A system for providing automated computer security compromise as a service, contains a web server having a web front end running on the web server. The Web server has stored therein pentest definitions. A command and control component processes the pentest definitions, builds pentest task tickets and reporting task tickets, and monitors at least one penetration tester component and/or at least one report generator component. The command and control component interacts with a cloud computing environment to scale up or down the number of penetration tester components and the number of report generator components, and assigns task tickets to the penetration tester and report generator components. At least one penetration tester component runs penetration testing modules available inside the penetration testing framework as instructed by the pentest task tickets. At least one reporter generator component generates reports based on the reporting tasks tickets generated by the command and control service.

Computer systems that are connected to a computer network, such as the Internet, and host services, and which run applications are inherently insecure and face threats of varying risk. In order to design and implement the necessary security measures so that the risks underlying deployments on or within computing infrastructures are eliminated or mitigated, it is necessary to constantly monitor these networks, detect threats, be able to assess the risk they impose and prepare the necessary countermeasures.
The effectiveness of the security measures of a computer system may be evaluated by performing a computer security audit in which various aspects of computer security are analyzed and evaluated. The security audit may include a penetration test, which is a process by which a security auditor attempts to gain unauthorized access to an infrastructure of a computer system network, applications, and users mimicking what an attacker does. The target of a penetration test can be all of these "attack vectors" or any subset, such as the web applications, the network devices, the client applications and its users, wireless communications, or other vectors.
In general, a penetration test is a service offered by skilled auditors that use security tools in combination with a multitude of ad hoc methods and tools, in order to mimic an attacker and gain unauthorized (i.e., not included in the implicit or explicit security policy) control of valuable assets in the target network. For example, an auditor will conduct the test from his computer that is placed outside of the network perimeter (e.g., anywhere in the Internet) and attempt to take control of the desktops inside the target network, and possibly pivot to access corporate file repositories. Alternatively, the auditor may sit in one of the different network segments inside the perimeter (e.g., in the same network where developers sit) and attempt to access the valuable information (e.g., the credit cards database—which should be of restricted access for the deployment to be compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)—or the individual health data—which should be of restricted access for the deployment to be compliant with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)).
Computing infrastructure deployments evolve, as new software is added or old software is updated, new hosts are added or removed, the network topology is changed, vulnerabilities are introduced and made public; the security posture of an organization varies. It is therefore common, to test the security of the network periodically. For example the PCI DSS compliance standard mandates that there is at least one penetration test a year and also whenever there is a significant change in the network.
On the other hand, security tests have been typically deemed costly and time-demanding. Nowadays, there is a trend on moving computing infrastructures into "the cloud" which in particular implies an outsourcing of IT resources. However, there is still no consensus in how to approach the security on these new infrastructures. As an example, the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) has only recently started debating this.
Cloud Services
Cloud computing is an informal term that encompasses different computing architectures that allow the scaling of computer resources that are accessed remotely. An "infrastructure as a service" platform provides its users with the ability to dynamically and programmatically administer the computing resources in their infrastructure (and also the associated costs). The granularity of resources to administer is at the infrastructure level (e.g., machine instances, network traffic, routers, load balancers). In a "Platform as a Service" offering a solution stack is provided including an installed OS, programming platform, database, etc.
Cloud services use virtualization and other technologies that are not new. However, they are implemented and deployed in non-standard ways. For example, Amazon Web Services from Amazon, GoogleAppEngine from Google, Azure from Microsoft, Rackspace, GoGrid, and Flexiscale all have different offerings. Moreover, users of these approach the design and deployment of their infrastructures differently even within the same specific cloud vendor.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is one of the biggest competitors in the Platform as a Service space. One of its products, Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) "is a web service that provides resizable compute capacity in the cloud. It is designed to make web-scale computing easier for developers."
These new technologies, or actually the novel use and assembly of technologies that have come to be known as "cloud computing," present several (new) problems to assess the security posture of a cloud infrastructure.
Limitations of Penetration Testing and its Automation
There are several aspects and features of the penetration testing frameworks and tools that facilitate the rendered services or help to maximize the coverage of threats that can be discovered. For example:
a first aspect worth mentioning is related to the threat coverage, specifically the attack vectors that a penetration testing framework (or any set of security tools) covers: the more attack vectors it covers and combines the broader spectrum of threats the framework may detect and exercise. A small handful of multiple attack-vector penetration testing frameworks are available—and most of these are commercial tools with the exception of a single open-source tool. Several single attack-vector tools or penetration testing frameworks have been designed and are available as commercial or open-source tools. For example, the so-called "web-application attack vector" can be tested by several of these, including Nikto, Paros, WebScarab and Burpsuite. These tools can handle some of the security tests relevant to the web-application attack vector, but rarely allow for local information gathering that will allow the auditor to assess the underlying risk of the network vulnerabilities. Moreover, since the auditor cannot test other vectors (e.g., network attack vector), pivoting is out of the question for him. In this sense, the coverage of single-vector penetration-testing tools underlying penetration tests is limited.
Similarly, the coverage of a penetration test is affected by the so-called depth in which each attack vector is covered during the test. Explicitly, a security tool is only able to target a subset of all the vulnerabilities present in an attack vector; and when this portion is small (the tool does not delve deep into the attack vector), then coverage is impacted negatively.
A second aspect worth mentioning is in the expertise of the auditor executing the penetration test or the way in which this expertise is embedded in the automation of these Frameworks—starting from automating common and/or repetitive chores (e.g., testing the Internet-facing web applications) through scripts, to the complete automation of a penetration test. Some of the available tools handle some rudimentary scripting automation, but one or two handle what is known in the art as attack planning capabilities; namely, the ability to accept as input an objective a potential threat that an attacker could exercise (e.g., compromise this server).
A third relevant aspect is that of mobility. The penetration tests are executed by a penetration tester or auditor running these tools from a computing device—such as laptop computer. In order to mimic the different attacker profiles—for example, insider and external hacker—the auditor must place his computer (i.e., the computer that runs this software) at different spots in the network topology. Alternatively, he may install a software agent in a system or device that lies in this network segment. That is, there is a mobility requirement which is typically addressed by moving a laptop with the installed software from place to place—and later integrating the results—or by running the tests from different computers.
A fourth aspect is that related to the form factor in which these functionalities are provided. In order to run these tools or frameworks, the user has to acquire (e.g., buy and/or download) the tool, install it and configure it for his computer. If this auditor requires a functionality that is not present in the tool or framework he uses, he must then install a second tool or framework to do so. Further, if this tool is commercial, he must first buy the tool. Note that when deciding for this second tool, the penetration tester must take into account the three aspects discussed before. In any case, a new investment of resources (monetary or other) must be made. It may be the case that the return of investment from buying a new commercial tool, or even installing a free one, is prohibitive for a smaller IT or security department in an organization. In this case, the security department has to conform by choosing from a restrictive set of less powerful tools.
Moreover, cloud infrastructures themselves introduce new elements and therefore a network infrastructure that is deployed in a cloud computing infrastructure is liable to new kinds of vulnerabilities that cannot be exercised with the older tools and techniques, but require tools and expertise to specifically target this.
In view of the shortcomings discussed above, there is a need for a system and method for automated computer security compromise delivered as a service.

