Protective garment for environments having high radiant heat loads and/or high conductive heat loads is described. A protective footwear article and method of making includes an upper with an opaque outer layer; an inner layer; and a thermally reflective layer positioned between the outer layer and the inner layer, the thermally reflective layer having a reflective surface facing the outer layer.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to protective footwear and, in particular, to thermally reflective garments for use in environments where high radiant heat loads and/or high conductive heat loads may be encountered.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Firefighters and other emergency responders can be exposed to a variety of hazardous conditions such as flame, smoke, high heat, poisonous atmospheres, biological contamination and radiological contamination. Garments used by these professionals may be designed to protect against one or more of these specific conditions. Footwear, such as boots, may also be specifically designed and can be, for example, thermally insulated, waterproof, fire resistant or resistant to chemical attack. As one example, gear designed for use in proximity firefighting must be able to withstand extreme heat and should be capable of protecting the responder as provided in NFPA 1971: "Standard on Protective Ensembles for Structural Fire Fighting and Proximity Fire Fighting."

Protective garment having a thermally reflective layer


The present invention relates to rechargeable nickel metal hydride batteries and methods for making the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to rechargeable nickel metal hydride batteries having a precharge in the negative electrode sufficient for oxidation prevention in the negative electrode. The present invention discloses a nickel metal hydride battery, wherein the precharge of the negative electrode may be supplied by a variety of sources. The positive active material of the positive electrode may have positive active particles, such as nickel hydroxide, having a precursor coating that incorporates cobalt material capable of forming a conductive network. Sources other than cobalt-containing materials in the positive electrode include hydrogen gas provided directly to the negative active material, nickel aluminum mixed with the negative active material, the etching of the negative active material with an alkaline solution and borohydride chemically charging the negative active material. Preferably, a majority of the precharge of the negative electrode is supplied by sources other than cobalt-containing materials in the positive electrode.

Rechargeable batteries with high energy density, high capacity and long cycle life are highly desirable. Two types of alkaline rechargeable batteries commonly used are the Ni—Cd (nickel cadmium) type and the Ni—MH (nickel metal hydride) type. In both types of batteries the positive electrodes are made with an active nickel hydroxide material while the negative electrodes are different.
Ni—MH cells operate by a different mechanism than Ni—Cd cells. Ni—MH cells utilize a negative electrode that is capable of reversible electrochemical storage of hydrogen, hence the term hydrogen storage battery. The negative and positive electrodes are spaced apart in an alkaline electrolyte. Upon application of an electrical potential across a Ni—MH cell, the active material of the negative electrode is charged by the electrochemical absorption of hydrogen and the electrochemical discharge of a hydroxyl ion, as shown in equation 1.M+H2O+e−⇄M—H+OH−
The negative electrode half-cell reactions are reversible. Upon discharge, the stored hydrogen is released to form a water molecule and release an electron through the conduction network into the battery terminal.
The reactions that take place at the positive electrode of the Ni—MH cell are shown in equation 2.Ni(OH)2+OH−⇄NiOOH+H2O+e−
The use of nickel hydroxide as a positive active material for Ni—MH batteries is generally known. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,523,182, issued Jun. 4, 1996 to Ovshinsky et al., entitled "Enhanced Nickel Hydroxide Positive Electrode Materials For Alkaline Rechargeable Electrochemical Cells", the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,523,182, Ovshinsky et al. describes a positive electrode material comprising particles of nickel hydroxide positive electrode material and a precursor coating of a substantially continuous, uniform encapsulant layer on the particles to increase conductivity and resistance to corrosion products. The encapsulant layer may be formed from a material which, upon oxidation during processing or during charging of the electrode, is convertible to a highly conductive form, and which, upon subsequent discharge of the electrode, does not revert to its previous form. The electrochemically active hydroxide may include at least nickel hydroxide and the encapsulant layer preferably includes cobalt hydroxide or cobalt oxyhydroxide.
Two primary forms of positive electrodes exist at present and include sintered and pasted type electrodes. Sintered electrodes are produced by depositing the active material in the interstices of a porous metal matrix followed by sintering the metal. Pasted electrodes are made with nickel hydroxide particles in contact with a conductive network or substrate, most commonly foam nickel or perforated stainless steel coated with nickel. Several variants of these electrodes exist and include plastic-bonded nickel electrodes, which may utilize graphite as a micro-conductor, and pasted nickel fiber electrodes, which utilize nickel hydroxide particles loaded onto a high porosity, conductive nickel fiber or nickel foam. The current trend has been away from using sintered electrodes in favor of pasted electrodes because of cost and because pasted electrodes can provide significantly higher loading.
Several processes for making positive electrodes are also generally known, see for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,344,728 issued to Ovshinsky et al., the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference, where electrodes having a capacity in excess of 560 mAh/cc are reported. The particular process used for making electrodes can have a significant impact on the electrode's performance. For example, conventional sintered electrodes may now be obtained with an energy density of 480-500 mAh/cc. Sintered positive substrates are constructed by applying a nickel powder slurry to a nickel-plated, steel base followed by sintering at high temperature. This process causes the individual particles of nickel to weld at their points of contact, resulting in a porous material that is approximately 80% open volume and 20% solid metal. The sintered material is then impregnated with active material by soaking it in an acidic solution of nickel nitrate, followed by conversion to nickel hydroxide in a reaction with alkali metal hydroxide. After impregnation, the material is subjected to electrochemical formation. Pasted electrodes may be made by mixing various powders, such as nickel hydroxide particles, binders and other additives into a slurry and applying the mixture to a conductive grid.
Production methods for making nickel hydroxide powder are generally known and such powder may be made using a precipitation reaction, such as the one described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,822, issued to Ovshinsky et al., the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,822, Ovshinsky et al describes producing nickel hydroxide material by combining a nickel salt with a hydroxide to precipitate nickel hydroxide. Like electrode formation, the method for making the nickel active material can have a significant impact on properties and performance of the electrode.
Nickel hydroxide material should have high capacity and long cycle life. Excellent results have been found by forming nickel hydroxide with an apparent density of 1.4-1.7 g/cm3, a tap density of about 1.8-2.3 g/cm3, and an average size range of about 5-50 μm. Excellent results have also been found by making an active, nickel hydroxide with a high packing density and a narrow size distribution, such as may be provided with substantially spherical particles having an average particle size of about 10 μ and a tap density of about 2.2 g/cc. Paste made with this kind of active material has good fluidity and uniformity, making it possible to fabricate high capacity, uniformly loaded electrodes. The use of this kind of active material also improves utilization and discharge capacity. However, if process conditions are not carefully controlled, the resulting precipitate may be irregular in shape and have a low tap density. Electrodes formed with low-density nickel hydroxide will lack high capacity and high energy density. Improper process conditions can also produce a powder that is too fine. A very fine powder will increase adsorption of water at the surface of the particles, thereby requiring longer filtering times. Further, if process conditions are not properly controlled, precipitated particles may be formed with an excessively wide particle size distribution (ranging from 1 to hundreds of microns). Nickel hydroxide made with an excessively wide particle size distribution may require additional processing, such as pulverization, to render it useful. For these reasons and others, active powder having a low density, irregular shape and/or poor size distribution is undesirable for use in a high capacity nickel metal hydride battery.
To produce high density, substantially spherical nickel hydroxide powder, carefully controlled process conditions are used to seed and gradually grow nickel hydroxide particles. Although process conditions can vary, generally the process involves combining a nickel salt with an ammonium ion to form a nickel-ammonium complex. The nickel-ammonium complex is then broken down, typically with caustic, to gradually precipitate nickel hydroxide. However, this reaction rate is difficult to control, so methods have been introduced to separate certain steps in the production process. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,403, entitled "Method for Preparing High Density Nickel Hydroxide Used for Alkali Rechargeable Batteries", issued to Shin on Mar. 12, 1996, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference, discloses a method for preparing nickel hydroxide from a nickel sulfate solution using a separate or isolated amine reactor. Nickel sulfate is mixed with ammonium hydroxide in the isolated amine reactor to form a nickel ammonium complex. The nickel ammonium complex is removed from the reactor and sent to a second mixing vessel or reactor where it is combined with a solution of sodium hydroxide to obtain nickel hydroxide. The nickel hydroxide particles may then be formed into a pasted electrode with suitable binders, additives, conductive powders, etc. The electrode is then combined with a negative electrode, separator and a suitable electrolyte to form a hydrogen storage battery.
One useful form of hydrogen storage battery is the sealed type. Sealed batteries typically use a small amount of liquid and operate in what is called a starved condition. These types of batteries are particularly advantageous since they are maintenance free. However, sealed hydrogen storage batteries are vulnerable to degradation during cycling, particularly, during overcharging and overdischarging conditions. During overcharge the positive electrode produces oxygen and then recombines at the negative electrode with hydrogen. This localized heating in turn lowers the oxygen evolution potential at the surface of the positive electrode and thereby causes excess gas evolution to occur during overcharge, primarily hydrogen gas. The end result is a build-up and venting of hydrogen resulting from gas being generated at a rate faster than can be recombined within the battery. As a consequence, the venting of hydrogen systematically reduces battery cycle life through oxidation of the negative active material and active material disintegration, loss of electrolyte as well as cell capacity, increased cell impedance due to separator dry-out, and effects the balance between the overcharge and over-discharge reservoirs.
To reduce the potential for oxidation of the negative active material and minimize gas evolution, current practice is to make hydrogen storage batteries that are positive limited, e.g. have a positive electrode capacity, which is smaller than negative electrode capacity. Excess negative capacity prevents the negative electrode from becoming fully charged and ideally permits oxygen produced at the positive electrode to easily recombine at the surface of the negative electrode according to the following reactions:OH−→¼O2+½H2O+e− (at the positive electrode)MH+¼O2→M+½H2O (at the positive electrode)
However, positive limiting a battery alone does not prevent premature failure due to complications from over charging or overdischarging . Other mechanisms exist that can lead to premature failure of the battery.
In a pasted type nickel electrode for an alkaline storage battery, the conductive substrate may be made by forming a nickel-plating over a base urethane foam having a high degree of porosity. The urethane is later burned off in an annealing step leaving a nickel skeleton frame of pores. These pores can be several hundred millimeters across and can be filled with a large number of active material particles in each pore of the foam substrate. The greater the pore size the greater the number of active material particles per pore. However, pore size can also affect the distance between particles, and the distance between particles and the conductive substrate. An unoptimized pore size can lead to higher resistivity of the electrode thereby reducing the utilization of the active materials.
In order to reduce electrode resistivity various additives can be added to the active material powder, such as metal cobalt or cobalt compounds. Subsequent electrical formation of the battery causes the above-mentioned metal cobalt and cobalt compounds to be oxidized to β-CoOOH by charging, thus increasing the conductivity of the electrode and improving the utilization of the active materials. These additives, comprising as much as 5-15%, create a conductive network between adjacent active material particles and the foam substrate.
However, even when the correct addition of metal cobalt or cobalt compounds as conductive agents is provided in the positive paste, there can still be problems with the pasted positive electrode when used in an alkaline storage battery. For example, the efficiency of the positive active material in the electrode can be affected during charging under high temperature conditions. During battery formation the cobalt additives dissolve in the alkaline electrolyte solution and re-deposit as cobalt hydroxide on the surface of the active material. However, when the cobalt hydroxide deposits, it does not happen uniformly, causing segregation on the surface of the electrode and only a small part of the cobalt hydroxide diffuses in the pore, thereby reducing the conductivity of the electrode. In addition, charging the positive at elevated temperatures also decreases the oxygen over-voltage potential in the positive electrode. This decreased in the oxygen over-voltage potential changes the point where the side reaction at which oxygen evolution occurs and as a result decreases the charge efficiency characteristics of the active material.
In recent years, much work has been devoted to the positive pasted electrode in an effort to try to reduce the amount of cobalt additives in the positive paste thereby reducing the cost of the battery. However, reducing these conductive additives has also led to poor cycle life, higher internal pressure and loss of capacity.
As a result of the forgoing, there exists a need for an alkaline battery that reduces the amount of cobalt additives in an alkaline storage while maintaining comparable cycle life, cell performance and charge balance.


