A method and Provider Backbone Bridge (PBB) for handling customer multicast frames that are received by a Customer Network Port or Provider Network Port on an I-component of the PBB. Customer multicast frames that are forwarded to a Virtual Instance Port (VIP) on the I-component are encapsulated with a Backbone Destination Address (B-DA) equal to the original Customer Destination Address (C-DA) of the received customer multicast frames instead of the Default B-DA. This capability may be controlled by an “EnableCustomerMulticast” parameter enabling the above behavior to be independently set for each VIP on the I-component.

Multicast is the preferred method for distributing Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) to residential users. The Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) is an IP-based control protocol that is used to signal membership of an end station to a multicast group (TV channel) in a bridged network. In order to reap the benefits associated with multicast, IGMP snooping may be employed by intermediary nodes to prune multicast trees in a network to make efficient use of limited resources.
IGMP snooping is designed to prevent hosts on a local network from receiving traffic for a multicast group they have not explicitly joined. IGMP snooping is a feature that allows a layer 2 switch to "listen in" on the IGMP conversation between hosts and routers by processing the layer 3 IGMP packets sent in a multicast network. When IGMP snooping is enabled in a switch, the switch analyzes all IGMP packets between hosts connected to the switch and multicast routers in the network. When a switch hears an IGMP report from a host for a given multicast group, the switch adds the host's port number to the multicast list for that group. Likewise, when the switch hears an IGMP Leave, it removes the host's port from the table entry. Thus, IGMP snooping provides switches with a mechanism to prune multicast traffic from links that do not contain a multicast listener (i.e., IGMP client).
Several IEEE standards impact the multicasting of IPTV over Provider Backbone Bridge Networks (PBBNs) and Provider Bridge Networks (PBNs). The applicable standards are IEEE Standard 802.1ad (Provider Bridges), IEEE Standard 802.1ah (Provider Backbone Bridges), and IEEE Standard 802.1ak (Multiple Registration Protocol).
Ethernet is L2 and IP is L3, but both protocols perform packet switching; both can scale globally; both use dynamic topology protocols; and both can provide protection, Quality of Service (QoS), and traffic engineering. The fundamental difference is connectivity; IP can provide global any-to-any connectivity while Provider Ethernet can provide global connectivity between provisioned sets of network interfaces.
IGMP snooping performs a layer violation between layer 3 (IP) and layer 2 (Ethernet) because it is an IP protocol that controls the behavior of multicast streams in Ethernet bridges. This may cause problems in PBBNs (802.1ah) as the IGMP Packet Data Units (PDUs) are encapsulated in backbone frames.
FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a PBBN 11 interfacing with two PBNs 12-13 to distribute a multicast service. In this example, a point-to-point backbone VLAN service is established in the PBBN to distribute the multicast service to the PBNs. Ingress Ethernet frames from the PBNs are encapsulated with new header fields including the Backbone source and destination Media Access Control (MAC) addresses, B-tag, and I-tag. In essence this completely hides IGMP messages in the PBBN and makes IGMP snooping impossible.
In this scenario, even L2 multicast protocols such as the MAC Address Multiple Registration Protocol (MMRP) are insufficient. The problem is associated with the way that PBN customer frames are encapsulated by the Backbone Edge Bridges (BEBs) at the edges of the PBBN. According to the IEEE Std 802.1ah-2008, standard customer frames that have a Group MAC address as their destination address are encapsulated into Backbone frames that always have the Default Backbone Destination address as their Backbone destination MAC address. The Default Backbone Destination address is a special address built by concatenating the Provider Backbone Bridge Organizationally Unique Identifier (OUI) (00-1E-83) with the Service Instance Identifier (I-SID) value identifying the customer service instance in the backbone. This does not allow differentiation of the customer multicast services in the backbone and severely constrains the pruning capabilities on these services. Customer multicast frames associated with the same backbone I-SID are always mapped to the same backbone multicast service and correspondingly the capability to individually control each such multicast service in the backbone is lost.

Multicasting in a provider backbone bridge network


An extensible, data-driven, language independent source code editor is presented, with an embedded, extensible multi-language compiler framework. Such an editor can be tightly integrated with a compiler framework that provides detailed information about the language currently being edited by the user. This information can be provided in a language-neutral way effectively decoupling the editor from the underlying set of languages being edited. In addition, a language-independent editor can expose a set of APIs that makes it easy to customize behavior for specific languages that have characteristics not shared by most languages. This set of APIs can also enable the development of customized views, such as for developing visual editors that represent and allow the user to manipulate aspects of the source code pictorially.

Modern "smart" source code editors provide a wide range of features to the software developer based on increased understanding of the underlying programming language. For example, these editors may provide syntax coloring to highlight various components of the language grammar (class definitions, fields, methods, comments, etc.) The editors may also highlight known errors in the code. In general, this increased understanding of the underlying programming language is achieved by adding a language specific lexical analyzer and/or parser to the editor.
Unfortunately, most large-scale development projects include several programming languages targeted at different domains and different classes of developers. For example, it is not uncommon for a modern web application to include Java, Java Server Pages (JSP), JavaScript, the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and the eXtensible Markup Language (XML). Therefore, a typical development environment may effectively include several "smart" source code editors, each with an embedded lexical analyzer and/or parser specific to a given language.
Developing and maintaining a separate editor for each language in the development environment is costly and time consuming. Each time a new language is needed, a new editor must be constructed. Each time a new editing feature is added, it must be added to each language module. In addition, keeping the features of the language editors in sync can be a challenge. Minor differences between the editors in a given development environment can result in an inconsistent and confusing experience for the developer.
In addition, it is becoming increasingly useful to embed one language inside another within a single source file. For example, JSP pages include Java and JSP tags embedded within HTML. Emerging languages, such as ECMAScript for XML(E4X) embed XML within JavaScript. Other emerging technologies, such as Java for Web Service (JWS) embed a small annotation language inside Java comments to succinctly describe how that Java class should be exposed as a web service. In some cases, several languages can be nested several layers deep in a single source file.
The simple lexical analyzers and parsers embedded in common source editors are usually not sophisticated enough to recognize and process nested languages. Therefore, in some environments advanced source code editing features are simply not available for nested languages.
In other environments, a new editor might be constructed specially tailored to handle each new language combination even if separate editors already exist for each of the nested languages. For example, a JSP editor might be constructed to handle the combination of HTML, JSP tags and Java, even though separate HTML and Java editors already exist in the development environment. A new E4X editor may be constructed even though separate ECMAScript and XML editors already exist. This may result in duplication of code and will likely result in inconsistent behaviors as the different language editors evolve.
As language nesting becomes more popular, the increase in cost and time required to develop and maintain a comprehensive suite of smart editors using traditional methods becomes combinatorial.
To make matters worse, some nested languages appear in several contexts. For example, XML may be embedded in ECMAScript, Java and JWS annotations. In addition, small expression languages such as those required to understand date and time formats (e.g., YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssTZD from ISO 8601) or time durations (e.g., 15 h 4 m30 s) may be embedded in several different languages. Adding these common sub-languages separately to each editor's lexical analyzer and/or parser again results in increased development and maintenance costs and potentially inconsistent behaviors. Any changes to the way these common sub-expressions are handled should be applied uniformly across all applicable host languages.
In a typical Integrated Development Environment (IDE), there are often two compilers. The first compiler is run from the command line, displaying a list of errors or emitting runable code. The second compiler exists as part of the IDE. Initially, this compiler may only implement lexical analysis of source code in order to support syntax coloring. Then it may implement syntactic analysis in order to support the structure pane and class browser. Eventually, this compiler will contain a nearly complete front-end in order to support code completion.
The trend of moving more and more of the compiler into the IDE is understandable: advanced IDE features are often based on advanced understanding of the language being edited. Unfortunately, it is not normally possible to use the command-line compiler inside the IDE. First, it is normally not componentized in such a way that the information needed by the IDE is easily accessible. Second, it is usually far too slow for interactive use as changes are made, especially if it takes multiple passes over the files. Third, it almost always recovers poorly from errors, which amongst other problems, makes code completion impossible.
These issues force the IDE to create its own compiler. However, supporting two compilers has many disadvantages. First, it is nearly twice the work of implementing a single compiler, particularly where the back-end is a fairly high-level language (i.e. Java bytecodes) and no optimization is performed. Second, the IDE's compiler is typically the second class citizen, and as a result, it is usually of lesser quality. Few IDE's actually implement 100% of the analysis in the command line compiler. Furthermore, the IDE's compiler is often designed in an evolutionary manner as new features are needed, resulting in a poorly organized compiler. Third, two different code bases need to be updated in order to make changes to the language. This makes creating a new language a slow and painful process. These problems get worse as the platform is scaled in the number of languages it supports and in the number and sophistication of IDE features.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods for type-independent source code editing

Abstract: This description is not intended to be a complete description of, or limit the scope of, the invention. Other features, aspects, and objects of the invention can be obtained from a review of the specification, the figures, and the claims.