System and method for providing automated computer security compromise as a service


A nonvolatile semiconductor memory according to an example of the present invention comprises an internal circuit which writes, erases or reads in one of a high-speed operation mode in which a peak of current consumption takes a first value and a low current consumption mode having a second value lower than the first value, and a mode switch control circuit which controls a switchover between the high-speed operation mode and the low current consumption mode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a nonvolatile semiconductor memory, and is particularly related to a multi-level NAND-structured flash memory.
2. Description of the Related Art
A flash memory changes the amount of electric charges stored in a floating gate electrode of a memory cell to vary its threshold value, and stores data. For example, "1" corresponds to the threshold value of the memory cell being negative, and "0" corresponds to the threshold value being positive (e.g., refer to Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 10-177797).
Recently, in order to decrease the value per bit or to increase a storage capacity, so-called multi-level flash memories have been developed to store multiple bit data in one memory cell. When 2-bit data is stored in one memory cell, four threshold distributions of the memory cell exist in accordance with quaternary data.
(1) By the way, the flash memory has basic modes: write, erase and read (including verification reading. Hereinafter the same.). At the start of these modes, it is necessary to generate a high voltage (e.g., a write potential Vpgm, a transfer potential Vpass, an erase potential Vera), and charge a bit line.
Therefore, at the start of writing, erasing and reading, an amount of current consumption increases, and its peak value, that is, peak current value also increases.
However, if a high peak current is generated in the flash memory, an adverse effect can be exerted to a system including the flash memory.
For example, the peak current generated in the flash memory in a portable device such as a digital camera and mobile telephone causes a decrease in a value of a power supply voltage of the entire system including the flash memory, which poses a problem of erroneous operations of other chips such as a microprocessor in the system.
(2) Some flash memories have a configuration in which a page size (or a block size) can be changed for various uses.
For example, when the flash memory is used in the system requiring high-speed writing, erasing and reading, the page size of the flash memory is increased.
However, the large page size of the flash memory means a high load capacity generated in one bit line.
Therefore, the amount of current consumed at the start of writing, erasing and reading increases, and the peak current value also increases. As described above, the peak current causes a decrease in the value of the power supply voltage of the entire system including the flash memory, leading to the erroneous operations of other chips such as the microprocessor in the system.
On the other hand, when the page size of the flash memory is reduced, the load capacity generated in one bit line is decreased, so that problems such as a decrease in the power supply voltage hardly occur.
However, the reduced page size means a smaller number of bit lines in which writing, erasing and reading can be performed at a time, which is a disadvantage for a high-speed operation as far as the entire system is concerned.


A speaker system comprises an acoustic tube with one end coupled to the back side of the speaker unit and the other end released to a sound field space through an opening window, and at least one air chamber disposed along the acoustic tube. The cross sectional area of the air chamber is larger than the cross sectional area of the acoustic tube, and the cross sectional area of the opening window is smaller than the cross sectional area of the acoustic tube. Therefore, the air chamber forms an acoustic filter so that the higher resonance frequency components in medium and high frequency region caused in the acoustic tube may not be radiated from the opening window, and formation of peaks and bottoms of frequency characteristic due to interference with the sound radiated from the front side of the speaker is prevented. The opening window of a small cross sectional area lowers the resonance frequency of the acoustic tube. Alternatively, the speaker system comprises an acoustic tube with one end coupled to the back side of the speaker unit and the other end released to a sound field space through an opening window, and at least one air chamber disposed along the acoustic tube. The cross sectional area of the air chamber is larger than the cross sectional area of the acoustic tube, and the cross sectional area of the opening window is smaller than the cross sectional area of the acoustic tube. The branch chamber possessing different route lengths causes a phase difference in the acoustic tube to cancel the resonance in the acoustic tube, so that formation of peaks and bottoms in the frequency characteristic may be prevented. An acoustic tube with one end closed and other end coupled to the front side of the speaker, suppresses the amplitude of the diagram of the speaker under low frequency region and the generation of abnormal sound such as speaker bottom beat phenomenon.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a speaker system with enhanced efficiency and frequency characteristics. More particularly, the invention relates to a speaker system with an expanded bass register which is accomplished by coupling an acoustic tube to the back side of a speaker unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
A speaker system with an expanded bass register which is accomplished by coupling an acoustic tube to the back side of a speaker unit is known.
The conventional speaker system is described below with reference to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the constitution of a conventional speaker system. In the diagram, numeral 1 denotes a cabinet, 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d and 2e are partitions for forming an acoustic tube by partitioning the inside of the cabinet 1, 3 is an opening window disposed in the lower part of a front panel of the cabinet 1, and 4 is a speaker unit disposed above the front panel.
The partitions 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d and 2e disposed in the cabinet 1 form an acoustic tube in the cabinet 1, and the sound delivered from the back side of the speaker unit 4 is radiated from the opening window 3 through the acoustic tube.
The acoustic tube resonates at a specific frequency fn, and assuming the overall length of the acoustic tube to be L and the sound velocity in the air to be C, the resonance frequency fn is expressed as EQU fn=(C/4L).times.(2n+1)
where n is 0, 1, 2, or another integer.
In the case of n=0, that is, at the frequency resonating with 1/4 wavelength in the acoustic tube, the acoustically magnified sound is radiated from the opening window 3 of the acoustic tube, and the efficiency is notably enhanced near the frequency at the reproduction limit of the bass.
At n=1, that is, at the frequency resonating with a 1/2 wavelength in the acoustic tube, the sound is radiated from the front side of the speaker unit 4, while the sound from the back side is inverted in phase by a delay of a half wavelength in the acoustic tube, and is radiated from the opening window 3. Sound from the front side and the back side are added in the front space of the cabinet 1, so that the sound pressure level increases at that frequency.
At n=2, that is, at the frequency resonating with a 3/4 wavelength in the acoustic tube, as in the case of n=0, the acoustically magnified sound is radiated from the opening window 3.
Thus, in the bass region, a speaker system of high efficiency has been realized.
In such conventional speaker systems, however, even at frequencies in the medium and high frequency region corresponding to n=3 or higher, resonance occurs in the acoustic tube, and the sound is radiated from the opening window 3. The sound from the opening window 3 interferes with the front sound of the speaker unit 4. Peaks and bottoms of sound pressure occur in the medium and high frequency region as indicated by the broken line in the reproduced sound pressure frequency characteristic diagram in FIG. 2. The characteristics of the medium and high pressure region are highly deteriorated resulting in lowered sound quality. In addition, the frequency of the bass reproduction limit is defined by the overall length L of the acoustic tube, and therefore to reproduce the lower frequency region, the overall length L of the acoustic tube is desirably extended, which causes to increase the size of the speaker system.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


The method and apparatus for securing a sheet of photographic material in position on a plate during exposure to a source of radiation includes configuring a flexible vacuum blanket substantially to the shape of a rigid template that forms surface recesses in a selected pattern to facilitate the evacuation of air from beneath the vacuum blanket, and then reconfiguring the surface of the vacuum blanket to smooth condition by relieving vacuum between the blanket and the template to promote substantially continuous contact with the sheet and plate. The sheet may be exposed to a source of radiation through the plate or, after removing the template, through the vacuum blanket which may be formed of transparent polymer material.