An improved towing vehicle for retrieving and/or transporting other vehicles such as vintage cars, disabled automobiles, or disabled trucks. The improved towing vehicle combines a rollback bed with a rear-mounted recovery boom that serves as both a conventional recovery boom and a wheel lift assembly. The improved wrecker truck of the present invention can thus transport two and possibly three vehicles at a time. The present invention also includes an improved rear-mounted multi-function recovery boom having a pivoting extension that greatly expands the towing vehicle's recovery and retrieval capabilities. Finally, the present invention includes a rollback bed that can be manipulated to a plurality of load positions, including a raised platform position in which the bed is raised to an elevated position over the towing vehicle.

Today's tow trucks and recovery vehicles come in a wide variety of designs for performing a wide variety of vehicle recovery and transport operations. These vehicles must be able to retrieve or recover disabled vehicles, ranging from cars, trucks, etc. that are simply inoperative and stranded on the roadside, to those that have flipped over or run off of the road into fields, ditches or ravines.
The simplest and most commonly recognized tow truck is probably the old "wrecker" design, which typically consists of a truck having a utility bed mounted behind the cab and a recovery boom having a cable and winch which is used to lift two wheels of a disabled vehicle off of the ground so that it can be towed to a repair shop. Many of these recovery booms now include a hydraulically operated telescoping section which extends and retracts. Such booms are more versatile than conventional recovery booms.
Another improvement to the basic wrecker design is the advent of "rollback" beds. A rollback bed is a flat transporting bed that tilts and/or moves in a rearward direction until the rear end of the bed is at or near the ground. A disabled vehicle is driven, rolled or winched onto the bed, the bed is returned to its original position and locked in place, and the disabled vehicle is then transported to a repair shop. Unfortunately, due to space considerations, a rollback bed precludes the use of a rear-mounted recovery boom and/or a rear-mounted wheel lift assembly. Thus, a towing vehicle equipped with a rollback bed has limited recovery capabilities.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an improved recovery and transport vehicle or wrecker that is capable of a wide variety of recovery and retrieval operations without sacrificing transport capabilities. Such an improved wrecker should be able to safely and effectively retrieve disabled vehicles from a wide variety of situations on and off the paved roads, and should be able to safely and effectively transport up to two vehicles at a time.
The improved wrecker truck of the present invention combines all of the functional advantages of a rollback bed, a rear-mounted wheel lift assembly and a rear-mounted multi-purpose recovery boom into a single towing vehicle. The wrecker truck of the present invention includes an improved rear-mounted multi-function recovery boom that is shiftable between a raised position and a lowered position. In the raised position, the boom performs all of the operations of a standard recovery boom. In the lowered position, the boom performs all of the operations of a conventional rear-mounted wheel lift assembly. The recovery boom also includes an extendable section which enhances the capabilities of the boom in both the wheel lift mode of operation as well as the recovery boom mode. Further, the recovery boom works in conjunction with the rollback bed to shift the rollback bed to a raised platform position. In the platform position the recovery vehicle can load or unload vehicles or even boats from semi-trailers, loading docks and other elevated surfaces.
The improved wrecker of the present invention also utilizes an improved tow bar assembly that can pivot when the boom is used as a wheel lift in which the truck is used to lift two wheels of a vehicle off of the ground for towing, and which further locks in place when the boom is used to guide the cables from either of two winches towards a disabled vehicle. The tow bar also serves as a platform to enable any of a variety of modular towing attachments to be removably secured to the tow bar/recovery boom assembly.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a vehicle having a rear-mounted recovery boom and a rollback bed for retrieving and transporting other vehicles such as disabled trucks, automobiles, or vintage cars that
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved wrecker truck that can transport up to two vehicles at a time.
A further object of this invention is to provide a wrecker truck having an improved rear-mounted multi-function recovery boom that also serves as a wheel lift.
These and other objects of the invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following description.

Apparatus for retrieving and transporting disabled vehicles


A method for continuous measurement of river flow based on satellite big data is provided. The method includes: determining a river reach to conduct flow measurement, reconstructing a cross section of a river channel based on satellite big data, calculating real-time water levels by coupling data of various types of satellites, and performing flow calculation and compilation. The method solves the difficult problem of river flow measurement or continuous measurement of river flow in uninhabited areas, fills the blank of satellite-based flow measurement according to the principle of river dynamics, and greatly expands the range of river flow measurement.

Presently, the remote sensing and surveying and mapping of satellites are widely used in various fields of the national economy, for example, in the field of hydrology for water level and flow monitoring. Most of the existing satellite-based flow measurements rely on the water level or water surface breadth acquired by satellites as well as the water level and flow relationship or the water surface breadth and flow relationship of the existing hydrological stations on the ground. Therefore, no matter what type of satellite is used, it is necessary to calibrate or check based on the measurement data of existing ground hydrological stations.
Recently, the planar or vertical resolution of satellites has been further improved. The water level measurement accuracy of space-borne laser, radar and other altimeters reaches within 10 cm, and the planar resolution of high-precision full-color orthophotos reaches within 50 cm. However, the plane and elevation data are generally not available from these two types of satellites simultaneously, or even if they are available simultaneously, the resolution is lower. Due to the launch of surveying and mapping satellites such as the Resource series and the High-resolution series, and the implementation of programs such as the Surface Water and Ocean Topography Satellite (SWOT), the ability and accuracy to monitor the altitude and slope of surface water gradually improve. Although the planar and vertical resolutions can reach several tens of meters, they cannot satisfy the requirements of river flow measurement when used separately. Meanwhile, these satellites can only observe the plane or elevation data above the water surface and cannot acquire cross-sectional or topographic data below the water surface.
For a large number of rivers with a lack of hydrological stations and underwater cross-sectional data, especially those in uninhabited areas in western China, there is currently no mature satellite-based flow measurement method. To solve the above problem, it is necessary to make full use of the plane and elevation difference relationships of high-precision planar and vertical observation satellites and 3D stereo imaging satellites. That is, the historical and real-time observation data of these satellites are coupled according to the regularity of seasonal fluctuation of water level and the regularity of satellite revisit. Thus, based on the satellite big data, the underwater section and water surface gradient of river can be established, and the river flow and process can be calculated by using hydrodynamic methods.

