A frequency converting circuit including: an impedance network having a first pair of terminals and operable to provide a first signal in a frequency band centered at a first frequency f1; an output network having second and third pairs of terminals and configured to pass, between the second and third pairs of terminals, a second signal in a frequency band centered at a second frequency f2 different from f1; a pump circuit having a fourth pair of terminals and operative to provide, at the fourth pair of terminals, a third signal at a pump frequency fp, where fp?f1 and f2; and a frequency converter having a first port connected to the first terminals, a second port connected to the second terminals and a third port connected to the fourth terminals, the frequency converter being operative to cause the difference between f1 and f2 to be equal to fp.

My present invention relates to a circuit configuration that can be used to realize tunable components such as but not limited to, bandstop filters, bandpass filters and negative resistance amplifiers that are capable of having very narrow bandwidths or very wide bandwidths depending on the configuration. It should be understood that a filter with a percent bandwidth of less than about 15% is considered narrow band and that a filter with a percent bandwidth of less than about 5% is considered very narrow bandband. Thus a filter with a 20 MHz. bandwidth centered at 100 MHz is not narrow band but a filter with a 20 MHz bandwidth centered at 1 GHz is very narrow band. The use of the term narrow band or wide band when used will refer to the percent bandwidth.
There are already known circuits where the tuning method involves changing the capacitance of resonators by either using voltage variable capacitors or by the use of switching matrices that switch different capacitors into the circuit.

Circuit configuration using a frequency converter to achieve tunable circuit components such as filters and amplifiers


To provide an optical assembly capable of enhancing black level display while preventing deterioration of a WV film, and a projector assembled therewith, optical compensation elements are disposed before and after liquid crystal light valves, so that an unintended phase difference generated on the incident and emission sides of the liquid crystal light valves for individual colors is eliminated by adjusting the rotational positions of the optical compensation elements, thus enabling an enhancement in the contrast of a color image displayed on a transmission screen member. In case of B light including ultraviolet light in part, the optical compensation element is disposed at the subsequent stage of the liquid crystal light valve, so that as compared with when the optical compensation element is disposed at the preceding stage of the liquid crystal light valve, the optical compensation element can be reduced or prevented from deteriorating with age, thus enabling the contrast of image display to be maintained over a long period of time.

1. Field of Invention
Exemplary aspects of the present invention relate to an optical assembly including a liquid crystal element and another optical modulation device, and to a projector assembled with such an optical assembly.
2. Description of Related Art
A related art projection type liquid crystal display apparatus includes a liquid crystal display element for optical modulation, an incident side polarizing plate disposed on the incident side of the liquid crystal display element, an emission side polarizing plate disposed on the emission side thereof, and a pair of optical compensation elements one of which is disposed between the liquid crystal display element and the incident side polarizing plate, and the other of which is disposed between the liquid crystal display element and the emission side polarizing plate (see JP-A-2002-182213). In this related art projection type liquid crystal display apparatus, the optical compensation elements paired are each made up of a wide view film (hereinafter "WV film") and each rotatable within a plane perpendicular to an optical axis. Thus, both WV films are appropriately rotated to accurately align the directions of their optical axes with a rubbing direction of the liquid crystal display apparatus, thereby compensating a phase difference that remains on the incident and emission sides when an electrical field is formed in a liquid crystal layer, thus enabling an enhancement in black level display.
However, when the WV film is disposed on the incident side of the liquid crystal element as in the above projection type liquid crystal display apparatus, the WV film is exposed to strong illumination light, so that its characteristics gradually deteriorate due to a change with age. Particularly, when ultraviolet light is included in the illumination light, the WV film undergoes significant deterioration, so that there arises the need to replace the WV film earlier in order to maintain the image quality of a projected image.
In a color display type projector, for example, a cross dichroic prism is disposed on the emission side of the liquid crystal display element. However, because of the cost of such a cross dichroic prism and a limitation in the back focus of a projection lens, a space for assembling the WV film, the polarizing plate, etc. cannot be sufficiently ensured between the liquid crystal display element and the cross dichroic prism. Consequently, the WV film, the polarizing plate, etc. come into a close-packed state and thus become insufficiently cooled, or as regards the WV film on the emission side, it is obliged to omit the system of adjusting the rotational position thereof.
Accordingly, exemplary aspects of the invention provide an optical assembly capable of enhancing black level display while reducing or preventing deterioration of a WV film, and a projector assembled therewith.
Exemplary aspects of the invention provide an optical assembly in which the WV film can be appropriately rotated even when a color combining optical system is disposed on the emission side of a liquid crystal display element, and a projector assembled therewith.


A solid-state illuminating apparatus (10) includes a first light reflector (11), a second light reflector (12), an annular light permeable cover (15) and a light source (13). The first light reflector has a bottom wall (111) and a peripheral sidewall (112) extending from and surrounding the bottom wall. The first light reflector has a reflective surface (113) formed on an inner surface thereof. The second light reflector has a reflective surface (121) facing toward the bottom wall. The light permeable cover is interconnected between a periphery of the sidewall and a periphery of the second light reflector. The first light reflector, the light permeable cover and the second light reflector cooperatively form a chamber (114). The chamber tapers along a direction from the second light reflector to the bottom wall. The light source is received in the chamber and located on the bottom wall.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to illuminating apparatuses, and particularly to a solid-state illuminating apparatus having an annular light exiting surface and improved energy efficiency thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Presently, an annular solid-state illuminating apparatus generally includes a annular fluorescent lamp and a lamp cover for adjusting brightness of the fluorescent lamp. It is well known that the fluorescent lamp has many disadvantages, such as higher energy consumption, bulky volume, short service lifetime, start-up retardance and so on. Furthermore, a stabilizer is required for stabilizing an output of the annular fluorescent lamp.
With the continuing development of scientific technology, light emitting diodes (LEDs) have been widely used in the illumination field to substitute for the conventional fluorescent lamp due to their high brightness, long service lifetime, and wide color gamut. Relevant subject is disclosed in an article entitled "Solid-State Lighting: Toward Superior Illumination", published in a magazine Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 93, No. 10, by Michael S. Shur et al. in October, 2005, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
However, in a particular solid-state illuminating apparatus, it is important to assemble the light emitting components (such as the LEDs) with other components of the solid-state illuminating apparatus for further improving the energy saving efficiency thereof.
What is needed, therefore, is a solid-state illuminating apparatus having an annular light exiting surface, which can overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages.


A semiconductor device with a strained-layer superlattice is disclosed, in which a first semiconductor and a second semiconductor of a lattice constant smaller than that of the first semiconductor are stacked on a clad layer of a lattice constant substantially intermediate between those of the first and second semiconductors to form the strained-layer superlattice. The lattice constant of the strained-layer superlattice in the direction of its plane in the free space is nearly equal to the lattice constant of the clad layer. A third semiconductor of a lattice constant substantially equal to that of the clad layer is laminated between the first and second semiconductors stacked one on the other.

The present invention relates to semiconductor devices such as a semiconductor optical device and a semiconductor electron device which utilize a strained-layer superlattice.
With the recent progress of thin film growth technology, it is now possible to grow alternately layers of semiconductor materials of different lattice constants without causing crystal defects when the layers are sufficiently thin. This structure is commonly referred to as a strained-layer superlattice or strained quantum well. The structure of the semiconductor device with the strained-layer superlattice in its active layer substantially raises the degree of freedom of selecting semiconductor materials, thereby permitting the growth, on ordinary clad layers, of materials of band gap energies, optical characteristics, electrical characteristics and the like which are unobtainable with a lattice matching system.
Conventional semiconductor devices with the strained-layer superlattice have a structure wherein well layers and barrier layers stacked alternately with each other, and at least one layers of the well layers and the barrier layers are formed of a semiconductor of a lattice constant greater than, substantially equal to, or smaller than that of the clad layer.
In case of fabricating the strained-layer superlattice by the epitaxial growth of sufficiently thin layers of materials having different lattice constants, the material of a large lattice constant is subjected to a compressive stress in the direction of the plane of the strained-layer superlattice and the material of a small lattice constant is subjected to a tensile stress in the direction of the plane of the strained-layer superlattice. As a result, the lattice constant of the strained-layer superlattice in the direction of its plane assumes a certain value included in a range between the both lattice constants. Now, let this value be represented as the lattice constant, in the plane direction, a.sub.SL in an imaginary state in which the strained-layer superlattice is floating in the free space, i.e. floating in space off the clad layer. FIGS. 7A and 7B show variations in the lattice constant by the stacking of layers. FIG. 7A shows a semiconductor A of a lattice constant a.sub.A and a semiconductor B of a lattice constant a.sub.B. FIG. 7B shows stacked semiconductors A and B of a common lattice constant a.sub.SL of the imaginary state in the free space and a clad layer C of the lattice constant a.sub.CL.
As depicted in FIG. 7B, in the case of stacking semiconductors of different lattice constants in the free space, the interface of the layers is subjected to a strain, but since the stresses applied to the strain-layer superlattice in its entirety are in equilibrium, it is possible to grow layers of the both materials repeatedly without causing dislocations and other defects. In practice, however, since the strained-layer superlattice is grown, not in the free space, but on a clad layer which is far thicker than each layers of the superlattice, the lattice constant of the strained-layer superlattice in its plane direction is constrained to become the same as the lattice constant of the clad layer, not the lattice constant a.sub.SL in the free space. In consequence, the entire strained-layer superlattice is stressed by the clad layer. Hence, the conventional semiconductor device having the strained-layer superlattice is defective such that as the number of layers forming the strained-layer superlattice increases, the overall stress imposed thereon increases to reach a critical film thickness at last, causing defects. Thus, it is difficult to grow a strained-layer superlattice having many layers. Materials of widely different lattice constants cannot be used for semiconductors A and B, that is, the degree of freedom for selecting the materials for these two kinds of layers is low. Moreover, the use of particular pairs of materials, such as AlAs/InAs and GaAsP/InGaAs, may sometimes encounter difficulty in direct crystal growth.

