Provided are a liquid crystal display apparatus and a light-emitting display apparatus. The liquid crystal display apparatus includes a first substrate, a second substrate, a liquid crystal layer, sub-pixels and an array of cylindrical lenses. Each sub-pixel includes an opening section or sections whose total length taken along the first direction at each of positions ranging in the second direction is constant. In each row of the sub-pixels, the opening sections are arranged such that moving average values of positions of a center of gravity of the opening sections fluctuate within a predetermined range, where the moving average values are calculated by obtaining positions of the center of gravity of the opening sections taken along the first direction at plural positions ranging in the second direction and by averaging the obtained positions within a spot width of the cylindrical lenses for each of the positions ranging in the second direction.

In recent years, demands for display apparatuses which can display three-dimensional images, namely, 3D images are rapidly increasing. Various studies about methods to display three-dimensional images have been conducted in past days, and still now, research and development about those are conducted briskly. As methods to display 3D images, which are currently considered notable, there have been proposed methods using binocular parallax.
Three-dimensional image display apparatuses using binocular parallax are roughly classified into two groups using the following methods. One is a method to create different images into left and right eyes by using special glasses (hereinafter, referred as "a method using glasses"). The other is a method to project different images for right and left eyes created by a three-dimensional image display apparatus at spatially separated regions without using special glasses (refereed as "a glasses-less method").
The former "method using glasses" is a method suitable to the situation that plural observers view a relatively large screen at the same time and is used for movie theaters and televisions. The latter "glasses-less method" is a method suitable to the situation that a single observer views a relatively small screen. This method which allows observers to view three-dimensional images easily because observers are free from bother in wearing special glasses and is expected to be applied to various displays of mobile phones, digital still cameras, video cameras and notebook computers.
As an example of display apparatuses of the glasses-less method which can display three-dimensional images, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2006-030512 discloses the following liquid crystal display apparatus. As shown in FIG. 21, there are arranged 3×3 pixels 6 in the X-axis and Y-axis directions in the disclosed liquid crystal display apparatus to form a matrix. One of the pixels 6 is composed of 6 sub-pixels RR, RL, GR, GL, BR and BL. In the liquid crystal display apparatus, one pixel composed of the six sub-pixels 61 emits two sets of light fluxes to be projected onto the left and right eyes of an observer, where each set of light fluxes is composed of three light fluxes in red (R), green (G) and blue (B) which construct a color image. Sub-pixel RR is a sub-pixel for displaying a red image for the right eye, and sub-pixel RL is a sub-pixel for displaying a red image for the left eye. Similarly, sub-pixels GR, GL, BR and BL are a sub-pixel for displaying a green image for the right eye, a sub-pixel for displaying a green image for the left eye, a sub-pixel for displaying a blue image for the right eye and a sub-pixel for creating a blue image for the left eye, respectively.
The liquid crystal display apparatus has a structure including liquid crystal panel 2 and lens-array sheet 3 put on the liquid crystal panel 2 (see FIG. 22 and FIG. 23). The liquid crystal panel 2 includes, as shown in FIG. 22, a matrix of pixels wherein sub-pixels RR, RL, GR, GL, BR and BL are arrayed in the X-axis direction at pitch of 2×Ppx and in the Y-axis direction. The lens-array sheet 3 includes cylindrical lenses 31 arrayed in the X-axis direction at pitch of Plx to form an array. As shown in FIG. 23, red light for the right eye emitted from sub-pixel RR is projected onto region ZR in the space through the cylindrical lenses and red light for the left eye emitted from sub-pixel RL is also projected onto region ZL in the space through the cylindrical lenses. When an observer comes to the position that right eye 9R of the observer is in region ZR and left eye 9L of the observer is in region ZL, the observer sees only an image for the right eye with right eye 9R and sees only an image for the left eye with left eye 9L, which allows the observer to perceive a three-dimensional image based on the images displayed by the liquid crystal display apparatus. Further, by displaying the same image on both of sub-pixels for the right eye and sub-pixels for the left eye, the liquid crystal display apparatus allows an observer to perceive a two-dimensional image. In view of the existing state that apparatuses for displaying images do not always display three-dimensional images and the frequency of displaying three-dimensional images is less than that of displaying two-dimensional images, it is important for display apparatuses to have a property to display two-dimensional images additionally to three-dimensional images for reasons of actual use.