A self-service shopping system which uses an electronic price label (EPL) associated with an item to send a signal to a transaction processing system to record the selection of a product by a customer. An item selector card associated with a customer selects items for purchase. An item selector card reader reads the item selector card. The transaction processing system maintains a list of the selected items. The EPL system includes a plurality of EPLs associated with a plurality of items including the selected items. The EPLs communicate item identification information for the selected items to the transaction processing system.

The present invention relates to electronic signage and self-service shopping systems, and more specifically to a self-service shopping system including an electronic price label (EPL) system.
EPL systems typically include a plurality of EPLs for each merchandise item in a store. EPLs typically display the price of corresponding merchandise items on store shelves and are typically attached to a rail along the leading edge of the shelves. EPLs may include a semi-transparent LCD. A store may contain thousands of EPLs to display the prices of the merchandise items. Information about the EPLs is typically maintained in an EPL data file. Price information displayed by the EPLs is obtained from a PLU file. The EPLs are coupled to a central server through a cable or wireless signal connection.
Retail stores have sought other ways to improve the efficiency of the checkout process. In one self-service shopping system, a store issues a shopper's card to a shopper. The shopper's card has a magnetic stripe. Upon entering the store, the shopper swipes the magnetic card through a card reader and retrieves a portable hand-held bar code scanner. The shopper scans items and places them in a shopping cart. The scanner includes a method of deselecting a selected product. The scanner also includes a display which can display a running total of the scanned items. To complete the shopping procedure, the shopper places the scanner in its charging station and receives a receipt. The shopper takes the receipt to a payment station and pays for the items.
This system suffers from the disadvantage that the store must provide and the shopper must carry a hand-held scanner. These scanners may be dropped or otherwise damaged by customers. Thus, this type of self-service shopping system can be expensive for the store.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a self-service shopping system that does not require the customer to carry expensive hardware, including a hand-held bar code scanner.

Self-service shopping system including an electronic price label system


The strength of composite patches is improved over conventional bolted or bonded patches by including Z-pins in the patch/parent structure interface to provide a mechanical link with small stress concentration between the patch and the parent structure. In some cases, we achieve a stronger repair removing the pins to leave holes that fill with resin from the patch during the curing or bonding operation.

Composite materials are finding broader acceptance and application in industry, especially in modern military and civilian aircraft. High temperature thermoplastic, fiber reinforced composite material possesses high strength, high stiffness, and desirable damage tolerance characteristics. Thermoplastic composites can be made by several low cost manufacturing processes. But, thermoplastic composite material poses challenges for structural repairs, especially field repairs, which are essential if the thermoplastic composites are to find wide scale use. For example, airplanes are too valuable and too expensive to keep grounded for any extended length of time, especially commercial aircraft where grounding for hours has significant commercial repercussions.
Traditionally, field repair of composite structure, whether metal or composite, has used bolted or bonded paths. In the bolted approach, a cover plate is mechanically fastened around the damaged area. The fasteners transfer the loads into the patch, but patches and fasteners create stress concentrations and require the drilling of holes of close tolerance diameter in the parent structure that degrade its performance. Accordingly, bolted repair is unacceptable (or discouraged) for thin skinned or highly-loaded structure. A bolted repair may also adversely impact the aerodynamics or radar signature of an aircraft.
Bonded repairs involve removing the damaged area to prepare an appropriate interface for the patch. The damaged material is usually scarfed away to prepare a tapered or stepped depression in the laminate using the equipment and the processes described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,987,700 and 5,207,541, which we incorporate by reference. In some circumstances, the repair hole might be shaped rather than round, as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,916,880 and 4,978,404, which we also incorporate by reference. Shaped inserts for the patch material often permit load transfer better than plug patches.
In a bonded repair, the cutout is filled with an appropriate uncured, resin prepreg materials which subsequently must be cured or bonded to the parent structure. As appropriate, adhesives are used with the prepreg materials and care is taken to provide load paths in the fiber reinforcement, if possible. These preparations are described in the patents referenced above. Curing or bonding requires heat, which we usually furnish with a thermal diffusion heat blanket, like that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,442,156, which we also incorporate by reference. Other heaters, of course, might be used. The patch material might be the same material as the parent structure, or, in the present invention, because of the pin-reinforcement, might be a different material, such as a graphite/epoxy patch in a K III B/carbon fiber thermoplastic polyimide parent structure. The ability to use different raw materials in the patch than those used in the parent structure enhances the suitability the present invention for field repair by broadening the candidate patch materials or by reducing the necessary field stores inventory.
Conventional patches usually are selected from materials identical with the materials in the parent structure being repaired. While bonded patches provide more efficient load transfer than bolted repairs and the flush finish is less intrusive from the aerodynamic and signature standpoints, the quality of a bonded repair, like the quality of the parent structure, is highly dependent on the absolute age and the aging history of the prepreg materials used in the patch. In addition, the quality of a conventional bonded patch is also dependent on the interface preparation, on the curing or binding process parameters (including the thermal uniformity), and, finally, on the talent and artistry of the workers preparing the patch. Needless to say, the combination of significant variables makes it difficult to achieve consistent structural performance in the repaired structure.
Conventional bonded repairs are currently an unattractive option for thermoplastic structures, especially those using high temperature thermoplastics. Using thermoplastic adhesives and thermoplastic repair materials would generally damage the parent structure. While thermoplastics can be reheated to their consolidation temperature and reformed a number of times, at the temperature required to cure the high temperature thermoplastic repair material, the parent structure would begin to soften and reconsolidate. Often the parent components are originally consolidated at high pressures often using complex tooling to achieve critical shaping and dimensions necessary for performance. Reconsolidation under field conditions would be impractical. Loss of the critical dimensions could be catastrophic. Thermoplastics are also difficult to repair using adhesive bonding because the thermoplastic resins often are resistant to solvents and adhesives. As a result, conventional bonded repairs to these thermoplastic structures produce inferior performance.
For advanced thermoplastic composites to be adopted widely for emerging, industrial (especially aerospace) structural applications (the uses for which the materials are designed), industry must improve the quality of field repairs and reduce the extensive "logistics tail" typically associated with composite structures. Repair approaches must be identified and developed which strike a balance between the time and resources associated with their use and the structural and aerodynamic performance they provide.
Previous work has concentrated primarily on improving the performance of bonded repairs. Work done to enhance bond strength has centered around improving the prebonding surface preparation processes. Many different approaches have been pursued including plasma spray, chemical etch, and corona treatment (electrical discharge over part-surface). These methods are neither user friendly nor readily field applicable. They often fail to produce improvements in repair strength consistently. Other joining processes attempted for thermoplastic repair include welding, which entails heating the interface between the parent structure and patch to a temperature high enough to cause the materials to both melt and to reconsolidate together. For high temperature thermoplastics, welding requires elevated temperatures and high pressure to be applied to the parts which usually makes the process unattractive for field repair. We describe welding operations in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,313,037, and 5,444,220 U.S. patent applications 08/367,546; 08/352,991, and 08/367,557. Although not necessarily field repair processes, we incorporate these patents and applications by reference.
Improvements are still required for bonded field repairs of aircraft to produce adequate patches easily, reliably, and reproducibly to return the aircraft quickly to service (at least temporarily). We have discovered that incorporating Z-pins in the repair provides structural improvement and permits broader processing windows for otherwise critical preparation variables. Z-pin patches also permits field repair of advanced thermoplastic structure using otherwise incompatible thermosetting graphite/epoxy patches.

Z-pin reinforced bonded composite repairs

The Boeing Company, P.O. Box 3707, M/S 13-08


According to one embodiment, there is provided an optocoupler system configured to generate current signals having high, low and no amplitude portions in response to the receipt of logic high and low input signals. The varying amplitude portions of the current signals are used to drive other portions of the isolation circuitry, and result in reduced power consumption and dissipation, as well as reduced pulse width distortion.

Optocoupler systems are commonly employed to transfer signals between the same or different circuits, such as, by way of example, a transmitter and a receiver. A short optical transmission path is typically employed to transfer such signals between the circuit(s) while maintaining electrical isolation since the signals are converted from an electrical form to an optical form, and then back to electrical form by the optocoupler. A typical optocoupler employs an LED as a light source, which is driven by an input signal provided to the optocoupler and its corresponding driver circuit. Light signals corresponding to the input signal are provided by the LED to a photodiode across an electrical isolation gap, which in turn is operably coupled to an output circuit.
Some optocoupler systems are known to exhibit relatively high current consumption, especially with respect to the photodiode portions thereof. Moreover, it is not uncommon for pulse width distortion to occur in signals output by optocoupler systems. What is needed is an optocoupler system featuring reduced power dissipation and reduced pulse width distortion.

