The single-cylinder circular knitting machine has a vertically arranged needle cylinder with a skirt defining a plurality of axial grooves. Each groove slidingly accommodates a needle. A platen is arranged coaxially above the needle cylinder, and a plurality of radial grooves is defined therein. Each one of the radial grooves accommodates a hook which is movable by the action of actuation cams which can be engaged, during rotation of the platen about its axis, with a heel of the hooks, from a position in which the hooks are retracted in the platen to an extraction position, and vice versa. The machine is provided with a hook locking device which is arranged proximate to the platen and is controllably engageable with the hooks to keep them in the retracted position in the platen.

The present invention relates to a single-cylinder circular knitting machine for manufacturing socks and stockings and in particular to a machine with high safety against the accidental escape of the hooks from the platen.
As is known, single-cylinder circular knitting machines generally comprise a needle cylinder which is arranged vertically and on whose skirt a plurality of axial grooves is defined; each one of said grooves slidingly accommodates a needle.
Needle actuation cams are arranged around the needle cylinder and define paths within which a heel of the needles, which protrudes radially from the related groove, engages. The shape of said paths is such as to give, during the rotation of the needle cylinder about its axis with respect to the needle actuation cams, a reciprocating movement to the needles along the related groove. By means of this reciprocating movement, the needles form knitting by cyclically picking up a thread provided at a feed of the machine and forming new loops linked to the previously formed loops of knitting.
Above the needle cylinder there is usually a platen which is arranged coaxially to the needle cylinder and has a plurality of radial grooves, each accommodating a hook.
Each hook is provided with one or more heels which protrude upward from the radial grooves and engage paths defined by cams for the actuation of the hooks which face the platen in an upward position. The actuation of the platen with a rotary motion about its axis, together with the needle cylinder, causes the various hooks to follow these paths, which are shaped so as to move the hooks from a retracted position in the platen to an extraction position in which the hooks protrude radially with their tip from the platen.
The radial grooves of the platen are offset with respect to the axial grooves of the needle cylinder so that each hook can protrude from the platen between two contiguous needles.
The use of the hooks during the operation of these machines is limited to a particular process. In the production of stockings, the use of the hooks is usually limited to the initial step of the process, i.e. during the forming of the upper edge of the stocking, when the hooks are extracted from the platen to form a tubular border in cooperation with the needles. During the forming of the remaining part of the stocking, the hooks generally remain unused and are kept in the platen in a retracted position.
In order to avoid complicating the profile of the hook actuation cams excessively, said cams are limited to a cam which causes the extraction of the hooks and to a cam which causes their retraction, said cams being mutually angularly spaced with respect to the axis of the platen.
For this reason, when the extraction of the hooks is not required, said hooks could protrude accidentally from the platen due to the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the platen together with the needle cylinder. In order to avoid this unwanted movement, which would cause unwanted alterations in the process in progress, the stem of the hooks is appropriately bent laterally in one or more points of its extension so that by resting against the lateral walls of the related radial groove, it withstands by friction the centrifugal force to which it is subjected.
This solution, which has long been adopted in the field of single-cylinder circular knitting machine for manufacturing socks and stockings, has some problems particularly in modern machines, which can reach high speed rotation.
In fact, in order to overcome the high centrifugal forces which act on the hooks it is necessary to obtain an increasingly higher friction between the hooks and the radial grooves of the platen. This friction force, whose effect is desirable when the hooks must not be used, becomes disadvantageous when the hooks must be actuated in one direction or the other along the radial grooves. In this occasion the friction force in fact opposes the action of the cams, and the higher the friction force, the higher the force exchanged between the heels of the hooks and the hook actuation cams. Since the wear of the heels is directly correlated to said force, there is a rapid wear of the heels of the hooks, particularly in machines operating at high speed, which necessitates frequent maintenance interventions in order to replace the hooks.
Furthermore, the friction force which acts on the hooks generates a negative torque on the platen which compels one to oversize the rotational connection between the needle cylinder and the platen in order to avoid accidental displacements between the platen and the needle cylinder, which are particularly dangerous during the extraction of the hooks, since they would cause the breakage or damage of the needles and hooks.
The friction force, which is intentionally increased by bending the hooks or with equivalent contrivances, has so far necessitated the adoption of high-strength mechanical connections between the needle cylinder and the platen and has discouraged the adoption of other types of connection.

Single-cylinder circular knitting machine for manufacturing socks and stockings or the like


A flower trimmer including a handle and a head connected thereto on which a blade with a cutting edge is disposed so that an end area of a flower stem brought against the cutting edge can be trimmed or cut off by a tensile force introduced at the handle. The head comprises an opening at the front end thereof through which opening the flower stem is inserted into the head substantially in the axial direction and directed past the blade. In the head, a cavity is provided next to the opening, the cavity being traversed by the blade.