However, the above-described liquid crystal display apparatus disclosed in JP-A No. 2006-030512 caused a problem that observers easily perceive moiré patterns when the liquid crystal display apparatus displays two-dimensional images thereon. Descriptions about a mechanism of generation of the moiré patterns will be given below. Cylindrical lenses do not have lens effect in the direction of the lens axis but have lens effect in the direction perpendicular to the lens axis. Under the condition shown in FIG. 22, the direction of the lens axis corresponds to the Y-axis direction and the direction perpendicular to the lens axis corresponds to the X-axis direction. When liquid crystal panel 2 is put at a position around the focal point of cylindrical lenses 31 of lens-array sheet 3, as shown in FIG. 23, light emitted from the liquid crystal panel 2 is projected through cylindrical lens 31 in the direction inclining at an angle against the Z axis, and the angle is defined depending on the relationship of the top of the cylindrical lens and the position of the light along the X axis on the liquid crystal panel 2. Therefore, when the intensity of light emitted from the liquid crystal panel 2 varies corresponding to its position on the X axis, the intensity of the emitted light varies corresponding to the light-emission angle. That is, under the condition that the liquid crystal panel 2 has light-shielding sections 80 which do not emit light and each light-shielding section 80 extends in the Y-axis direction, such the condition makes angular directions in which light does not exist among angular directions of light emitted from the liquid crystal panel 2, and those angular directions are perceived by an observer as black regions. That is the mechanism of generation of the moiré patterns. A liquid crystal display apparatus employing a parallax barrier in place of the cylindrical lenses also causes a similar condition.
Since each of the above-described light-shielding sections 80 is located between two neighboring sub-pixels arranged along the X-axis direction in the liquid crystal panel 2, each of the regions which looks black (regions Zd in FIG. 23) exists between an area where an image for the left eye is projected and an area where an image for the right eye is projected. Under the situation that the liquid crystal display apparatus displays a three-dimensional image, an observer moves his or her face to an appropriate position so as to adjust the left eye and the right eye to appropriate positions for perceiving an three-dimensional image based on displayed images. However, under the situation that the liquid crystal display apparatus displays a two-dimensional image, it is difficult for an observer to find the appropriate positions. Therefore, when the observer's face moves to a certain place, the eyes can be located in the regions which look black, which can deteriorate the display quality of the display apparatus significantly.
As a method to restrict the moiré patterns, there is known a method disclosed by JP-A No. H10-186294. FIG. 24 illustrates sub-pixels 61 of a liquid crystal display apparatus which can display three-dimensional images disclosed in JP-A No. H10-186294. As described above, when the intensity of light emitted from the liquid crystal panel varies corresponding to its position on the X-axis, it makes moiré patterns. The intensity of light emitted from a certain position on the X axis in the liquid crystal panel corresponds to the size ratio of an opening section and a light-shielding section in a slice obtained by cutting the opening sections of the liquid crystal display apparatus along the Y-axis direction at the certain position on the X axis. Therefore, the issue of the moiré patterns can be solved by keeping the size ratio of an opening section and a light-shielding section constant regardless of its position on the X-axis. Sub-pixels 61 disclosed by JP-A No. H10-186294 are arranged with light-shielding sections which extend along the Y axis with inclining at angle θ against the X axis. Assuming that the inclining light-shielding sections are "e" in width (see FIG. 24), width "d" of the size of the inclining light-shielding sections taken along the Y-axis direction can be expressed by the following expression (1).d=e/cos θ  (1)
The total size of opening sections, taken along the Y-axis direction, in an area including an inclining light-shielding section, is given by the total sum of sizes "b" and "c" shown in FIG. 24. As far as side "Et" and side "Eb" defining the form of the opening section are parallel with each other, when the total sum of the sizes is taken at any of positions ranging in the X-axis direction, the total sum of the sizes becomes constant regardless of the positions. On the other hand, in an area including no inclining light-shielding section, as far as side "Et′" and side "Eb" defining the form of the opening section are parallel with each other, size "a" of the opening section shown in FIG. 24 is constant regardless of the positions ranging in the X-axis direction and agrees with the total sum of sizes "b" and "c", by adjusting size "f" to agree with size "d" (see FIG. 24). Herein, sides "E1", "E1′" and "Er" are parallel with each other.
There are known any other methods to restrict moiré patterns other than the method disclosed by JP-A No. H10-186294 (for example, JP-A Nos. 2005-208567, 2008-092361 and 2012-215830).
However, it has been found that a problem of "a sense of horizontal stripes" can be caused when the pixel layout for restricting the moiré patterns disclosed in JP-A No. H10-186294 or others, is applied to the liquid crystal display apparatus which can display three-dimensional images disclosed in JP-A No. 2006-030512. That is, under the condition that a single color is displayed uniformly over the entire screen, observers feel that pixel rows neighboring in the Y-axis direction have different luminance and/or different colors from one another on the screen and perceive thin horizontal stripes on the screen, which is referred as "a sense of horizontal stripes" hereinafter. Such the sense of horizontal stripes is felt by observers strongly when the observers are going to observe details in a narrow area on a display apparatus, and such the phenomenon makes the display quality of the display apparatus deteriorate significantly. The present invention seeks to solve the problem.