Optocoupler system with reduced power consumption and pulse width distortion

Avago Technologies ECBU IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


A wiper, a cleaning device, and an inkjet image forming device including the wiper and the cleaning device. The cleaning device includes a carrier moving in a lengthwise direction of a nozzle unit, the length of the nozzle unit corresponding to a width of a printing medium, a driving element moving the carrier forwards and backwards, and a wiper mounted on the carrier and removing ink adhered to the nozzle unit, wherein the wiper includes a belt member which is supported by a plurality of pulleys and circularly moves along a predetermined path and a cleaning member which is attached to an outer circumference of the belt member and removes the ink adhered to the nozzle unit while rotating in contact with the nozzle unit. Accordingly, an absorption capacity of the wiper is increased using the belt type wiper. Furthermore, since the absorption capacity of the wiper is increased, a replacement cycle for replacing the wiper is extended, thereby increasing the life span of the wiper. The ink absorbed into the cleaning member is removed again using a second pressing unit or a cleaning roller, and hence the absorbency of the cleaning member can be maintained and the replacement cycle can be extended.

1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to an inkjet image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a cleaning device to clean a nozzle surface of a printhead, a length of the nozzle surface corresponding to a width of a printing medium, and an inkjet image forming apparatus including the cleaning device.
2. Description of the Related Art
An inkjet printer is a device for producing images by ejecting ink droplets from a printhead (a shuttle type printhead) onto a printing medium. The printhead is disposed at a predetermined distance from the printing medium and reciprocates in a direction (a widthwise direction of the printing medium) perpendicular to the paper movement.
Recently, high-speed printing has been performed using a printhead (a line printing type printhead) having a nozzle unit of a length corresponding to a width of a printing medium, as an alternative to using a printhead which reciprocates in a widthwise direction of a printing medium. Such a line printing type printhead has a nozzle unit including a plurality of nozzles that eject ink. After the ink is ejected, droplets which have not been ejected onto the printing medium may remain around the nozzle unit. When the nozzle unit is exposed to air during a standby state, the ink droplets not ejected may dry, and air born particulates, such as fine dusts, may be accumulated on the nozzle unit. The dried ink or particulates alter the ejecting direction of ink, thereby deteriorating printing quality. Furthermore, the line printing type printhead has a larger surface area than that of the shuttle type printhead, and thus more ink droplets remain around the nozzle unit. To solve the above problems, an inkjet image forming apparatus that includes a cleaning device that wipes off ink remaining on the surface of the nozzle unit has been developed.
FIG. 1 is a diagram of a printhead 30 and a wiping blade 40 included in an ink cartridge 20 of a conventional inkjet image forming apparatus. FIG. 2 is a view illustrating an enlarged contact portion between the printhead 30 and the wiping blade 40 illustrated in FIG. 1.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the printhead 30 which includes a plurality of nozzles (not shown) ejecting ink droplets is disposed below an ink cartridge 20 mounted on a carrier 10. Ink droplets ejected from the nozzle unit or other particulates may be easily accumulated on a nozzle surface 32, and thus the nozzle surface 32 of the printhead 30 is required to be cleaned. To this end, the inkjet image forming apparatus includes the wiping blade 40 for cleaning the nozzle surface 32 of the printhead 30. The wiping blade 40 is supported by a holder 50 and installed to move forward and backward. When the wiping blade 40 moves in a direction A, indicated by arrow A in FIG. 1, a leading end of the wiping blade 40 touches the nozzle surface 32 of the printhead 30 while being slightly bent. The wiping blade 40 wipes off the ink or particulates accumulated on the nozzle surface 32 while continuously moving in the direction A and contacting the nozzle surface 32.
A nozzle unit of a line printing type printhead to be cleaned has a length corresponding to a width of a printing medium. Therefore, waste toner removed from a nozzle array by the wiping blade 40 contaminates another nozzle array. Consequently, printing quality is deteriorated.
Further, the nozzle surface 32 of the printhead 30 is generally coated with a hydrophobic layer 34 to prevent ink from staining the nozzle surface 32. However, as the wiping blade 40 repeatedly performs a cleaning operation on the nozzle surface 32 of the printhead 30, the hydrophobic layer 34 is worn down due to repeated friction, thereby losing hydrophobic properties thereof. In this case, the nozzle surface 32 of the printhead 30 is easily contaminated by waste ink, and thus the printing quality can be deteriorated. Consequently, the conventional wiping blade 40 wears down the hydrophobic layer 34, thereby reducing the durability of the hydrophobic layer 34. Such a problem can be solved by using a wiper of a roller type instead of the wiping blade 40.
Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. JP2002-240309 discloses a roller type wiper. Since the roller type wiper has a limited cleaning capacity, the cleaning performance is lowered in time, and hence the wiper should be replaced after printing a predetermined number of sheets of paper. To increase the life span of the wiper, the radius of a roller should be increased, but this is difficult to realize because of a limited installation space. Therefore, an improvement in the wiper is needed.

Wiper and cleaning device, and inkjet image forming apparatus including the same


A method of patterning a substrate includes processing first regions of the substrate to form a first pattern, the first regions defining a second region between adjacent first regions, arranging a block copolymer on the first and second regions, the block copolymer including a first component and a second component, the first component of the block copolymer being aligned on the first regions, and selectively removing one of the first component and the second component of the block copolymer to form a second pattern having a pitch that is less than a pitch of a first region and an adjacent second region.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments relate to a method of forming fine patterns using a block copolymer, in which the fine patterns may have sub-lithographic dimensions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Continuing development of nanoscale devices such as semiconductors, microelectromechanical system (MEMS) devices, DNA arrays, optical devices, etc., requires advances in fabrication techniques to enable the formation of patterns having extremely small dimensions. To date, optical lithography has been extensively relied upon to manufacture devices. Continuing development of optical lithography, however, has become increasingly difficult and expensive. Accordingly, there is a need for fabrication techniques that can leverage optical lithography techniques to produce patterns having reduced dimensions.

Method of forming fine patterns using a block copolymer


A color image forming apparatus, comprising: a plurality of image forming stations, each including a photo conductor on which an electrostatic latent image is formed, a developing member which develops the latent image as a visible toner image, and a single motor pinion which drives both of the photo conductor and the developing member, and a transfer belt, onto which the toner image is transferred, and which is driven by the single motor pinion of a first one of the image forming stations.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tandem type color image forming apparatus for forming a color image by providing image forming stations arranged with charging means, image writing means and developing means at a surrounding of an image carrier for respective colors along a transfer belt and passing the transfer belt through the respective image forming stations.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a related art, according to an image forming apparatus using an electronic photography technology, a photo conductor constituting an image carrier is charged by charging means, a latent image is formed by irradiating light in accordance with image information onto the charged photo conductor, the latent image is developed by developing means and the developed toner image is transferred onto a record medium to form an image.
According to the image forming apparatus using electronic photography, when the apparatus is used for a long period of time, it is necessary to interchange a photosensitive drum, replenish or interchange a processing agent, adjust, clean, interchange others (charger, cleaner vessel or the like) and such maintenance operation is in fact difficult for other than a service man having specialized knowledge.
Hence, according to an image forming apparatus using an electronic photography image forming process, there is adopted a process cartridge system for forming an electronic photography photo conductor and processing means operated to the electronic photography photo conductor integrally into a cartridge, and making the cartridge attachable and detachable to and from a main body of the image forming apparatus. According to the process cartridge system, maintenance of the apparatus can be carried out by a user per se without depending on a service man and therefore, the operability can significantly promoted. Therefore, the process cartridge system is widely used in the image forming apparatus.
In a related art, there is a color image forming apparatus of a tandem type aligning a plurality of photosensitive drums in one raw. According thereto, while carrying to transport a transfer member by an electrostatic transfer belt tensioningly hung by a plurality of rollers, by 4 pieces of photosensitive drums arranged along a path of transporting the transfer member, toner images comprising yellow, magenta, cyan, black are successively transferred onto a sheet and a color image is formed by overlapping respective colors (see, JP-A-2000-276030).
Attention is attracted to the constitution in recent years since printing can be carried out at high speed. However, since respective colors are formed by 4 pieces of the photosensitive drums, in comparison with a color image forming apparatus having a constitution of overlapping colors on a single photosensitive drum by way of four of transport paths for respective colors, with regard to rotational driving of the photosensitive drums, further accuracy is requested. Further, in such a kind of apparatus, maintenance is made to be easy to be carried out by unitizing an image forming mechanism to constitute a process cartridge and constituting the process cartridge attachable and detachable to and from a main body of the image forming apparatus.
According to the image forming apparatus, in order to attach and detach the process cartridge, it is necessary to cut to separate an image carrier and a drive transmitting mechanism and there is a concern of failing in forming an image and destructing a part when the process cartridge is not correctly engaged therewith in reinserting the process cartridge. Therefore, an easiness of attaching and detaching the cartridge to and from the apparatus main body and a certainty in an engaging state thereof are requested.
However, in the case of the cartridge of a photo conductor and developer integral type of the related art, a drive source of the photo conductor requesting a rotational accuracy is constituted by a system separately from a system of driving the developer or the cleaning means, drive forces of respective driven members are transmitted by coupling means and therefore, there poses a problem that a drive force transmitting mechanism becomes complicated and there is constructed a complicated constitution in attaching and detaching the drive force transmitting means in attaching or detaching the cartridge owing to a problem of phase matching or the like.
According to the image forming apparatus of a related art, driven motors are individually provided respectively for driven members for driving a photo conductor, for driving developing means, for driving a transcribing roller and so on. When the drive motors are arranged for the respective driven members in this way, the apparatus becomes large-sized to constitute a factor of an increase in cost, and therefore, there is also carried out a system of driving a plurality of driven members by a single drive motor. JP-A-2003-35984 discloses an image forming apparatus in which a plurality of photo conductors are driven by a singe drive motor and which is connected by a plurality of drive gears of the photo conductors and a drive gear of a developing roller. Further, JP-A-2003-131464 discloses an image forming apparatus in which a photo conductor and a developing apparatus are driven by branching a drive force of a single drive motor and which is provided with a clutch for switching to transmit a drive force of a fixing apparatus.
However, according to a constitution disclosed in JP-A-2003-35984, there poses a problem that a number of idle gears is large, which effects a significant influence on an image quality from a view point of an accuracy of the gear, further, since driving of a developer is branched from a middle of driving a photo conductor, respective loads thereof effect influences on each other. Further, according to a constitution disclosed in JP-A-2003-131464, driving of the fixing apparatus is switched by using the clutch means and therefore, there poses a problem that a complicated structure is constituted.
Further, according to a color image forming apparatus, a full color image is formed by overlapping toner images of respective colors and therefore, in order to promote an image quality, it is necessary to adjust a condition of driving the respective image forming stations.


