified range of operation, it requires multiple precision alveolar gas mixtures with different concentrations of CO and tracer gases.
Because the Hans Rudolph does not control the breath hold time, the breath hold time reported by the DLCO device under test is required to confirm the exact target value. Hans Rudolph provides software for the calculation of the exact target value (based on Eq (1)) after the test is performed.
For trouble-shooting, ATS-ERS (MacIntyre N. et. al. Standardization of the single-breath determination of carbon monoxide uptake in the lung. Eur Respir J 2005; 26: 720-735) also recommends the following:                1. Leak testing if it is appropriate to the device under test        2. A DLCO test with a calibrated 3.0-L syringe should be used, which is performed by attaching the syringe to the instrument in the test mode. Test gas is withdrawn from the DLCO machine by the syringe and then reinserted at the end of the breath-hold. The measured DLCO should be near zero and the measured VI should be ≈3.3 L (3.0 L×the body temperature, ambient pressure, saturated with water vapor (BTPS) factor). This procedure checks the inhaled volume accuracy in the DLCO test mode, which may be in error when spirometry measurements are not.
The simulator identified in the ATS-ERS DLCO testing guideline (MacIntyre N. et. al. Standardization of the single-breath determination of carbon monoxide uptake in the lung. Eur Respir J 2005; 26: 720-735) was developed by Glissmeyer, et. al. (Glissmeyer E W, Jensen R L, Crapo R O, Greenway L W. Initial Testing with a carbon monoxide diffusing capacity simulator. J Invest Med 1999; 47: 37A) and manufactured by Hans Rudolph, Inc, Kansas City, Mo.
Current DLCO testing devices and practices suffer from several deficiencies and disadvantages. The trouble-shooting methodology suggested by ATS-ERS (using a 3 liter syringe) does not affirm the DLCO measurement accuracy of a DLCO device over its intended range of operation. At best, this test establishes the accuracy of flow/volume measurement component of the DLCO device. It may also demonstrate that the CO and tracer gas detectors have similar response (but not necessarily accurate or linear) over a narrow range of gas concentrations.
The use of the Hans Rudolph simulator for quality control of DLCO measurements has been well documented (Jensen R, et. al. Quality control of DLCO instruments in global clinical trials. Eur Respir J 2009; 33: 1-7. Jensen R L, et. al. Instrument Accuracy and Reproducibility in Measurements of Pulmonary Function. Chest 2007; 132: 388-395.).
There are a number of challenges and disadvantages in using the Hans Rudolph simulator. First, the procedure is complex and prone to errors. The 3-liter syringe used to simulate exhalation must be filled with precisely known concentration of alveolar gas prior to each test. The syringe must be adequately purged prior to filling. Difficulties arise from a significant certainty that the syringe is properly purged of any previously used gas mixtures. Moreover, during the testing process, the 3-way valve must be turned immediately before the emptying of the 3-liter syringe begins to ensure any chance that the test is accurate. If precise timing of the operation of the 3-liter syringe is not maintained the test of the DLCO equipment is invalid and the test must be re-performed, resulting in increased costs for the precise gas mixtures used in the testing or even improper calibration of the DLCO equipment based on faulty test results.
Second, target DLCO value changes with every test and every new gas cylinder. To ensure that DLCO device operates correctly throughout its intended range of operation, it must be tested at various combinations of CO and tracer gas concentrations, thereby requiring a number of precision (typically 1% or better) pre-mixed gases. Switching alveolar gas bottles adds to the complexity and cumbersomeness of simulator testing.
Third, precision gases are expensive. Delivery and shipment of the precision gases are difficult as these gases are typically classified as medical gases by many countries. One purpose of DLCO equipment is to perform clinical studies or trials in remote locations. For studies and trials to have statistically valid results, the DLCO equipment, which may be in multiple remote locations, must be properly calibrated. This calibration of multiple, remote DLCO equipment simulators is complex in and of itself and even more so with the added cost and complexity of shipping the required medical gases used in the testing.
Fourth, the current DLCO simulators, even though a fraction of the cost of the DLCO device, is relatively expensive. Current simulators require their own test gas which can be costly
Fifth, current simulators are bulky, which also adds to their cost. They require two syringes along with precision test gases. As discussed above, shipping and other costs for current simulators are high not only because of the required precision gases, but costs can increase for storage of the simulator and the gases it requires. All of these costs are exacerbated considering that many times DLCO equipment is used in remote and often poor locations and for non-profit endeavors, such as clinical studies or trials.
Although present devices are functional, they are not sufficiently accurate or otherwise satisfactory. Accordingly, a system and method are needed to address the shortfalls of present technology and to provide other new and innovative features.