Liquid crystal display apparatus and light-emitting display apparatus


An improved exhaust gas NO.sub.x removal system removes NO.sub.x from exhaust gas through a catalytic reduction process making use of ammonia or its precursor as a reducing agent. The system includes a vaporizer in which ammonia or its precursor is vaporized, and one or a plurality of nozzles provided in a flue upstream of an NO.sub.x removal catalyst layer. The number of nozzles corresponds to a cross-sectional area of the same flue. These nozzles eject the ammonia or its precursor, vaporized by superheated steam within the vaporizer, into the flue. The superheated steam to be used in the vaporizer for evaporating ammonia or its precursor can be taken from the exhaust gas boiler itself in which NO.sub.x removal is to be effected.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exhaust gas NO.sub.x removal system for removing nitrogen oxides contained in exhaust gas, and more particularly to a NO.sub.x removal system that is well-suited for removing nitrogen oxides contained in exhaust gas discharged from a gas turbine, a diesel engine, a gas engine, a boiler, a heating furnace, a refuse incinerator, an FCC, a chemical reaction process, etc.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An exhaust gas NO.sub.x removal system in the prior art for cleaning combustion exhaust gas discharged from a gas turbine of a gas turbine power generating system will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. As shown in these figures, fuel 2 and air 3 are charged into a gas turbine 1 and combusted, and the combustion exhaust gas is sent to a flue 4. The exhaust gas in the flue passes through a heat-exchanger 5 for recovering heat of the exhaust gas, which is used to generate steam, and then through an NO.sub.x removal system 6 provided with an ammonia injector. Afterwards, the exhaust gas is dispersed into the atmosphere through a stack 7. The above-mentioned heat-exchanger 5 constitutes a vaporizer, a superheater and the like of an exhaust gas boiler making use of the exhaust gas of the gas turbine 1 as a heat source.
The NO.sub.x removal system 6 provided in the flue 4 is for reducing nitrogen oxides (hereinafter abbreviated as NO.sub.x) in the combustion exhaust gas into harmless nitrogen and water through a catalyst by injecting ammonia.
In one known type of the NO.sub.x removal system 6 illustrated in FIG. 2, after aqueous ammonia 8 is evaporated by NO.sub.x -free exhaust gas extracted from the flue 4, it is sprayed into the above-mentioned NO.sub.x removal system 6. The NO.sub.x -free exhaust gas is extracted from the flue by an exhaust gas recirculation fan 10, and is then introduced to a vaporizer 11. Here, aqueous ammonia is atomized with air or steam 9, and a gaseous mixture of aqueous ammonia and the exhaust gas extracted by the exhaust gas recirculation fan 10, may be injected into the flue 4 upstream of the catalyst layer of the NO.sub.x removal system 6 via an ammonia vapor pipe 12.
In addition, one example of a system in which aqueous ammonia is directly sprayed into an NO.sub.x removal system 6 is shown in FIG. 3. In this figure, spray nozzles 10a are disposed upstream of a catalyst layer in the NO.sub.x removal system 6 disposed within a flue 4. Aqueous ammonia stored in an aqueous ammonia tank 13 is sent under pressure to the spray nozzles 10a by means of a pump 14, whereby the ammonia is sprayed onto the catalyst layer. It is to be noted the reference numeral 15 designates a mixer, and the other elements similar to those shown in FIG. 2 are designated by like reference numerals.
In the case where aqueous ammonia ( or its precursor, for instance, aqueous urea) is vaporized by NO.sub.x -free exhaust gas and is injected into the flue, since sulfur oxides or a minute amount of nitrogen oxides in the exhaust gas are combined with the ammonia, ammonium sulfate, ammonium acid sulfate or ammonium nitrate in a solid state are produced. Solids of these products would adhere to an orifice by which a flow rate is measured or to a damper provided in the ammonia vapor pipe. To prevent such a problem it is necessary to maintain a high temperature at the outlet of the vaporizer, that is, to sustain a vapor temperature of aqueous ammonia at 200.degree. C. or higher. As a result, it was necessary to extract a large amount of exhaust gas.
In the case of directly dispersing aqueous ammonia into the exhaust gas as shown in FIG. 3, the rate at which the vaporization reaction of liquid occurs is a controlling factor. Because such a reaction takes as long as 0.5-1.0 second, it was necessary to space injection nozzles a large distance from an NO.sub.x removal catalyst, to form a fine spray of ammonia or to provide a mixer for preliminarily mixing the aqueous ammonia with exhaust gas.