Semiconductor device with strained-layer superlattice


System for thermally conditioning, humidifying and filtering reactant feed gases supplied to a stack of fuel cells using an evaporative element, a water spray mechanism and a heat exchanger. The evaporation element also functions as a filter. The evaporative element may take the form of a removable packing (filter media). Use of a controller to manage the rate of nebulized water addition to the feed gas stream is also described. Benefits in filter efficiency and extended filter service life along with volume, weight, and cost reduction in a fuel cell system are realized.

Fuel cell power systems convert a fuel and an oxidant to electricity. One fuel cell power system type of keen interest employs use of a proton exchange membrane (hereinafter "PEM") to catalytically facilitate reaction of fuels (such as hydrogen) and oxidants (such as air/oxygen) into electricity. The PEM is a solid polymer electrolyte that facilitates transfer of protons from the anode to the cathode in each individual fuel cell of the stack of fuel cells normally deployed in a fuel cell power system.
In a typical fuel cell assembly (stack) within a fuel cell power system, individual fuel cells have flow fields with inlets to fluid manifolds; these collectively provide channels for the various reactant and cooling fluids reacted in the stack to flow into each cell. Gas diffusion assemblies then provide a final fluid distribution to further disperse reactant fluids from the flow field space to the reactive anode and cathode; these diffusion sections are frequently advantageously embedded as a part of the design of collector electrodes pressing against the reactive anode and cathode.
Effective operation of a PEM requires a balanced supply of water in the polymer of a PEM to maintain its proton conductivity while maintaining the flow field channels and gas diffusion assemblies in non-flooded operational states. In this regard, the hydrogen is supplied to the anode face of the MEA and reacts with the catalyst thereon to form hydrogen cations and free electrons. The oxidant, typically oxygen or oxygen-containing air, is supplied to the cathode face of the MEA and reacts with hydrogen cations that have crossed the proton exchange membrane to form water. Thus, the fuel cell generates both electricity and water through the electrochemical reaction, and the water is removed with the cathode effluent, dehydrating the PEM of the fuel cell unless the water is otherwise replaced. It is also to be noted that the inlet air flow rate to the cathode will generally evaporate water from the proton exchange membrane at an even higher rate than the rate of water generation (and commensurate dehydration of the PEM) via reaction at the cathode.
When hydrated, the polymeric PEM possesses "acidic" properties that provide a medium for conducting protons from the anode to the cathode of the fuel cell. However, if the PEM is not sufficiently hydrated, the "acidic" character diminishes, with commensurate reduction of the desired electrochemical reaction of the cell. Hydration of a fuel cell PEM also assists in temperature control within the fuel cell, insofar as the heat capacity of water provides a heat sink.
There is also a need to maintain the flow field channels and gas diffusion assemblies in a non-plugged state respective to any particulates which might be in the gaseous oxidant and fuel fluids which feed the cell; this concern is especially relevant to the oxidant in fuel cell power systems deployed on vehicles when the oxidant is air, since the condition of air varies from location to location, and the vehicle clearly has a purpose of providing transportation from location to location. As is generally appreciated, filters are traditionally used in vehicles to provide clean air to both fuel cells and, for that matter, to most internal combustion engines traditionally used to power vehicles.
There is also a need to provide thermal conditioning of feed gases to the fuel cell stack. In this regard, it is desirable to maintain the temperature of the feed gases within an operating range. However, the ambient conditions of the environment as well as the operating conditions of the fuel cell system may cause the feed gases to be outside of the desired temperature range.
In addition to issues in water balance, filtration and temperature conditioning of feed gases, another issue in fuel cell design for use in vehicles is directed to the efficient use of space. In this regard, space in a vehicle is precious and design approaches which represent an efficient use of space in the vehicle clearly benefit the utility of the vehicle; this leads toward integration of the humidifying system or gas conditioning system into each of the fuel cells, as provided.
Accordingly, there is a need for a fuel cell power system which includes full humidification of the feed gases (especially the oxidant), high capture filtration of particulates in the feed gases, and thermal conditioning of feed gases commensurate with full humidification, in such a way that a minimum of space is needed for the humidification, cooling and filtration operations.

Integrated air cooler, filter, and humidification unit for a fuel cell stack


Apparatus for generating steam, the apparatus including a source of liquid water, an injector in flow communication with the source of water for injecting liquid water from the source of water at a pressure of at least about 10,000 psia, and an impact chamber having a contact surface onto which the injected water is contacted. upon impact of the injected water with the contact surface of the impact chamber, the injected water undergoes a virtually instantaneous phase transition from the liquid state to a gaseous state following the contact of the water with the contact surface, thereby generating steam.

Conventional attempts to heat water to provide steam require substantial heat and energy requirements, especially for the production of superheated steam. For example, superheated steam boilers typically further heat steam that has already been vaporized from water. High temperature steam is essential for use in modern power generation and other steam driven applications. The process of heating steam in superheat boilers is an energy intensive thermodynamic process heavily dependent on fossil fuel. Given the background scenario of diminishing energy supplies and environmental air quality considerations, more energy efficient steam generation processes are desired.
In accordance with the present disclosure, steam, including superheated steam, may be produced in a process by which liquid water is substantially instantaneously converted to a gas state using apparatus configured to transform multiple, sequential injections of water into gas. It has been discovered that steam and superheated steam can be generated using the apparatus, with much lower heat and energy requirements as compared to conventional methods and apparatus.


A touch button switch includes a body (10) having a conductive actuator (28) slidable from one end against a surface (62) to actuate a switch (61) on a board (52) which is held in place by hook latches (53) engaging mortises (55) in the circuit board. The surface (62) may provide conduction from the touch pad to electronic motionless switch circuitry (66) so that the touch button is usable either as a tactile switch touch button, as a motionless touch button, or both. Or, the actuator can be blocked from sliding by means of a spacer (68); and the switch (61) may be replaced by a structure (61a) holding an electrically conductive surface (62a), or not: either way, the touch button will then operate only as a motionless touch button. Or, the surface (62) can be disconnected (65) from the circuit (66), or the circuit (66) can be not installed, to operate only as a tactile switch touch button.

It is known in elevator systems to use touch button switches for hall call switches by means of which passengers call elevators for service at a floor of a building, as well as for car call buttons by means of which passengers within the elevator select a floor at which they wish the car to stop. The call buttons may either comprise tactile switches, which cause transfer of a switch armature from a normally open to a normally closed position, with or without a noticeable spring response, or they may be motionless, such as are operated by interaction with capacitance effects of a human body member. Early call buttons included a lamp to illuminate the entire touch pad following actuation of the switch, in order to provide an indication of response to the passenger. More recently, rings of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have been used to illuminate a ring surrounding the touch pad in order to provide the response indication.
On the one hand, many building designers and other elevator customers demand motionless, such as capacitive, touch buttons for use as elevator call buttons because of the aesthetics--the architectural elegance associated with lack of motion. However, the capacitance effect of a motionless touch button is not satisfied if the user does not make good electrical contact with touch pad, which occurs frequently when the users are wearing gloves. Furthermore, depending upon the application and the locality, motionless touch buttons violate safety codes in many cases. This is principally because of the need for visually handicapped persons to achieve a non-visual response as assurance that switching has occurred as a consequence of having touched the touch button. Therefore, tactile response is frequently required, which is most often satisfied with mechanical switches. In crowded elevator cars, the visual response provided by lighting the touch pad or a ring around the touch pad is frequently obscured by other passengers. Because of these conflicting requirements, it is common therefore to have a single elevator model or style of elevator cab and operating panel to be provided with different touch buttons, depending on the nature and location of their intended use. This further requires having two different types of touch button spare parts in inventory for maintenance.
Touch buttons of the prior art have been relatively quite expensive, either having complex mechanisms to accommodate microdot switches or the like, or having large circuit boards to accommodate motionless (for instance, capacitance) actuation. While many improvements have been made in touch buttons of the type used in elevators, many of the aforementioned difficulties remain. A touch button of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,039,832.