Method for continuous measurement of river flow based on satellite big data

BUREAU OF HYDROLOGY, CHANGJIANG WATER RESOURCES COMMISSION


Disclosed is a ultrasonic scalpel blade with a hook and having flat, non-sharpened, relatively dull edges to improve ultrasonic coupling to adjacent tissue and afford exceptional coagulation and hemostasis. The blade with hook is particularly useful for cutting loose, unsupported tissue by grasping the tissue with the hook portion and tensioning it while cutting. The blade affords improved coagulation and hemostasis in loose, unsupported tissue, while simultaneously providing an improved cutting action.

The present invention relates to ultrasonically energized scalpel blades and particularly to blades having improved configurations for cutting and coagulating tissue.
In my prior application Ser. No. 07/771,182, filed Oct. 4, 1991, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, an ultrasonic surgical instrument is disclosed which includes an ultrasonic energy source in a handpiece ultrasonically coupled through an extension to a surgical tool, e.g., a surgical blade, at the tip of the blade extension whereby ultrasonic energy is transmitted from the ultrasonic energy source to the surgical blade and coupled with the tissue to which the blade is applied. That ultrasonic surgical blade achieved exceptional coagulation while cutting by reducing the sharpness and, consequently, increasing the dullness or bluntness of the blade, in comparison with standard sharp surgical blades. Prior to the discovery set forth in that application, it was believed that the same sharp blades used in hand-held surgical scalpels should be applied to ultrasonic surgical scalpels. It was discovered, however, that an otherwise dull blade, when coupled ultrasonically to tissue, enhances the sharpness of the blade when applied to incise and dissect, while simultaneously effecting coagulation. Generally, sharp blades pass through the tissue with less force and less tissue coupling and hence produce less coagulation. Thus, to achieve tissue coagulation and hemostasis, ultrasonic scalpel blades need not be as sharp as standard scalpel blades. In that prior application, the relationship between the type of tissue cut and the sharpness or dullness of the blade is set forth.
It has been found, however, that dull blades do not cut particularly well through relatively loose and unsupported tissues, such as fat unless the tissues are supported against a hard surface (to afford effective cutting with simultaneous coagulation). It has been discovered that an ultrasonic blade having a hook portion and formed sufficiently dull can provide both superior coagulation and effective cutting of loose and unsupported tissue. The hook portion of the ultrasonic blade engages the tissue as the blade is drawn along the tissue and allows the blade to grasp and tension the tissue (hence supporting the tissue) to enhance the cutting action. By stretching or tensioning the tissue, the otherwise dull blade is able to effectively cut as well as coagulate relatively loose and unsupported tissue. Consequently, with an ultrasonic blade having a hook portion, a blade may be selected in accordance with its dullness depending upon the type of surgery with the assurance that simultaneous effective cutting and coagulation can be achieved. For example, where it is necessary to afford greater hemostasis, i.e., where a patient will bleed substantially, as in a gall bladder operation, a very dull ultrasonic blade with a hook is preferable. With such a dull hook blade, effective cutting action is achieved and, when greater power is applied, the coupling with the loose and unsupported tissue provides exceptional hemostasis. Even large blood vessels up to 3 millimeters have been hooked and coagulated while being severed. Fat and parenchymous tissue can be cut by ultrasonically activated dissection blades having hook portions that are approximately 25/1000 inches thick with no blade edge. Connective tissues can be cut by blades with hook portions 25/1000 inches thick and having a 60.degree. blade edge or no edge at all. Generally, the hook portion may be sharpened to angles between 30.degree. and 70.degree.. Such dissection blades provide exceptional hemostasis for good cutting, even in fibrous elastic tissues.
It has also been found according to the present invention that the ultrasonic motion is greatest at the tip of the blade and that the surface area at the tip is proportional to the amount of energy that is coupled to the tissues for coagulation. The large surface area facilitates application of adequate pressure to optimize coupling of the ultrasonic energy with the tissue. Consequently, in accordance with the present invention, blades with flat, non-pointed and non-sharpened tips are provided and have proven highly effective for coagulation of bleeders. Such tips penetrate tissues less during coagulation of bleeders than sharpened tips. Flat tips also provide cavitation fragmentation of tissues to facilitate dissection of loose, low density tissues.
Several specific embodiments of blades employing the principles of the present invention are disclosed. In one such blade principally useful in laparoscopic surgery, e.g., gall bladder surgery, there is provided a blade body having a shank, side faces, a tip opposite the shank and side edges extending from the shank to the tip. At least a side edge of the blade and the tip, are unsharpened and are flat. One of the side edges, however, is provided with a recess which defines with the tip a hook between the one side edge and the tip for grasping and tensioning tissue as the blade is drawn along the tissue. With the flat edge of the blade bearing against tissue, the maximum amount of energy is transferred into the tissue, rendering the blade effective to coagulate bleeders. Simultaneously, the hooked portion of the blade grasps and tensions the loose, unsupported tissue to facilitate the cutting action of the blade through the tissue.
In one specific form of the invention, the blade is in the general shape of a spoon. One side edge of the blade, however, has an arcuate recess. That is, an opposite side edge and tip form a continuous convex curve about the periphery of the blade, while the one side edge defining the hooked portion characterized by a concave curve. All of the edges may be flat and unsharpened. Alternatively, the concave surface may be sharpened with an edge angle, preferably from 30.degree. to 70.degree. depending upon the nature of the surgery. This sharpened hook design enables the blade to dissect even unsupported tissues providing effective coagulation of bleeders and exceptional hemostasis. The generally round shape facilitates application to various tissue contours from a single point of entry and helps prevent puncture during coagulation when substantial pressure is applied to couple the ultrasonic energy with the tissues.
In another form of the present invention, there is provided a hooked dissection blade which is for general purpose use rather than specific use, for example, for laparoscopic surgery. In this form of blade, the blade body is essentially planar, having a recessed portion along one, preferably non-sharpened, side edge to form a hook portion with the tip of the blade. A linearly extending portion of the opposite side edge is sharpened, preferably within a range of 25.degree. to 45.degree.. The tip of the blade is flat and extends linearly between the opposite side edges for maximum energy transfer to the tissue during use. Thus, both the linearly extending flat tip and the single straight cutting edge optimizes the coupling of the ultrasonic energy to the tissue to provide exceptional coagulation and hemostasis while the hook portion tensions unsupported tissue to enhance the cutting action.
In both blades specifically described above, i.e., a spoon-shaped hooked blade for laparoscopic surgery and a hooked dissector blade for general purpose, the blade is carried by a blade coupler which has a stepped horn for amplifying the ultrasonic energy transmitted along the blade coupler to the blade. The blade coupler thus steps from one diameter to a reduced diameter, with consequent amplification of the vibratory axial motion. In the blades hereof, the stepped amplifying horn, however, has a radius which reduces the extent of amplification of the axial vibratory motion to preclude the blade from breaking through fatigue. It will be appreciated that it is important that the stepped horn not lie in the vicinity of a node, i.e., a point of minimal or no axial vibratory motion along the blade coupler. Additionally, in the laparoscopic blade hereof, the node is preferably located in the reduced diameter shank of the blade coupler, whereas in the hooked dissector, the node is located in the larger diameter portion of the coupler. In both cases, of course, the nodes cannot lie in any transition area, i.e., at the stepped horn or at the connection between the blade coupler and either the power element or an extension used for laparoscopic surgery. Also, it will be appreciated that the anti-nodes, i.e., the points along the coupler of maximum energy, are located at the connecting point between the blade coupler and either the power element or extension, as applicable, and the tip of the blade.
In a preferred embodiment according to the present invention, there is provided an ultrasonic scalpel blade for an ultrasonic scalpel comprising a blade coupler having a blade body and a shank extending from the blade body for coupling with a source of ultrasonic energy and transmitting the energy to the blade body, the body having side edges and a tip opposite the shank, one of the side edges having a recess formed therein and defining a hook portion between the one side edge and the tip for tensioning tissue as the blade is displaced along the tissue, thereby facilitating cutting and coagulation of the tissue upon application of ultrasonic energy to the tissue.
In a further preferred embodiment according to the present invention, there is provided an ultrasonic scalpel blade for an ultrasonic scalpel comprising a blade coupler having a blade body and a shank extending from the blade body for coupling with a source of ultrasonic energy and transmitting the energy to the blade body, the body having side faces, side edges and a tip opposite the shank, at least one of the side edges having non-sharpened flat edge surfaces extending linearly between opposite side faces of the blade and in a direction generally normal to the side faces to facilitate coagulation of the tissue upon application of ultrasonic energy to the blade and ultrasonically coupling the blade and tissue as the blade is displaced along the tissue.
In a still further preferred embodiment according to the present invention, there is provided a method of incising and coagulating tissue comprising the steps of providing an ultrasonically actuated scalpel blade having side edges, a tip at an end of the blade and a hook along one of the side edges, and simultaneously cutting and coagulating tissue by (i) applying the ultrasonically energized scalpel blade to the tissue and (ii) tensioning the tissue by engaging the tissue with the blade hook as the blade is drawn along the tissue.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide novel and improved ultrasonic actuated scalpel blades having improved cutting and coagulating characteristics, particularly for use in soft, relatively loose, unsupported tissue.
These and further objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reference to the following specification, appended claims and drawings.