A chewing gum base is provided which is free of wax as well as a method for producing same. In an embodiment, a wax-free gum base is provided having flavor release characteristics at least as good as similar bases including wax comprising an elastomer, polyvinyl acetate, an elastomer plasticizer, and a sufficient amount of oil to achieve flavor release characteristics that are at least as good as a similar gum base including wax.

Recently, in the United Kingdom, the use of wax, especially mineral hydrocarbon wax, in gum bases, has come under scrutiny. There is a perception in the United Kingdom that it may not be desirable to use wax in gum bases. This perception could result in possible regulatory issues, in the United Kingdom, concerning the use of wax in gum base.
Unfortunately, one cannot merely remove wax from a gum base without possibly compromising certain desirable characteristics of the resulting chewing gum product. Wax provides a number of functions in the gum base. For example, wax can influence the release of flavor from the gum product. Furthermore, wax aids in the curing of the finished gum product that is made from the gum base. Additionally, wax contributes to the shelf-life of the finished gum and its texture.
Although some gum bases are known that do not contain wax, they, the inventor believes, typically do not have the chew characteristics, in addition to other characteristics, of typical chewing gums that are created from wax containing gum bases. Heretofore, gum bases without wax were not created in response to any regulatory concerns, but rather, were merely created as part of bases to achieve other ends, for example, a non-tack gum. Therefore, in certain instances, compromises with respect to certain characteristics may have been made to achieve other results, e.g., non-tack, reduced calories, etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,984,574, issued to Comollo, discloses an abhesive chewing gum base in which the non-tack properties were achieved by eliminating conventional chewing gum base ingredients which were found to contribute to chewing gum tackiness, and by substituting non-tacky ingredients in place of the conventional ingredients. Specifically, it was discovered that three classes of materials account for conventional chewing gum tackiness. These materials are elastomers, resins, and waxes.
Comollo eliminated natural and some synthetic elastomer from the chewing gum base, and substituted in their place one or more non-tacky synthetic elastomers such as polyisobutylene, polyisoprene, isobutylene-isoprene copolymer and butadiene-styrene copolymer. Comollo also eliminated the tack-producing natural resins and modified natural resins and used instead relatively high amounts of hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated vegetable oils or animal fats. Finally, Comollo completely excluded waxes from the gum base, but included polyvinyl acetate, fatty acids, and mono and diglycerides of fatty acids.
There is therefore a need for a method for removing wax from gum bases without compromising the characteristics of the resultant gum. Likewise, there is a need for a gum base not having wax, but exhibiting the characteristics of gum bases that do include wax.


Disclosed herein is a semiconductor laser having a first transparent dielectric film formed on at least either a front or rear facet through which oscillating light passes, a second transparent dielectric film formed on the first transparent dielectric film, and a third transparent dielectric film formed on the second transparent dielectric film. The first transparent dielectric film consists of aluminum dioxide (Al2O3). The second transparent dielectric film consists of titanium oxide (TiO2) or tantalum pentoxide (Ta2O5), and the third transparent dielectric film consists of silicon dioxide (SiO2). In this semiconductor laser, the following relationships are satisfied:

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor laser, and more particularly to a semiconductor laser with an improved dielectric film formed on an end (front or rear) facet through which oscillating light passes.
2. Description of the Related Art
If a semiconductor laser is operated with the facets of the semiconductor crystal exposed, the semiconductor crystal facets will be oxidized and therefore the semiconductor laser will be gradually deteriorated. To prevent this problem, it is known, as shown in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6(1994)-112679, for instance, that a transparent single-layer dielectric film, which consists of aluminum oxide (Al2O3), etc., is formed on an end facet of a semiconductor laser through which oscillating light passes.
In the case of such a dielectric film, the reflectance of the laser end facet varies with the thickness of the dielectric film. An example of the change characteristic of the reflectance is shown in FIG. 7. Hence, it becomes possible to set the reflectance of the laser end facet to a desired value by controlling the film thickness. Note that in FIG. 7 the axis of abscissas represents a ratio of optical length (refractive indexxc3x97thickness) to wavelength xcex, not the film thickness itself.
As is well known in prior art, if in semiconductor lasers the oscillating light emitted therefrom is reflected at the facets, etc., of other optical components and incident again as return light, the oscillation will become unstable, causing problems of noise, etc. To prevent problems with return light, setting the reflectance of the end facet of the semiconductor laser relatively low (in the order of 10 to 25%) is effective. For this purpose, a method of controlling the thickness of the above-mentioned dielectric film can be applied.
However, in the case where the above-mentioned single-layer dielectric film is formed on the laser end facet, it is considerably difficult to accurately set the reflectance of the laser end facet to a desired value, because, as is seen from FIG. 7, the reflectance of the end facet varies sharply with a change in the film thickness.
On the other hand, a curved line b of FIG. 6 shows a wavelength dispersion example of the reflectance of the end facet of a semiconductor laser with a single-layer Al2O3 film formed. As illustrated in the figure, the reflectance of the laser end facet varies sharply with a change in the wavelength. In many cases, semiconductor lasers in a certain oscillating wavelength band (e.g., 700 to 1100 nm, etc.) are fabricated by common processing. However, if the wavelength dispersion of the reflectance of the laser end facet is great as described above, semiconductor lasers that can be fabricated by common processing will be restricted to a considerably narrow oscillating wavelength band.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances. Accordingly, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor laser which is capable of minimizing a change in the reflectance of an end facet, through which oscillating light passes, with respect to changes in the refractive index and thickness of a dielectric film formed on the end facet, and accurately setting the reflectance of the end facet to a desired value.
To achieve this end and in accordance with an important aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor laser comprising: a first transparent dielectric film formed on at least either a front or rear facet through which oscillating light passes; a second transparent dielectric film formed on the first transparent dielectric film; and a third transparent dielectric film formed on the second transparent dielectric film; wherein the following relationships are satisfied:
0.09xcexxe2x89xa6n1d1xe2x89xa60.15xcex
0.20xcexxe2x89xa6n2d2xe2x89xa60.22xcex
0.225xcexxe2x89xa6n3d3xe2x89xa60.245xcex
1.58xe2x89xa6n1xe2x89xa61.64
2.0xe2x89xa6n2xe2x89xa62.4
1.44xe2x89xa6n3xe2x89xa61.46
wherexcex is the oscillating wavelength, n1, n2, and n3 are the refractive indices of the first, second, and third dielectric films with respect to the oscillating wavelength, and d1, d2, and d3 are the thicknesses of the first, second, and third dielectric films.
For example, aluminum oxide (Al2O3), titanium dioxide (TiO2), tantalum pentoxide (Ta2O5), and silicon dioxide (SiO2), which will be described later, are known as transparent dielectrics that are transparent to oscillating light emitted from a general semiconductor laser. In the present invention, the dielectric film materials are not limited to these. For instance, this invention is capable of employing a material containing aluminum (Al) and oxygen (o) and ranging from 1.58 to 1.64 in refractive index, a material containing titanium (Ti) and oxygen (o) and ranging from 2.2 to 2.4 in refractive index, a material containing titanium (Ta) and oxygen (o) and ranging from 2.0 to 2.2 in refractive index, and a material containing silicon (Si) and oxygen (o) and ranging from 1.44 to 1.46 in refractive index.
In accordance with another important aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor laser comprising: a first transparent dielectric film formed on at least either a front or rear facet through which oscillating light passes, the first transparent dielectric film consisting of aluminum oxide (Al2O3); a second transparent dielectric film formed on the first transparent dielectric film, the second transparent dielectric film consisting of titanium dioxide (TiO2) or tantalum pentoxide (Ta2O5); and a third transparent dielectric film formed on the second transparent dielectric film, the third transparent dielectric film consisting of silicon dioxide (SiO2); wherein the following relationships are satisfied:
0.09xcexxe2x89xa6n1d1xe2x89xa60.15xcex
0.20xcexxe2x89xa6n2d2xe2x89xa60.22xcex
0.225xcexxe2x89xa6n3d3xe2x89xa60.245xcex
wherexcex is the oscillating wavelength, n1, n2, and n3 are the refractive indices of the first, second, and third dielectric films with respect to the oscillating wavelength, and d1, d2, and d3 are the thicknesses of the first, second, and third dielectric films.
The refractive index n1 of Al2O3 ranges between 1.58 and 1.64, the refractive index n2 of TiO2 ranges between 2.0 and 2.4, the refractive index n2 of Ta2O5 ranges between 2.0 and 2.2, and the refractive index n3 of SiO2 ranges between 1.44 and 1.46.
Note that the aforementioned construction is particularly effective when applied to the case where the reflectance of the laser end facet is set relatively low (in the order of 10 to 25%) to eliminate the aforementioned problems with return light.
Reducing a change in the reflectance of the laser end facet with respect to changes in the refractive index and thickness of the dielectric film is equivalent to reducing reflectance distribution by wavelength, for the following reasons. From this fact it follows that if a dielectric film consisting of layers having a small change in the reflectance with respect to wavelength change is formed on the laser end facet, the object of the present invention is to be achieved.
Since there is a relationship of nd=xcex/4 between the refractive index n and thickness d of a single-layer dielectric film and the wavelength xcex of light at which the reflectance is the lowest, the following relationship is established:
(n+xcex4n)(d+xcex4d)=(xcex+xcex4xcex)/4
in which xcex4n is a variation in the refractive index n, xcex4d is a variation in the thickness d, and xcex4xcex is a change in the wavelength xcex. From this fact, if the layer construction of a dielectric film is formed so that the reflectances at wavelengths xcex and (xcex+xcex4xcex) are much the same, essentially the same reflectances can be obtained within the variation xcex4n in the refractive index and the variation xcex4d in the thickness. Thus, the object of the present invention can be achieved if a dielectric film, consisting of layers in which a change in reflectance distribution with respect to wavelength change is small, is formed on the laser end facet.
The above-mentioned three-layer dielectric film, constructed of the first dielectric film consisting of Al2O3, the second dielectric film consisting of TiO2 or Ta2O5, and the third dielectric film consisting of SiO2, which satisfies 0.09 xcexxe2x89xa6n1 d1xe2x89xa60.15xcex, 0.20xcexxe2x89xa6n2 d2xe2x89xa60.22xcex, and 0.225xcexxe2x89xa6n3 d3xe2x89xa60.245xcex, is clearly smaller in reflectance change with respect to wavelength change, compared with the conventional single-layer dielectric film (curved line b), as shown by a curved line a in FIG. 6.
The aforemenionted semiconductor laser, in which the materials of the first, second, and third dielectric films are not prescribed, is also capable of obtaining the same advantages as the aforementioned, because the refractive-index ranges of the first second, and third dielectric films are the same as the refractive-index range 1.58 to 1.64 of Al2O3, the refractive-index range 2.0 to 2.4 of TiO2 or Ta2O5, and the refractive-index range 1.44 to 1.46 of SiO2, respectively.
Therefore, the semiconductor laser of the present invention with such a three-layer dielectric film on the end facet is capable of minimizing a change in the reflectance of the end facet with respect to changes in the refractive index and thickness of the dielectric film, and accurately setting the reflectance of the end facet to a desired value, i.e., a value within the range of 10 to 25% required for eliminating problems associated with return light.
More specifically, as described later, even if the oscillating wavelength varies between xc2x1150 nm, reflectance within the range of 10 to 25% can be set to a desired value with an error range of xc2x11.5% (about 2% even in the case of leaving a margin). Thus, the semiconductor laser according to the present invention is capable of greatly enhancing its reproducibility, as it can be fabricated by a common end-facet coating process even when the oscillating wavelength varies within about 300 nm.
In addition, from the aforementioned relationship of (n+xcex4n)(d+xcex4d)=(xcex+xcex4xcex)/4, when the above-mentioned three-layer dielectric film is virtually taken to be a single-layer film, the refractive index and thickness of this film are taken to be nxe2x80x2 and dxe2x80x2, and, as described above, the oscillating wavelength varies between xc2x1150 nm, it can be safely stated that in a range where a value of (dxe2x80x2xcex4nxe2x80x2+nxe2x80x2xcex4dxe2x80x2+xcex4nxe2x80x2xcex4dxe2x80x2) becomes 37.5 nm (=150 nm/4), it is possible to suppress a change in the reflectance with respect to variations in the refractive index and thickness of the dielectric film to xc2x11.5% (about 2% even in the case of leaving a margin).