A thrust reverser is disclosed for a turbojet engine having a cowling with a longitudinal axis, the cowling having an inner surface forming an outer boundary of a gas flow duct and a reverse thrust opening. The thrust reverser has a panel movable with respect to the cowling, the panel being movable between a forward thrust position in which it covers the reverse thrust opening in the cowling and reverse thrust position wherein the opening is uncovered. Thrust reversing cascades are located in the reverse thrust opening of the cowling to direct gases passing through the opening in a reverse thrust direction. A cowling frame is connected through the cowling by a flange engaging a groove on the cowling structure, the flange and the groove having mutually engaging surfaces. A linear actuator is connected to the thrust reverser panel at a first connection and to the cowling frame at a second connection such that the linear force axis when the actuator moves the thrust reverser panel between the forward and reverse thrust positions passes through the first and second connections, as well as the engagement surfaces between the flange and the groove.

The present invention relates to an actuating system for a cascade-type thrust reverser in which the torque or moment forces exerted on the cowling by the linear actuator are minimized, or eliminated altogether.
Turbofan-type turbojet engines are well known in the art and typically comprise a fan located at the front of the turbojet engine, which fan directs a flow of bypass air through a duct bounded by an engine cowling on the inside and a fan cowling on the outside. The generally annular duct bounded by the engine cowling and the fan cowling may channel both the bypass flow and the primary exhaust flow at a downstream portion of the turbojet engine, or the duct may channel only the bypass flow. In aircraft in which the engine is mounted outside of the airframe structure, the fan cowling is configured to provide an aerodynamic outer surface to reduce drag.
Various types of thrust reversers may be utilized with the fan cowling to provide the necessary thrust reversing forces. A cascade thrust reverser is among the known types and is illustrated in FIG. 1. A thrust reverser panel 7 is affixed to the engine structure so as to be movable with respect to the fan cowling 5. In a forward thrust position, illustrated in FIG. 1, the thrust reverser panel 7 covers a reverse thrust opening formed in the cowling such that the gases are directed in a forward thrust position through the annular duct 17 bounded on the outside by the fan cowling and thrust reverser panel 7, and on the inside by the jet engine cowling 16. Thrust reverser flap 12 is pivotally attached to the thrust reverser panel 7 and is also pivotally attached to the engine cowling 16 by linkrod 14 and pivot 15. In known fashion, as the thrust reverser panel 7 moves rearwardly (towards the right as viewed in FIG. 1), the flap 12 pivots inwardly so as to substantially block the annular flow duct 17 and to force the gases outwardly through the cowling across the thrust reversing cascades 13.
Displacement of the thrust reverser panel 7 between the forward and reverse thrust positions is achieved by linear actuator 4. Linear actuator 4 typically comprises a cylinder having an extendable and retractable rod with the cylinder being fixedly attached to and extending through the cowling frame 6, while the distal end of the rod is connected to the thrust reverser panel 7 at pivot 9. Typical, known thrust reversers of this type are illustrated in European Patent 0 109 219 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,500,645.
While generally successful, these known thrust reversers have created some problems. Specifically, the rigid attachment of the linear actuator 4 to the cowling frame 6 is radially displaced from the engagement of flange 3, formed on the cowling frame 6, with a groove formed in the cowling structure 5 by a distance L1. During actuation of the thrust reverser, forces F1 exerted on the cowling frame 6 by the linear actuator 4 generate a torque or moment M1 about the engagement of the flange 3 with the groove formed in the cowling structure 5. Since the thrust reverser panel 7 moves axially relative to the cowling, the linear actuators 4 are also oriented substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cowling necessitating their attachment to the cowling frame 6 at a location displaced radially outwardly from the engagement of the flange 3 with the groove formed in the cowling structure 5. This positioning is also required since the linear actuator is attached to the thrust reverser panel 7 in a portion where the overall radially oriented thickness of the panel 7 is reduced. The connection 9 is located at a radial location of the convex streamlines of the gas flow.
The flaps 12 are covered by an inner portion of the thrust reverser panel 7 and a lower portion of the cowling frame 6. The cowling frame 6 is shaped to absorb the aerodynamic stresses acting on the thrust reverser structure during thrust reverser actuation. The structural requirements of the cowling frame 6 generally preclude mounting the linear actuator 4 in a more radially inward position.
This location of the linear actuator 4 also places part of the actuator, along with the associated hydraulic plumbing connected to the actuator, forwardly of the cowling frame 6. Usually this forward area is a designated fire zone and extra precautions must be taken to insure that no leakage of hydraulic fluid, which is flammable, can take place.
Another problem is caused by the location of the cascades 13 radially outwardly of the flange 3. Such a location increases the torque or moment acting on the cowling frame 6, since the resultant of the thrust reversing forces transferred to the cowling frame 6 by the cascades 13 during thrust reversal increase the torque or moment M1, thereby requiring the cowling frame 6 to be structurally reinforced.

Actuating system for a cascade type thrust reverser


The present invention relates to a method for determining an operating strategy for a range extender (10) of an electric vehicle (100) having an electric motor (20) and an electrical energy store (30), with the following method steps: detecting (S1) at least one operating parameter of a first type associated with the range extender (10) and at least one operating parameter of a second type associated with the electric motor (20) and/or the electrical energy store (30); and determining (S2) the operating strategy for the range extender (10) by restricting a usage level of the range extender (10), wherein the restriction of the usage level is determined on the basis of the at least one detected operating parameter of the first type and/or the at least one detected operating parameter of the second type.

The present invention relates to a method and a device for determining an operating strategy for a range extender of an electric vehicle.
A vehicle having a range extender is based on a vehicle having an electric drive and an electrical energy store. A further power unit is provided which is decoupled therefrom and provides electrical drive energy for the drive system of the vehicle by means of a chemical reaction of a substance and, as the case may be, by means of an energy conversion performed in the rest of the power unit, such as an energy conversion ensuing from a mechanical energy form into an electrical energy form.
The WO 2012 069 199 A2 patent specification of the World Intellectual Property Organization describes a current generator set which is designed as a range extender for an electrically driven motor vehicle.
An internal combustion engine, preferably a rotary piston engine and, in particular a rotary-cylinder engine, and a generator are disposed in a housing to form the aforementioned current generator set.
The German patent specification DE 10 2011 118 116 A1 describes an electric vehicle having at least one electric drive motor and an electrical energy store. The cruising range extension device of the electric vehicle described there is designed to generate electrical energy from a fuel. A control device is provided to control the cruising range extension device in the case of said described electric vehicle.
The electric vehicle described in the German patent specification DE 10 2011 118 116 A1 and the cruising range extension device each have mutually complementary coupling devices for temporarily fastening the range extension device to the electric vehicle. The coupling devices allow for a coupling in a controlled and power transmitting manner. The control device is equipped to control two different operating modes, namely an electric driving mode and a hybrid driving mode.
The German patent specification DE 10 2010 002 168 A1 describes a range extender for a vehicle driven by a first electrical machine, comprising an energy store for supplying energy to the first electrical machine, a second electrical machine operated as a generator for producing electrical energy for charging the energy store, an internal combustion engine for driving the generator and an uncontrolled rectifier for rectifying an output voltage of the generator. In the case of the vehicle described here, the second electrical machine and the rectifier each have a 9-phase configuration.
The European patent specification EP 230 870 8 A1 describes a serial hybrid electric vehicle which is connected to an internal combustion engine in order to achieve a cruising range extension.
The serial hybrid electric vehicle described here relates to a generator having a discrete mounting of the rotor shaft in a generator housing, wherein the disc generator is formed directly without being mounted on the motor housing or, respectively, on the crankshaft. The internal combustion engine in the hybrid electric vehicle described here is coupled by means of self-centering spur gear teeth to the generator of the range extender system.