A flower trimmer is known from DE 31 40 280 A1, which is designed as a hand-held device having a handle and a head with a blade to which the stem of a flower can be brought for cutting. The blade, or the cutting edge thereof, is disposed at an angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the handle, and a lateral slit is present between the blade and the handle, making it possible to introduce a flower stem into the slit from the side and to bring it up to the blade. By way of pulling, or introducing a tensile force at the handle in the direction away from the flower, an end area of the flower stem can be trimmed or cut. However, in the process, the flower stem can deviate laterally, resulting in an incomplete cut or unintended damage to the flower stem. Also it is quite difficult to trim or cut flowers that are already bound into a bouquet, and it can take a considerable amount of time to do so.
This is the basis for the object of the invention, which is to improve flower trimmers of the above type with little design effort so that trimming and/or cutting of flower stems can be done easily with ease of handling. Moreover, the ergonomics of bringing the flower stem to the blade and of cutting are to be improved upon.


In order to prevent interruption of processing at the time when the format of data changes during transmission of streaming data over an IEEE 1394 or other network, when streaming data output from first equipment is caused to be received by second equipment via a prescribed network, when the streaming data output from the first equipment changes from content A in a first format to content B in a second format, after the end of output of content B invalid data in the same format as content B is output, and during output of this invalid data the first equipment investigates the state of the second equipment (steps S11 to S14); when it is detected that preparations for input of streaming data in the second format are completed, output of content B in the second format is begun.

Audio and video equipment is being developed which is capable of bidirectional transmission of information via networks using an IEEE 1394 serial data bus. When transmitting data over such a bus, an isochronous transfer mode, used for realtime transmission of comparatively large quantities of video data, audio data and similar, and an asynchronous transfer mode, used for reliable transmission of still images, text data, control commands and similar, are provided, and dedicated frequency bands are used for each of these modes in transmission.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of connections using such an IEEE 1394 bus; source equipment a, which is equipment sending data, input equipment (sink equipment) b, which is equipment receiving data sent from the source equipment a, and a controller c which controls data transmission between the equipment a and b, are connected by an IEEE 1394 bus d. At this time, when for example audio data is to be transmitted between the equipment a and b under control of the controller c, the controller c secures an isochronous transfer channel on the bus d, and after establishing a connection between the equipment a and b to enable transmission over this channel, causes transmission from the source equipment a to the input equipment b to be initiated. The source equipment a or the input equipment b may also serve as the controller.
When transmitting data between the source equipment a and input equipment b in this way, a transmission method, in which control commands in what is called an "AV/C command transaction set" are used, is applied to, for example, audio and video equipment. The details of the AV/C command set are described in the "AV/C Digital Interface Command Set General Specification," published by the 1394 Trade Association.
When transmitting audio data or other streaming data from source equipment to input equipment, processing must be performed by the input equipment according to the type of streaming data transmitted. Hence when there are changes in the format or other parameters of the streaming data during transmission, this must be detected by the input data, and switching processing must be performed to change the processing state.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing one example in which the data format changes during transmission of streaming data via a bus line. Suppose for example that the source equipment a is a disc reproduction apparatus, and that audio data (streaming data) comprising content A and content B is recorded on the disc from which data is being reproduced by the disc reproduction apparatus. Suppose that content A and content B are content recorded as audio data for output as streaming data in different formats. Further, suppose that the input equipment b processes the input audio data for output, and is provided with the functions of an amplifier to output the data to a connected speaker or similar. In such a configuration, streaming data reproduced by the source equipment a from the disc is transmitted to the input equipment b via the bus line.
Suppose that in such transmission, reproduction of content A ends at time ta, and processing proceeds to reproduction of content B. At this time, the input equipment b must change the settings of internal circuitry and similar from the processing state for processing of content A to the processing state for processing of content B, and so the audio of content B is output from the speaker at the time tb at which these preparations are completed.
Hence during the interval from time ta, at which the format changes, until time tb, the audio of content B is not output, and so the problem of loss of the beginning of the content occurs.
Such problems are particularly prominent when what is called rate control (flow control) processing is executed between the source equipment and the input equipment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state in which rate control is performed. This rate control is flow control processing to adjust the rate at which streaming data is output from the source equipment a, in keeping with the rate of processing of the streaming data by the input equipment b. In this example, the input equipment b comprises a buffer memory m which temporarily accumulates transmitted streaming data; the input equipment b sends rate control data to the source equipment a such that the amount of data accumulated in this memory m is substantially constant, and the source equipment a controls the output rate based on this rate control data when sending streaming data to the input equipment b.
In this case, when the format of the input data changes, if the buffer memory m does not output all the data accumulated in the memory to temporarily empty the buffer, data in another format cannot be accumulated. For this reason, when there is a change in format from content A to content B as shown in the above-mentioned FIG. 2, data accumulated in the memory m at time ta at which the format of the transmitted data changes must all be output before the content B can be input. Hence when control such as rate control is being executed, there is the problem that a comparatively long time is necessary before the changed format can be accommodated (that is, the time interval from time ta to time tb in FIG. 3).
The explanation thus far has described problems for the case of transmission of streaming data over a network connected by an IEEE 1394 bus line; but when transmitting streaming data over other networks, similar problems occur if the format of the streaming data changes.