A kiosk device for a motor vehicle includes an imaging unit, a voice input unit, a vehicle detecting unit configured to detect entry of a motor vehicle, a financial automation transaction unit including a touch interface unit, a control unit and a driving unit. When the entry of the motor vehicle is detected by the vehicle detecting unit, the control unit activates the imaging unit and the voice input unit and analyze motion information of a vehicle occupant imaged by the imaging unit or voice information of the vehicle occupant inputted through the voice input unit. The driving unit drives the financial automation transaction unit based on an analysis result of the motion information or the voice information so that the financial automation transaction unit is operated to face a direction of a vehicle occupant location.

A kiosk device refers to an unmanned information terminal installed in a public place, e.g., a government agency, a local government, a financial institution, a department store, an exhibition hall or the like. The kiosk device is an unmanned comprehensive information guidance system for providing dynamic traffic information, public transport information, route guidance information, reservation work information, various kinds of telephone number and address guidance information, administrative procedure information, product information, information on usage method of facilities, and the like. In a metropolitan city where motor vehicles are frequently used, there is a tendency that unmanned general information guidance services for enabling vehicle occupants to carry out kiosk transactions while boarding on a motor vehicle are actively utilized.
Among kiosk devices used in the art, a device installed and operated by a financial institution to provide financial services is referred to as a financial automation device. In general, it is often the case that a kiosk device such as a financial automation device or the like employs an input/output interface including a large screen display and a touch sensor in order to improve the user's input convenience and the ease of recognition of displayed information.
In particular, in the case of a kiosk device for a motor vehicle, it is necessary to provide a service environment in which an input/output interface can be used more conveniently by a vehicle occupant.