A system and apparatus for marking a pre-printed paper ballot which can be either hand-marked by a voter, or machine-marked by the apparatus. If the ballot is to be machine marked, the ballot is inserted into the marking apparatus and candidate selections are presented to the voter on a touchscreen. Candidate selections entered on the touchscreen are marked on both the top and bottom sides of the ballot utilizing a single print head to mark spaces corresponding to the selected candidates, and the ballot is returned to the voter in a form which enables the voter to visually confirm that his selections have been marked. The ballot, whether hand-marked or machine-marked, is inserted in a ballot scanning device, wherein it is tallied and deposited in a ballot box.

The present invention relates generally to systems, methods and apparatus for conducting elections, and particularly, to a system, method and apparatus which utilizes a physical ballot, formed of a markable material, such as paper, cardboard, or a thin plastic sheet, or the like, which can be either manually marked by a voter, or electronically marked by an electronic voting station, and then visually or otherwise verified by the voter, electronically scanned and tallied, and preserved in a ballot box for recount purposes.
Traditionally, elections for public office in the United States have been conducted with voting systems utilizing hand-marked paper ballots. Typically, in such systems a paper ballot is issued to a verified voter by an election judge. The voter takes the ballot to a voting booth, where he manually marks his selections by placing marks or punch holes in marking spaces associated with the candidates he or she selects. The marked ballot is then taken by the voter to a ballot box where it is inserted and stored for subsequent hand or machine counting.
In recent years, the traditional system has been improved with the use of a ballot scanner to tally the hand-marked ballots as they are inserted into the ballot box. This has the advantage of making vote tallies immediately available at the close of polling, and, with scanners so-equipped, of preventing unintentional under-votes and over-votes. However, one drawback of the traditional system remains in that there is no provision for assisting voters who have a physical impairment, which would interfere with the manual marking of a ballot. Previous attempts at assisting such impaired voters have utilized electronic voting terminals wherein, instead of presenting candidate choices on a paper ballot, candidate choices are serially presented to the voter on large, easily viewable touch-screen displays. When the voter has made his selections, the results are tallied within the voting terminal, the total votes for each candidate being read from the terminal electronically or by means of a paper tape at the close of the polling place.
One drawback of electronic voting terminals is that there is no satisfactory means for auditing the voting process, i.e. confirming that each vote is tallied as voted, and that no votes are tallied which were not voted. Furthermore, there is no means for an individual voter to confirm for his or herself that his or her vote has actually been counted. Attempts at addressing these deficiencies have centered on the use of a paper tape or slip printed concurrently with each voter's voting. Such tapes and slips, which bear little or no resemblance to a ballot, have proven difficult to interpret by the voter and do not confirm that the vote has been actually tallied.
Another drawback of the use of the electronic voting terminals is that they are inherently less efficient since voters require more time to electronically vote their ballot than is required to mark or punch a paper ballot providing the same candidate choices. Consequently, to avoid long lines at a polling place, a large number of electronic voting stations must be provided, if such stations are utilized as the sole means of voting. This imposes an undesirable cost and space burden on voting jurisdictions, since the electronic voting stations are expensive to own and maintain and require additional space in use and in storage.
Accordingly, it is the general object of the invention to provide a new and improved voting system, method and apparatus.
It is a more specific object of the invention to provide an improved voting system which utilizes a voter-readable and machine-readable physical ballot which can be either hand-marked in a voting booth, or electronically marked at an electronic voting station by means of a touch screen voting terminal and associated marking device.
It is a still more specific object of the invention to provide a system and apparatus for efficiently and accurately marking a two-sided physical ballot utilizing only a single print head.

Ballot marking system and apparatus utilizing single print head


A fluid-operated actuator assembly has a valve with an inlet for connection to a pressurized fluid source, a bi-stable electromagnetic device for operating the valve, which has a first state closing the valve and a second state opening the valve, a hydraulic actuator, and an electronic control circuit. The hydraulic actuator has an actuating member in a housing, the housing having a chamber on one side of the actuating member to which an outlet of the valve is connected for receiving fluid from the fluid source when the valve is opened, the actuating member for operation of the hydraulic actuator. The control circuit momentarily energizes the bi-stable electromagnetic device to the hydraulic actuator from the second state, back to the first state, to terminate operation of the hydraulic actuator.

Battery-operated actuator assembly is known for use in controlling the flow of water in the toilet. Taking as an example, automatic facets will, upon detection of the hands of a user, open and supply water for a certain period of time. These faucets are operated by battery cells. As the power consumption is generally not low, the battery life is usually short and hence replacement of battery cells can be frequent.
The invention seeks to mitigate or to at least alleviate such a problem or shortcoming by providing a fluid-operated actuator assembly.

Liquid-operated actuator assembly, particularly for a flush toilet, and flush toilet incorporating the assembly


A method of manufacture for an acoustic resonator or filter device. In an example, the present method can include forming metal electrodes with different geometric areas and profile shapes coupled to a piezoelectric layer overlying a substrate. These metal electrodes can also be formed within cavities of the piezoelectric layer or the substrate with varying geometric areas. Combined with specific dimensional ratios and ion implantations, such techniques can increase device performance metrics. In an example, the present method can include forming various types of perimeter structures surrounding the metal electrodes, which can be on top or bottom of the piezoelectric layer. These perimeter structures can use various combinations of modifications to shape, material, and continuity. These perimeter structures can also be combined with sandbar structures, piezoelectric layer cavities, the geometric variations previously discussed to improve device performance metrics.

The present invention relates generally to electronic devices. More particularly, the present invention provides techniques related to a method of manufacture for bulk acoustic wave resonator devices, single crystal bulk acoustic wave resonator devices, single crystal filter and resonator devices, and the like. Merely by way of example, the invention has been applied to a single crystal resonator device for a communication device, mobile device, computing device, among others.
Mobile telecommunication devices have been successfully deployed world-wide. Over a billion mobile devices, including cell phones and smartphones, were manufactured in a single year and unit volume continues to increase year-over-year. With ramp of 4G/LTE in about 2012, and explosion of mobile data traffic, data rich content is driving the growth of the smartphone segment—which is expected to reach 2B per annum within the next few years. Coexistence of new and legacy standards and thirst for higher data rate requirements is driving RF complexity in smartphones. Unfortunately, limitations exist with conventional RF technology that is problematic, and may lead to drawbacks in the future.
From the above, it is seen that techniques for improving electronic devices are highly desirable.

Structure and method of manufacture for acoustic resonator or filter devices using improved fabrication conditions and perimeter structure modifications


An operation signal generator circuits are provided to continue to operate an object circuit which is not operated unless an operation signal arrives for the purpose of power consumption reduction, and thereby the object circuit is put into dummy operation. This enables an influence of environmental factors, which may affect operation of the circuit element included in the object circuit, to be maintained in a stable or balanced state, and also enables stable and accurate operation of the object circuit at the time of actual operation, with reduced power consumption.