Ultrasonic scalpel blade and methods of application


Feedback potentiometer-type servoactuator uses the ring gear of a planetary gear system to drive the wiper across a resistive arc of less than 360.degree. where the actuator has a travel of multiple turns. The ring gear is supported by spaced struts in the actuator housing.

Prior art devices have included several mechanisms wherein the rotary position of a door or the like has been actuated by a drive which drives the door to a position corresponding to the position to which an electric control element has been set. For instance, in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,616,164 to Kenny et al issued Oct. 7, 1986 there is disclosed a feedback servoactuator in which a motor drive drives a gear segment which mounts a wiper bridging across a conductive swipe and a resistive swipe disposed on a card adjacent the gear segment. Input of voltage determined by the position of the wiper is connected to a circuitry for a Wheatstone bridge. The Wheatstone bridge is also connected to a control voltage input determined by the setting of a potentiometer which is the command control element. The circuitry drives the actuator until a balance between the inputs is achieved.
Feedback servoactuators are employed in numerous applications where it is desired to rotate a shaft to a desired rotary position in response to an electrical command position signal. In the past such servoactuators have been used in vehicles to control the flapper door of an environmental air-conditioning system used to control the flow of heated or cooled air into the passenger compartment of a vehicle. Such applications require that the position of the door or vane be controlled in a range of, say 180.degree.. This has been accomplished by directly linking the shaft of the gear on which the wiper is mounted directly to the vane.
There is a need for an actuator in which the drive must be linked to a door drive element which has a travel of over 360.degree.. For instance, in some controls for ventilation in a vehicle, the valve may be in the form of a film which moves across a vent duct, the film having a window, the position of which registers more or less with the cross-section of the vent. The film itself may be spring-biased so that its end moves in one direction to valve off more or less air flow through the duct. In such arrangements, the film may be wound on a drum controlled by a drive motor. The drum may, in its travel moving the film, make more than one rotation. The control of rotation of the drum has to be such that the window or end of the film reaches a position as required by the temperature setting, for instance.
The present invention provides an servoactuator of the potentiometer feedback type in which the drive element arrives at the desired position in its numerous rotations as required by the command signal. This is accomplished in the present invention by the use of a planetary gear system which mounts a wiper on the ring gear, the wiper working against swipes of no greater than 360.degree..

Multi-actuator having position controller


The present invention provides a light source (2) for light circuits on a silicon platform (3). A vertical laser cavity is formed by a gain region (101) arranged between a top mirror (4) and a bottom grating-mirror (12) in a grating region (11) in a silicon layer (10) on a substrate. A waveguide (18, 19) for receiving light from the grating region (11) is formed within or to be connected to the grating region, and functions as an 5 output coupler for the VCL. Thereby, vertical lasing modes (16) are coupled to lateral in-plane modes (17, 20) of the in-plane waveguide formed in the silicon layer, and light can be provided to e.g. photonic circuits on a SOI or CMOS substrate in the silicon.

The challenge of integrating small and efficient electrically pumped light sources in silicon based photonic circuitry is well known.
Gunn (Photonics Spectra March 2006, pp. 62-67) described this challenge and proposes a solution where light is provided from non-integrated external laser sources. Through an optical fibre, the light is directed to an integrated holographic lens and thereby coupled to an integrated waveguide. This approach has the disadvantages that tedious alignment and subsequent packaging is necessary.
Fang et al. (Optics Express 14, pp. 9203 (2006)) describes an edge-emitting electrically pumped AlGaInAs-silicon evanescent laser architecture. The architecture is wafer bonded to a silicon on insulator (SOI) substrate and the laser cavity is defined solely by a silicon waveguide in the underlying SOI substrate. While solutions based on edge-emitting lasers provides easier coupling to photonic circuitry, they have the disadvantages of relatively high power consumption and non-intrinsic single mode control.
Hence, an improved way of integrating light sources on silicon platforms would be advantageous, and in particular a more efficient and/or reliable ways of providing light to photonic circuits would be advantageous.


A vehicular accelerator pedal apparatus for electronic control of vehicle engine speed. The apparatus has a pedal position sensor with a rotatable stem, an accelerator pedal and an actuator bar extending from the pedal toward the sensor mounting bracket. In the improvement, the actuator bar is connected to a drive shaft which is pivot-mounted on the bracket. An actuator linkage is coupled to and pivoted by the drive shaft and extends between such the drive shaft and the sensor stem. The linkage includes first and second links imparting rotary motion to the stem when the linkage is pivoted by movement of the pedal. The second link is available in several different lengths and the apparatus thereby accommodates each of several different sensors by using a second link having the length appropriate for a particular sensor.

Almost from the advent of the first motor vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine, engine speed control has been effected by an accelerator pedal mechanically coupled through the vehicle fire wall to an engine "speed regulator" such as a carburetor. When no pressure was applied to the pedal, the engine ran at some preset idle speed. And when vehicle-accelerating pressure was applied to the pedal, the pedal/carburetor linkage opened passages in the carburetor to admit more fuel to the engine. The linkage was "custom-configured" for the particular vehicle, engine and carburetor.
Much more recently, engine and vehicle manufacturers have turned to electrical and electronic engine speed control systems which sense engine temperature, engine load and the like and automatically control pump-fed fuel injectors to cause the proper amount of fuel to be admitted to the engine. Such systems are vastly more flexible in the way they can be installed in the vehicle and applied to the engine.
As but one example of improved flexibility in application, it is no longer required to extend a mechanical linkage through the vehicle firewall and provide appropriate sealing devices to prevent air leakage into the passenger compartment. Rather, electrical wires can be extended from the accelerator pedal mechanism to the electronic speed control on the engine.
A typical electrical engine throttle control system uses an electrical sensor, the output signal of which is a function of the position of the accelerator pedal. That is, the sensor "senses" pedal position between idle speed and maximum engine speed and the resulting signal is used by the electronic engine speed control system for engine speed regulation. A common sensor is embodied as a potentiometer or "pot" having a rotating stem. As the accelerator pedal is depressed and released, the stem rotates and an appropriate output signal results.
Examples of arrangements having an accelerator pedal and a sensor coupled thereto are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,958,607 (Lundberg); 4,976,166 (Davis et al.); 5,133,225 (Lundberg et al.); 5,237,891 (Neubauer et al.); 5,241,936 (Byler et al.) and 5,321,980 (Hering et al.). U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,321 (Hering et al.) discloses a resistive-type throttle control and idle-validation sensor combined into a single component.
While earlier arrangements have been generally satisfactory for the intended use, they are not without disadvantages. A notable disadvantage is that the pedal assembly hardware must be configured to accommodate a particular sensor made by a particular manufacturer. For example, the combined control and validation sensor disclosed in the above-noted Hering et al. patent is to be used with Cummins CELECT.TM. electronic fuel control system. The patent goes on to explain that the sensor may be "adapted" to operate with a variety of control systems and control devices.
Yet another apparent disadvantage is based upon the understanding that the arrangement of the Byler et al. patent uses a single sensor which may be adapted to any one of several different engines and engine control systems. But engine and vehicle builders may wish to use their own sensor or one specified by them rather than one supplied by the manufacturer of the pedal hardware.
It is most preferable that an electronic accelerator pedal assembly be mounted on the front wall, often referred to as the fire wall, of the passenger compartment. The arrangements shown in the above-noted Byler et al. and Lundberg patents mount in that fashion. But those shown in the above-noted Davis et al. and Lundberg et al. patents mount adjacent to the floor where they are more susceptible to damage by water, dirt, foot-borne road salt and the like.
Yet another disadvantage of some prior art arrangements is that the accelerator pedal is biased to the engine idle position by a single spring. The apparatus shown in the above-noted Hering et al. patent is a example. But if the single spring fails, the pedal may move to a position representing some engine speed above idle, not a desirable condition.
The arrangement shown in the above-noted Byler et al. patent has pedal-biasing springs which are coiled flat ribbons and which are confined in a drum-like enclosure. If they become wet, such springs dry less easily than exposed springs and are not easily replaced. And, seemingly, manufacturing tooling for such arrangement may be more costly than is necessary in view of the invention.
An improved vehicular accelerator pedal apparatus which addresses disadvantages of prior art arrangements would be an important technical advance.


The present invention relates to a novel process for obtaining (1S,4S)N-methyl-4-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1-naphthaleneamine from a mixture of its isomers. The process involves isomerising the 1-position and the 4-position and effecting separation of the desired isomer by methods such as fractured crystallization. The process can be operated as a continuous process.

Sertraline has two chiral centres and hence has four stereoisomeric forms, namely, the (1R,4R), (1S,4S), (1R,4S), and (1S,4R) isomeric forms of sertraline. Of these, the active stereoisomer for therapeutic purpose is the cis (1S,4S) isomer of formula 1.