Kiosk device for motor vehicle and method for operating the same


A method of manufacturing a brush seal includes the steps of maintaining a pair of first elongated frames spaced from one another on a fixture; wrapping wire strands about and longitudinally along the pair of frames in multiple longitudinal wire passes forming wire runs; disposing two pairs of first elongated plates between the wire runs at respective locations spaced from one another along the wire runs and at an angle to the wrapped strands with the plates of each of two pairs lying parallel to and in registration with one another; clamping two pairs of second elongated plates at second respective locations along an outside of the wire runs with each pair of the second plates registering with each pair of the first plates, the two pairs of second plates extending generally parallel to the pairs of the first plates; cutting the wrapped strands outside of and beyond the first and second pairs of plates forming two wire strand runs with both ends of each of the runs disposed between and straddled by the first and second pairs of plates; welding the cut strand runs and the pair of plates straddling the both ends of the runs; and cutting the wire strand runs intermediate the welded ends of the strand runs to form two bristle packs from each of runs and from which the bristle packs form the brush seals.

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a brush seal and particularly relates to a method of manufacturing a generic brush bristle pack which can be formed to required diameters, in segments, with enhanced efficiency, minimum cost, and reduced manufacturing time.
Brush seals are typically employed for sealing between stationary and rotary components, e.g. packing about a rotary shaft in a turbine, and between high and low pressure regions on opposite sides of the seal. Conventional bristle packs particularly in high temperature environments require precise placement of super alloy bristles while maintaining tight tolerances. It will be appreciated that particular angles and varying separation between the bristles is required and for different diameter applications. Current methods of manufacture essentially require manual orientation of the bristles on a machined fence. As will be appreciated, this is a time consuming and costly method of manufacture. Accordingly, there is a need for a method of manufacturing brush seals in which a lower cost generic brush seal bristle pack can be fabricated and rolled to a required radius of curvature with minor machining to fit the application.

Method of manufacturing a brush seal for sealing between stationary and rotary components


An alternate sampling integrator circuit is disclosed that can concurrently sample and integrate signals received at an input. The circuit may include multiple sampling capacitors, an operational amplifier, and multiple switches. The switches switch the capacitors between a sampling mode and an integration mode.

Many embodiments of the disclosure relate generally to electronic integrator circuits, and more particularly, to such circuits utilizing multiple sampling capacitors.
Electronic integrator circuits are devices which produce an electronic output signal which is proportional to the integral of the input signals that they receive. Such devices generally have use in mixed signal applications, for example, in analog-to-digital converters (ADCs); however, such devices also have use in a wide variety of other applications as well. Generally, in such applications, the integrator circuit is used to approximate the mathematical process of integration, that is, sample and integrate an input analog signal over a given period of time.
A commonly known integrator circuit 10 is shown in FIG. 1. As illustrated, the circuit 10 is a switched-capacitor integrator. The circuit 10 involves a number of electrical components including an operational amplifier 12 and two capacitors, a sampling capacitor 14 and an integrating capacitor 16. In addition, a number of switches, 18, 20, 22, and 24, are used to provide an integrating operation. As is known, the switches 18, 20, 22, and 24 are typically operated in distinct phases. For example, in a first phase or sampling phase, switches 18 and 22 are closed while switches 20 and 24 are open. As such, the back end of the sampling capacitor 14 is electrically connected to the input voltage 26 while the front end of the sampling capacitor 14 is grounded. The sampling capacitor 14 is subsequently charged during such sampling phase via the input voltage 26. During a subsequent phase or integrating phase, switches 20 and 24 are closed while switches 18 and 22 are open. In turn, the back end of the sampling capacitor 14 is grounded while the front end of the sampling capacitor 14 is electrically connected to the operational amplifier 12 and the integrating capacitor 16. The voltage on the sampling capacitor 14 is generally discharged to the integrating capacitor 16 via the operational amplifier 12 during such integrating phase.
As shown, since the positive input of the operational amplifier 12 is connected to ground, the voltage at the negative input of the amplifier 12 will almost be the same as the voltage at ground (e.g., virtual ground). In turn, when the input impedance of the operational amplifier 12 is high, the current flowing from the sampling capacitor 14 is generally found to be the same as the current observed flowing through the integrating capacitor 16. As such, the charge placed across the integrating capacitor 16 is generally the same as what is discharged from the sampling capacitor 14. In turn, the voltage gain of the integrator circuit 10 generally equals the ratio between the capacitance of the sampling capacitor 14 and the capacitance of the integrating capacitor 16.
As is generally known, when the output of the integrator circuit 10 of FIG. 1 is electrically coupled to an input of a comparator (not shown), the comparator output following the integrating phase of the integrator circuit 10 can be used in controlling subsequent input reference voltage (not shown) to the integrating capacitor 16. The change of the output voltage of the integrator circuit 10 in the end of a clock cycle will be the input voltage 26 added to either a positive or negative reference voltage, depending on the prior output of the comparator.
As is to be appreciated from the above discussion involving prior art integrator circuit 10, the sampling and integrating phases are distinct. The speed of the integrator circuit 10 can often be limited by these two phases. For example, further sampling by the sampling capacitor 14 during a subsequent sampling phase can only begin after the sampling capacitor 14 is fully discharged and the operational amplifier 12 is stabilized, ending the integrating phase. Likewise, further integration by the integrating capacitor 16 can only begin after the sampling capacitor 14 again is charged, ending the sampling phase. In summary, the integrating phase is only started after completion of the sampling phase, and vice versa.
Expanding on the above, if a multi-stage circuit is designed with multiple integrator stages (each stage including an integrator circuit, e.g., as shown in FIG. 1), the operation of the multi-stage circuit can be negatively impacted by the distinct sampling and integrating phases of each integrator stage. In such circuits, a sampling capacitor of a subsequent stage integrator acts as a load on an operational amplifier of a previous stage. Therefore, the operational amplifier of the previous stage needs time to be stabilized before being sampled by the subsequent stage. This is because the output of the operational amplifier (of the previous stage) can be disturbed via a sudden connection to the sampling capacitor (of the subsequent stage). Sufficient time is, therefore, often needed before the voltage sampled by such sampling capacitor is stabilized. Often, if the sampling period begins prior to such stabilization, the multi-circuit can be found to provide erroneous output.