Contact exposure of photographic copy and master sheets requires accurate registration and fixation against relative motion during exposure. Conventional registration schemes rely upon an air-impervious, flexible membrane, or vacuum blanket, to overlay registered master and copy sheets that are disposed on a supporting plate during exposure. For large surface areas, such vacuum blankets capture significant volumes of air that must be evacuated prior to exposure from between the sheets and from between the support plate and sheets to assure uniform, flat, intimate contact registration without interposed air bubbles that might distort the reproduced image.
Conventional techniques for evacuating air from beneath a vacuum blanket include mechanisms which roll out a flexible vacuum blanket over contiguous sheets, starting at one edge and progressing across the sheets to the other edge in order to squeeze out entrapped air as the vacuum blanket is progressively laid down over the sheets. Other techniques include laying down a flexible blanket over photographic sheets in progressive stages under vacuum control within specific segments of the total area covered by the blanket. In addition, techniques are known for altering the surface properties of a flexible vacuum blanket as air is evacuated from beneath the blanket to promote removal of all air entrapped beneath the blanket and between photographic sheets under the blanket. These techniques are described in the literature (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,707,125, 4,812,883, and 4,669,870).

Rapid vacuum hold down system and method


A front rotary working machine is provided which has rotary working portions disposed at a front portion of a transmission case, and a front wheel disposed forward of the rotary working portions. The working machine includes a guard member extending forward from the transmission case for guarding an upper side of the rotary working portions. A support device for supporting the front wheel is connected to the front portion of the transmission case. The support device has an upper portion connected to the guard member. A load applied from the front wheel to the support device is distributed to the transmission case and the guard member, resulting in strengthening of the support device.

A walk-behind working machine with a front wheel disposed in front of a rotary working portion is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. HEI-10-225202. This walk-behind working machine will be described with reference to FIG. 10 hereof.
A walk-behind working machine 201 in the related art shown in FIG. 10 includes a drive case 203 (including a transmission case 204 and a rotary case 205) disposed at the lower part of a machine body 202, a rotary shaft 206 of a rotary device provided at the rotary case 205, a wheel support arm 208 mounted to right and left plates of the machine body 202 by a pivot 207, a front liftable wheel 209 mounted to the distal end of the wheel support arm 208, and a lifting and lowering adjustment lever 211 connected to the wheel support arm 208. The height of the front liftable wheel 209 is adjusted by operating the lifting and lowering adjustment lever 211.
This walk-behind working machine 201, however, has a possibility that when a large load is applied to the wheel support arm 208, the right and left plates supporting the wheel support arm 208 can be deformed. It is desirable especially for large-size farm working machines that a support structure of a wheel support arm be increased in strength without losing the lightness, that is, a support device for supporting a front wheel be strengthened.


A resin-encapsulated semiconductor device includes a semiconductor chip consisting of a semiconductor element having metal bumps and metal leads electrically connected to the metal bumps and having a surface-treated layer obtained by a surface treatment, and a resin film stacked on the outer side of the semiconductor chip and tightly adhered to the semiconductor chip by a heat treatment and pressurization treatment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a resin-encapsulated semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same and, more particularly, to a resin-encapsulated semiconductor device made by stacking a resin film to attain a low profile of a semiconductor package and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, a semiconductor device has its entire structure encapsulated or sealed with a resin mold, thereby preventing damages or ensuring sealing properties. In a conventional general resin-encapsulated semiconductor device, a semiconductor element is fixed to the die pad portion at the center of a lead frame. The electrode portion of the semiconductor element is adhered to the distal end portions of leads (i.e., inner leads) arranged around the die pad portion of the lead frame by using connector wire bonding, and the resultant structure is resin-molded. Normally, transfer molding using a mold is performed, and unnecessary portions of the lead frames are cut off, thereby manufacturing a semiconductor device.
However, a multi-pin package has a large wire length because of the limitation on the inner lead pitch. In the conventional technique, therefore, the wires are deformed by the resin flow in transfer molding of the resin, resulting in a short failure and a difficulty in attaining a low profile. In addition, the mold cost of transfer molding is high, and the effective resin utilization ratio is very low. For this reason, this method is not preferable from the viewpoint of decreasing the cost or saving the resources.
On the other hand, reductions in size and weight of electronic equipment have been strongly required in recent years. As packages suitable for thin devices represented by an IC card, COB or TAB are popularly used in which a bare chip is directly connected to a board and resin-encapsulated. These packages are generally manufactured by potting using a liquid resin.
In the prior art above, however, it is difficult to obtain a flat surface with a uniform thickness, resulting in a degradation in outer appearance. For this reason, a bore is formed at a predetermined portion of a board on which a semiconductor chip is to be mounted. A liquid resin is dropped in some excessive amount on the bore and cured in a heaped-up state. Subsequently, the extra cured resin portion is removed by polishing. However, this method poses problems of a decrease in productivity, a deterioration in reliability of the semiconductor chip due to a crack in the encapsulating resin, and the like.
A structure for mounting a chip on a board by the flip chip scheme has been proposed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 4-345041 in which a chip and a board are connected through an insulating film having a plurality of through holes and consisting of a resin with heat-fusion properties. However, to satisfactorily tightly adhered the chip to the board through the resin film, the resin must be actively flowed, and a positional shift tends to occur. Conversely, if the flow is insufficient, no satisfactory tight adhesion can be obtained.

Method of manufacturing a tab semiconductor device


A storage device and a storage bag are provided. The storage device includes: a barrel-shaped body, including a bottom board and a side wall connected with the bottom board; a storage bag convey member, disposed an outer side of the side wall, and configured to convey a storage bag to a side edge of the side wall away from the bottom board; a first driving part, including a rotation part and a rocker arm, the rotation part being disposed on the bottom board, an end of the rocker arm being connected with the rotation part, another end of the rocker arm extending to a side of the side wall away from the bottom board, and the rocker arm being configured to rotate along the side wall under driven of the rotation part.

Currently, a household garbage requires people to manually place garbage bags. Upon a garbage bag being full, people need to manually remove the garbage bag, so that the user experience is poor. On the other hand, the waste in the garbage is mostly food waste or toilet waste, and a density of the waste in the garbage bag is low, resulting in frequent replacement of the garbage bag at home, and generating a phenomenon of wasting garbage bags and environmental pollution.


A retractable window latch for locking together a first and second window having interlocking meeting rails. The retractable window latch includes a latch body having a faceplate that is substantially flush with a first interlocking meeting rail. A retractable bolt disposed in the latch body extends outwardly through a slot in the faceplate. A handle is coupled to the bolt for retracting the bolt into the latch body. The bolt remains retracted while the first and second windows are open. A flexible release member is disposed behind the faceplate such that the flexible release member engages a second interlocking meeting rail when the first and second windows are closed. The second interlocking meeting rail engages the flexible release member in order to lift the retractable bolt from the slot in the faceplate. A spring forces the bolt outwardly from the latch body to secure the first and second windows together.

In any home or business where security is a concern, it is important that the windows of the home or business be equipped with locking window latches. Common prior art latch designs usually comprise an extendible bolt or a rotatable cam mounted on an inner window that fits into a slot or receiver on an outer window in order to secure a pair of windows together. However, such latch designs suffer from two distinct problems. First, it is necessary to remember to physically close the latch each time the windows are closed in order to be certain that a window is secure. Second, if the window is accidentally moved while the latch is extended or in a locked position, it is possible to scratch the frame of the window or the glass.
To solve these problems, numerous retractable, self-locking window latches have been developed. U.S. Pat. No. 1,037,302 issued to Parent is an example of such a window latch. The latch includes a spring-loaded bolt that remains retracted while the window is open. A specially configured strike releases the bolt when the windows are closed. However, such prior art window latch designs can accidentally be set when the window is open by manipulating the bolt or a handle that moves the bolt, thereby scratching the glass or window frame. Additionally, while such self-locking window latch designs work well for older-style windows, they do not work well for modern window frames. Such windows are designed to have a pair of meeting rails that interlock when the windows are closed to reduce heat or air conditioning loss. Prior art self-locking window latches are not readily adaptable to work with these types of windows. Thus, there is a need for a retractable, self-locking window latch that cannot be accidentally set when the windows are open and work with windows having interlocking meeting rails.