Method and device for determining an operating strategy for a range extender of an electric vehicle


The present invention relates to the field of prodrugs of chemotherapeutic agents and method of use thereof.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,786,495 to Bird discloses flurbiprofen and salts thereof in admixture with an excipient encompassing fatty acid esters such as polyol esters of polyethylene glycol.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,681,964 to Ashton relates to soluble ester prodrugs of polyethylene glycol and various chemotherapeutic agents.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,751 to David discloses polyethylene glycol type solubilizers for flurbiprofen U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,505 to Mizushima discloses esters of flurbiprofen which may be dissolved in a vegetable oil and emulsified.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,489,080 and 4,443,476 to Lomen discloses alkyl esters of flurbiprofen.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,477,468 to Heckler discloses the systemic administration and topical application of flurbiprofen, salts thereof and esters thereof. The esters are (C1–C8) alkyl esters and are prescribed for the prophylactic and therapeutic treatment of herpes type II virus. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,473,584, 4,443,476 and 4,439,451 are related to U.S. Pat. No. 4,477,468.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,994 to Sloan discloses hydroxamic derivatives of flurbiprofen as prodrugs
U.S. Pat. No. 4,206,220 relates to compounds that are similar to those of U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,994. These compounds are aminoxy derivatives of, e.g., flurbiprofen.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,009,283 to Herr et al discloses lower alkyl esters of flurbiprofen. The esters are lower alkyl esters.
Canadian Patent CA 1,148,165 and German Patent DE 3,811,118 disclose esters of flurbiprofen.
The anti-inflammatory agent, flurbiprofen, produces local irritation when applied for treatment of inflammation. Various techniques have been used to lower the dosage of flurbiprofen to the patient, such as techniques for rapid release of flurbiprofen into the body. Nevertheless, there exists a need in the art for compositions that achieve the desired effects of flurbiprofen without the concomittant local irritation. This is particularly true in the application of the flurbiprofen anti-inflammatory agent to the eye.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Permeable, water soluble, non-irritating prodrugs of chemotherapeutic agents with oxaalkanoic acids

University of Kentucky Research Foundation


A tamper switch mechanism utilized in security interface devices such as keypad installations to render them tamper-resistant, wherein the devices are generally connected to burglar alarm and fire alarm systems. More particularly, provided is a conductive tamper switch which is installed in a security interface device, such as a keypad, which upon an unauthorized attempt to dislodge the device or keypad from a wall or surface on which it is mounted, will trigger an alarm or generate a warning signal at a monitoring site indicative that an effort at tampering with the device has been effected. Also disclosed is a method of providing the tamper switch mechanism in a security interface device, such as a keypad installation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a switch mechanism utilized in security interface devices such as keypad installations to render them tamper-resistant, wherein the devices are generally connected to burglar alarm and fire alarm systems.
More particularly, the present invention pertains to the provision of a conductive tamper switch which is installed in a security interface device, such as a keypad, which upon an unauthorized attempt to dislodge the device or keypad from a wall or surface on which it is mounted, will trigger an alarm or generate a warning signal at a monitoring site indicative that an effort at tampering with the device has been effected.
Currently, security interface devices, such as those which consist of keypad units, are normally mounted on the walls or other upright surfaces of the most diverse locations, such as in homes, apartments, offices and manufacturing sites and plants. The security interface devices are frequently equipped with tamper-indicating structures. For instance, such structures may comprises tamper switches installed in the keypads, and among other locales, which may contact electronic operative components contained in the keypad housings, such as printed circuit boards (PCBs). However, presently employed tamper-indicating structures may be sensitive to noises such as mounting surface conditions, the skill of an installer, the proper assembly of a tamper switch and keypad enclosure, and may even be unduly sensitive to external environmental and weather conditions. For example, upon the installation of a security interface device, such as a keypad, on a wall surface which is subject to uneven surface mounting properties, it is possible that a tamper post contained in the housing, wherein the tamper post is intended to be in contact with electronic circuitry on a printed circuit board located in the keypad housing may be offset and misaligned from a tamper switch on the printed circuit board subsequent to the installation of the keypad, thereby leading to potential tamper detecting malfunctions. Consequently, the personnel or installers which are engaged in mounting the security interface devices must be capable of properly implementing any necessary adjustments to either the security interface device or to the surface of the wall in order to be able to ensure the reliable functioning thereof in connection with the tamper-detecting mechanism subsequent to installation of the device.
Such tamper-detecting devices have heretofore been comprised of plastic or rubber posts or metallic spring members, which are mounted interiorly of the keypad housing and extend from the back housing portion forwardly into contact with a tamper switch or contact located on a printed circuit board contained within the keypad housing, whereby any attempt to pull the keypad device from the wall in an unauthorized manner will cause a disengagement between contacts formed by the tamper post or spring and a tamper switch mounted on the printed circuit board or to rupture a segment of the back housing mounting the tamper post, so as to produce a short circuit in the electronic system of the printed circuit board and to consequently trigger a signal raising an audible alarm and/or notifying a remote location which monitors the function of the keyboard or the security device, such as at an alarm company or law protective agency.
Moreover, this type of prior art structure, upon the unauthorized pulling off the front cover portion of the keypad housing, will trigger an alarm signifying that tampering has occurred, but is not adapted to provide a disconnection between the printed circuit board and the tamper post or spring which activates the tamper switch when the keypad housing is pulled away from the wall in its entirety, rather than merely the front housing part, unless the frangible segment of the back casing of the housing is ruptured, which segment is fastened to the wall, whereby the tamper post which is mounted on that segment and normally contacts the tamper switch on the printed circuit board, is concurrently pulled away from the printed circuit board so as to break contact therewith. This, of course, in due course requires replacement of the damaged rear portion of the keypad housing for reuse thereof. Thus, a good installation, which incorporates a tamper switch or mechanism utilized in the security interface device, such as a wall or surface mounted keypad, not only requires an assured reliability in reporting any tampering, but in addition to such functional requirements should also be cost effective in the manufacture, installation and utilization thereof in service over a lengthy service life.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Clark, U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,677 discloses a keypad for a door lock including a tamper detection and response feature whereby the unauthorized removal of a part or a front portion of the keypad, which forms a component of a deadbolt lock will activate a sensor switch utilized on a push/pull lock arrangement. This provides that the lock is automatically relocked when the mechanism is in a secured position, and in which whereby the system of the keypad provides for a remote enable and disable unit, directs a detection and a response unit, a low battery sensing arrangement, includes a bolt extension indicating feature and adjustable bolt throw feature. This is a relatively complex configuration, which does not readily lend itself to a simple tamper indicating switch mechanism which is incorporated in a wall or surface mounted keypad security device.
Magner, et al., U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0140496 A1 discloses a keypad and method providing for electronic access security and keyless entry of a vehicle. In that instance, there is disclosed a keypad for the keyless entry of the vehicle, including a coded arrangement. However, this particular structure does not incorporate a tamper-indicating feature analogous to that contemplated for by the present invention.
With regard to Hom, et al., U.S. Patent Publication No. 2003/0227766 A1, there is disclosed a keypad system including an illumination arrangement and light from LEDs which signify activation thereof. Again, there is no tamper indicating switch structure contacting a printed circuit board analogous to that employed in the present invention.

Conductive tamper switch for security devices


A computer-based system for valuing a customized indexed call option.

A call option is a financial instrument that gives its holder the right (but not the obligation) to purchase a given security at a pre-specified price, called the strike price or exercise price, from the option seller. This structure allows the option holder to profit if the price of the security exceeds the strike price at the time of expiry of the option. At the same time, the maximum possible loss to the holder is limited to the price paid for the option if the security is worth less than the exercise price, since the holder is not forced to buy the security at an above-market price.
Options usually have a limited lifespan (the term) and have two main styles of exercise, American and European. In an American-exercise call option, the security may be purchased for its strike price at any time during the term. In a European-exercise call option, in contrast, the security may only be purchased at the end of the term.
An indexed call option is one in which the role of "securities price" is played by an index, often an equity index such as the S&P 500 or the Nasdaq 100. Since delivering the basket of securities that compose the index is usually impractical, indexed call options are usually cash-settled. This means that if the index is greater than the strike price at time of exercise, the option seller pays the option holder the difference in price in cash: if the index is less than or equal to the strike, no payment is made.
Many investors currently purchase indexed call options directly to help achieve a desired balance of risk and return in their investment portfolios. Many consumers also benefit indirectly from investments in such options when they buy indexed deposit products such as equity-indexed annuities or indexed certificates of deposit (CD's). This is because indexed deposit products are usually constructed from a mixture of fixed-income instruments such as bonds or mortgages and indexed call options.
Investors and consumers obtain many benefits through the use of indexed call options, such as:
The ability to benefit from increases in the index while limiting the maximum loss to the price paid for the option;
Achievement of diversification by linking investment returns to an index aggregating the performance of multiple issuers, rather than just one security; and
Through indexed deposit products, achievement of a guaranteed return of principal together with investment returns linked to an index.
There are also some disadvantages associated with investment in indexed call options, including the following:
Inability to take advantage of changes in economic circumstances, because returns are tied to one index for the term of the option; and
Inability to "take shelter during a storm"—i.e. to link option returns to a safe alternative such as a credited interest rate during times of great perceived risk of index declines, and to resume index linkage as prospects improve.
Additionally, because the price of a call option increases less than linearly in the length of the term, the highest participation in increases in the index (per dollar of option premium) can usually be achieved by picking the longest option term available. This unfortunately makes it even harder for the option holder to take advantage of changes in economic circumstances.
The investor or consumer therefore must face the situation that shorter-term options provide greater flexibility but are more expensive, while longer-term options provide greater potential return but are less flexible. A difficult choice must be made.
Accordingly, there is a long-felt need for an indexed call option structure permitting the purchaser to achieve the benefits associated with longer terms, while providing the greater flexibility characteristic of shorter terms. There is correspondingly a long-felt need for a computer-based system for valuing such an indexed call option structure.