In regard to an electronic circuit such as a large-scale processor performing high-speed processing, the degree of integration has been increased on the one hand, while low power consumption is required on the other, by which LSI design comes to be restricted. Namely, in the electronic circuit of this kind, it is required to satisfy both high frequency and low power consumption.
To realize such low power consumption, in a CPU and a DRAM which require clock, etc. continuously, an operating method with a reduced clock frequency has been introduced, with the provision of a standby mode (For example, refer to Japanese Patent Laid open Publication No. Hei 5-290187 and No. Hei 6-028053). Also, in the logic design technology, efforts have been made to reduce power consumption in an overall LSI, by controlling to securely inhibit the operation, except for when the operation is necessary, with clock supply to the object circuit being suspended (For example, refer to Japanese Patent Laid open Publication No. Hei-11-074466).
The integrated circuit concerned has a variety of circuit elements including diodes, transistors, resistors and capacitors integrated therein. In each individual circuit element, there is fluctuation in the operation thereof, particularly in delay time, caused by fluctuated peripheral environments such as temperature, supply voltage and noise, and fluctuation incurred when manufacturing the circuit element concerned.
Accordingly, when designing an integrated circuit such as processor, usually, considering the fluctuation in the delay time in the circuit elements, marginal design has been adopted to guarantee against the delay time, by assigning the margin using the cases of the operation speed being the highest and the lowest.
In the situation of today, in which higher frequency and lower power consumption are required more and more, peripheral environments of the circuit elements, and previous operation conditions as well, may relatively influence more severely. Therefore, a more accurate marginal value is required for guaranteeing against delay time.
Meanwhile, to guarantee against the delay time, because a wide fluctuation range between the highest and lowest operation speeds of the circuit element is to be taken into account when assigning the margin, it is probable that an excessive margin is assigned for guaranteeing in consideration of the worst case.
As high-speed operation is increasingly required, a severer marginal value is required. However, adoption of new semiconductor technology includes phenomena which are not completely solved. This brings about difficulty in obtaining an accurate margin, and sometimes the margin may fall short. Under such a circumstance, unexpected events may occur, and accurate operation may be impeded.
For example, in the design technology, there has been introduced a trial to realize low power consumption by suspending clock supply to an object circuit except for the time of necessary operation. This causes a state that the transistor, etc. included in the object circuit are not in operation for a long time.
When the transistor is operated, the transistor consumes power, generates heat, produces a varied temperature, or a varied impedance of the transistor, by which an instantaneous variation/reduction (A.C./D.C.-Drop) of the supply voltage is produced. With this, a variety of parameters, such as threshold voltage (Vth), ON current (Ids-ON), OFF current (Ids-OFF), wiring resistance, delay time, are varied.
Thus, when the transistor becomes operated, the peripheral environments, such as the temperature and the supply voltage, become different from those when the transistor is not operated. When a circuit element such as transistor becomes operated after the transistor has not been in operation for a long time, the characteristic of the circuit element varies, and the operation becomes either faster or slower, as compared to the case when the transistor has been in operation continuously. In other words, a larger margin becomes necessary for guaranteeing the operation, and in the actual operation, accurate operation may be impeded.
Further, in the semiconductor technology, an SOI (silicon-on-insulator) has been adopted as an option for satisfying low power consumption. Here, one of the known problems in the SOI is a history effect.
FIG. 22 shows a configuration diagram of a bulk substrate, while FIG. 23 shows a configuration diagram of an SOI substrate. As shown in FIG. 22, in regard to a transistor using the bulk substrate, a drain 101 and a source 102 are disposed in a Si substrate 100, and also a gate 103 is disposed through an insulator (SIO2) 104. Thus the transistor is structured.
Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 23, as to a transistor using the SOI substrate, a drain 101 and a source 102 are disposed on an insulator (SiO2) 110 being provided on a Si substrate 100, and also a gate 103 is disposed through an insulator (SiO2) 104. Thus, the transistor is structured.
Accordingly, since the transistor is surrounded by the insulator, current leakage caused by a capacitive component can be avoided, thus enabling reduction of the power consumption. Meanwhile, with this, body potential of a body 105 disposed between drain 101 and source 102 becomes in a floating state, which is not electrically fixed. As a result, the body potential fluctuates depending on the previous operational and bias conditions.
Also, since a transistor threshold voltage Vth is influenced by the body potential, the switching operation of the transistor becomes either faster or slower, depending on the previous operational and bias conditions. As factors causing fluctuation of the body potential, there are a short-term factor produced when the transistor is operated and a long-term factor produced when the transistor is not operated.
When the transistor is operated, the body potential is abruptly varied caused by the coupling capacitance thereof. When the transistor is not in operation for a long time, a voltage is applied between two terminals (among gate 103, drain 101 and source 102). This produces an electric field in the vicinity of body 105, causing a gradual variation of the body potential.
The body potential is determined by complicated operation histories in the past, being combined with both short-term and long-term factors. Therefore, it is considered to have a variety of values. Caused by this, the switching operation becomes slow or fast when the transistor becomes operated actually. Namely, similar to the aforementioned case, larger margin becomes required for the operational guarantee, and a case of the accurate operation being impeded may arise in the actual operation.
As such, in the situation that a high frequency and low power consumption are required, and that influences to the circuit elements caused by the peripheral environments and previous operational conditions become relatively critical, it is desired to have a means for reducing or eliminating fluctuation of the delay time produced in the circuit element operation.

Method for stabilizing electronic circuit operation and electronic apparatus using the same


An end effector for use with a surgical stapler. The end effector comprising a staple cartridge having a tissue contacting surface having at least one recessed groove defined therein and an anvil plate having a tissue contacting surface having at least one recessed groove defined therein. A surgical buttress releasably disposed on the tissue contacting surfaces of each of the staple cartridge and the anvil plate. At least one suture is disposed within the at least one recessed groove of each of the staple cartridge and anvil plate and configured to retain the respective surgical buttress atop the respective tissue contacting surface.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to surgical stapling apparatus including surgical buttresses which can be releasably attached to the surgical stapling apparatus, and in particular, to surgical stapling apparatus having sutures disposed within recessed grooves therein. Sutures join the surgical buttress to the surgical stapling apparatus such that the surgical buttress is released upon firing of the surgical stapling apparatus.
2. Background of Related Art
Surgical stapling instruments that are used to sequentially or simultaneously apply one or more rows of fasteners to join segments of body tissues are well known in the art. The fasteners are typically in the form of surgical staples but two part polymeric fasteners can also be utilized. Such devices generally include a pair of jaws to clamp therebetween the body tissues to be joined. Typically, one of the jaw members includes a staple cartridge which accommodates a plurality of staples arranged in at least two lateral rows while the other jaw member has an anvil plate that defines a surface for forming the staple legs as the staples are driven from the staple cartridge.
When the stapling instrument is actuated, longitudinally translating cams contact staple drive members in one of the jaws which in turn acts upon staple pushers to sequentially or simultaneously eject the staples from the staple cartridge. A blade can travel between the staple rows to longitudinally cut and/or open the stapled tissue between the rows of staples. Such instruments are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,079,606 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,490,675, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
When stapling relatively thin or fragile tissues, it is important to effectively seal the staple line against air or fluid leakage. Additionally, it is often necessary to reinforce the staple line against the tissue to prevent tears in the tissue or pulling of the staples through the tissue. One method of preventing tears or pull through involves the placement of a biocompatible fabric reinforcing material, or a "surgical buttress," between the staple and the underlying tissue. In this method, a layer of surgical buttress is placed against the tissue and the tissue is stapled in a conventional manner through the surgical buttress. In more recent methods, the layer of surgical buttress is positioned on the stapling instrument itself prior to stapling the tissue. Some surgical staplers utilize fasteners or clips to temporarily connect surgical buttresses to each of the jaws of the staplers, i.e., one disposed on the staple cartridge and the other on the anvil plate.
The present application discloses a retention system for securing surgical buttresses to the jaws of the stapler. The retention system allows the surgical buttresses to secure to a tissue contacting surface of the staple cartridge and anvil plate by utilizing sutures disposed within recessed grooves along the tissue contacting surfaces of each of the staple cartridge and anvil plate. This retention system diminishes the likelihood of premature suture release during assembly, packing or firing.

Recessed groove for better suture retention


A saddle ride type all-terrain vehicle includes an engine, a front wheel and rear wheels, a saddle type rider's seat, and a rear fender provided so as to cover the surroundings of the saddle type rider's seat and the rear wheels. The vehicle further includes an exhaust pipe led out to the vehicle body rear side from the engine, a muffler connected to the exhaust pipe, and an oxygen concentration sensor provided in the vicinity of a connection portion between the exhaust pipe and the muffler, wherein the oxygen concentration sensor is located inside the rear fender.

Conventionally, in a vehicle having a fuel injection system, the concentration of oxygen in the exhaust gas is detected, and the combustion in the engine is controlled based on the detection results.
Such is disclosed, for instance, in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 6-280634, wherein an oxygen concentration sensor is provided in each of the exhaust pipes that lead out from the lower side of the engine to the left and right sides of the vehicle body. The exhaust pipes disclosed in this publication extend rearward to connect to the muffler, which is disposed at a rear portion of the vehicle body, and the oxygen concentration sensor is disposed at an intermediate portion of the exhaust pipe extending to the muffler.
In the case of such a structure adapted for a saddle ride type all-terrain vehicle (hereinafter referred to as "ATV"), i.e., the structure in which the oxygen concentration sensor is provided at an intermediate portion of the exhaust pipe, the influences exerted on the exhaust pipe and the oxygen concentration sensor by mud and/or water on the road surface are great. In view of the characteristic of the ATV, that it often travels on off-road terrain, such factors must be taken into account.
Thus, the oxygen concentration sensor provided so as to project from the exhaust pipe disposed at a side portion of the vehicle body must be provided while taking into account the restrictions it will exert on the living-comfort properties (ride comfort) for the rider as well as the influences exerted thereon by external forces. It is therefore an object of the present invention to satisfy such demands.