An apparatus for leveling a vehicle lamp such that an opening of the pivot receiving body is formed in a non-circular shape; the cross sectional shape of the pivot body in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the pivot body is formed so that the pivot body can be inserted into the opening of the pivot receiving body in at least one direction; and the cross sectional shape of the pivot body cannot be inserted into the opening of the pivot receiving body in at least the other direction; and the pivot body is prevented from slipping off the pivot receiving body by turning the pivot body by a predetermined angle around the axis of the pivot body after the pivot body is inserted into the pivot receiving body.

The present invention relates to a novel apparatus for leveling a vehicle lamp. More particularly, the present invention relates to a technique for facilitating the coupling of an adjusting rod and a slanting member together in a leveling apparatus in order to improve efficiency in coupling both of them together and also prevent the deformation of and damage to a coupling member.
Some vehicle lamps, for example, automobile head lamps are equipped with a leveling function, that is, the function of correcting an irradiating direction every time that direction is biased upward or downward because the number of passengers on board or the weight of loaded goods varies.
Such a head lamp normally comprises a leveling mechanism fixed to a vehicle body or a vehicle-body-side member, the leveling mechanism including an adjusting rod which is moved back and forth by a proper driving device, and a coupling member which is provided in a head lamp unit or in the slanting end portion of the slanting member of a reflector and coupled to the front end portion of the adjusting rod, so that the slanting member is slanted/tilted upward or downward by moving the adjusting rod back and forth.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example 100 of a vehicle head lamp having the leveling mechanism.
In FIG. 1, 101 represents a head lamp unit whose back side is supported at three points of a vehicle body (not shown), and these three support points are positioned so that two of them are situated in two places which are closer to upper end of the head lamp unit 101, and properly separated from each other in the lateral/horizonal direction, the remaining one being perpendicularly separated downward from one of the two support points in the respective two places.
With a line defined by connecting the two support points (not shown) separated from each other in the horizontal direction closer to the upper end out of the three support points as a slanting axis c, the head lamp unit 101 is slanted/tilted by longitudinally moving the remaining support point (hereinafter called "leveling point"), which will be described later.
The lower end portion of the head lamp unit 101 is protruded downward and a pivot receiving body 103 is mounted on that protruded portion. A backwardly-open spherical recessed portion 104 is formed in the pivot receiving body 103.
Further, in FIG. 1, 105 represents a leveling mechanism fixed to the vehicle body, and a driving mechanism (not shown) is provided in its casing 106. A piston rod 107 axially extending in the longitudinal direction is provided so as to be axially moved by the driving mechanism, and a spherical pivot body 108 to be fitted into the spherical recessed portion 104 is formed in the front end portion of the piston rod 107. The pivot body 108 is pivotally inserted into the spherical recessed portion 104 of the pivot receiving body 103, whereby the lower-side support point among the aforesaid three support points, that is, a leveling point is defined.
More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the pivot receiving body 103 forms a substantially cylindrical body with one end opening, and its inner surface forms the spherical recessed portion 104. The open mouth 109 is smaller in diameter than the spherical recessed portion 104, and three slits 111, 111, 111 parallel to each other are axially formed in the peripheral wall 110 of the pivot receiving body 103, whereby elastic pieces m, m, m having elasticity in a direction perpendicular to the axis in the open-end-side portion of the peripheral wall 110 of the pivot receiving body 103.
As shown in FIG. 3, when the pivot body 108 is inserted into the pivot receiving body 103, the pivot body 108 is put to the open mouth 109 of the pivot receiving body 103 while the axis of the pivot body 108 and that of the pivot receiving body 103 are kept aligned and then pressed into the spherical recessed portion 104.
Then the elastic pieces m, m, m of the peripheral wall 110 are elastically bent outward as the pivot body 108 is fitted in. As a result, the diameter of the open mouth 109 of the pivot receiving body 103 is enlarged and the pivot body 108 is inserted into the spherical recessed portion 104, as shown in FIG. 4.
The elastic pieces m, m, m of the peripheral wall 110 are restored to the original condition after the pivot body 110 is inserted into the pivot receiving body 103, whereby the pivot body 108 is pivotally received into the spherical recessed portion 104 of the pivot receiving body 103 and prevented from slipping off the spherical recessed portion 104.
When the piston rod 107 is moved, the lower protruded portion of the head lamp unit 101 is substantially longitudinally moved, so that the head lamp unit 101 is slanted with the slanting axis c as a slanting center. Thus, the irradiating direction of the head lamp unit 101 is vertically adjusted.
With the vehicle head lamp 100 like this, the elastic pieces m, m, m of the pivot receiving body 103 are always required to be bent when the pivot body 108 is inserted into the pivot receiving body 103 and since the pivot body 108 is inserted into the pivot receiving body 103 against the elastic force of the elastic pieces m, m, m, pressing force needs applying to a certain extent. Moreover, the pivot receiving body 103 will fail to follow the movement of the piston rod 107 unless the elastic force of the elastic pieces m, m, m is kept greater to some degree in order to prevent the piston rod 107 from backlashing after the pivot body 108 has been inserted.
Therefore, it is inevitable to conduct the coupling operation with a certain amount of strong force when the pivot body 108 is inserted into the pivot receiving body 103, so that the coupling operation therebetween is not easy.
The pivot body 108 and the pivot receiving body 103 are not always coupled together in such a state that the axes of them are kept aligned and if the axes of them are slightly shifted from each other, greater force must be applied to the shifted elastic piece 112 and them there is a possibility that the elastic piece 112 may be deformed or damaged. This is a problem.


The present invention relates to an implantable attachment device comprising an elongate element which is tubular flexible and hollow delimiting an internal volume comprising a tightening loop, having a first circumference in the inactive position, formed by the portion of said tubular element in said internal volume between intake and outlet openings distant by a length. The device comprises blocking means of said portion in the internal volume of said elongate element, which can be deactivated under the effect of manual traction exerted on the first or second end of said elongate element, said traction enabling the sliding of said elongate element between said orifices and correlatively the formation of the tightening loop having a second circumference in the active position, the second circumference being less than the first circumference.