Computer based system for valuing and hedging customized indexed call option


A spinal disk implant comprises a solid body having four faces arranged to define a right-rectangular solid body and two faces that define the ends of the solid body. The faces that define the right-rectangular body include two opposed side faces and two opposed transverse faces. The transverse faces have a central region with three-dimensional features thereon and an anterior platform region lying along an anterior margin of the transverse faces. The faces defining the ends of the solid body include a convexly curved anterior face and a posterior face. The solid body is made of a biocompatible synthetic material. A kit that may be used by a surgeon includes an implant and an implant delivery tool dimensioned to releasably hold the implant. The delivery tool preferably has a pair of flexible opposed arms extending from a base, separated so that the implant can fit between the arms, and may have a breakable release band extending around the implant to hold it in place until a weak link in the release band is intentionally broken during implantation.

This invention relates to implants surgically placed into the human body and the tool used to perform the implantation, and, more particularly, to an implant placed between two vertebrae to fuse them together and its implant delivery tool.
The human spine is composed of a column of 33 bones, termed vertebrae, and their joining structures. The 24 vertebrae nearest the head, collectively termed the presaccral vertebrae, are separate bones capable of individual movement. The bodies of the presaccral vertebrae are generally connected by anterior and posterior longitudinal ligaments and by discs of fibrocartilage, termed intervertebral disks, positioned between opposing faces of adjacent vertebral bodies. These mobile vertebrae may be classified by their position and function into either cervical, thoracic, or lumbar vertebrae. The remaining 9 vertebrae are fused to form the saccrum (5 vertebrae) and the coccyx (4 vertebrae) and are incapable of individual movement.
This column of vertebrae and intervertebral disks forms a central axis for supporting the load of the head and torso. The vertebral body and the dorsal vertebral arch of each of the 24 mobile presaccral vertebrae enclose an opening, termed the vertebral for amen, through which the spinal cord, a column of nerve tissue which communicates nerve impulses between the brain and the rest of the body, and the spinal nerve roots pass and are protected from damage.
The presaccral vertebrae are normally held in a precise relation to each other by the intervertebral disks, the longitudinal ligaments, and the musculature of the body. These vertebrae can move relative to adjacent vertebrae in various manners, permitting the head to be turned relative to the body and providing a wide range of flexibility to the spine. The movement between individual pairs of vertebrae is limited to prevent local pressure on the spinal cord or excessive bending of the spinal cord. Such pressure or bending could possibly result in disorders associated with blockage of the nerve impulses traveling along the spinal cord, in turn producing pain, paresthesia, or loss of motor control which must be resolved by removing the causative condition.
The nerve conduction disorders may also be associated with the intervertebral disks or the bones themselves. One such condition is a herniation of the intervertebral disk, in which a small amount of tissue protrudes from the sides of the disk into the foramen to compress the spinal cord. A second common condition involves the development of small bone spurs, termed osteophytes, along the posterior surface of the vertebral body, again impinging on the spinal cord.
Upon identification of the abnormality causing the conduction disorders, surgery may be required to correct the problem if more conservative treatment fails. For those problems associated with the formation of osteophytes or herniations of the intervertebral disk, one such surgical procedure is intervertebral discectomy. In this procedure, the involved vertebral bodies are exposed and the intervertebral disk is removed, thus removing the offending tissue, or providing access for the removal of the bone osteophytes. A second procedure, termed a spinal fusion, may then be required to fix the vertebral bodies together to prevent movement and maintain the space originally occupied by the intervertebral disk. Although there may result some minor loss of flexibility in the spine, because of the large number of vertebrae, the loss of mobility is usually acceptable.
During a spinal fusion following a discectomy, an implant is inserted into the intervertebral space. This intervertebral implant is often a bone graft removed from another portion of the patient's body, termed an autograft. The use of bone taken from the patient's body has the important advantage of avoiding rejection of the implant, but has some shortcomings. There is always a risk in opening a second surgical site for obtaining the bone graft, which can lead to infection or pain for the patient, and the site of the bone graft is weakened by the removal of bony material. The bone implant may not be perfectly shaped and placed, leading to slippage or absorption of the implant, or failure of the implant to fuse with the vertebrae.
Other options for a graft source for the implant are bone removed from cadavers, termed an allograft, or from another species, termed a xenograft. In these cases, while there is the benefit of not having a second surgical site as a possible source of infection or pain, there is the increased difficulty with graft rejection and the risk of transmitting communicable diseases.
An alternative approach to using a bone graft is to use a manufactured implant made of a synthetic material that is biologically compatible with the body and the vertebrae. Several compositions and geometries of such implants have been utilized, ranging from simple blocks of material to carefully shaped implants, with varying success. No fully satisfactory implant has been reported. In some instances, the implanting surgery is readily accomplished, but the results are unsatisfactory due to side effects or dislocation of the implant. In other instances, the implant requires a complex surgical procedure that is difficult to perform and still may not lead to correction of the problem for the reasons indicated.
There is therefore a need for an improved spinal disk implant, which is both readily utilized ln a surgical procedure and has a high probability of success without undesirable side effects. The present invention fulfills this need, and further provides related advantages.

Spinal disk implant and implantation kit


Significant advances in semiconductor microelectronics technologies have resulted in greatly enhanced chip performance. Systems studies have continuously shown that on-board interconnects between chips are the bottleneck in achieving board level performance that is comparable with this chip performance. This invention provides a multiple-layer photonic-electronic circuit board family that solves this interconnect performance problem. Multiple layers of patterned optical channel waveguides and patterned electrical conductors co-exist in a single circuit board structure, with optical vias to transport light between different photonics layers and electrical vias to transport electrical signals and power between different electronics layers. An all-lithographic fabrication technology is used to build the entire board structure with mutually compatible planar processing steps. Novel techniques are used to produce channel optical waveguides connected to in-plane 45 degree turning mirrors and channel optical waveguides connected to optical vias with out-of-plane 45 degree turning mirrors. The mirrors can have either total internal reflection or metallized facets.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a solid-state multiple-layer photonic-electronic circuit board package family, having interconnected layers of photonic circuitry and electronic circuitry.
2. Description of Related Art
Significant advances in the last two decades in semiconductor microelectronics technologies have resulted in memory chip capacities exceeding one Gigabyte and logic chip speeds exceeding one GigaHertz. Systems studies have continuously shown that on-board interconnects between chips are the bottleneck in achieving a board-level performance that is comparable to the intra-chip data rates. As minimum feature sizes fall below 100 nm, the clock rates of leading-edge microprocessors are expected to exceed 10 GHz in the next few years, further emphasizing the need for faster chip-to-chip interconnects. It is well recognized that a doubling of transistor density in a chip increases the on-board interconnect complexity by a factor greater than two. The ever-increasing complexity of the devices is also leading to the need for a larger number of interconnect layers.
Photonic data transmission between chips is a potential solution to this fundamental problem of on-board interconnect complexity, but several technological hurdles have prevented implementation of this approach. These include the co-existence of multiple photonic and electronic layers in a single circuit board, optical vias to transport light between different photonics layers, and an all-lithographic fabrication technology that can use mutually compatible planar processing steps to build the entire circuit board. This patent application addresses these key barriers through innovative fabrication processes, materials, and photonic devices. This address enables integration of very high-density optical interconnect structures in a low-profile, planar format to achieve the goal of realizing cost-effective, high-performance photonic printed circuit boards.
Two major photonic interconnect approaches exist for next generation data transmission needs: free-space, and embedded, planar interconnects. The free-space approach uses VCSELs (vertical cavity surface emitting lasers) to direct signals out of the board towards micro-optics (such as micro-lenses, micromirrors, and gratings), which then redirect the signals. These micro-optical components must protrude 10 to 20 mm above the surface of the circuit board in order to send and receive light in a plane parallel to the board surface. This approach has the potential to increase the data rate significantly because it eliminates cross-talk and allows use of 2D channel arrays. Another advantage is that the interconnect scheme is reconfigurable, i.e., the communication between processors can be reprogrammed according to the specific task at hand by redirecting the laser signals. The major disadvantages of this approach are that it requires extremely tight alignment tolerances for the placement of the micro-optical components, the thickness of the board is very large (tens of mm), and it is sensitive to vibration, contamination, and other environmental effects.
Several organizations have conducted research in embedded photonic interconnect techniques that overcome many of the above-stated problems. For example, technology has been developed for embedding fixed-position micromirrors in waveguide layers in order to redirect a guided beam from horizontal to vertical, or to achieve a bend in the horizontal plane. One approach is based on a slow, multistep, silicon-wafer-based process, which includes for example, chemical mechanical polishing, a step which would likely be far too time consuming for a mass-produced item. Another approach is based on an embossing technique, which, in addition to being quite time consuming to produce, lacks both resolution and alignment precision.
While these technologies have the potential to overcome the limitations of the free-space method, the fabrication processes are not suitable for high-throughput production. In addition to the throughput and alignment challenges mentioned here, other key challenges that must be addressed are transmission and coupling losses as well as the, currently, low levels of integration.
Efforts to improve the fabrication process for photonic interconnects have included a demonstration of a hybrid electrical-optical circuit board (EOCB) using a hot embossing technique to fabricate an optical foil and then laminating this foil into a PCB. This technique, while inexpensive, does not yield smooth channel walls and is difficult to implement on large, non-planar substrates. Other work has developed photonic backplanes using a hybrid approach, employing laser diodes and discrete components such as micro-lenses to send signals to a backplanes that has embedded polymer waveguides. Prototypes having data rates of 1 Gb/s across distances of less than 100 cm have been successfully tested.
Guided by the lessons learned from integrated circuit technology, it is likely that the best solution to the optical interconnect challenge is an all-lithographic planar fabrication process. New patternable polymer materials have recently been developed that exhibit excellent transparency over a large wavelength range and offer the potential to achieve very high level of optical integration, at high throughputs and with high resolution.
A primary barrier to the realization of high-speed optical chip-to-chip interconnection has been the numerous optical signal losses that plague present transmission, insertion, and coupling techniques. These losses have arisen due to lack of process technologies that enable high-yield fabrication of the required devices in the desired configurations and relative orientations. In the case of waveguide structures, high-speed, single-mode (or even multi-mode) waveguides have not been manufactured for runs of large distances due to, for example, the scattering losses that arise from the stitching of the waveguide structures. In the current state of planar photonic interconnect technology, the overall level of integration is low, the number of discrete components used is high, and the alignment precision is poor. Furthermore, the sizes of integrated elements are coarse and the number of integrated optical elements is low. As a result, achievable data rates as well as channel densities have been limited.
Compared to this prior art, this invention provides a platform of manufacturing processes that enables the fabrication of novel photonic interconnect structures leading to high-density, heterogeneous integration of photonic and electronic devices. This invention will enable the design and manufacture of photonically interconnected systems transmitting data at speeds of at least 10 GHz (extendable to >50 GHz) with channel densities of at least 16 channels/mm (extendable to >100 channels/mm) over distances of at least 300 mm (extendable to >1 m). Such systems, in a multilayer planar format, provide a low-profile interconnect structure (<25 mm thick, extendable to <10 mm). Fabrication of such systems can be achieved on large areas (>1000 cm2), at high throughputs (up to 4 sq. ft./min.), and on a variety of substrates (including flexible materials).
These photonic interconnect structures may include long planar waveguides, splitters, embedded 45° mirrors, and optical vias (connecting two photonic layers), among others. These photonic interconnect structures are fabricated by lithography, photoablation, or image-wise refractive index modulation using large-area, high-resolution, seamless patterning technologies. The materials for these structures may be polymer-based, hybrid materials, nanocomposites, and self-assembled structures.
The result is alignment-tolerant fabrication of integrated, photonic circuit optical layers on large-area boards and/or flexible substrates.