Although a number of processes have been described for the production of setraline or intermediates used in the production of setraline, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,536,518, U.S. Pat. No. 4,556,676, U.S. Pat. No. 4,777,288 U.S. Pat. No. 4,839,104, WO98/15516, U.S. Pat. No. 5,196,607, U.S. Pat. No. 5,466,880, Tetrahedron, 48(47), 10239 (1992), WO95/15299, WO98/27050, Organic Lett., 1(2), 293 (1999), in all the methods described, eventual isomer separation is inevitable. These documents describe processes for producing sertraline and the disclosures in these documents illustrate the problems in producing optically pure sertraline and the resulting low yields and waste that arises due to production of unwanted isomers.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,082,970 there is described a process for recycling the trans isomer of sertraline. However, this process appears only to isomerise only one of the two chiral centres of the trans isomer of sertraline.
In WO01/49638 and WO05/023752 there are described processes for the isomerisation of both chiral centres of setraline isomers. WO01/49638 requires that the amine first be oxidised to an imine. This imine intermediate is subjected to an isomerisation process at the benzylic chiral centre and then subsequently reducing the imine non-stereospecifically. WO05/023752 seeks to isomerise the benzylic chiral centre first before subjecting the amine to oxidation and reduction either directly of the imine or indirectly by reaction of the ketone with an amine and reduction of the imine so produced. Both of these methods suffer from the disadvantage that oxidation of amines to imines is difficult and not only requires the use of strong oxidants in stoichiometric amounts but often results in the production of unwanted ketone which adds to the complexity of the recycle.
It is therefore, the object of the present invention to develop an alternate simple process whereby the unwanted isomers, can be recycled to produce the desired cis (1S,4S) isomer in a simple manner which is commercially feasible.


A cylindrical battery comprises a cylindrical battery electrode assembly having two ends, which comprises a core bar, a positive plate and a negative plate coiled on the core bar, and a diaphragm separating the plates. The cylindrical battery also comprises a positive electrode lead-out terminal, disposed at one end of the electrode assembly and having an inner end surface facing the same. The inner end surface of the positive electrode lead-out terminal is directly connected with the entire end of the positive plate at the corresponding end of the electrode assembly. The cylindrical battery further comprises a negative electrode lead-out terminal, disposed at the other end of the electrode assembly and having an inner end surface facing the same. The inner end surface of the negative electrode lead-out terminal is directly connected with the entire end of the negative plate at the corresponding end of the electrode assembly.

Currently, due to the global energy shortage as well as the increasing awareness of environmental protection, electric vehicle batteries and energy storage batteries are popular in the market. In general, high-capacity secondary batteries (nickel-hydrogen batteries, nickel-cadmium batteries, lithium batteries, lead-acid batteries, etc.) in the market are in rectangular shape, which is especially true with respect to nickel-hydrogen batteries. Nickel-hydrogen batteries having a capacity higher than 20 Ah adopt a rectangular shape, as it is difficult to dissipate heat in high-capacity batteries which are prone to thermal runaway. However, rectangular secondary batteries fail to meet market requirements due to inherent defects, while conventional cylindrical secondary batteries need to be improved in terms of high current charge-discharge capability and performance of dissipation of heat from inner parts of batteries. Furthermore, positive and negative plates of existing secondary batteries are solder-connected with lead-out terminals via lugs with soldering points soldering connecting pieces required. When current is large or battery short circuit occurs, the lugs or the connecting pieces are heated to be red-hot, which may cause battery burning or other severe safety accidents.


The acrylic acid esters of Formula I are useful for the delivery of organoleptic compounds, especially for flavors, fragrances, masking agents and antimicrobial compounds. They can also deliver fluorescent whitening agents.

A principal strategy currently employed for imparting odors, such as fragrance, to consumer products is to admix the fragrance directly into the product. There are, however, several drawbacks to this strategy. For example, the fragrance material can be too volatile and/or too soluble, resulting in fragrance loss during manufacturing, storage, and use. In addition, many fragrance materials are also unstable over time which, again, results in loss during storage.
In many consumer products it is desirable for the fragrance to be released slowly over time. Microencapsulation and inclusion complexes with cyclodextrins have been used to help decrease volatility, improve stability and provide slow-release properties. These methods are, for a number of reasons, often not successful and/or too expensive to be commercially viable, as for example, in the case of cyclodextrins.
Fragrance precursors for scenting fabrics being washed in the presence of a lipase-containing detergent are described in WO 95/04809. The fragrance precursors contained in the detergent and/or in the softener are cleaved by the lipase and a single active compound. In such a situation, an odoriferous alcohol, aldehyde or ketone is produced. In this system, a prolonged scenting effect on the fabric is obtained. However, the need for a lipase-containing detergent is of limited commercial significance. In many parts of the world, detergents do not contain lipase. Other consumers prefer to use so-called 'nonbio' detergents.
Fluorescent whitening agents or brighteners have been added to laundry detergents since the 1950s to help maintain the original brightness of white clothing.
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide new precursors for compounds with different activities. Through these precursors, different activities are imparted to a product by the addition of just one compound of the present invention.
Another object of the invention is to provide new precursor compounds which are stable under transport and storage conditions.
A further object of the present invention is to provide new precursors that supply different active compounds simultaneously or successively.


A coupling device is provided. The coupling device has a substrate, a ground element, a first feed conductor and a second feed conductor. The substrate has a first surface and a second surface. The ground element is disposed on the second surface, wherein the ground element has a first annular groove, a second annular groove and a feed slot, the second annular groove surrounds the first annular groove, the feed slot is connected to the first annular groove and the second annular groove. The first feed conductor is disposed on the first surface corresponding to the first annular groove and the second annular groove, wherein the first feed conductor couples the ground element to feed an electric current. The second feed conductor is disposed on the first surface corresponding to the feed slot, wherein the second feed conductor couples the feed slot to feed a magnetic current.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a coupling device, and in particular relates to a coupling device providing dual-band and dual-perpendicular-polarization functions.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 shows a conventional coupling antenna 1, comprising a substrate 10, a ground element 20, a first feed conductor 30 and a second feed conductor 40. The substrate 10 comprises a first surface 11 and a second surface 12. The ground element 20 is disposed on the second surface 12, comprising a first portion 21, a second portion 22 and an annular groove 23. The annular groove 23 is located between the first portion 21 and the second portion 22. The first feed conductor 30 is disposed on the first surface 11 corresponding to the first portion 21 and the annular groove 23. The second feed conductor 40 is disposed on the first surface 11 corresponding to the first portion 21 and the annular groove 23.
When the conventional coupling antenna 1 transmits wireless signals, the signal isolation between the first feed conductor 30 and the second feed conductor 40 is insufficient, and noise is generated therebetween. Additionally, the conventional coupling antenna 1 can only transmit signals in a single band, which cannot satisfy multi-band signal transmission requirements.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Dual-band coupling device comprising first and second annular grooves fed by first and second feed conductors


A heating coil of a heat treatment apparatus is configured to inductively heat an elongated workpiece having a recessed lateral surface. The heating coil includes a base conductor and a projected conductor. A width of the projected conductor is narrower than a width of the base conductor. The projected conductor is arranged to project toward the recess from a position of the base conductor. The base conductor and the projected conductor are arranged to extend in a longitudinal direction of the workpiece. A heat treatment apparatus includes a cooling section and the heating coil. A heat treatment method uses the heating coil described above.

Related art heating coils are configured such that, when heat-treating an elongated workpiece having a recessed lateral surface, the recessed lateral surface is heated without heating other lateral surfaces of the workpiece.
For example, JP3924084B2 discloses a heating coil having rod-shaped conductors extending in a widthwise direction of an elongated workpiece orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the workpiece, and protrusions formed on the conductors so as to be inserted into respective recesses on the lateral surfaces, thereby inductively heating the entire recessed lateral surfaces of the workpiece while relatively moving the workpiece in the longitudinal direction. The heating coil is configured to prevent insufficient heating at longitudinal ends of the workpiece.
JP2004-204248A discloses a heating coil apparatus having coil bodies disposed on respective sides of an elongated workpiece with respect to a lateral direction orthogonal to a feeding direction of the workpiece, and protrusions formed on the coil bodies so as to protrude toward respective recesses on lateral surfaces of the workpiece. Each protrusion is designed to have a size that can inductively heat the recess of the corresponding lateral surface uniformly in the longitudinal direction, thereby improving heating efficiency.
However, the portion of the heating coil that heats the entire lateral surface of the elongated workpiece is disposed so as to extend in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the lateral surface. Therefore, the area of the portion of the coil that faces the workpiece is limited, which makes it difficult to heat the workpiece at high speed.
To speed up the heat treatment, for example, the heating coil may be formed using a wider member to increase the area of the portion of the coil that extends across and faces the lateral surface of the elongated workpiece. In this case, however, the increased cross sectional area of the coil requires greater electric power, which deteriorates efficiency.
Alternatively, the number of portions of the coil that extend across the lateral surface of the workpiece may be increased, without using a wider member. However, this results in a complex configuration of the heating coil. As a consequence, an electric current path and a cooling fluid path through the coil also become complicated, which increases an output loss of the coil and makes it difficult to maintain a certain level of flow rate of cooling fluid.