Oxygen concentration sensor for a saddle ride type all-terrain vehicle


The invention defines a nonwoven membrane for the controlled and sustained release of a therapeutic or cosmetic active agent in the area of the body to be treated. This nonwoven membrane comprises one single type of biocompatible electrospun nanofibers and microparticles of at least one therapeutic or cosmetic active agent which are entangled between the nanofibers, the active agent having a low water solubility.

Drug delivery systems for cancer therapeutics have now been used by millions of patients and have resulted in the creation of new therapies and the improvement of existing ones. Cancer drugs can cause enormous toxicity at the systemic concentrations needed to achieve antitumor activity; therefore, their local delivery creates the possibility of improving both their safety and efficacy.
Consequently, locally implanted polymeric devices have gathered clinical interest during the last decades. One example is provided by the carmustine-loaded wafers for the treatment of gliomas. Such formulations consist in solid discs of the drug carmustine (BCNU) loaded in the polyanhidride polymer poly-[bis(p-carboxyphenoxy)propane sebacic acid. BCNU-loaded wafers are approved for the treatment of brain tumors (gliomas) after surgery (Attenello et al., Use of Gliadel (BCNU) Wafer in the Surgical Treatment of Malignant Glioma: A 10-Year Institutional Experience. Ann. Surg. Oncol., 2008 15(10):2887-93).
Polymeric nanofibers have been proposed as malleable platforms for tissue engineering and as carriers to deliver therapeutic agents locally at specific sites of application. Such nanofiber-based systems combine several important aspects, such as large surface area and high porosity which facilitate permeability to water and diffusion of active agents incorporated into the nanofibers. Three distinct techniques have been proven successful in routinely creating nanofibrous structures: (i) self-assembly, (ii) phase separation and (iii) electrospinning.
Self-assembly, as such used to synthesize nanofibers from peptide amphiphiles is attractive because of the mild condition of fabrication and the small size attainable. Patent application WO 2008/067145 provides a method for nanofiber formation from self-assembling peptides. However, this technique is amenable only to a limited repertoire of polymers and difficult to process into a macroscopic structure. It is also challenging to obtain a sustained release kinetics from these small fibers.
The phase separation technique requires gelation of the polymer and extraction of solvent and suffers from a lack of control over fiber arrangement. The required solvent extraction step would also prematurely leach out any drugs entrapped in the fibers. Additionally, only a few polymers are appropriate for this method and it is strictly a laboratory scale technique (Liu et al., The nanofibrous architecture of poly(L-lactic acid)-based functional copolymers, Biomaterials 31 (2010) 259-269).
The electrospinning technique improves the aforementioned methods to obtain nanofibers because it facilitates the scaling-up of the technique and avoids the solvent extraction step. Electrospun nanofibers for biomedical applications have attracted a great deal of attention in the past several years. For example, electrospun nanofibers have been used in tissue engineering, immobilized enzymes and catalyst, wound dressing and artificial blood vessels. They have also been used as barriers for the prevention of post-operative induced adhesion and vehicles for controlled drug delivery systems.
Both mono-axial and co-axial electrospun nanofibers have been reported to incorporate and release antibiotics, drugs and proteins in a sustained manner. Drugs and bioactive agents are encapsulated, embedded or incorporated within the bulk phase of the fibers, so that their release kinetics depends on their diffusion out of the fiber and the fiber degradation/erosion. For example, in Xie et al., (Xie et al., Electrospun micro- and nanofibers for sustained delivery of paclitaxel to treat C6 glioma in vitro, Pharm. Res. 23 (2006), 1817-1826) a biodegradable polymer solution containing hydrophobic anti-cancer drugs such as paclitaxel was directly electrospun to produce drug releasing nanofibrous mesh. Also, Xu et al. (Xu et al., BCNU-loaded PEG-PLLA ultrafine fibers and their in vitro antitumor activity against Glioma C6 cells, Journal of Controlled Release 114 (2006) 307-316) developed implantable BCNU-loaded polymer fibers for the controlled release of BCNU. This antineoplasic agent was well incorporated and dispersed uniformly in biodegradable poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(lactic acid) (PEG-PLLA) copolymers nanofibers by using the electrospinning method. In patent application WO 2009/064767 an antimicrobial nanofiber is formed from an electroprocessed blend of cellulose acetate as a polymer material, chlorhexidine (CHX) as an antimicrobial agent and an organic titanate as a crosslinker in such a way that CHX was covalently linked to the nanofiber. Patent application WO 2009/133059 discloses nanofiber matrices formed by electrospinning a solution of a hyperbranched polyester and creatine monohydrate for the controlled release of creatine.
However, many interesting bioactive agents are protein or nucleic acid in nature that do not dissolve in organic solvent and may suffer loss of bioactivity when dispersed in the polymer solution. Co-axial electrospinning, where the drug is dissolved in an aqueous core solution and the polymer in an organic shell solution, is one approach to overcome this drawback by extruding the core and shell solutions individually through two concentric nozzles. In patent application WO 2008/013713 coaxial electrospun nanofibers are disclosed having a core and a polymeric shell surrounding the core, wherein a growth factor or an adenovirus is encapsulated within the core.
In some cases, surfaces of electrospun nanofibers can be chemically functionalized for achieving sustained delivery through physical adsorption of diverse bioactive molecules such as proteins, enzymes, growth factors or drugs. For example, therapeutic proteins and nucleic acid were physically immobilized for controlled delivery (Patel et al., Bioactive nanofibers: synergistic effects of nanotopography and chemical signaling on cell guidance, Nano Lett. 7 (2007) 2122-8), and antibacterial agents were physically immobilized for immediate release from the nanofiber surface (Bolgen et al., In vivo performance of antibiotic embedded electrospun PCL membranes for prevention of abdominal adhesions, J. Biomed. Mater. Res. B Appl. Biomater. 81B(2007) 530-543).
In recent times, Cai et al. (Cai et al., International Journal of Pharmaceutics 419 (2011) 240-246) have proposed the sustained release of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) by incorporating it into sodium carboxymethylcellulose sub-micron fibers prepared by freeze-drying as an alternative of electrospun nanofibers. The drug release from this swellable matrix is mainly based on diffusion out of the fibers. A similar system was proposed in patent application US 2005/0158362A1, in which bioactive compounds such as bovine serum albumin are suspended or solved in the polymer solution prior to electrospinning, resulting in a system with active agent mainly loaded within the nanofibers.
Because release from active agent-loaded polymer fibers is highly dependent on the composition of the fibers, the active agent-to-polymer ratio, the co-loading of other substances and the thickness of the fibers, newer approaches have been developed that load the active agent in polymer microspheres that control their release from the fiber mesh. Patent WO 2010/096254 developed formulations in which bovine serum albumin (BSA) or chondroitin sulfate are loaded in polystyrene (PS or PLGA) microspheres and then loaded in nanofibers made of electrospun polycaprolactone (PCL) and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO). The PS microspheres can reside within one fiber or adjacent to a first type-fiber, a second type-fiber or both. The release kinetics of BSA depends upon its diffusion out the corresponding fiber, the degradation of this fiber as well as the degradation of the polymeric microsphere shell.
Recently, Wang et al. (Wang et al., Fabrication and Characterization of Prosurvival Growth Factor Releasing, Anisotropic Scaffolds for Enhanced Mesenchymal Stem Cell Survival/Growth and Orientation, Biomacromolecules 2009, 10, 2609-2618) have developed nanofiber scaffolds for tissue engineering that release a insulin growth factor (IGF-1) to induce cellular growth and survival. Such scaffolds are formed by electrospinning polyurethanurea nanofibers and IGF-1-loaded microspheres assembled into the scaffold. Encapsulation of growth factors protects them from proteolysis and allows their sustained release; the release kinetics are dependent upon polymer concentration, molecular weight and growth factor loading in microspheres.
However, the process of manufacturing nanofibers loaded with polymer microspheres containing active agents is challenging because of the complex technical processes required for microsphere production, isolation, sterilization and loading within the nanofiber mesh. In addition, the encapsulation efficiency of the active agent into the microspheres is usually suboptimal. The stability of the active principle can also be affected by solvents used during the microencapsulation process. So there continues to be a need in the state of the art to provide alternative local drug delivery systems for the sustained and controlled delivery of therapeutic agents.
The present inventors have discovered that when active principles are formulated as microparticles of the pure active principle and are entangled between the fiber mesh of a nonwoven membrane of biocompatible electrospun nanofibers, they can be locally released in a sustained way. That is, the microparticles prepared are suspended in a nonsolvent and poured into the nanofiber mesh. As a result, they are physically retained in the membrane between the nanofibers and cannot be released to the external medium but in their solubilised form. Such approach is especially appropriate for active principles of limited water solubility. Release occurs when the physiological fluids fill the membrane and solubilize the microparticles once located in the body area to be treated. Even though the active agent particles are not protected by a polymeric shell like the drug-loaded microsphere of the state of the art, they can be released in a sustained, efficient and oriented manner.