A device for forming an inserting hole comprising at least two tubes having different outer diameters, and at least one of a guide wire and a sticking needle. A largest diameter tube has at its thick-walled end at least one longitudinal and approximately linear tearing line. The largest diameter tube, after being inserted into the body, can be torn using the tearing line and fixed to the skin of a patient by sewing a folded portion of the tube on the skin. The tube is not moved by the breathing or pressure since it is fixed to the skin. When the tearing line is formed by an ultrasonic cutter, width of the tearing line can be made narrow thereby preventing adhesion of bacteria to a cut portion and unexpected opening of the tearing line in the body.

The present invention relates to a device for forming an inserting hole, and more particularly to a device used for forming an inserting hole for an endoscope, a drainage tube and the like. The inserting hole for an endoscope serves to allow insertion of the endoscope into diseased portions of the body in the treatment of cholangia diseases, nephrosis and the like, while the inserting hole for a drainage tube serves to allow insertion of the drainage tube into diseased portions of the body and removal treatment of bile, calculus and the like in the treatment of cholangia diseases, nephrosis and the like. Though the device of the present invention can be used for forming an inserting hole for an endoscope, a drainage tube and the like as stated above, the following explanation is mainly based on a device for forming an inserting hole for an endoscope.
Hitherto, percutaneous treatments using endoscopes have been carried out for various sickness in the bile duct, cholecyst, renal pelvis or ureter. That is, fibrous cells are formed around a tube as a reaction of the organism to foreign material by percutaneously inserting the tube having a diameter of 5 to 6 mm necessary for the insertion of the endoscope into duct organs such as bile duct, cholecyst, renal pelvis and the like. A fistula is thus formed and the endoscope is put in or out through the fistula to carry out the treatment.
In the conventional endoscope treatment, a small diameter tube is gradually exchanged at an interval of few days to one week for such tube as having a larger outer diameter in about an month, thereby forming a large diameter fistula allowing the insertion of endoscopes. Thus, the conventional method has problems that it takes a lot of time to form a fistula and gives a great pain to a patient.
As a method for shortening a period required for the above-mentioned operation or treatment, there is proposed, in Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 78938/1987, a set for expanding a fistula for bile drainage comprising a small diameter tube allowing a metallic guide wire to pass through a center thereof, a medium diameter tube covering an outer periphery of the small diameter tube, and a large diameter tube covering the outer periphery of the small diameter tube and having an outer diameter larger than that of the medium diameter tube.
In various treatments using an endoscope such as lithotripsy, polypectomy and the recovery of the removed tissue, however, it is necessary to completely pull out the endoscope many times while holding the tissue or calculus. Therefore a fistula between the chest wall and the surface of the liver or between the retro abdominal wall and kidney is required to adhere securely. A large diameter tube having a diameter of 5 to 6 mm is required to be kept in the fistula for a few weeks to complete the formation of a strong fistula. Such method gives a great pain to a patient.
Further, there is proposed another device in which an endoscope is inserted into a hollow portion of a large diameter tube while leaving the large diameter tube in the body. In such a device, however, a diaphragm positioned on the boundary between lungs and a liver moves up and down each time a patient breathes, and the liver moves up and down with the movement of the diaphragm. As a result, there is caused a problem that the position of the large diameter tube moves. There is also a problem that a part of the large diameter tube positioned on the boundary between a chest wall and a surface of the liver bends each time a patient breathes, and the large diameter tube is broken.
In order to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, the present inventors have variously investigated and found out that the above-mentioned drawbacks are solved by applying a tube having a longitudinal tearing line described in, for example, Japanese Examined Utility Model Publication No. 10698/1986 to a largest diameter tube, by tearing a part of the tearing line to fold one end of the tube, and by sewing the folded portion of the tube on a skin of the patient to fix the largest diameter tube.
The above tearing lines of tubes are conventionally formed by means of a knife cutter or a heat cutter. In the case of the tearing line formed by means of a heat cutter, however, both edges of a cut portion 14 are bulged due to heat of a heat cutter as shown in FIG. 9 illustrating a section of a thick-walled portion of a tube, so that a surface of the thick-walled portion shrinks and deforms at the bulged portion. Accordingly, a tissue of the body is sometimes injured when the tube is inserted into or pulled out from the body. Further, a tube is not necessarily opened along a tearing line when the end of the tube is outwardly opened with hands. Still further, in the case of a knife cutter, if the knife cutter is not sufficiently sterilized, there is a danger that bacteria adhere to a cut portion when cutting a tube so that subcutaneous tissue or duct organs such as bile duct of a patient are contaminated.
In particular, it is difficult in the case of these cutters to adjust length and width of the cut portion of the tube to desired values, so that tubes having predetermined quality are hard to obtain. Therefore, a tube is pressed by a pressure of subcutaneous tissue so that a tearing line thereof is sometimes broken to damage cell tissue. Moreover, the tearing line of the tube formed by these cutters has a large cutting width. Accordingly, a patient is sometimes infected with bacteria adhered to a cut portion of the tube, and tissue of the body is injured when inserting or pulling out a tube.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a device for forming an inserting hole capable of reducing damage of tissue of the body as much as possible and carrying out operations or treatments using endoscope or drainage tube in a short time.

Device for forming an inserting hole and method of using and making the same


Methods and apparatuses for managing tables of security associations (SA) are described. A device driver operating in an environment, for example, NDIS, where a unique handle is selected for each transmit SA and the SPI for each receive SA is selected with a random algorithm, divides transmit SAs from receive SAs in separate tables. An SA lookup table having a whole binary number of entries that is the lowest binary number greater than five times the number of SAs supported by the device driver contains information to match an SA to a data packet, and locate the SA in memory. The lookup table is searched using a bit-wise AND hash function.