Genital prolapse is abnormal migration of one or more pelvic organs modifying the form of the vaginal walls and can lead to their exteriorisation through the urogenital orifice. The bladder, uterus and rectum are the main organs relating to this exteriorisation. These organs respectively relate to cystocele, hysterocele and rectocele. Prolapse can also relate to the vaginal fornix in the presence of a hysterectomy, Douglas' cul-de-sac (elytrocele) or associated with intestinal loops (enterocele).
There is a large variety of surgical techniques for correcting vaginal prolapse.
Surgical approaches are sufficiently varied and consist of placing a textile structure at the level of the pelvic floor. The placement of this structure textile can be done vaginally, abdominally or via laparoscopy.
A first technique is the sacrocolpopexy procedure via invasive abdominal method. It comprises suspending the neck of the uterus, the vaginal fornix, or the uterine isthmus, to the anterior longitudinal ligament in front of the promontory, at the junction of the L5-S1 vertebrae, by means of two anterior and posterior prostheses. It can be associated with complementary surgical procedures such as hysterectomy or douglassectomy, for example.
The second technique so-called "without tension" consists of interposing a knitted prosthesis based on monofilament threads made of polypropylene between the bladder and the vagina for a cystocele or between the rectum and the vagina in the case of a rectocele.
The aim of surgical treatment is to replace the suspension means (fascias, ligaments) or the retaining means (muscles of the perineum) which have failed, and most often both of them. These days, synthetic knitted "prostheses" are used. These prostheses serve to replace the failing fascias, or suspend the "fallen" organs with solid natural ligaments. This treatment can be done according to three different surgical methods:                by opening the abdomen ("laparotomy");        by celioscopy ("laparoscopy");        by entering via the vagina ("vaginally").
The efficacy of the three surgical methods in the hands of an experienced surgeon is the same. Technical simplicity, lowest complication rate, and shortest length of intervention will make the vaginal method for women in menopause or in pre-menopause, the most preferred for many surgical procedures. Celioscopy or laparotomy are plus often reserved for younger women, due to greater long-term efficacy and better resistance to substantial physical forces.
The vaginal transobturator route technique is described in patents WO 2007/016698 and WO 2005/122721. It requires the use of prosthesis of flat shape fitted with arms. The flat part is interposed between the prolapsed organ and the vagina while the arms of the prosthesis pass through the obturating holes of the pelvis. To place the prosthesis in this configuration, the surgeon uses curved or helicoidal needles, commonly known as instruments. These needles perforate the obturating holes of the exterior of the body towards the interior by passing through the skin and exiting in the anterior part of the vagina and determine the passage according to which the implant must be arranged. The arms of the prosthesis are then fixed on the tip of the needle by fastening means. The needle is then moved in the reverse direction to its passage of introduction to place the arms in the obturating holes of the pelvis, and is then withdrawn. The fastening means are also removed so that just the implant remains in the organism.
Document EP 1.399.088 B1 describes succinctly in FIGS. 7f and 7g fastening means between the needle of the instrument and an implant for treatment of prolapse of the pelvic floor. These fastening means can be a single or double knot forming an attachment loop capable of cooperating with a groove made on the distal end of the needle of the instrument, and also attached to the implant. This attachment loop does not ensure a reliable and durable bond between the needle and the implant. The loop is simply gripped manually by the surgeon, making it impossible to control the effort needed for tightening of the loop on the distal end of the needle of the instrument. This tightening effort depends on the surgeon and is therefore random and not reproducible. Also, even if the surgeon applies adequate tightening effort on the loop, it has been observed that these fastening means will relax by sliding of the threads of the loop as the needle moves into the obturating holes or the tissue. It has been observed that the loop formed relaxes as the needle is being withdrawn and causes loss of the implant to be placed; this is prohibitive for this technique, consisting of moving the implant under tension with the fastening means attached to the distal end of the needle blind in tissue or transobturating holes.

Implantable attachment device, implant for treating prolapse of the pelvic floor comprising such a device and kit comprising said device


Disclosed herein is a method of preparing an activated polyether polyol by reacting an aminoalcohol with a polyether terminated with a leaving group.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a process for preparing activated polyether polyols having a low viscosity and a good reactivity which are particularly suitable for resin transfer molding systems.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Polyethers polyols and process for preparing and using the same are known in the art. Of particular interest here are internally catalyzed polyether polyols which offer a faster reactivity towards isocyanates than ordinary hydroxyl group-containing materials but slower reactivity than ordinary amine group-containing materials. These activated polyether polyols are useful in resin transfer molding systems. As would be realized, there is an ongoing research into the preparation of polyethers, which have desirably fast reactivity and processability at the same time.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,654,370 discloses amine-terminated polyethers which are prepared by reacting polyols with ammonia under catalyzed high temperature reaction conditions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,768 discloses N-(polyoxyalkyl)-N-(alkyl)amine by catalytic amination of an appropriate polyol by reacting the polyol with a primary or secondary amine in the presence of a catalyst such as nickel.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,015,774 discloses a process for preparing polyoxyalkylene polyamines having secondary amino groups at the end of the polyamine by reacting a polyoxyalkylene polyol with a primary amine in the presence of a catalyst containing nickel and zinc, cobalt and zinc or, zinc and nickel.
By the present invention, there is provided an efficacious method of preparing activated polyethers polyols which by virtue of the activation are very well suited to use in RIM systems.

Process for the production of activated polyethers


The subject invention involves topical depilatory composition at a pH 7 or below, comprising sulfhydryl compounds. The subject invention further relates methods for removing vellus hair from mammalian comprising topical application of a composition, at a pH of 7 or below, comprising a sulfhydryl compound or a cosmetically- and/or pharmaceutically-acceptable salt thereof.

The removal of hair from the human body has received considerable attention, both for medical and for cosmetic reasons. Various methods exist to remove unwanted hair. Conventional methods focus on mechanical removal and chemical depilation, whereby unwanted hair is removed once it has already appeared above the surface of the skin. Other methods involve the prevention, suppression or retardation of hair growth, by an alteration in the rate and character of hair growth.
Mechanical methods employed for depilation include tweezing, plucking, electrolysis, shaving and X-ray techniques. Tweezing and plucking are of limited utility because their use is confined to a localized area. Electrolysis and X-ray techniques are pain and require the use of expensive equipment, while shaving leads to skin irritation
Chemical depilatory compositions are effective in removing unwanted hair from larger areas on the skin. These compositions typically cleave disulfide bonds in hair keratin, causing the hair fiber to disintegrate. However, most chemical depilatory compositions are strongly alkaline, causing dermal irritation particularly on sensitive facial skin.
At present compositions generally called "waxes" are also used for depilation. These are applied to the skin in a molten state. On cooling and hardening, the wax enmeshes the hair it contacts. The wax is thin stripped from the skin, pulling out the enmeshed hair by its roots. Even though the waxing is longer-lasting than other chemical methods, it is disfavored because of the tendency to cause irritation, swelling or possible burning.
Of the methods employed to alter the rate and character of hair growth, most involve the application of anti-androgens to control dermatological conditions associated with androgen-dependent disorders, such as female hirsutism. However, these methods have undesirable side effects such as systemic anti-androgen effects, teratogenecity and pituitary dysfunction and are, consequently, of limited use.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need to develop a method which is efficacious, easily administered, non-irritating, long-lasting, and can remove unwanted hair and/or regulate the growth of unwanted hair without allowing rapid return growth.
It is an object of the subject invention to provide topical compositions for removing unwanted vellus hair from mammalian skin.
It is further object of the subject invention to provide such compositions which are gentler and less irritating to the skin than existing compositions.
It is also an object of the subject invention to provide methods for removing vellus hair from mammalian skin.
The subject invention involves topical compositions, for removing unwanted hair, especially vellus hair, and/or regulating hair growth in a mammalian susceptible to or suffering from hirsutism or unwanted hair, comprising as in active a sulfhydryl compound in a cosmetically- and/or pharmaceutically-acceptable carrier such that the composition has a pH of 7 or below. The subject invention further involves methods of removing unwanted vellus hair and/or regulating hair growth in a mammalian susceptible to our suffering from hirsutism or unwanted hair comprising topically applying to the skin of the mammalian a "leave-on" composition comprising a sulfhydryl compound in a cosmetically- and/or pharmaceutically-acceptable carrier such that the composition has a pH of 7 or below.