Heating coil, heat treatment apparatus, and heat treatment method for elongated workpiece


The arrangement focuses a combined laser beam (33) composed of individual laser beams produced by laser diodes (2) on a common spot. Prismatic reflecting bodies (7,8) are arranged in depressions (11,12) provided in a common substrate (1) between parallel rows (R1,R2; R3,R4) of the laser diodes (2). Each reflecting body (7,8) has oppositely inclined reflecting surfaces arranged on opposite sides thereof for deflection of the individual laser beams from the two adjacent rows of laser diodes. Two cylindrical lenses (9) are arranged on opposite sides of each reflecting body (7,8) between the laser diodes and the reflective surfaces to convert elliptical remote fields of the laser beams into circularly symmetric remote fields. Laterally movable focusing lenses (14) for each individual laser beam are arranged on the reflecting bodies (7,8) between the common spot and the reflecting surfaces for individual adjustment of the laser beams, whereby the combined laser beam (33) is focussed on the common spot.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an arrangement for aligning both light beam paths or both light beams of at least two laser diodes on a common spot.
2. Prior Art
In an especially effective process for pumping a solid state laser semiconductor laser diodes (LD) whose emission spectrum is substantially narrower than that of conventional lamps are used instead of the conventional lamps. The semiconductor laser diodes (LD) are selected so that the wavelengths of their emission spectrum coincide exactly with the pumping light wavelengths for the solid state laser to be pumped. According to the state of the art several different arrangements of the laser diodes in relation to the solid state laser crystal to be pumped are conventionally employed.
In the transverse arrangement the pumping light is radiated across or transverse to the laser beam of the solid state laser in the laser crystal. This sort of coupling has the advantage that many pumping laser diodes can be arranged over the length of the laser crystal and thus the total pumping power and thus also the laser power can be increased. The laser system is scalable in regard to its power, i.e. the laser power grows in proportion to the number of laser diodes arranged along the length of the laser crystal. However it is disadvantageous that the entire cross section of the laser crystal is irradiated by the laser light. Pumping power is lost in that portion of the laser crystal in which no laser light is produced. On the other hand, excitation of the higher transverse modes, which are not desired in those applications in which laser radiation in the transverse fundamental TEM00 mode is required, is permitted by a too large cross section of pumped laser material.
In the longitudinal pumping arrangement the pumping light is coupled in the direction of the laser beam of the solid state laser to be pumped. With this sort of excitation the pumping light may be exactly concentrated in the volume in which the laser light travels. Because of that the pumping efficiency of the coupling between the pumping light and the laser light is substantially improved in relation to the transverse coupling and on the other hand a smaller cross section can be pumped so that only the transverse fundamental mode TEM00 is excited. The possibilities for pumping light. coupling by means of a greater number of pumping light sources are however considerably limited in comparison to the transverse pumping arrangement. The pumping light can be coupled in via the front and/or rear laser mirror. At least one of the laser mirrors is made with a dichroic reflective surface, that is its surface is reflecting for laser light and transparent for pump light. In a plate-like laser crystal, in which the laser light is reflected in a crooked or folded beam path at the lateral surfaces of the crystal, also the pumping light can be coupled in from there in the direction of the laser beam, in as much as the reflections at these locations are not total reflections. The coupling locations or positions for the pumping light must have a dichroic coating.
Since the polarization direction of the light is not of significance for the pumping effect, two pumping light sources with crossed polarization directions can be combined with respective polarization radiation combining devices at the respective coupling locations. This arrangement of pumping light sources however results in considerable expense because of the required coupling optics and beam combining devices, which must be arranged around the entire periphery of the laser crystal. Proposals have however already been made in the art regarding how to avoid these disadvantages. Those proposals take advantage of the fact that slight variations in the beam propagation parameters of the pumping light and the laser light are possible, since the pumping light is strongly absorbed in the laser crystal in contrast to the laser light, so that most pumping energy is absorbed in the focused region when the pumping light is focused in the laser crystal. Because of that it is possible that several laser diodes can send a beam in via one of the above-mentioned pumping light entrances. It is presumed however that the individual laser beams have only very slight variations in their irradiation directions and in their irradiated points. Difficulties occur because the required high power pumping laser diodes have a strongly elliptical beam portions with a width of typically 100 xcexcm and a height of typically 1 xcexcm and correspondingly they propagate with elliptical radiation characteristics with a vertical spreading of typically 40xc2x0 and a horizontal spreading of 10xc2x0. For beam formation cylindrical or anamorphotic image-forming components are required because of the elliptical nature of the laser beam. According to the state of the art different proposals were made for these purposes (see e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,557,475) with complicated spatial arrangements of mirrors and prisms. The individual beams of the pumping laser diodes guided together can be then either coupled directly into the laser crystal or coupled by means of optical fibers with stepped profiled cores and sufficient core diameter (xe2x89xa7200xcexcm) and guided into the laser crystal. It is disadvantageous that a large number of complicated optical components must be used which must be mounted and adjusted in three dimensional space with a high accuracy and which require expensive mounting devices for a stable assembly.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an arrangement for aligning the beam paths of respective laser beams of a group of laser diodes on a common spot, especially for pumping a solid state laser.
According to the invention the arrangement for aligning beam paths of respective laser beams from at least two laser diodes on a common spot includes means for providing a bend in each beam path between the laser diode producing the laser beam traveling along that beam path and the common spot, a respective cylindrical lens provided in each beam path between the laser diode and the bend associated with that beam path, a respective focusing lens provided in each beam path between the bend and the common spot associated therewith, means for laterally moving at least one focusing lens, advantageously all of the focusing lenses, for adjustment of the beam path in which the focusing lens or lenses are arranged, so that the beam paths converge on the common spot and a common supporting substrate on which the laser diodes, the cylindrical lenses and the focusing lenses are mounted.
The arrangement according to the invention avoids the disadvantages of the prior art and provides a simple and automatic adjustment and assembly of the laser diodes, especially pumping laser diodes and their associated optical components.
Further advantageous features are set forth in the dependent claims appended hereinbelow and are described in the following detailed description.

Arrangement for aligning the light beam paths of a group of laser diodes on a common spot, especially for providing pumping light for a solid state laser


A cylindrical whole body MRI z gradient coil having multiple windings which are individually wound about a cylindrical support structure such that the windings are evenly distributed in azimuthal angle and interleaved with one another. The windings are preferably spaced in azimuthal angle by 360.degree./N, where N is the number of windings. In such a design, there is no net gradient along any transverse direction and the homogeneity of the gradient field in the transverse direction is thereby improved due to the resultant cancellation in terms proportional to the transverse field gradients. The multiple windings may be selectively connected in series or parallel in accordance with the output impedance and inductance of the current supply.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved cylindrical whole body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) gradient coil for providing a magnetic field having a substantially linear gradient in an axial direction within the volume of the cylinder, and more particularly, to a cylindrical whole body MRI gradient coil having N windings interleavingly wound in the same direction about the surface of the coil support and separated from each other winding of the N windings by an azimuthal angle of approximately 360.degree./N. The resulting MRI gradient coil provides a magnetic field which is not only linear in the axial direction of the coil but also substantially linear in transverse directions of the coil.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An essential component of current magnetic resonance imaging systems is a winding of wire, called a "coil", whose purpose is to create a linear spatial gradient in the magnetic field within the coil. By convention, the coil is described using x, y and z coordinates, with the z axis normally parallel to the axis of the main magnet for systems in which the magnet has cylindrical geometry, such as for whole body imaging. As known to those skilled in the art, two kinds of coils are needed, namely, one which creates a gradient along the z (or longitudinal) axis of the coil, and two others which create gradients along either the x or y (transverse) axes. The present invention is primarily directed to an improved z gradient coil.
As known to those skilled in the art, the desired magnetic field gradients can in principle be created by a suitable pattern of current flowing on the surface of the cylinder of a cylindrical coil. However, if a small number of loops of wire are used to create the field, the resultant gradient suffers from inhomogeneity, meaning that the gradient is not optimally uniform over the desired region of space. Such principles are well known and have been addressed by Schenck in U.S. Pat. No. 4,617,516. In that patent, Schenck discloses a z gradient coil of the type illustrated in FIG. 1. As shown, Schenck's z gradient coil comprises a single wire 12 wrapped around a coil support structure 10 in a helical path such that the spacing between respective turns decreases in proportion to the distance from the center of the coil. In this single wire design, the center of the coil is anomalous because the winding changes its winding direction at center point 14.
As shown in FIG. 1, electrically conductive winding turns 12 are wound on the outer surface of cylindrical support structure 10 so that the axial density of the winding turns 12 is at a minimum at the center of the length of the coil support structure 10 and increases linearly from the center to each axial end of the coil. Winding turns 12 are wound so that they are symmetrically located about the center of coil support structure 10. At the center point 14, the direction of winding turns 12 is reversed so that the winding turns 12 are symmetrically located about the center point 14 of support structure 10. Winding turns 12 are also electrically insulated from each other in order to provide the desired current paths around the outer surface of cylindrical coil support structure 10. Terminal connections 16 are also used to connect the winding turns 12 with a power supply (not shown) which supplies a current to the winding turns 12. Generally, winding turns 12 are made from any electrically conductive material such as copper, while the coil support structure 10 is made from any non-magnetic electrically insulating material having sufficient strength and rigidity to be formed into a cylinder of the size required for a particular application. For example, coil support structure 10 may be comprised of glass fiber material. Further details regarding the single wire design of prior art FIG. 1 can be found in the aforementioned patent to Schenck.
While the single wire design of Schenck has been found to provide a substantially linear gradient in the axial direction within the volume of a cylindrical whole body z gradient coil, the single wire design is limited because of the tradeoffs implicit in choosing the density of the turns. For example, if the density is too low, then near the center of the coil there will be unwanted inhomogeneity of the gradient field. In particular, the field will exhibit an unwanted transverse dependence, becoming stronger as one approaches the side which contains the wire and weaker on the opposite side. This effect can be reduced, but not eliminated, by increasing the winding density so that there are more turns per inch at each point in the coil. However, this approach has the disadvantage that the increased turns increase the resistance and inductance of the coil, which is undesirable because the coil will then require a higher voltage driving circuit to achieve acceptably fast switching of the current pulses as needed for MRI imaging.
Accordingly, an improved z gradient coil is desired which eliminates the unwanted transverse dependence of the single wire z gradient coil without undesirably increasing the inductance and resistance of the coil. The present invention has been designed to meet these needs.