The IP (Internet Protocol) Security (IPsec) standard, IP Security Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Request for Comments (RFC) 2401, published November 1998, is one method of protecting both the confidentiality and integrity of data transferred on a network. Cryptographic (crypto) information is contained in a data structure called a Security Association (SA). The information indicates to electronic systems utilizing IPsec how to perform crypto operations (e.g., encryption, decryption, authentication) on packets of network data. The crypto operations may be offloaded, where the packets of data are processed in hardware external to the system processor, to improve system performance.
A device driver is associated with the network interface hardware that couples the network traffic streams to an electronic system. The device driver that supports IPsec offload manages the SAs. For example, in a Network Driver Interface Specification (NDIS) environment, the miniport driver manages the SAs. In certain environments, the number of SAs to be managed can be very large. For example, in a server environment the number can reach many thousands. The driver maintains a pair of SAs for each connection, one for transmit and one for receive.
When a device driver receives a packet of network data in an environment supporting IPsec offload, the driver parses the packet to match the packet to its corresponding SA. The device driver searches an internal database of SAs to find which SA has a matching tuple. The IPsec standard specifies that the tuple uniquely identifies the SA for a data packet. However, in some IPSec implementations, such as the operating systems available from Microsoft Corporation, the receive SPI is guaranteed to be unique across the entire system. In this case, the SPI alone is sufficient to search for the SA, though the remaining members of the tuple must be verified as well.
In traditional NDIS implementations, the miniport driver maintains all SAs in one table. When the miniport needs to search the table for either transmit or receive packets, the miniport driver performs a linear search. This traditional approach has several inefficiencies. One shortfall is that a miniport driver searches receive SAs for transmit packets, and transmit SAs for receive packets. There is no chance of a match in either case. Another shortfall is that linear searches are inherently inefficient compared to other search algorithms, for example, binary searches.

Security association management through the use of lookup tables


A rotor bearing assembly for a wind power engine exhibits great stability and strength, and reduces flexural stresses on a mast of a wind power engine.. The bearing body (2) is suspended from and mounted on a horizontal pivot axis (X) and carries a rotor assembly (3) on a short lever arm and an aerodynamic airfoil (5) on a log lever arm (4). In connection with a descending force, an airfoil (5) produces a counter torque about the horizontal pivot axis (X) opposed to the dynamic pressure-dependent torque due to the rotor assembly (3).

The present invention relates to a rotor bearing assembly for a wind power engine comprising a rotor assembly and at least one pair of contra-rotating rotors on a multiaxially movable bearing body which includes a positioning device and is mounted on at least one stationary support device, the rotor assembly being arranged at one side of a horizontal pivot axis to face the wind.
Various types of rotor bearing assemblies for wind power engines are known. These are provided with contra-rotating rotors for compensating for the rotor twist and are rotatably mounted on a bearing body.
DE-PS 2 506 160, for instance, discloses a wind power station which is provided with a pair of rotors of opposite twist and whose rotor assembly is rotatable within the bearing body about a rotation axis of the rotors, but is pivotable into the wind together with the bearing body about a horizontal axis extending substantially at right angles relative to the rotation axis of the rotors for adjusting the rotor assembly. Moreover, the rotor assembly is pivotably supported about a vertical axis on the support structure of the wind power station for wind orientation purposes. On account of the size of such rotors, the wind force-dependent stresses (dynamic pressure) which act via the rotor assembly on the bearing and supporting structures thereof, as well as an optimum inclination of the rotor assembly relative to I e wind for achieving a high efficiency of the system, present a main problem in the constructional design of such wind power stations and their command during operation To avoid very high stresses, DE-PS 2 506 160 suggests that 1) the rotor assembly should be given a further degree of freedom which permits a precision movement of the rotor assembly, whereby the rotor positioning is facilitated by exploiting precision forces and that 2) the stresses on the bearing and supporting structure for the active members of the wind power engine should be reduced This, however, leads to a relatively complicated construction of the bearing which, in addition, is not suited for rotor assemblies that are rotatably supported at the bearing body side facing the wind to project therefrom at one side.
As for wind power engines having a rotor assembly which is supported on high support masts via a bearing body which, in turn, is pivotable about a horizontal axis and rotatable about a vertical axis, the flexural stresses on the vertical support mast, as well as the bearing stresses in the area of the bearing body, are considerable in response to the dynamic pressure of the wind. This problem becomes even more acute when the rotor blades of the rotor assembly which are arranged in pairs in contra-rotating fashion are not arranged coaxially, but next to each other with the axes in parallel, or when they are arranged in a twin-type assembly with four rotor blades at one side on the bearing body.

Rotor bearing assembly for a wind power engine


An oral hygienic compound and method for use in domesticated animals such as cats and dogs. The primary component of the oral hygienic compound is pure, natural garlic. The method involves coating or otherwise adulterating the animal's food with the oral hygienic compound in order to maximize garlic exposure within the oral cavity of the animal. Thus, the oral hygienic compound should promote chewing by the animal so as to evenly distribute the garlic within the animal's mouth. Garlic, in an uncooked state, has been found to substantially eliminate a pet's bad breath, whether by substantially reducing odor-causing bacteria within the oral cavity, and/or by other more systemic means when it is administered according to the inventive method.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to the field of pet hygiene. More particularly, the present invention relates to controlling breath odor in pets. More particular yet, the present invention involves both a method and composition for controlling breath odor in pets such as dogs, where the active ingredient is uncooked garlic. Most particularly, the present invention involves the treatment and control of breath odor in pets by dispensing uncooked garlic in powder form to such pets.
2. Description of Prior Art
As all pet owners are aware, the smell of a pet's breath can be rank enough to repulse the pets' owners, as well as the owners' friends and relatives, thereby adversely affecting the emotional bond between dog and human. Just as there are remedies, such as mouthwashes, pastes, and gels, intended for human use in combating what the advertisers once dubbed "halitosis," so too are there "fresheners," i.e., cover-up liquids and solids, that can be administered to pets for what is referred to as "doggy breath." There are also chemical sprays and cleansers to be applied to the animal's oral cavity by the owner or by a veterinarian.
In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 4,525,341 issued Jun. 25, 1985, to Deihl discloses a method of administering vitamins to air-breathing animals (including humans) by an aerosol vehicle that, in addition to containing vitamins, also contains a breath freshener. The aerosol of Deihl is sprayed into the nose or mouth opening of the animal from where some of it is carried to the lungs by the animal's respiration. The "breath freshener" of Deihl not being specified, it can be any one of the products on the market bearing that name. As far as is known, none of these "fresheners" does more than temporarily mask the problem of bad breath in pets.
Richar et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,836 issued Apr. 11, 1995) disclose pet food containing water-soluble zinc compounds for controlling animal breath. This method avers that a primary source of offensive breath in animals results from the breakdown of food proteins by bacteria in the oral cavity. Thus, Richar et al. also teach that the zinc compounds can be incorporated into rawhide "chews" as a means of administering the bad-breath-controlling substance. Zinc sulfate is one such zinc compound that is widely known as a deodorant. However, it is not entirely a benign substance. Although the amounts of the compound that must be ingested in order to cause illness or death in a human or other big animals are large, they are proportionately smaller in small pets, and much more care must be taken in dispensing a safe dose. Thus, although it is possible to administer such compounds safely by using informed care, the potential for harm is present, therefore compromising the benefit of this approach to bad-breath control.
Except for Richar et al., all of the other prior-art breath improvements for animals have relied on sweet mint or chlorophyll-based scents, sprays, dietary supplements, etc. to simply mask the bad odors that are present. As indicated, these methods have at best resulted in a temporary cover-up of the undesirable odors.
To the extent that offensive odors arise from the oral cavity alone, it is known that scraping of plaque and tartar buildup from the animal's teeth is a further remedy, though one usually requiring the expertise and expense of a veterinarian, as animals frequently require sedation during such scraping. While tartar and plaque removal is effective and beneficial from a dental perspective, the offensive odors from the pet's mouth are neither entirely eliminated, nor even reduced for an appreciable amount of time. One reason for this is that scraping does not eliminate the odor-causing bacteria, but only a particular breeding place for such bacteria.
Another reason that scraping may not be sufficiently effective is that some of the strongest odors may not originate from the mouth at all. As with humans, these odors can emanate from the deep breath as a result of an adulterant present in the pet's system, especially the blood stream. Noxious gases, if present in the blood stream, can be given up by the blood during its oxygenation in the lungs, i.e., at the blood/lung interface. Several sources of such odors are known to be, for example, gas-producing vegetables, such as broccoli and Brussels sprouts, and cooked garlic.
Therefore, what is needed is a method for ameliorating offensive breath in domestic pets, especially in dogs, that can be easily administered by the pets' owners. What is also needed is that the method not be painful or expensive and that it give more than just temporary "cover-up" relief. What is further needed is a method that is benign to both the pet and the environment. Finally, what is need is such a method of breath amelioration that is acceptable to the pet.