Communication method for transmitting streaming data


A formed pipe end-section of a pipeline for connecting the pipeline at an end includes: an annular bead with a first abutment face facing away from the end of the pipeline and a second abutment face facing towards the end of the pipeline; a chamfer reducing a diameter of the pipe end-section from the annular bead towards the end of the pipeline; and a radial recess for accommodating a sealing ring. The chamfer extends at least between the annular bead and the radial recess.

Pipeline connections are supposed to become possible with such formed pipe end-section of the pipeline. The pipeline, particularly a metallic one, is supposed to be connected to a connecting adapter that has an accommodating opening for the pipeline. The pipeline comprises the formed pipe end-section adjacent to its end. A coupling nut attached to the formed pipe end-section is screwed onto the connecting adapter to ensure that the adapter is drawn towards the pipe end-section and is held tightly there in screwed-on form.
Such a concept is known, for example, from British Standard BS5200, which refers to 60° cone fittings, which typically serve as connection adapters on hydraulic systems. The connection is sealed by metal-to-metal line contact between the conical surface of the internal seal and a corresponding surface on the mating component. It is a drawback, however, that forming the adapter counterpart geometry of the pipe end-section out of a steel pipeline end, in regard of the BS5200 dimensions, requires more steel material than the suitable pipeline sizes are offering. An example of the state of the art is shown in FIG. 1. Each connecting size is directly related to a certain tube size. The respective relations are described in the related standards. It is therefore defined, which tube size shall get applied for which connecting end. For example, a 10 mm tube must be used to create the geometry of the formed pipe end-section according to BS5200. The problem is, however, that this 10 mm tube is offering too less material to achieve the BS5200 geometry and the related sealing function on the 60° cone. Additionally, the material flow during the forming process is reducing the material properties such as, for example, tensile strength and pressure resistance.

Formed pipe end-section of a pipeline and pipe screw-connection

DANFOSS POWER SOLUTIONS II TECHNOLOGY A/S


Aqueous acidic ready-to-use aqueous cleaning and disinfectant compositions include hydrogen peroxide as an active disinfecting constituent further include a C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 monohydric alcohol, a glycol ether or butoxypropanol or, propoxypropanol, a nonionic surfactant, and citric acid. Methods of cleaning and disinfecting surfaces are also disclosed.

Known to the art are various ready to use cleaning and disinfecting compositions which include as germicidal active constituents one or more component such as alcohols, phenolic containing materials, quaternary ammonium compounds as well as acids. However, many such known prior art compositions also frequently induce ocular and/or dermal irritation and this hampers their acceptance and use.
Known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,556 are certain specific aqueous compositions which include significant levels of hydrogen peroxide as a disinfecting active constituent, an ammoniated constituent and an alcohol constituent for providing a primary cleaning benefit to a carpet surface.
The current state of the art indicates the need for improved disinfecting compositions, particularly in a ready to use form, which may be classed as broad spectrum disinfecting compositions, but preferably may be classed as hospital strength disinfecting compositions. The current state of the art also indicates the need for improved methods for the disinfection, and preferably the combined disinfection and cleaning of hard surfaces. It is to these needs, as well as others, that the present invention is directed.

Ready to use aqueous hard surface cleaning and disinfecting compositions containing hydrogen peroxide


The present invention relates to a bladder tumor-targeting peptide and use thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to a bladder tumor-targeting peptide having an amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 7 and use thereof. The peptide according to the present invention is capable of specific binding to bladder tumor cells in vivo and in vitro. The peptide according to the present invention or an antibody thereof is useful for a marker for the diagnosis of bladder tumors, and for a drug carrier targeting bladder tumor.