Depilatory compositions comprising sulfhydryl compounds


A portfolio analysis technique determines a distribution of possible values of a portfolio at a future time and percentiles or cumulative probabilities for each possible future value. The future return distribution may be determined in accordance with a variety of techniques. In accordance with some embodiments, the distribution is determined using a model of future returns. In accordance with other embodiments, the distribution may be determined by resampling past returns of the portfolio. In general, the techniques described herein may be implemented on an electronic system, such as a computer that executes software.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to portfolio analysis. More particularly, the invention relates to forecasting a distribution of possible future values for an investment portfolio.
2. Background Information
An investor has numerous investment options. Examples of investment options include stocks, bonds, commodities, etc. In general, investors desire for their investments to achieve returns that are acceptable to the investors. How best to invest one's money to achieve desired results is an age-old dilemma.
To a certain extent, modern investment theories are generally based on the work of Nobel Laureate Harry Markowitz. Markowitz developed and published a solution to the following problem: Given a set of n stocks and a capital to be invested of C, what is the allocation of capital that maximizes the expected return, at a future time t, of the portfolio for an acceptable volatility of the total portfolio?
Quantifying "volatility" has been defined in different ways. One definition of volatility is the square root of the variance of the value of a portfolio (typically designated by the Greek letter sigma, σ). A problem with using σ as a surrogate for volatility is that many investors have no particular "feel" for what σ means. Consequently, many investors have no idea as to what value of σ is appropriate for them. In short, even if the theory offered by Markowitz is sound, it may be difficult to implement in a practical way. A different approach to portfolio analysis is needed that addresses this issue.

Methods and apparatus for determining a return distribution for an investment portfolio


The response of linear and non-linear systems to an arbitrary pulse train is modeled for efficient and accurate circuit simulation. First, a harmonic balance analysis is performed for a system incorporating linear and non-linear components. Then, the even and odd frequency components of the harmonic balance result are separated and interpolated. Finally, the resulting interpolated components are combined to generate the frequency domain positive step response and the frequency domain negative step response of the system. These resulting frequency domain step responses are utilized to generate a low order pole/zero model of the step responses. The pole/zero model can then be used to efficiently and accurately model the response of the system to an arbitrary sequence of positive and negative going pulses.

The design and verification of integrated circuit designs is becoming increasingly complex. To this end, computer aided design is an integral part of the design cycle of integrated circuits, and the role of accurate and efficient computer aided design is becoming increasingly predominant. Particularly challenging are high frequency integrated circuits incorporating both analog and digital components. The interface between the analog and digital portions of the circuit imposes special challenges since traditional digital simulation techniques and traditional analog simulation techniques are frequently both inadequate to accurately capture circuit behavior in a way that is efficient to simulate.
Certain types of circuits are particularly problematic in this regard, such as those performing the functions of a phase locked loop (PLL) or a serializer/deserializer (SERDES). These circuits present difficulties because they have high frequency signals, but change slowly in response to other inputs. A harmonic balance analysis, which is commonly used to analyze analog circuits, can be prohibitively expensive because the number of harmonics necessary to capture both the high frequency and low frequency behavior would be very large. Alternatively, an accurate time-domain simulation, commonly used in digital circuit analysis, can also be prohibitively expensive. This is because the steps have to be small in order to capture the high frequency components and the number of steps have to be large to capture the overall circuit behavior and the processing of the information-carrying signal. Furthermore, since the analog nature of the signals need to be captured, the amount of computation that must be performed at each time step is significant.
As a result of these shortcomings, circuits bridging analog and digital components are often simulated in a way that lacks accuracy. In particular, the output stages of circuit blocks are approximated based on simplistic assumptions that do not reflect the actual circuit behavior. This can cause integrated circuits to be built with unexpected behavior, leading to time-consuming and expensive re-design. Thus, what is needed is a method of modeling circuit blocks accurately so that efficient time domain simulations can be performed without sacrificing the accuracy of the results.

Modeling linear and non-linear system response to a pulse train


A walk-behind lawn mower having a cord guide system for routing a recoil starter cord relative to a handle assembly of the mower. The guide system may include a cord guide operable to hold the starter cord to a non-interfering position such that a rear collection hopper can be easily removed from the lawn mower for dumping of collected grass clippings. The cord may be moved from the non-interfering position back to a starting position by application of a pulling force to the cord.

Rotary lawn mowers for cutting grass or other ground surface vegetation are well known. Typically, these mowers include a housing having an enclosed cutting chamber, and wheels that permit travel of the housing over the ground surface. A cutting blade may be supported within the cutting chamber for rotation in a substantially horizontal cutting plane. During operation, the rotating cutting blade severs grass and other vegetation over which the mower passes.
To permit a walking operator to guide and manipulate the mower, a handle assembly is generally provided to the rear of the housing. The handle assembly typically forms a U-shaped apparatus that includes two spaced-apart handle tubes joined together at their respective upper ends by a cross tube. The handle assembly may substantially lock, relative to the housing, during operation so that the operator may impart directional and control forces to the mower.
Modern mowers may also incorporate a collection hopper to permit bagging of grass/vegetation clippings. While some mowers utilize a side attached bag, others provide a rear bagging configuration to reduce the overall width of the mower. In the case of the latter, the collection hopper may be located generally between the handle tubes.
In most mower configurations, an internal combustion engine attaches to an upper surface of the housing to power the cutting blade. The engine typically includes a vertical drive shaft that extends downwardly through the housing and into the cutting chamber where it attaches to the blade. In some mowers, a transmission may also be coupled to the drive shaft to power one or more of the mower wheels.
The engine may incorporate a recoil starter as known in the art. Recoil starters provide a retractable rope or cord attached, at a first end, to a crank of the engine and, at a second end, to a T-shaped grip or the like. To start the engine, the operator simply applies a sufficient pulling force to the grip.
In some configurations, the starter rope is conveniently positioned such that it is accessible to the operator while he or she is standing behind the mower. That is, the starter rope may extend from the engine's recoil starter to a bracket mounted on the handle assembly. The bracket may hold the grip in a position that is easily accessible to the operator while standing behind the mower.
Although effective, when the starter rope is routed in this fashion, it extends over the space between the two handle tubes, e.g., over the collection hopper. As a result, the rope may potentially interfere with removal/emptying of the hopper.
One mower that seeks to alleviate this issue is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,458,472 to Christopherson. This mower utilizes, in one embodiment, a pull grip that may be easily disconnected from the bracket. Accordingly, the rope may be moved to a non-interfering position prior to emptying of the collection hopper.
However, while effective for their intended purpose, the mowers described by the '472 patent may require the operator to reconnect the starter rope to the bracket after reattachment of the hopper.