Nonwoven membrane as a drug delivery system


In a network server redundancy configuration method of executing a client-server application to allow a client terminal to use services provided by a plurality of server terminals, the client terminal is connected to each server terminal through an ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) network. Switching control is performed on the server terminal connected to the client terminal by controlling the virtual channel to which an ATM cell belongs in the client terminal or the ATM network. A network server redundancy configuration system is also disclosed.

The present invention relates to a client-server application execution method and system which allow clients to use services provided by servers on an ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) network and, more particularly, to a network server redundancy configuration method and system which effectively operate when a server fails.
A system for performing communication between clients and servers by using TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) as a protocol for connection between different types of computer systems has recently been proposed. In this case, the "client" is a computer terminal which starts peer-to-peer communication in accordance with an application program, and the "server" is a computer terminal which receives a communication request from the client and provides a required service in accordance with a server program.
In a conventional client-server application execution system in which clients use services provided by servers on a network, only one server on the network provides a specific service for a given client at a given time. If, therefore, the server that is providing the service fails, the client cannot receive the service. In this case, the client uses an alternative server. This server switching operation is performed in accordance with an application program which operates on the client.
In the system having the above network server redundancy configuration, an application program must store the address information and the like of all the servers on the network to switch servers, and must execute a procedure for connecting a new server. For this reason, a switching operation cannot be performed at high speed. Furthermore, since the application program also performs switching processing, the throughput of the program decreases.

Network server redundancy configuration method and system


Because the whole image of a retrieved document group cannot be viewed, next retrieval request after one retrieval attempt has been determined only perceptually. Therefore, displaying a means for displaying topic words on a display means, extracting a group of words characteristically appearing in a retrieved document group on request from a user, further examining the relation between topic words, and preparing a graph using the topic words as nodes, the whole image of the retrieval results is displayed on the means for displaying topic words. Additionally, by selecting an interesting word or a word with no interest on a displayed graph of topic words, the user can design a subsequent retrieval strategy effectively.

The present invention relates to a document retrieval-assisting method having a user interface to attain an interactive guidance function for document retrieval and a system for the same and a document retrieval service using the same.
For document retrieval, a variety of interfaces between document retrieval systems and users have been designed and developed, so that these users can readily reach a desired document assembly. Feedback and guidance are primary interfaces among them. Feedback is a mechanism that when a user draws his judgment of YES/NO concerning several items as the results of retrieval, retrieval results reflecting the judgment can then be gained. Further, guidance is a function to provide information with relation to a retrieval operation at the individual processes of the retrieval operation, namely information believed to possibly work as a reference when a user intends to modify or improve the retrieval conditions.
As to the guidance function, conventionally, a method has generally been conducted, comprising proposing information relating to the input retrieval conditions. For example, a method is illustrated, comprising storing a database representing relations between words, such as thesaurus, and retrieving from the data base a set of words with relation to the input word as one retrieval condition. Thesaurus is a tree-structure database primarily showing the is-a relations between words, however, a method is also suggested, comprising automatically generating a data of related words using co-occurrence statistics [see for example B. R. Schatz et al., Interactive term suggestion for users of digital libraries: Using subject thesauri and co-occurrence lists for information retrieval. Proc. ACM DL '96. P.126-133]. A method is additionally proposed, comprising displaying a retrieving word and words with relation to the word in a network structure using the co-occurrence statistic data between words [see for example, R. H. Fowler, D. W. Dearholt, Information Retrieval Using Pathfinder Networks. In Pathfinder Associative Networks, Ablex, article 12, Edited by R. W. Schvaneveldt (1990)].
However, the method providing information with relation to a retrieving condition is disadvantageous in that the method is hardly applicable to a case with a plurality of query words or a case with negation used; and the method is also problematic in that the method is hardly applicable to the document retrieval with no use of any keyword (such as associative search). So as to overcome these problems, a method is proposed, comprising automatically extracting related information from retrieval results and providing the information to a user. For example, Scatter/Gather method [D. Cutting, et al. (1992), Scatter/Gather: A Cluster-based Approach to Browsing Large Document Collections. Proc. ACM SIGIR '92, p. 318-329] automatically classifies a retrieved document group (clustering) and displays the topic words therein per each class. However, real time response is hardly effected in the case of clustering, because the increase of the number of documents escalates the number of calculations by an order of second and third powers; as the progress in retrieval operation, generally, the difference between classes becomes so delicate that the characteristic properties of a class can hardly be hinted from the topic words of the class.

Document retrieval-assisting method and system for the same and document retrieval service using the same with document frequency and term frequency


An annealing furnace is disclosed including at least one inner cover for retaining a stack of metal coils to be annealed in an inert atmosphere. A furnace shell is provided for receiving said at least one inner cover and providing an internal furnace environment. A furnace floor is provided for retaining the furnace shell and inner cover. A plurality of burners are received in said furnace floor, and configured around the inner cover so as to fire into the internal furnace environment along side the inner cover without impingement of the flame on the inner cover. A control system sequentially fires each of said plurality of burners in order to establish and maintain a desired thermal distribution among the stacks within the inner cover.

The present invention is directed to the field of annealers for processing sheet metal. An annealing step is typically performed in the manufacture of sheet metal, especially steel. Coils of metal are program heated up to a desired temperature and cooled down in order to relieve stresses within the metal.
Annealing systems typically include a furnace cover for establishing a containment perimeter for the furnace. A plurality of burners are retained within the wall of the furnace cover for firing horizontally inward toward the load. A stack of metal coils are retained inside an inner cover within the furnace. The inner cover encloses a chemically inert atmosphere around the load (typically 90% nitrogen and 10% hydrogen). This atmosphere serves as both the vehicle for transferring heat from the inner cover to the load as well as the protective atmosphere to prevent oxidation of the strip.
In previous systems, the best annealing quality is obtained using a single-stack annealer, i.e. one furnace and cover for each stack of coils. This type of system insures a high degree of temperature uniformity and control over numerous system variables. However, single-stack annealers are expensive to purchase since furnace covers are costly regardless of the size. However, single-stack annealers are capital intensive, primarily due o the cost of the furnace covers and base system, regardless of the size. Additionally, single-stack annealers require significantly more floor space per unit of production than do multi-stack furnaces.
These cost-effectiveness issues can be addressed by providing a multi-stack annealing furnace in which a plurality of stacks (typically between two and eight) are annealed within one furnace cover. Each stack has its own dedicated inner cover base fan, atmosphere supply and control thermocouple. All of the stacks are retained under a single furnace cover, which is a refractory-lined combustion chamber to which is mounted the burners and ancillary equipment. Such a furnace typically includes two thermocouples--one to limit the furnace temperature and the other as a master temperature control element. Due to capitalization costs, ambient air temperature and complexity, the furnace combustion system is designed to function as a single zone of control.
The furnace covers are raised, lowered and transported using a crane. During crane movement and positioning, it is not uncommon for the cover-mounted burners to be sheared off or damaged if the cover is dropped or misaligned during transporting and positioning of the cover. The inadvertent dropping of a coil exposes the furnace cover to similar damage.
A typical multi-stack annealing furnace uses flat flame burners alone or in combination with forward flame burners. Flat flame burners are designed to provide heat to the adjacent refractory in order to radiate heat back to the load. However, most modern annealing furnace designs have replaced traditional heavy refractory firebrick with lightweight ceramic fiber blankets. Such fiber blankets do not store heat, and thus cannot radiate heat to the load, thereby reducing heat transfer and efficiency of the system.
Forward flame burners are somewhat more effective at directly transferring heat to the load. However, forward flame burners produce a flame which can directly impinge upon the inner cover. Over time, the inner cover is burned up and destroyed by such impingement. Given that the cost of each furnace cover can currently exceed $15,000.00, such flame impingement significantly contributes to costs by shortening the useful life of the inner cover. Impingement can be reduced by enlarging the size of the furnace cover or reducing the outside diameter of the inner cover, which in turn dictates a reduction in the size of the load. However, this is also undesirable since the useful volume for retaining product is reduced, thus lowering yield for a given quantity of expended fuel.
Multi-stack annealers are less expensive to operate than single-stack systems due to such things as fewer crane lifts and costs associated with reduced floor space. Various factors influence the heating cycle of the coils within each stack, such as the weight and dimensions of the load and grade of material. Thermocouples can be used within each inner cover to monitor temperature for each stack. To prevent over heating of a particular stack, it is common for operators to manually adjust the burners, which can result in an upset of the air/fuel ratio, which in turn may provide for local impingement on an inner cover. Manual adjustments can also cause heating cycle delays, which results in inefficient fuel consumption and produce less yield per unit time. The multi-stack process has inherently always been 11/2 to 2 times longer than the single-stack process, and such delays contribute further to reduced yield and efficiency.
Manual adjustment also upsets the temperature balance in the system, creating thermal differentials throughout the load that upset the uniformity of the annealing process, resulting in lower-quality product as compared with the quality of the single-stack process. Flame supervision can be provided, but such usually assumes simultaneous burner operation. If any burner fails, the entire system shuts down, resulting in a significant loss of process time while spoiling the quality of the load. High ambient conditions generally reduce the life of the flame supervisory equipment.