The bladder is an internal organ located in the pelvis, and serves as a kind of pouch, in which urine is stored temporarily after it is made in the kidney and then transported via the pelvis of the kidney and the ureter. If the bladder expands due to the urine stored therein, one feels a need to urinate and then passes urine. Upon passing urine, muscles of the bladder shrink to discharge urine completely. The surface of the bladder is covered with an epithelium referred to as the transitional epithelium, and is characterized by showing excellent elasticity. The bladder tumor occurs during the conversion of the transitional epithelium into a tumor. Most bladder tumors (90% or more) are transitional epithelial cell carcinomas. In Korea, bladder tumors are the most frequent among cancers occurring in the urinogenital organs. The incidence of bladder cancer is 7.76 per 100,000 for man and 1.19 per 100,000 for woman. In Korea, bladder tumors are the fourth occurring cancer in man. Actually, about 70% of bladder tumors are superficial, 20% thereof are invasive only to the bladder, and 10% thereof are metastatic. About 70% of superficial bladder tumors are recurred, wherein most of recurred bladder tumors are superficial, and 10-15% thereof proceeds into invasive or metastatic bladder tumors. About 30% of superficial bladder tumors are not recurred and have no problem in convalescence. However, 10-15% of superficial bladder tumors occasionally proceed into invasive or metastatic tumors despite of various therapies.
Heretofore, diagnosis of a bladder tumor has been performed by cytology of bladder, which comprises staining cells separated from urine via a Pap (Papanicolau) staining method and observing the shape of each cell with a microscope to screen a tumor cell, and by endoscopy of bladder, which comprises screening a tumor directly inside bladder through an endoscope. The cytology has an advantage of a correct diagnosis of a tumor cell, once the tumor cell is found, while having disadvantages of a great possibility of failing to notice tumor cells and time-consuming. On the other hand, the endoscopy of bladder has a disadvantage of putting subject into inconvenience while inserting an endoscope into the bladder through urethra. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a novel diagnosis method that solves the aforementioned problems occurring in the prior art, and a diagnosis system that can be used for the same diagnosis method.
Meanwhile, drug delivery systems or targeting therapies, by which drugs are delivered selectively to tumors, are interested. This is because drug delivery systems or the targeting therapies can provide an increased drug efficacy under the same amount of an anti-tumor agent, and significantly reduced side effects adversely affecting normal tissue. Additionally, when such systems or therapies are applied to gene therapy, it is possible to increase the efficiency of treatment and to reduce serious side effects by virtue of the selective delivery of virus to tumor cells. For this, many attempts have been made to develop an antigen specific to a tumor cell and an antibody for targeting the antigen. However, such antibody has problems of possibility of immune responses and a low tissue-infiltration efficiency. On the other hand, peptides have a low molecular weight, and thus having low possibility of immune responses and high tissue-infiltration efficiency. Therefore, the combination of a tumor-targeting peptide with a conventional anti-tumor agent can provide an intelligent drug carrier capable of selective drug delivery to a tumor. Under these circumstances, there has been a continuous need to develop a novel tumor-targeting peptide.