Lawn mower and starter cord guide for use with same


An electronic linear scale, which uses an induced current position transducer, includes a slider assembly mounted adjacent to an elongated beam. The slider assembly is mounted on one mounting member of a device such as a machine tool. The elongated beam is mounted on a second mounting member of the device. The first and second mounting members move relative to each other. The position of the slider assembly on the beam is indicative to of the position between the first and second mounting members. Relative movement is determined by an inductive read head mounted on the slider assembly that couples to flux modulators on the beam. The read head includes a transmitter winding and a pair of receiver windings, preferably fabricated in a planar form, carried by a common printed circuit board. The flux modulators, which can include flux disrupters and/or flux enhancers, are carried by the beam and modulate the magnetic fields produced by the transmitter. Thus, the receiver windings produce output voltages corresponding to the overlap between the modulators and the receiver windings. Signal processing electronics are connected to the read head and determine the relative positions of the first and second mounting members by monitoring the output of the receiver windings. A digital display displays the determined position. The relatively insensitive nature of the induced current position transducer to contaminants allows the linear scale to function with improved reliability when operating in industrial environments. Low power operation of the linear scale is possible.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electronic linear scale, and more particularly, to electronic linear scales employing inductively coupled transducer elements.
2. Description of Related Art
Electronic linear scales are common in the manufacturing industry and wherever high precision measurements are required. Linear scales are often affixed to equipment such as drill presses, lathes, saws, numerically controlled and automated machinery. The linear scale allows these machines to produce goods with a high level of precision.
These scales have used transducers based on optical systems, magnetic scales, inductive transformation, and capacitive devices.
Conventional linear scales have used optical technology with incremental and absolute measurement systems. Problems with this system include a relatively high power requirement, high manufacturing cost due to the precise mechanical tolerances required, and sensitivity to contaminants. To make a measurement, the optical system used a self-contained lamp directed at an optical scale and transmitted through (or reflected) to an optical receiver. The lamp involved in this system usually consumes more energy than is practicably provided by conventional batteries. This reduces the portability and ease of installation of the linear scale. Because the lamp and the optical receiver traverse the scale during a measurement, this linear scale requires a precise guiding track to guide and support the optical components. This track must to constructed with close tolerances and the optical receiver must be precisely aligned, so that the image reflected off the optical scale is focused onto the optical receiver. Due to the close assembly tolerances required, the bearing system used in the device, and the cost of the optical-grade components, the optical systems have high manufacturing costs. Additionally, the effects of wear or poor alignment significantly degrade the performance.
Capacitive transducers draw very little current. Therefore, when used in battery-powered measurement devices, they provide portability and ease of installation. Capacitive transducers operate under a parallel plate capacitor model. Within the capacitive transducer, a transmitter electrode and a receiver electrode are mounted on or in a slide. The transmitter electrode is connected to appropriate signal generating circuitry. The receiver electrode is connected to appropriate read circuitry.
The slide moves along a scale. The scale includes a plurality of spaced-apart signal electrodes, which extend along the length of the scale. As the slide moves relative to the scale, the transmitter and receiver electrodes on the slide capacitively couple to the signal electrodes on the scale. The read circuitry determines the movement or position of the slide relative to the scale. The read circuitry compares the phase of at least one signal coupled to a receiver electrode with the phase of at least one signal coupled to a transmitter electrode.
The capacitive position transducer may be an incremental type transducer or may be an absolute position type transducer. In the incremental type capacitive position transducer, the read circuitry provides only an indication of relative movement from a known point. In the absolute position type capacitive position transducer, the read circuitry provides an indication of the absolute position between the slide and scale regardless of any knowledge of the initial position. Incremental and absolute position type position transducers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,420,754 and 4,879,508.
These capacitive position transducers are sometimes used in dry, relatively clean environments, such as in inspection rooms or engineering offices. However, these capacitive position transducers are desirably usable in electronic linear scales to measure dimensions in machine shops and other relatively contamination-filled environments. In these environments, capacitive linear scales can become contaminated by particulate matter and fluids, such as metal particles, grinding dust, and cooling or cutting fluids. The liquid or particulate contaminants find their way between the signal electrodes on the scale and the transmitter and/or receiver electrodes on the slide. The contaminants alter the capacitance between the signal electrodes and the transmitter and/or receiver electrodes in a manner unrelated to the position of the slide relative to the scale. In general, contaminants between the signal electrodes and the transmitter electrodes and/or the receiver electrodes of a capacitive position transducer cause measurement errors through three different mechanisms. Primarily, the particulate or liquid may have a dielectric constant different from the dielectric constant of air. In this case, the capacitance between the signal electrodes and the transmitter/receiver electrodes sandwiching the contaminant will be greater than the capacitance between other ones of the signal and transmitter/receiver electrodes having the same relative geometry which do not have contaminants between them. As a result, the capacitive linear scale will not provide an accurate indication of the position of the slide relative to the scale.
Secondarily, the contaminants may have a relatively high conductivity. Normally, the signal and transmitter/receiver electrodes form an open circuit, such that no current flows between them. A conductive contaminant between the signal and transmitter or receiver electrodes closes this circuit. In particular, the contaminant forms the resistive element of an RC circuit. The time constant of the RC circuit is a function of both the conductivity of the contaminant and the capacitance between the signal electrode and the transmitter and/or receiver electrodes. When the time constant is relatively short, the amplitude of the signal may decay so rapidly that the conventional circuitry employed in capacitive position transducers cannot properly sense the signal.
Thirdly, electrically conductive particles between the signal electrode and the transmitter and/or receiver electrodes may alter the field extending between the signal electrode and the transmitter and/or receiver electrodes. This changes the capacitance between the signal electrode and the transmitter and/or receiver electrodes. Distortions in the electric field may also distort the signals between the signal electrode and the transmitter and/or receiver electrodes. As a result, the capacitive linear scale circuitry does not provide an accurate indication of the position of the slide relative to the scale.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,485 to Gerhard et al. describes one approach to minimizing the adverse effects of contaminants in capacitive position transducers. This approach comprises coating the electrodes with a thin layer of dielectric material. The slide is then mounted on the scale so that the dielectric coating on the slide (transmitter and receiver) electrodes is positioned adjacent to the dielectric coating on the scale (signal) electrodes. That is, placing the dielectric coatings between the signal electrodes and the transmitter and receiver electrodes minimizes these adverse effects. In addition, the dielectric coating on the slide slidingly contacts the dielectric coating on the scale. The sliding contact between the dielectric coatings reduces the gap between the slide and the scale into which the contaminants intrude.
The sliding contact approach requires that the electrodes be resiliently biased toward each other. The resilient bias accommodates deviations from exact surface flatness and alignment by permitting the electrodes to move apart from each other. This allows the dielectric layers to be forced apart from each other. Thus, when using such a capacitive position transducer in a highly contaminated environment, contaminants can force the slide away from the scale, collecting between the slide and scale. Thus, this approach is inadequate under some circumstances.
However, using thick dielectric coats, rather than the thin coats taught by Gerhard et al., has reduced, to some extent, the negative effects due to contaminants collecting between the slide and scale. The thick dielectric coats create a pair of capacitors connected in series with the capacitance created by the contaminants. The capacitance created by the dielectric coats does not vary as the slide moves along the scale. Thus, the change in capacitance between the signal electrodes and the transmitter and/or receiver electrodes resulting from changes in the thickness or the composition of the contaminants is dominated by the fixed capacitances created by the thick dielectric coats. Although using thick dielectric coats can reduce the problem caused by dielectric contaminants, this approach cannot completely eliminate the problem.
Another approach isolates the electrodes from the liquid and particulate contaminants. For example, the capacitive position transducer linear scale may be sealed. However, sealing the linear scale increases the fabrication and assembly costs and is often unreliable. Also, such seals are difficult to practically apply to all sizes and applications of electronic linear scales.
Magnetic transducers are alternative types of position measuring transducers. Magnetic transducers are relatively insensitive to contamination caused by oil, water and other fluids. Magnetic transducers, such as the Sony Magnescale encoders, employ a read head that detects magnetic fields and a ferromagnetic scale selectively magnetized with one or more periodic magnetic patterns. The read head senses changes in the magnetic field as the read head moves relative to magnetic scale patterns on the scale. However, magnetic transducers themselves are affected by small particles, particularly ferromagnetic particles attracted to the magnetized scale. Consequently, magnetic transducers must also be sealed, encapsulated or otherwise protected to keep contaminants from affecting their accuracy. Magnetic transducers also do not offer the very low power consumption desired for some applications of electronic linear scales.
Inductive transducers, in contrast to both capacitive and magnetic transducers, are highly insensitive to cutting oil, water or other fluids as well as to dust, ferromagnetic particles, and other contaminants. Inductive transducers, such as the INDUCTOSYN.RTM. type transducers, employ multiple windings on one member to transmit a varying magnetic field received by similar windings on another member. The multiple windings can be a series of parallel hairpin turns repeated on a printed circuit board. An alternating current flowing in the windings of the first member generates the varying magnetic field. The signal received by the second member varies periodically based on the relative position between the two members. A position determining circuit connected to the varying signal from the second member can determine the relative position between the first and second members. However, both members are active. Therefore, each member must be electrically coupled to the appropriate driving circuitry. This coupling is typically achieved by wired connections. When a moving wire connection must be attached and routed for free movement, the reliability of the unit is generally lower while the maintenance cost and production cost of the unit are higher. Sometimes an electrical coupling approach based on transformers is used in place of wire connections to the scale elements. This approach may reduce signal quality and accuracy, and may require additional size and cost to accommodate the placement of coupling elements on the scale and read head. Moreover, such a system would usually consume more energy than can be practically provided with conventional batteries, reducing the portability and the ease of installation.
Other motion or position transducers that are insensitive to contaminants are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,697,144 to Howbrook, U.S. Pat. No. 5,233,294 to Dreoni, and 4,743,786 to Ichikawa et al., and British Patent Application 2,064,125 to Thatcher. These references disclose position detection devices that sense position between an energized member and an inactive or unenergized member. The transducing systems described in these references eliminate electrical intercoupling between the two moving members, a drawback of inductive transducers. However, these systems generally fail to provide the high accuracy of inductive or capacitive transducers.
Additionally, in some of these transducing systems, the inactive member is preferably ferromagnetic, to produce a sufficiently strong magnetic field. Ferromagnetic members offer limited fabrication options, and may become magnetized in the presence of magnetic chucks, thereby attracting magnetic particle. Alternatively, the inactive member is moved within a magnetic field defined and concentrated by a complex structure formed in or on the active member. The transducing systems disclosed in these references also produce output signals that are discontinuous or are not a simply prescribed function of position. Such signals contribute to inaccurately determined relative positions. Generally, all of these systems fail to provide the combination of sufficient accuracy and extensive measuring range that is commercially demanded for linear scales.