The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania


A power tool handle includes a tapered tubular portion, which contains a battery pack, a motor, and a gear box. The switch for controlling the electricity from the battery pack to the motor is placed over the gear box and extends through the housing.

The present invention pertains to power tools; more particularly, the present invention pertains to hand held power tools such as screwdrivers or nutdrivers.
In recent years the down sizing of motors, gear boxes, and battery packs, has allowed the placement of batteries, motors, and gear boxes in the handles of hand held power tools. One common example is a power screwdriver. Such power screwdrivers have become readily available and great aids to construction workers and repairmen.
While hand held power screwdrivers are convenient, extended use of these power screwdrivers has surfaced some needs to make the power screwdriver more user friendly. The first of these needs is a reduction in the extended length normally found in power screwdrivers. Most power screwdriver manufacturers have found that tool handles must be made long to contain the battery, the motor, and the gear box. This handle length is increased even further by the placement of a switch mechanism between the battery and motor or anywhere along the central axis of the tool to control both the flow of electricity and the rotational direction of the motor. Extended handle length reduces usability of the power screwdriver in small spaces. Additionally, the farther back on the handle the switch is placed, the further back on the handle the tool is held. Unfortunately, such hand position diminishes control of the power tool.
There is a need to shorten the handles of power screwdrivers to overcome the foregoing problems. Such shortening should include placing the "on-off" and directional control switches as far forward as possible so that the operator need not re-position the hand when operating the power screwdriver.
Secondly, most power screwdrivers are generally cylindrical. For single-use, infrequent operation, a cylindrical configuration may be satisfactory. But, for the professional user, the cylindrical shape creates undue muscle strain as the space created in the human hand when an operator curls fingers around a tool is not cylindrical, but conical. There is, therefore, a need to shape the handle of a power screwdriver more like the opening formed in a human hand when it encircles a tool and to provide adequate resistance to torque so the tool does not turn in the hand.
Third, most power screwdrivers have generally smooth or lightly textured surfaces. For low-torque applications, such surfaces may be entirely satisfactory. For high torque applications or applications where the user's grip has been weakened by a disease, such as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, there is a need to enhance the user's ability to grip the power screwdriver handle.
There is, therefore, a need in the art to provide a power tool handle that has a shortened handle with easily accessible operating controls, a shape conforming to the user's hand and a surface which is easy to grip even in high torque situations.


Compression driver with a voice coil 3 which can move in an annular air gap 2 of a magnetic system 1 and with a diaphragm driven by the voice coil 3. The diaphragm 5 and compression chamber 12 are of annular design and compression chamber 12 is connected to a central sound output channel 14 around its perimeter. Owing to its annular design the diaphragm 5 has a large effective surface area and a small mass. The feed power is therefore relatively low, resonant frequency is high and therefore the fidelity of high frequencies is improved. This is particularly the case if the diaphragm is V-shaped, preferably curved towards the acute angle enclosed by it.

The invention relates to a compression driver having a voice coil which can move in an annular air gap of a magnetic system, a diaphragm driven by the voice coil and being part of a compression chamber, with the diaphragm and the compression chamber being of annular design.
Compression drivers of the type concerned are generally known. They particularly serve to reproduce high sounds and have a voice coil which can move in the annular air gap of a magnetic system and drives a diaphragm. With these known compression drivers the diaphragm is dome-shaped and extends between front edges of the voice coil. Opposite the inside of the dome-shaped diaphragm there is, at a distance, a surface of a solid body designed to complement the diaphragm and through which radial channels extend from various parts of the compression chamber to a central sound output channel. Since the channels indicated determine the phase position of the sound arriving in the sound output aperture on account on their length, the solid body with the channels is frequently termed a "phasing plug". Movement of the voice coil and hence also of the diaphragm, is guided by the suspension parts inside and outside the voice coil.
With such known compression drivers the dome-shaped diaphragm must have a high physical strength so that the deformations occurring due to the pressures in the compression chamber remain low. This high physical strength is frequently achieved by using relatively thick metal foils or plastics. However, this increases the mass of the diaphragm so a higher power is required to drive it, which reduces the level of efficiency. This particularly applies to higher frequencies. If, on the other hand, the diaphragm is lighter, which can only be achieved with a smaller thickness or lighter-weight material, it is normally less rigid, so in the reproduction of high frequencies in particular deformations result which cause distortions.
The invention is based on the objective of creating a compression driver of the type concerned which does not have the disadvantages described, i.e. which has a higher level of efficiency, and particularly reproduces higher frequencies better and with less distortion.
The objective upon which the invention is based is achieved by the perimeter of the compression chamber being connected to a central sound output channel.
The basic idea of this teaching is that the diaphragm is no longer positioned in the area between the front edges of the voice coil but only in the area of the front edges of the voice coils, thus giving the diaphragm an annular shape. Therefore all the parts of the diaphragm are as close to the voice coil as possible, and at the same time the active area of the diaphragm close to the coil is large relative to its mass. Owing to the relatively small mass the power required to drive the diaphragm is less. Self-resonance is increased and the reproduction, particularly of high frequencies, is improved. On account of the reduced surface area the risk of partial oscillations occurring in the diaphragm is reduced so distortion will also be reduced. Owing to the reduced mass initial and final transients are also improved.
A further development of the invention is for the diaphragm to have a V-shaped cross-section, whereby the tip of the V is connected to the voice coil. This produces a spatial stiffening of the diaphragm, thus reducing the mass of the diaphragm, also reducing the power required for driving, and improving the characteristic concerning the forming of partial oscillations of the diaphragm and fidelity, particularly at high frequencies.
A useful development of this embodiment of the diaphragm is for the sides of the diaphragm to be curved towards the acute angle enclosed by them. This further improves spatial stiffening.
It is always possible to guide and center the diaphragm by means of suspension parts. Such suspension parts, however, create the risk of partial oscillations forming. A useful development of the invention to avoid this disadvantage is for the edges of the sides of the diaphragm with a V-shaped cross-section to be suspended directly and for at least part of the diaphragm near the suspension to be made of a flexible material. The high dimensional stability of the diaphragm causes movement, of the center part of the diaphragm at any rate, in the area of the voice coil to be so effective that even higher forces can be overcome owing to the direct suspension of the edges of the diaphragm. However, these forces are reduced by the fact that the diaphragm is made of a flexible material, at least in the area of the suspension.
In the case of the diaphragm design with a V-shaped cross-section a useful development of the invention is for a wall of the compression chamber opposite the diaphragm on the side facing away from the voice coil to have a V-shape complementing that of the diaphragm. This produces a compression chamber with a very low volume so compressibility of the air inside it has a less detrimental effect.
With all the aforementioned developments of the invention it is useful to have individual channels of equal length or a rotationally symmetrical channel leading from the compression chamber out of an area opposite the voice coil to a central sound output channel. Since the annular compression chamber is the same distance from the central sound output channel at all points, the same length of individual channels can be realised in a simple manner, whereby a particularly favourable form of connection between the compression chamber and the sound output channel is for the connecting channel to have a rotationally symmetrical design. Due to the rotational symmetry there is around the perimeter a gap between the compression chamber and the sound output channel. Therefore the compression chamber is connected to the sound output channel in the same way at all points so there are no delays and therefore no detrimental effects on sound fidelity.
It is useful for the individual channels connecting the compression chamber to the sound output channel or the rotationally symmetrical channel to open out into the area of a floor of the sack-shaped sound output channel, whereby it is particularly useful for the floor of the sound output channel to be raised, and, in particular, conical. This produces a favorable phase adaptation between the channels and the sound output channel.
If, according to the invention, the voice coil has a V-shaped cross-section, whereby the voice coil acts at the tip of the V, all in all the design is symmetrical with regard to this configuration so when being driven by the voice coil lateral deflections of the diaphragm and also of the voice coil are avoided. To also provide the voice coil with maximum symmetry in relation to the combination of the voice coil and V-shaped diaphragm it is expedient to also make the voice coil symmetrical in the area of its winding. According to a development of the invention this is achieved by giving the voice coil a coil former and positioning the wire of the voice coil partially on the inside and partially on the outside of the coil former. This arrangement has the additional advantage that cooling is improved and dependence on the various amounts of thermal expansion of the materials of which the voice coil is made is reduced.
According to a very expedient development of the invention a partition is provided in a radial direction in front of the diaphragm, in which there are radial slits next to one another around the perimeter. This partition with its slits practically forms an acoustic lens, the purpose of which is to guide the sound from all the parts of the diaphragm up to the outlet of the compression driver and therefore up to the inlet of a connected horn, keeping losses to a minimum. A flat acoustic wave is formed which continues to the inlet of the horn. Also the acoustic lens improves the acoustic transformation between the diaphragm and the air and therefore ensures optimum utilization of the diaphragm. Owing to the large number of radial slits, which form admittance channels for the radiated sound, there is also a minimum of wave losses.
In the chamber or cavity in front of the acoustic lens the individual parts of the sound generated by the diaphragm are summed in phase so flat waves are formed. It is expedient for the diaphragm to have radial slits all around.
According to an expedient development of this embodiment of the invention the width d of the slits conforms to the formula ##EQU1## whereby .lambda. is the wavelength of transmitted sound. The width of the slots can also be smaller than this value. At these values a flat sound wave is propagated. With regard to such a flat sound wave it is easy to ensure in the transmission channel leading to the outlet of the compression driver that the path of any sound emerging from a slit and heading for the outlet of the compression driver is identical so that the individual components of the sound wave converge in phase and losses are only minimal.
A particularly useful development of the invention is for there to be two annular diaphragms and compression chambers opposite one another in the direction of movement of the diaphragms, whereby from the compression chambers, each from an area opposite the voice coil, there are individual channels equally distributed around the perimeter and alternately from one compression chamber and the other compression chamber, leading to a central sound output channel. Consequently, with this embodiment there are two compression chamber systems opposite one another in the direction of movement of the diaphragms and therefore in the axial direction of the system in accordance with the basic teaching of the invention and when fed appropriately they oppose one another. The sound pressure generated by them is then separated by the individual channels coming alternately from one compression chamber and from the other compression chamber and is fed to the central sound output channel. There the sound pressure is added together. This arrangement is particularly advantageous if the two opposite compression chamber systems are fed with different frequencies/frequency bands so that due account can be taken of the requirements made by the different frequencies/frequency bands.
It is expedient if the channels leading away from one compression chamber are the same length as one another and it is also expedient if all the channels leading away from the compression chambers are the same length as one another.
As already mentioned, the sound pressure in the central sound output channel is a merger of the sound pressures of the individual compression chamber systems. Since the sound waves are initially directed by the respective diaphragms in the direction of movement of the diaphragms, i.e. in the axial direction of the system, and the central sound output channel is positioned radially within it, there is bound to be, partially at any rate, a radial arrangement of the channels connecting the individual compression chambers to the central sound output channel. In this area the sound waves are rectified. For this reason it is possible that the channels leading away from the compression chambers in this area, partially at least, form a common rotationally symmetrical channel.