Bladder tumor-targeting peptide and use thereof

Kyungpook National University Industry-Academica Cooperation Foundation


In a catadioptric optical system, the first focusing lens system A includes a concave mirror Mc, and it forms an intermediate image of the first plane R. The second focusing lens system B includes an aperture stop AS, and it forms a refocused image of the intermediate image on the second plane W. A reflecting surface M.sub.P1 is placed so that the light flux leaving the first focusing lens system A is guided to the second focusing lens system B. There are one or more lens surfaces that satisfy the condition EQU h/.phi.<0.85 (1). and one or more lens surfaces that satisfy the condition EQU 0.85<h/.phi.<1.2 (2). where h is the height at each lens surface of the light beam that is assumed to be emitted from the intersection of the optical axis of the first plane and passes through the lens surfaces with the maximum numerical aperture, and .phi. is the radius of the diaphragm of the aperture stop. At least one of the lens surfaces that satisfy condition (1) and at least one of the lens surfaces that satisfy condition (2) are aspheric. The first aspheric element is placed near the intermediate image, while the second aspheric element is placed near the concave mirror or the aperture stop. The concave mirror itself may be formed as a second aspheric element.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to an optical system for a reducible exposure apparatus, such as a stepper, used for manufacturing semiconductor devices, and more particularly, to a scanning type catadioptric reducible optical system having a magnification of 1/4 to 1/5 and a high resolution in the ultraviolet frequency band.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, semiconductor circuit patterns have become more and more minute, and a demand has arisen for a high-resolution exposure apparatus that is capable of printing such minute patterns.
In order to realize a high-resolution exposure apparatus, the wavelength of the light source must be shortened and, at the same time, the numerical aperture (NA) of the optical system must be increased. However, if the wavelength is shortened, the types of optical glass that can be practically used in the exposure apparatus are very limited because of light absorption. In fact, with a wavelength of 300 nm or less, only synthetic quartz and fluorite can be practically used.
Unfortunately, however, the Abbe constants of the synthetic quartz and fluorite are too close to each other to sufficiently compensate for the chromatic aberration in the system. For this reason, if the wavelength of the light source is shortened to 300 nm or less, it becomes difficult for the projection-optical system that comprises only a refracting optical system to satisfactorily correct the chromatic aberration. In addition, the refractivity of fluorite easily changes in response to a temperature change because of its inferior temperature characteristic. Fluorite also has several problems in the lens grinding process. Thus, it is not easy to achieve a high-resolution exposure apparatus only with a refracting optical system.
On the other hand, many attempts have been made to design the projection-optical system using only a reflecting optical system. In this case, the projection-optical system becomes large in size, and the reflecting surfaces must be made aspheric. It is difficult to form an aspheric surface at a high precision.
In view of these drawbacks, it was proposed to combine a reflecting system and a refracting system made of an optical glass durable to the designated wavelength. Also, many techniques for constructing a reducible projection-optical system using a reflecting/refracting, or catadioptric, optical system have been proposed. Among them, many systems form two or more intermediate images in their optical system. Meanwhile, techniques for forming only one intermediate image in the optical system are disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-25170, the Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Nos. 63-163319 and 4-234722, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,966.
In particular, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 4-234722 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,966 disclose optical systems that use only one concave mirror. The concave mirror is used in the double path lens system which comprises only concave lenses, without using convex power lenses. In this structure, the light flux is apt to diverge when it strikes the concave mirror and, therefore, the diameter of the concave mirror inevitably increases.
The double path lens system disclosed in Japanese Application 4-234722 is perfectly symmetric for the purpose of preventing aberrations as much as possible in this lens system, and of reducing the burden of aberration correction on the subsequent optical system. However, it is difficult for the symmetric optical system to obtain an adequate working distance near the first plane and, therefore, a half prism must be used.
The optical system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,966 uses a mirror in the secondary focusing optical system positioned behind the intermediate image. In this arrangement, the light flux can not be narrowed because adequate brightness must be required for the optical system, and the divergent light flux strikes the concave mirror surface. For this reason, it is difficult to make the mirror smaller.
If a plurality of mirrors is used, the number of lenses in the refracting optical system can be reduced. However, this type of system has other potential problems.
One problem is that if this type of catadioptric optical system is used as an objective lens, there is no effective diaphragm position in this catadioptric optical system. That is, recent phase-shift techniques allow the phase of a selected area on the mask to be shifted in order to improve the resolution, while achieving a sufficient amount of focal depth. For further improvement of the resolution, the NA ratio .sigma. of the illumination-optical system to the focusing-optical system is made variable by providing aperture stops in both systems. However, in the above-mentioned multiple-mirror system, an aperture stop can be positioned only in the illumination-optical system, and there is no place for a diaphragm in the catadioptric optical system which serves as the objective lens of the apparatus.
If a multiple-mirror type double path lens system is positioned near the second plane on the reduction side (i.e., on the wafer side) in the catadioptric optical system, the distance from the reflecting mirror to the wafer becomes insufficient because of the magnification of less than 1. To avoid this, the number of lenses used in the objective lens must be reduced, which causes the optical system to darken. Even if a high NA is achieved, many lens components must be inserted in a limited path and, as a result, the working distance (WD) between the last lens surface of the objective lens and the wafer becomes insufficient.
Another problem in the conventional catadioptric optical system is that the optical axis must be decentered in the middle of the optical path using a decentering lens system, and that precise adjustment of the degree of decentering is very difficult.
The assignee of the present invention proposed a double-focusing optical system with first and second focusing lens systems in a different publication. In this system, the first focusing lens system has a double path lens system comprising a concave mirror and a lens group through which both the incident light to and exit light from the concave mirror pass. The first focusing lens system forms an intermediate image of the first plane (the mask plane), and the second focusing lens system forms that intermediate image on the second plane. A reflecting surface is provided so as to guide the light flux from the first focusing lens system onto the second focusing lens system.
This double-focusing optical system can reduce the diameter of the concave mirror, and has a variable NA ratio .sigma. of the illumination-optical system to the projection-optical system with effective diaphragm positions in both systems. The entire optical system is adequately bright, while the working distance (WD) between the wafer and the end face of the object lens is sufficiently long. In addition, the adjustment of the decentering part in the decentering lens system is simplified, and a highly precise optical system is achieved.
Notwithstanding the advantages, this optical system is likely to become large if still higher image quality is demanded. This optical system does not have a symmetric structure and, accordingly, distortion is likely to arise. Especially, higher order distortion can not be corrected only by adjusting the curvature of the refractive lens or the lens space, and the entire system must be enlarged in order to satisfactorily compensate for the distortion.


A coating is provided for enhancing low temperature heat sealability and providing high hot tack to polymeric substrates. The coating is water-based and includes a dispersion of a copolymer of ethylene and acrylic or methacrylic acid, and a compatible adhesion enhancer which is an aliphatic polyurethane emulsion. The coating may also include additives such as wetting agents, matting agents, antiblocking agents, and tackifying resins. The coating may be applied to a variety of polymeric substrates and may be heat sealed to itself, or to polymeric substrates, cellulosic substrates, and metal substrates.

This invention relates to a coating for use on polymeric substrates, and more particularly, to a coating which provides low temperature heat sealability and high hot tack to such polymeric substrates.
In the packaging industry, heat-sealable films are often employed which can be sealed to themselves. For example, polymeric films such as biaxially oriented polypropylene are often used in packaging candy bars and other foods by the application of heat and pressure, which seals the film to itself or to another substrate. However, as such films generally exhibit poor heat sealing characteristics, a coating is typically applied to the film which allows the film to be sealed over a relatively wide temperature range and which adheres securely to the film surface. Heat sealable coatings are known in the art which are comprised of copolymers of ethylene and acrylic acid, vinyl acetate, or vinyl alcohol. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,419,960 and 6,447,899.
However, heat seal coatings which are currently in use typically require sealing temperatures of at least about 90° C. Further, such coatings often do not provide satisfactory hot tack properties to the film, i.e., the strength of the heat seal provided when the coating is heated to a temperature at or above the melting point of the polymer coating.
In addition, many of the coatings currently do not adhere well to the packaging film surface and require the use of a primer to aid in enhancing adhesion of the heat sealable coating to the film surface.
Accordingly, there is still a need in the art for a coating for use on polymeric substrates which provides low temperature heat sealability as well as high hot tack, and which adheres well to the substrate surface without the need for the application of additional precoatings and primers.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Coating for enhancing low temperature heat sealability and high hot tack to polymeric substrates


According to one embodiment, a semiconductor storage device includes a nonvolatile semiconductor memory, a temporary storage buffer that temporarily stores writing data to be written to the nonvolatile semiconductor memory, and a coding processing unit that divides coding target data of an error correction code into two or more divided data and writes an error correction code obtained by performing an error correction coding process based on the divided data stored in the temporary storage buffer to the temporary storage buffer as an intermediate code.