Aspects of the invention provide a switching power supply in which frequency reduction control in a light load condition both in a power factor correction converter and a DC-DC converter restrains energy loss and achieves optimum efficiency. A switching power supply can include a power factor correction converter and a DC-DC converter. The DC-DC converter can include a load condition detecting means for detecting a condition of the load, and a frequency reducing means for reducing a switching frequency in the DC-DC converter when a light load condition is detected by the load condition detecting means. The power factor correction converter can include a frequency reducing means for reducing a switching frequency in the power factor correction converter corresponding to the load condition detected by the load condition detecting means of the DC-DC converter.

1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the invention relate to switching power supplies exhibiting improved efficiency in a light load condition.
2. Description of the Related Art
To ensure stability and safety of commercial power systems, power factor correction is obligated to switching power supplies with a power consumption larger than 75 W. Accordingly, proposed recently are switching power supplies composed of a power factor correction converter (PFC) with a small sized and high efficiency and a DC-DC converter that converts a DC voltage obtained using the power factor correction converter to a DC output voltage corresponding to a specification of a load. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-288855 (also referred to herein as "Patent Document 1"), for example, discloses this type of switching power supply. Most of such DC-DC converters, with a rated load power of about 100 W, employ a quasi-resonance (QR) converter, which impose relatively little burden on a secondary side rectifying diode.
FIG. 8 shows a schematic construction of a switching power supply 1 comprising a power factor correction converter 2 and a DC-DC converter 3, which is a quasi-resonance converter. A rectifying circuit 4 rectifies an AC power supplied from a commercial power supply 5 through a noise filter 6 and delivers to the power factor correction converter 2.
The power factor correction converter 2 is basically composed of an inductor L1 connected to the rectifying circuit 4 and a switching element Q1 to form a current path through the inductor L1 in an ON period of the switching element Q1. The power factor correction circuit 2 also comprises a diode D1 to form a current path between the inductor L1 and an output capacitor C2 in an OFF period of the switching element Q1. The control circuit IC1 ON/OFF-drives the switching element Q1 and controls the current through the inductor L1 to obtain a stabilized DC voltage Vb.
Resistors R1 and R2 divide the DC voltage Vb obtained across the output capacitor C2 to detect the voltage Vb, and feeds back the detected voltage to the control circuit IC1. A shunt resistor R3 detects the current flowing through the inductor L1. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-220330 (also referred to herein as "Patent Document 2"), for example, discloses operation and effect of such a power factor correction converter 2 in detail.
The DC-DC converter 3, which is a quasi-resonance converter, is basically provided with a switching element Q2 connected in series to a primary winding P1 of an isolation transformer T, the primary winding P1 receiving the output, the DC voltage Vb, of the power factor conversion converter 2. The DC-DC converter 3 is also provided with a resonance capacitor C4 in parallel with the switching element Q2 and an output capacitor C5 connected through a rectifying diode D2 to the secondary winding S1 of the isolation transformer. A control circuit IC2 ON/OFF-drives the switching element Q2 to generate a quasi-resonant oscillation in a resonance circuit composed of a leakage inductance of the isolation transformer T and the resonance capacitor C4, thereby generating a specified DC output voltage Vo.
Resistors R4 and R5 divides the DC output voltage Vo obtained across the output capacitor C5 to detect the output voltage Vo and feeds back the divided voltage to the control circuit IC2 through a feedback circuit FB. A shunt resistor R6 detects the current flowing in the switching element Q2. The DC-DC converter 3 detects a ZCD voltage developed across an auxiliary winding P2 of the isolation transformer T and controls the turning ON timing of the switching element Q2. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-015570 (also referred to herein is "Patent document 3"), for example, discloses details about operation and effect of such a DC-DC converter 3, which is a quasi-resonance converter.
The switching power supply 1 significantly improves power factor thereof owing to the power factor correction converter 2 provided on the preliminary stage of the DC-DC converter 3. The power factor correction converter 2 however, also generates energy loss inevitably. Especially in a light load condition, a switching frequency becomes high in both the power factor correction converter 2 and the DC-DCC converter 3. Therefore, switching loss increases in the switching elements Q1 and Q2 deteriorating the efficiency of the switching power supply 1.
In order to reduce the switching loss in the switching elements Q1 and Q2, International Patent Application Publication No. WO2004/023634 (also referred to herein as "Patent Document 4"), for example, discloses a control method of so-called bottom skip which uses a timing at which a resonant oscillation current that arises after turning OFF of the switching elements Q1 and Q2 becomes zero. This bottom skip control delays a turning ON timing of the switching elements Q1 and Q2 in a light load condition to reduce a switching frequency, thereby restraining a loss. The number of bottom skips in the bottom skip control is set at [0] in a normal condition, or heavy load condition, and set at gradually larger values as the load becomes lighter.
The bottom skip control is conducted in the power factor correction converter 2 and DC-DC converter 3 by detecting a load condition, a magnitude of the load, with a load detecting means provided in the control circuits IC1 and IC2. Conducting such a bottom skip control, however, does not necessarily improve efficiency. In a heavy load condition, for example, conduction loss is generally dominant over switching loss. As a result, switching frequency reduction in a heavy load condition increases the conduction loss, rather deteriorating the efficacy.
Consequently, a load condition, or a magnitude of the load, needs to be detected precisely in order to obtain optimum efficiency. A load condition detecting means in a DC-DC converter 3 generally carries out load condition detection based on information about the DC output voltage Vo obtained through the feedback circuit FB. Here, an input voltage to the DC-DC converter 3 is stabilized by the power factor correction converter 2. Consequently, the load condition is detected precisely in the DC-DC converter 3.
On the other hand, a load a condition detecting means in the power factor correction converter 2 detects a load condition from an information about the load current detected through the shunt resistor R3. Here in the power factor correction converter 2, a magnitude of an inductor current is controlled corresponding to the phase angle of the input AC voltage Vac. As a consequence, the detection precision of the load condition in the power factor correction converter 2 changes inevitably depending on the phase angle of the input AC voltage Vac. It is therefore difficult to detect the load condition with high precision in the overall input voltage range of the input AC voltage Vac.


A blow out preventor (BOP) apparatus is disclosed including a quick connection system. The quick connection system comprises at least one actuator receiving aperture including at least one female connector having a female engaging profile and at least actuator cylinder including at least one male connector having a male engaging profile, where the male engaging profile is adapted to register with the female engaging profile upon insertion of an actuator into its corresponding receiving aperture and upon rotation of the actuator through a rotational angle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a quick lock actuator and blowout preventor apparatus for use in oil field and other hydraulic applications and to methods for making and using same. This invention relates to a pressure valve and particularly, but not exclusively, to drilling, completion and rework valves used to in wireline, slick line, measuring bar, deployment bar, coiled tubing, drilling, or other operations requiring entry into high pressure assembly such as oil and/or gas well or other similar operations in the oil, gas, refining, chemical, or industrial industries. These valves are commonly known in the industry as Blow-Out Preventors (BOPs).
More particularly, the present invention relates to a quick lock actuator and blowout preventor apparatus for using in oil field and other hydraulic applications, where the apparatus includes a blow out preventor having at least one receiving aperture, two opposing receiving apertures, or a plurality of pairs of opposing receiving apertures adapted to receive a quick lock actuator for engaging a wireline. Each receiving apertures includes a profiled connector designed to engage a mating profiled actuator connector, where the profiled connectors include contacting surfaces so that when the actuator is inserted into the receiving aperture and rotated, the contacting surfaces of the connectors engage locking the actuator in place. The present invention also relates to methods for making and using same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wireline BOPs are provided for oil and gas wells in order to seal off the wellbore. Typically, wireline BOPs comprise one or more pairs of actuators which are hydraulically activated to close the well, resisting the well fluids and thereby preventing well blow-out.
Many blow out preventors and wireline actuating devices have been described in the prior art including those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,647,174, 3,670,761, 3,871,613, 4,214,605, 4,519,571, 4,638,972, 4,877,217, 5,287,879, 6,845,958, incorporated herein by reference.
However, each of the blowout preventors of the prior are and the wire line actuating devices have certain draw backs. Thus, there is still a need in the art for a blowout preventor and wire line actuator that permits fast and quick decoupling and actuator exchange to accommodate different wire line type and sizes.

Quick lock wireline valve/blow-out preventor and methods for making and using same