A circular stapling device includes an elongate body having a flexible outer tube that supports a reload assembly, a flexible inner cable that supports an anvil assembly, and a flexible central tube that is supported about the inner cable and within the outer tube. The stapling device is configured to access body cavities which cannot be easily accessed by a circular stapling device having a rigid shaft.

Surgical stapling devices for performing surgical procedures endoscopically are well known and are commonly used to reduce patient trauma and shorten patient recovery times. Typically, an endoscopic stapling device includes a handle assembly, a rigid elongate body that extends distally from the handle assembly, and an end effector including a tool assembly that is supported on a distal portion of the elongate body. The handle assembly is coupled to the end effector by drive mechanisms that extend through the elongate body such that a clinician can control operation of the end effector remotely via the handle assembly.
Surgical stapling devices for endoscopic use are available in a variety of configurations including linear and circular. Circular stapling devices are commonly used to perform end to end anastomoses after resections of the large bowel, i.e., colectomies. In a large percentage of colectomy procedures, the portion of the colon that must be resected is in the ascending colon or the transverse colon which cannot be easily accessed by a circular stapling device having a rigid shaft. As such, these procedures are typically performed during an open colectomy procedure which result in increased patient trauma and recovery time.
A continuing need exists in the medical arts for a stapling device of minimal complexity having a flexible shaft for accessing a surgical site.

Surgical stapling device with flexible shaft


Methods and systems are provided for facilitating large-scale augmented reality in relation to outdoor scenes using estimated camera pose information. In particular, camera pose information for an image can be estimated by matching the image to a rendered ground-truth terrain model with known camera pose information. To match images with such renders, data driven cross-domain feature embedding can be learned using a neural network. Cross-domain feature descriptors can be used for efficient and accurate feature matching between the image and the terrain model renders. This feature matching allows images to be localized in relation to the terrain model, which has known camera pose information. This known camera pose information can then be used to estimate camera pose information in relation to the image.

Augmented reality systems typically rely on information denoting geography of a physical scene in order to facilitate accurate display of virtual content within the physical scene. Oftentimes, tracking camera pose (e.g., position and orientation) is used for accurately rendering the virtual content correctly in relation to the physical scene. This tracking is usually accomplished based on various device sensors, such as, for example, active depth sensors, stereo camera or multiview geometry from monocular video. However, such approaches are limited in operational range due to various constraints (e.g., light falloff for active illumination, stereo baselines, and/or camera parallax for multiview methods).

Large-scale outdoor augmented reality scenes using camera pose based on learned descriptors


An image sensing apparatus is provided with an aperture unit (104), an image sensor (106) that converts light beams entering through a photographing lens (103) and the aperture unit into electrical signals, and a display unit (107), including an electronic viewfinder mode to continuously display on the display unit images based on the electrical signals obtained by the image sensor. The image sensing apparatus has a control unit (135) that causes the aperture unit to stop down, when there is an instruction to display on the display unit an image other than the image based on the electrical signals obtained by the image sensor while in the electronic viewfinder mode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image sensing apparatus and a control method for the image sensing apparatus, and more particularly, to an image sensing apparatus with an electronic viewfinder function.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a single-lens reflex camera that is one type of image sensing apparatus, when observing an object using an optical viewfinder (OVF), light beams exiting from a photographing lens are reflected by a mirror provided on an image plane side of the photographing lens and directed to an optical viewfinder that includes a pentaprism or the like. Such an arrangement enables a photographer to see an image of an object formed by the photographing lens as a normal image. At this time, the mirror is set obliquely in the photographic optical path. To photograph an image of an object from this state, the mirror is momentarily withdrawn from the photographic optical path to allow the light beams from the photographing lens to reach an image sensor. Then, when photography is finished, the mirror is immediately returned to its original position in the photographic optical path.
By contrast, as another method of observing an image of an object there is an electronic viewfinder (EVF), which reads out a reduced resolution image signal of the image of the object from the image sensor and displays the read-out image signal on a display unit such as an LCD mounted on a rear side of the camera, at a high display rate and in real time. In this case, the mirror is withdrawn from the photographic optical path and the shutter is kept open so as to direct light beams exiting from the photographing lens to the image sensor without blocking the light beams (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-33705).
The display unit provided on the rear surface of the camera is usually configured so as to be able to carry out displays suitable for multiple purposes, such as displays of information set in the camera, menus to change the set functional contents, photographed images, and the like. In addition, switching of the display on the display unit is user selectable. When an image other than the image of the object (such as a menu screen) is selected while in the EVF mode for viewing the object with the electronic viewfinder, the display is immediately switched from a screen showing the image of the object to the menu screen.
When the menu screen is displayed in the EVF mode, as described above the camera withdraws the mirror from the photographic optical path and keeps the shutter open so that the light beams exiting from the photographing lens can be directed to the image sensor without being blocked. However, because the menu screen is being displayed, the user cannot see the image of the object that is entering the image sensor. As a result, for example, if the photographing lens is inadvertently pointed toward the sun, sunlight is then focused on the image sensor, possibly causing a portion of the image sensor to heat up and burn out.
If the mirror is moved every time there is a switch to the menu screen, the sound of the mirror moving, and especially the sound of impact as the mirror descends into place, not only is noisy but can also mislead the user into thinking that the shutter release button has been pressed. In addition, when returning from display of the menu screen to the EVF display screen to once again display an image of the object, because the mirror has to be driven it takes longer to return to the screen showing the image of the object, which is inconvenient.

Image sensing apparatus and control method