In a semiconductor storage device that stores information using a nonvolatile semiconductor memory, an error is likely to occur in data due to aging. Thus, in such a semiconductor storage device, an error correction coding process is performed so that an error can be corrected even when a data error occurs.

Semiconductor storage device and method of controlling the same


The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for an electrotherapeutic system including a first and second electrode. Each electrode includes a respective resistance wherein during operation of the electrotherapeutic system, an electrochemical reaction involving one or both of the electrodes varies the respective resistance of at least one of the electrodes.

Because medical equipment contributes significantly to healthcare costs, there is a need for simpler and less costly equipment. The design of earlier drug delivery equipment has several drawbacks. Some notable drawbacks of prior designs are costly and complex equipment manufacturability.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a known non-integrated iontophoretic drug delivery system. An electronic controller typically utilizes a microcomputer to control and regulate a drug dose (measured in milliAmp-minutes (mA-min)) to an individual/patient. The electronic controller controls and regulates an electrical current and may utilize LEDs, LCDs, and audio annunciators for user feedback. A pair of electrodes is operably connected to the electronic controller via cable leads. The electronic controller utilizes a current regulator to provide a regulated current for a regulated period as required to provide a regulated dose. The current regulator also limits the current to protect the user/patient. When a finite charge is achieved, e.g., 80 mA-min+/−5%, the current regulator is zeroed and the treatment is completed. At completion, the user turns off the controller and removes the single-use disposable electrodes.
A power source, e.g., 9.0 V alkaline battery, is operably connected to the electronic controller. The controller is typically designed to last for several years and incorporate a power source that is capable of providing power for approximately 40 to 60 treatments before needing to be replaced.
The present invention is provided to address these and other considerations.

Method and apparatus for electrotherapy drug delivery


A method and apparatus for performing a handover during a device-to-device communication in a wireless access system are disclosed. More particularly, the method comprises: a first device sensing a handover state by considering a link quality with a second device while performing device-to-device communication with the second device; the first device measuring channel quality with respect to neighboring devices by using a reference signal that is transmitted from the neighboring devices; the first device transmitting a handover request message to a relay device in order to start handover the relay device selected from the neighboring devices based on measuring channel quality; the first device receiving from the relay device a handover completion message indicating the completion of resource allocation; and the first device performing the device-to-device communication with the second device by using a resource that is allocated by the relay device.

In cellular communication, a user equipment (UE) which exists in a cell accesses a base station in order to perform communication, receives control information for transmitting and receiving data to and from the base station, and transmits and receives the data to and from the base station. That is, since the UE transmits and receive data via the base station, the UE transmits data to the base station in order to transmit data to another cellular UE and the base station, which has received the data, transmits the received data to the cellular UE. Since the UE transmits data to another UE via the base station, the base station performs scheduling of a channel and resources for data transmission and reception and transmits channel and resource scheduling information to the UE. In order to perform communication between UEs via the base station, the base station needs to allocate a channel and resources for data transmission and reception. However, device-to-device (D2D) enables a UE to directly transmit and receive a signal to and from another UE without via a base station or a relay.

Method for performing handover during device-to-device communication in wireless access system and device for same


An imaging device includes an imaging element, and an image capturing optical system configured to generate an image of an object on the imaging element. The image capturing optical system has a gradient decreasing region in which a change of a gradient of an image magnification rate with respect to an angle of view of the image generated on the imaging element decreases as a concerned position deviates farther away from an optical axis of the image capturing optical system, and a gradient increasing region in which the change of the gradient of the image magnification rate with respect to the angle of view of the image generated on the imaging element increases as the concerned position deviates farther away from the optical axis of the image capturing optical system.