Method to reduce bad breath in a pet by administering raw garlic


A motor vehicle lock includes a latch and a ratchet arrangement. The latch is able to swivel around a swivelling axis, and be moved into an open position, a main locked position and optionally a preliminary locked position. The ratchet arrangement is able to be moved into at least one holding position and into a release position. The ratchet arrangement when in the holding position, keeps the latch, in any case, in the main locked position. The ratchet arrangement includes ratchet kinematics and an adjustable blocking element. By resetting the latch out of the main locked position in the direction of the open position the ratchet kinematics is moved and when the ratchet arrangement is in the holding position the blocking element blocks the movement of the ratchet kinematics which can be caused by the latch and thus blocks the resetting of the latch.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a motor vehicle lock with a latch and a ratchet arrangement.
2. Description of Related Art
Current motor vehicle locks are generally equipped with a latch and a ratchet, in order to accomplish a non-positive connection to a striker which is located on the motor vehicle body as shown in EP 0 589 158 A1. The latch can be swivelled around a swivelling axis and, in any case, can be moved into a main locked position. The ratchet is hook-shaped and keeps the latch in the main locked position by fitting into a corresponding shape, i.e., a main catch on the latch. The basic concept is also used in motor vehicle locks with a motorized opening drive, as is also shown in EP 0 589 158 A1.
Basically, in the above-described motor vehicle lock, a problem arises in which, depending on the configuration of the latch and the ratchet, the lifting of the ratchet and thus the release of the latch are associated with a certain minimum force and a certain minimum work which are determined essentially by the friction force between the latch and the ratchet, while the ratchet is being lifted. In addition to the coefficient of friction, for the work consumed by friction, the reset force acting on the ratchet from the latch, and the adjustment path necessary for lifting the ratchet are decisive.
While maintaining the described basic concept, a reduction of the friction force and the work consumed by friction is possible only to a limited degree without endangering the operating reliability of the motor vehicle lock. This leads to possible adverse effects with regard to ease of operation due to high actuating forces in a mechanically actuated motor vehicle lock. When the motor vehicle lock is equipped with a motorized opening drive, the opening drive can be designed accordingly for high forces or powers. However, this leads to high space requirements and to high costs.
One approach to reduce the force necessary for lifting the ratchet is shown by a known motor vehicle lock described in DE 102 36 282 A1 which shows a ratchet arrangement consisting of two ratchets. The first ratchet can be caused to engage the latch in order to keep the latch in the main locked position. The second ratchet can be caused to engage the first ratchet in order to keep in its holding position. The first ratchet is loaded in the direction of its holding position with a spring, which is overdimensioned for this purpose.
The disadvantage in this motor vehicle lock is that the motion of the ratchets must be matched very exactly to one another so that the motor vehicle door does not swing back when closing, caused by overly slow motion of the first ratchet. The matching of the ratchets to one another makes the structure of the motor vehicle lock complex and takes place by means of a spring with high stiffness. This however leads to the actuating forces for lifting the ratchet being increased. The force which is necessary for lifting the ratchet is reduced by the reduction of the friction force, but this reduction is again neutralized at least partially by the high stiffness of the springs.
Another approach to reducing the force necessary to lift the ratchet is shown by the known motor vehicle lock described in EP 0 406 777 B1 corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,639, which underlies this invention. Here, a ratchet arrangement which, like the above described ratchet, can be caused to engage the latch in order to keep the latch in the main locked position. The ratchet arrangement consists of a first lever to which a second lever is coupled with a swivelling capacity. The engagement necessary to hold the latch between the ratchet arrangement on one hand, and the latch on the other, takes place via the second lever. To release the latch, the first lever is swivelled which leads to swivelling of the second lever relative to the first lever. At the same time, the second lever rolls off the latch, to a certain extent, until an unstable state is formed, and the latch swivels into its open position. The work consumed by friction can be largely avoided by the swivelling of the second lever when the latch is released.
The problem in this motor vehicle lock resides in the fact that the operating reliability, when the latch is in the main locked position, cannot be adequately ensured. At high external accelerations, the second lever can swivel and lead to unwanted release of the latch. In order to achieve high operating reliability, high pretensioning of the second lever against the first lever would be necessary, which can lead to a high force which is necessary to release the latch.


The present invention describes a process of DNA typing performed on human specimens utilizing a specific multiplex reaction which amplifies GATA short tandem repeats in the loci D18S535, D22S683, and D9S302 for the purpose of producing STR genotypes which may be used for identification purposes. This multiplex is an improvement over existing multiplex amplifications for STR typing in that it possesses an extremely high individualization potential for forensic studies and power of exclusion for parentage testing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process of DNA typing using a multiplex amplification system of highly polymorphic simple or complex tandem repeat loci. These loci amplify robustly and cleanly in concert and provide a very powerful and quickly performed test which can be used in parentage, forensic, tissue origin, sample origin or genetic relatedness studies. The invention also relates to a new class of minisatellite called "complex tandem repeats" that displays more heterogeneity than simple tandem repeats and is of particular benefit in DNA typing applications.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Short tandem repeat (STR) polymorphisms are commonly used in DNA identification, either as adjuncts to other genetic tests, or as stand-alone tests. Typically, when STRs are used for human identification, they are amplified in groups of three to four loci (multiplex amplification). Generally, the resulting amplified fragments are analyzed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Polymorphisms are thus typed according to size by comparing to similarly labeled known external standards or differently labeled internal standards. U.S. Pat. No. 5,364,759 by Caskey, teaches the genus of simple tandem repeats as well as a DNA typing method employing the simple tandem repeats and PCR amplification of the loci. Fragments are analyzed by differential labeling of the products.
A critical parameter in DNA typing for paternity analysis is the power of exclusion for the system. Power of exclusion is the ability of a test to exclude a falsely accused man from paternity. Methods for computing the average (or expected) power of exclusion have been proposed (Chakravarti R. et al., Exclusion of Paternity: State of the Art., Am. J. Hu. Genet., 26:477-488 (1974); Garber R. A. & Morris J. W., General Equations for the Average Power of Exclusion for Genetic Systems of n Codominant Alleles in One-Parent and No-Parent Cases of Disputed Parentage, in Inclusion Probabilities in Parentage Testing, pp. 277-280 (1983); Chakravarti A. & Li C. C., The Effect of Linkage on Paternity Calculations, in Inclusion Probabilities in Parentage Testing, pp. 411-422 (1983)) and it can be estimated from gene frequency distributions of systems in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (Brenner C. & Morris. J. W., Paternity Index Calculations in Single Locus Hyper-Variable DNA Probes: Validation and Other Studies, Proceedings for The International Symposium on Human Identification, pp. 21-76 (1989)).
The commonly used STR multiplexes have exclusion probabilities in the range of 85% to 91% for paternity analysis. This compares unfavorably with restriction fragment length polymorphic loci (RFLP loci), which often provide an equivalent power with just one locus. Typically, at least three STR triplexes must be combined to provide sufficient exclusion power for most paternity trios. For example, Alford et al. describe a battery of nine STR loci amplified in 3 triplexes with an exclusion power of 99.75% in Caucasians (Alford R. L. et al., Rapid and Efficient Resolution of Parentage by Amplification of Short Tandem Repeats, Am. J Hum. Genet., 55:190-195 (1994)). Analysis of special cases in which the mother is not tested often results in low probabilities of paternity, even when ten of the commonly used STR systems are used. STR testing batteries which include greater numbers of lower power systems are more susceptible to this problem than are RFLP testing batteries which include a smaller number of higher power systems.
The low exclusion probabilities of commonly used STR loci are the most negative aspect of their use in paternity testing. This is not as serious a problem in forensic testing since the frequencies of both alleles of an individual are included in calculating match probabilities. In parentage testing however, only the frequency of the allele shared by the alleged parent and child is used in the probability calculation. Thus, although it is simpler and faster to perform DNA typing with STR loci than with RFLP loci and it can be performed with much smaller quantities of DNA, many laboratories are reluctant to make the switch because of this sacrifice in exclusion power.
Another disadvantage of current STR multiplex DNA typing systems is that the amplification is rarely, if ever, clean. In other words there is considerable formation of spurious bands, which is thought to be due to DNA polymerase slippage and mis-priming events (see e.g., Tautz D., Hyper variability of Simple Sequences as a General Source for Polymorphic DNA Markers, Nuc. Acids Res., 17(16) 6463-70 (1989)).
These and other disadvantages of the prior art are overcome by the present invention, and a method for DNA typing by multiplex amplification of highly polymorphic micro-satellite loci is provided.

Simple and complex tandem repeats with DNA typing method