Electronic linear scale using a self-contained, low-power inductive position transducer


A complex speaker system includes a conical speaker including a recessed section at a surface thereof and configured to receive a sound-playback signal and reproduce sound and a distributed mode speaker installed in the recessed section of the conical speaker and configured to share the sound-playback signal input into the conical speaker.

A speaker is an apparatus for reproducing a sound from an electrical signal. Reviewing a process of converting the electrical signal into the sound, the electrical signal is converted into a vibration of a diaphragm, the vibration of the diaphragm generates a wave of condensation, i.e., a sound wave to air, and the sound wave is transmitted to a human's ear through radiation.
In general, the speaker is used by coupling a low frequency reproduction speaker and a high frequency reproduction speaker. Both of the low frequency reproduction speaker and the high frequency reproduction speaker use conical speakers. A large conical speaker, which is referred to as a woofer, is used to reproduce a low frequency sound, and a small conical speaker, which is referred to as a tweeter, is used to reproduce a high frequency sound.
In order to faithfully reproduce a whole range of a sound frequency, multiple speakers are combined and used. For example, when a space is sufficient, the low frequency speaker and the high frequency speaker are separately installed, and when the space is insufficient, the high frequency speaker is disposed in the vicinity of the low frequency speaker or disposed in the low frequency speaker. In particular, since a large space cannot be used when the space is restricted like inside a vehicle, a coaxial speaker structure, in which the high frequency speaker is installed in the low frequency speaker, may be employed. That is, the small conical speaker, which is the tweeter, is installed in the large conical speaker, which is a woofer. In the coaxial speaker structure, since the tweeter is installed in the woofer, a speaker installation space can be reduced.
However, since the sound wave generated from the conical speaker is a correlation sound, a sound wave collision phenomenon, i.e., an interference phenomenon, occurs. When the interference phenomenon is generated between the sound waves generated from the woofer and the tweeter, which are conical speakers, sound resolution of the speaker system is remarkably degraded. In particular, in a vehicle in which a plurality of speakers having the coaxial speaker structure is used, this interference phenomenon is relatively severe.


An optical coherence tomographic imaging apparatus includes a movement amount acquisition unit configured to acquire an amount of rotation of a subject's eye based on a plurality of images of the subject's eye acquired at different times, and a control unit configured to control a scanning unit to correct, based on the acquired amount of rotation, a scanning position between a scan and a next scan performed by the scanning unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical coherence tomographic imaging apparatus for capturing a tomographic image of a subject's eye using the interference of light, and relates to a method of controlling the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Presently, optical coherence tomographic imaging apparatuses based on optical coherence tomography (OCT) using the interference of light of a plurality of wavelengths are known and used to obtain, for example, visceral information through an endoscope or retinal information through an ophthalmic apparatus. The field of application of the optical coherence tomographic imaging apparatuses to a human body is increasingly broadened. The optical coherence tomographic imaging apparatuses applied to the eye are becoming indispensable as ophthalmic instruments for clinics specializing in retina.
Such an optical coherence tomographic imaging apparatus is an apparatus capable of irradiating a sample with measurement light, which is low-coherenct light, and measuring light backscattered from the sample, using an interference system. The apparatus irradiates a point on the sample with the measurement light, and thereby can obtain image information of the sample in the depth direction at the point. Further, the apparatus makes measurements while scanning the sample with the measurement light, and thereby can also obtain a tomographic image of the sample. When applied to the fundus, the apparatus scans the fundus of a subject's eye with the measurement light, and thereby can capture a tomographic image of the fundus of the subject's eye at high resolution. Thus, the apparatus is widely used for the ophthalmic diagnosis of retina.
Generally, an optical coherence tomographic imaging apparatus uses a capturing method for repeatedly scanning the fundus to be measured in a horizontal direction or a vertical direction, thereby obtaining a plurality of tomographic images. The apparatus scans the same location on the fundus a plurality of times to acquire a plurality of fundus tomographic images of the same part. Then, the apparatus performs an averaging process on the plurality of fundus tomographic images, and thereby can obtain a single high-quality fundus tomographic image. Further, the apparatus performs scanning a plurality of times while moving the scanning position in a parallel manner, and thereby can also obtain a three-dimensional image of the fundus. If, however, the apparatus performs scanning a plurality of times as described above, it takes a certain time period to complete all the capturing. Thus, the eye may move during the image capturing.
To solve this problem, the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-29467 discusses an ophthalmic imaging apparatus having a tracking function for sequentially capturing front images of a subject's eye, detecting the movement of the subject's eye using the plurality of obtained front images, and correcting a scanning position according to the detected movement of the subject's eye.

Optical coherence tomographic imaging apparatus and method of controlling the same