Stereo monitoring apparatuses using a stereo camera employing a pair of cameras, such as vehicle-mounted cameras, have been applied to various fields to calculate distance to an object using three-dimensional measurement techniques. The three-dimensional measurement techniques can be performed using the stereo imaging method, in which a pixel block in an image of the object captured by one camera and a corresponding pixel block in an image of the object captured by another camera are identified, and then distance data of the object is calculated using the principle of triangulation based on a disparity of the captured two images, which is a relative displacement amount of the captured two images. The distance to the object can be measured using the calculated distance data, and then the measured distance can be used to assist the vehicle driving such as vehicle-to-vehicle distance control. Further, in addition to information on the front side of one vehicle, a demand for wider field of view (vision) for detecting other vehicles coming from the side of the one vehicle and for detecting pedestrian at an intersection on roads have been increasing.
JP-2012-198077-A discloses a stereo camera apparatus that generates disparity images. The stereo camera apparatus includes two image capturing units, two optical systems, a first image generation unit, a second image generation unit, a first disparity image generation unit, a second disparity image generation unit, and an image synthesizing unit. As to the two image capturing units, optical axes of the two image capturing units are arranged in parallel. The two optical systems project image data captured by the two image capturing units as equidistant projection images.
The first image generation unit generates, from the two equidistant projection images, first modified image data and second modified image data, where the epipolar line becomes a straight line.
The second image generation unit generates, from a given region of the two equidistant projection images, third modified image data and fourth modified image data, in which the image magnification rate of the third modified image data and the fourth modified image data is larger than the image magnification rate of the first modified image data and the second modified image data, and the epipolar line becomes a straight line.
The first disparity image generation unit compares the first modified image data and the second modified image data to generate a first disparity image, in which disparity information is set on each pixel.
The second disparity image generation unit compares the third modified image data and the fourth modified image data to generate a second disparity image, in which disparity information is set on each pixel.
The image synthesizing unit replaces pixel values of the pixels of the first disparity image, determined by the image magnification rate of the first modified image data or the second modified image data and the image magnification rate of the third modified image data or the fourth modified image data, with pixel values of the pixels of the second disparity image.

Imaging device, image capturing optical system, and movable apparatus


A hand portable device such as a mobile telephone 10 includes an engine assembly 12 and a cover 14, 16 for encasing the engine assembly. The device 10 further includes a closing arrangement 44, 45, 46, 50 alterable between a first condition in which it retains the cover 14, 16 on the engine assembly 12 and a second condition in which it allows at least a part 14 of the cover to be removed from the engine assembly 12, the closing arrangement including a polymer actuator 50, the configuration of which may be altered to alter the condition of the closing arrangement.

A mobile telephone includes an engine assembly, which includes the telephone's circuitry, and a cover which encases the engine assembly, the cover conventionally being made of a rigid plastics material. The cover is assembled around the engine assembly when the telephone is first manufactured and disassembled from the engine assembly when the telephone is disposed of. In addition, there has recently been a trend in the mobile telephone industry of giving users the ability to alter the appearance of their telephones, in particular by changing the covers. It is therefore desirable that a mobile telephone cover can be assembled and disassembled by a user.
Other hand-portable devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), also include an engine assembly including the device's circuitry, and a cover encasing the engine assembly.
It is known to provide mobile telephones with removable covers consisting of upper and lower parts which are maintained in place around the engine assembly by mechanical connections to each other and/or to the engine assembly. Such mechanical connections can be relatively complex to manufacture and to assemble/disassemble.

Hand-portable devices and covers for hand-portable devices


Provided is a liquid ejecting apparatus which includes a plurality of liquid receiving portions in which the same kinds of liquid are received, a switching unit which switches the liquid receiving portion that supplies the liquid to a liquid ejecting head, and a controller which performs a maintenance process including discharging the liquid through the liquid ejecting head, in which, when a liquid residual amount of the liquid receiving portion that supplies the liquid to the ejecting head, which is calculated by a residual amount estimation portion, is less than a determination value, the controller performs the maintenance process in a state where the liquid receiving portion to supply the liquid to the liquid ejecting head is selected among the plurality of liquid receiving portions and the liquid is supplied from the selected liquid receiving portion to the liquid ejecting head.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus, such as an ink jet type printer.
2. Related Art
An ink jet type printer which can estimate a residual amount of ink (liquid) in an ink cartridge as an example of a liquid receiving portion has been known as one type of a liquid ejecting apparatus (for example, see JP-A-9-169118).
In the ink jet type printer described above, ink consumption amounts which are obtained based on, for example, amounts of the ink ejected through a liquid ejecting head during a printing operation (a liquid ejection operation) performed on a paper sheet as an example of a printing target are integrated. In a case where an ink receiving amount of the ink cartridge, in a state where the ink cartridge is fully filled with ink, is set to an ink total amount, when an ink residual amount estimation value, which is a difference obtained by subtracting the ink consumption amounts from the ink total amount is calculated, if this ink residual amount estimation value is less than a predetermined ink-empty determination value, it is determined that the ink cartridge is in a so-called ink empty state, that is, a state where a very small amount of ink remains in the ink cartridge.
However, in the ink jet type printer described above, a maintenance process, such as a cleaning operation in which the thickened ink is forcibly discharged, along with, for example, air bubbles, through nozzles formed on the liquid ejecting head, is performed. Even in the maintenance process described above, the ink in the ink cartridge is consumed. Therefore, when the ink residual amount estimation value is smaller than a determination value which is set in accordance with the ink consumption amounts by which the ink can be consumed in the maintenance process, the maintenance process is prevented from being performed because there is a possibility that the ink in the ink cartridge may be exhausted during the maintenance process.
Both an actual amount of the ink ejected through the nozzles of the liquid ejecting head during a printing operation and an actual amount of the ink discharged through the liquid ejecting head during the maintenance process vary in accordance with individual differences caused during manufacturing, by usage environment, or the like. Therefore, the ink consumption amount calculated by internal processing of the ink jet type printer is generally set to a value which is set in the assumption that an individual difference and usage environment are in a condition where the actual ink consumption amount is the maximum.
Accordingly, in some cases, the ink residual amount estimation value which is obtained based on the ink consumption amount calculated by internal processing is smaller than the actual ink residual amount of the ink cartridge. In this case, when the ink residual amount estimation value is less than the determination value described above, it is estimated that the ink residual amount is small, though the amount of the ink remaining in the ink cartridge is actually adequate for performing the maintenance process. As a result, the maintenance process is prevented from being performed.
This problem is not limited to an ink jet type printer but is generally common to a liquid ejecting apparatus capable of ejecting liquid supplied from a liquid receiving portion in which the liquid is received.