Method and system for DLCO quality control testing


A color image display apparatus includes an input color characteristic obtaining unit for obtaining input color characteristic data simultaneously with input of image data, an input color characteristic data storage unit for storing the obtained input characteristic data, an image display device such as a CRT or the like, a display color characteristic data storage unit for storing the color characteristic of the image display device, a color transformation table generating means for generating a color transformation table, and a color transforming means for actually color-transforming the image data. The color transformation table generating means further includes a color transformation system selecting means, and a plural-tables generating unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a color image display method and apparatus, and particularly to a technique for performing a color display which does not rely on a display device.
2. Description of Related Art
As described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application NO. Hei-4-291591, according to this type color image display apparatus, RGB image data are subjected to inverse gamma correction, matrix calculation and then gamma correction to display an image.
A conventional color image display apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. 8. The conventional color image display comprises an inverse gamma correction circuit 101, a color transformation matrix calculator 102, a gamma correction circuit 103 and a display device 104 such as a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube).
An input RGB signal is subjected to inverse gamma correction in the inverse gamma correction circuit 101 so that the gamma characteristic of a specific TV camera is in inverse form. This correction operation serves to return the TV camera signal to a linear RGB signal.
The linear RGB signal thus obtained is subjected to the matrix calculation in the color transformation matrix calculator 102 whose coefficient is variable. The color transformation matrix is a matrix for correcting the difference between RGB fluorescent materials (fluorescent substances) at input and output sides and the difference between white colors at the input and output sides. The RGB signal thus matrix-calculated is subjected to the gamma correction which is matched with the display device 104 such as a CRT in the gamma correction circuit 103, thereby displaying an image.
However, this type of conventional color image display apparatus as described above is not provided with any means for obtaining the coefficient of the color transformation matrix calculator 102 and the characteristics of the inverse gamma correction circuit 101 and the gamma correction circuit 103 from the external side. Therefore, it is necessary to beforehand assume the color characteristic of an image to be displayed and input it into the display apparatus.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Hei-4-291591 discloses a color display apparatus which can solely perform color reproduction having no color reproduction error on image signals having plural different color reproduction characteristics in accordance with each of various systems. In this color display apparatus, it is proposed that the matrix coefficient is controlled to be variable in the color transformation matrix calculator 102, however, there is not any means for obtaining the matrix coefficient itself.
Therefore, in the color display apparatus as described above, the color correction can be accurately performed by only a specific display device, and no accurate color correction can be performed by using other display devices.
Further, according to this type of conventional color image display apparatus, the three correction processing steps of the inverse gamma correction, the matrix correction and the gamma correction are carried out at all times. In this case, actually, there may be a case where it is sufficient to perform only the gamma correction. However, an extra processing time is needed because the inverse gamma calculation and the matrix correction which are not required are also carried out.
In addition, in this type of conventional color image display apparatus, the color correction based on the matrix calculation is performed, and thus accurate color correction which is based on more complicated non-linear transformation processing cannot be performed.

Color image display method and apparatus


A multi-sector antenna system is disclosed that includes two or more flat panel antennas facing different directions and configured to communicate with two separate sites using millimeter wave RF signals. A processing module is communicatively coupled to each of the flat panel antennas. In some embodiments, the processing module may be configured to receive incoming RF signals from a first site via a first flat panel antenna, convert the incoming RF signals to outgoing RF signals, and transmit the outgoing RF signals to a second site via the second flat panel antenna. The flat panel antennas may be configured to transmit and receive RF signals at frequencies in the range of about 57 GHz to 86 GHz. The multi-sector antenna system may be utilized in a mesh network system.

With the increased popularity of mobile computing devices, there is an ever growing need for high capacity data throughput to wireless computing devices, such as hand held "smart" cellular telephones, wireless network adapters, and other types of wireless data devices. To meet this need, macrocell and picocell base stations are being widely installed. A picocell base station is typically a relatively low cost, small, reasonably simple unit that connects to a base station controller. A macrocell base station serves a larger geographic area than a picocell base station, but is much more expensive to install.
Because fiber optic cable is not always available, or may be cost prohibitive, telecommunications carriers are beginning to rely more greatly on wireless infrastructure to deploy backhaul data capacity to macrocell and picocell base stations. One challenge when deploying wireless backhaul is not having a clear line of sight from a macrocell or picocell base station to a backhaul end-location. Structures such as buildings, roads, vegetation and residential homes may prevent point-to-point wireless connections. Moreover, weather and other factors might greatly impact current wireless backhaul solutions.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the disclosure made herein is presented.

Multi sector antenna and mesh network system