A sports bra configured to be worn by a human female includes a body fabric and a wear indicator. The wear indicator is configured to change colors when the useful life of the sports bra has expired and the sports bra should be replaced with a new sports bra. The wear indicator may be provided on any of various components of the sports bra, such as a color band, trim feature, tag, or other sports bra component.

Athletic gear is commonly worn by individuals participating in athletic activities. For example, female athletes typically wear athletic shoes and a sports bra during an athletic activity. Sports bras are sturdier than typical bras, minimize breast movement, alleviate discomfort, and reduce potential damage to chest ligaments that may occur during physical exercise.
A sports bra will tend to wear over time with use and subsequent washing, thus reducing the elasticity and support offered by the sports bra. As a result of a sports bra with excessive wear, the wearer may encounter increased breast movement during exercise, increased discomfort, and an increased risk for damage to chest ligaments. Accordingly, sports bras should be replaced regularly.
The frequency at which a sports bra should be replaced is highly dependent upon how often the sports bra is worn and how it is cared for. The more a sports bra is washed and worn, the more often it should be replaced. Many trainers and sports bra manufacturers recommend replacing a sports bra any time from three months to a year, depending on how often the sports bra is worn. Others recommend replacing a sports bra after one hundred workouts and washings.
Unfortunately, it is inconvenient for women to keep track of the number of times a sports bra has been worn and washed. Even if a woman knows the date of purchase of a particular sports bra, she may have a number of sports bras in her wardrobe which may not have been worn equally. Therefore, unless the woman keeps detailed records of the date of each workout over a period of time and the sports bra worn during that work out, it is very difficult for the woman to know how many times a given sports bra has been worn and washed. As a result, far too much time often passes before a woman realizes that a sports bra is in need of replacement and the sports bra is replaced with a new sports bra. Many women will only replace a sports bra when they notice excessive bouncing of the breasts during a workout, a general lack of support, worn-out elastic straps or bands, or chafing fabric. By this time, damage may have resulted from continued use of a spent sports bra.
In view of the foregoing, it would be advantageous to provide a sports bra that provides a convenient method and apparatus for indicating that a sports bra should be replaced. It would also be advantageous if the replacement indicator were readily accessible and apparent to the wearer. Additionally, it would be advantageous if the replacement could be easily and inexpensively incorporated into the garment.


Disclosed is a room planning and design system, comprising a virtual room space comprising a virtual representation of a physical room space, an object library of virtual objects, said virtual objects comprising virtual representations of equipment, machines and objects that may be placed in a room, a user interface comprising a first user interface component for selecting said virtual objects from said virtual library and positioning them in said virtual room space, a second user interface component for manipulating the positions and orientations of said virtual objects within said virtual room space, a workspace comprising a physical model of said physical room space, physical marker objects substantially scaled to said workspace for manual placement and orientation of said markers objects in said workspace, one or more detectors for detecting information regarding the positioning of said marker objects in said workspace and transmitting said information to a visualization module, and said visualization module adapted to receive said information from said detectors and utilize said information for positioning said virtual objects within said virtual room space.

Buyers and/or suppliers of equipment need to plan where to put said equipment in their existing/new/in-planning facilities. For instance, during the construction of manufacturing plants, and after the civil construction of the plant building is already completed, the design engineer plans the positioning of the many components of the factory (manufacturing machines, storage areas, . . . ), within the physical constraints imposed by the completed structure. Another example is the installation of MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) machines in hospital rooms. In this case, the manufacturer needs to plan the way to get the machine into the right room on the right floor (the basement for instance) and to plan where to place the machine in the room. The problem is constrained by the fact that a MRI machine produces a strong magnetic field and that no metallic equipment should be within its reach. A third example would be maintenance and repair work in electricity-generating plants (gas plants, etc. . . . ). Maintenance equipment needs to be brought in (temporarily). Equipment that has to be replaced needs to be brought out. The replacing equipment needs to be brought in. All this equipment movement has to be planned. Planners need to check that there is enough room to move said equipment as planned.

Video-supported planning of equipment installation and/or room design