The present invention relates generally to the field of diagnostic and prognostic assays for heart disease. More particular, the present invention provides an assay for diagnosing the presence or extent of development of heart disease or its classification or state thereof. The assay of the present invention is also useful in the stratification of a subject with respect to a risk of developing heart disease. The assay of the present invention is also capable of integration into pathology architecture to provide a diagnostic and reporting system.

Bibliographic details of references provided in the subject specification are listed at the end of the specification.
Reference to any prior art is not, and should not be taken as an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that this prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in any country.
Atherosclerosis (AS) is the single most common cause of heart disease and is the major contributor to the development of angina, heart attacks and stroke. Despite the introduction of statin-based therapy to reduce levels of plasma low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, the epidemic of heart disease is claiming tens of thousands of lives each year, particularly in Western countries and costs the health system over billions of dollars per year (National Health Survey: Summary of Results, Australia, 2004-05, cat. no. 4364.0, ABS, Canberra, Vol: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006, (AIHW) AIoHaW. Health system expenditure on disease and injury in Australia, 2000-01. Health and Welfare Expenditure Series No. 19, 2004; HWE 26).
Atherosclerosis begins to develop early in life and progresses with time. However, the rate of progression is, to a large extent, unpredictable and differs markedly amongst seemingly comparable individuals. One of the early events leading to Atherosclerosis is the formation of "fatty streaks", deposits of monocytes, macrophages, foam cells and lipids within the intima of the arterial wall. Fatty streaks exist in most adults and can remain as fatty streaks for years or decades, having little or no adverse clinical effects. Some, but not all, fatty steaks progress into fibriolipid plaques which are distinguished by the presence of smooth muscle cells and increased extracellular fibres within the intima. Cell death within the plaque leads to the formation of a necrotic core, the accumulation of extracellular material and the formation of the complex plaque. At this stage, the plaque may severely restrict blood flow leading to a range of clinical complications; however, many individuals will be unaware of the problem and show no symptoms.
Complex plaques can become unstable (a "vulnerable" plaque) as a result of the thinning of the smooth muscle cell layer over the plaque. Unstable plaques may rupture leading to thrombosis, myocardial infarction and stroke with the associated morbidity and mortality (the "vulnerable" patient). Although plaque accumulation and development is progressive throughout life, the switch from stable to unstable plaque can occur earlier or later in the disease process. Thus a 45 year old with relatively low levels of plaque can become unstable leading to a coronary event.
Despite our detailed knowledge of plaque pathology and progression many individuals have no clinical symptoms and so are unaware of their risk. In 30 to 50% of these individuals, the first indicator of Atherosclerosis is an acute heart attack which is often fatal (Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics-2006 Update, Dallas Tex.: American Heart Association, 2006. Available at http://www.americanheart.org/downloadable/heart/1198257493273HS_Stats %202008.pdf)
A non-invasive assay is required to identify and monitor heart disease.

Lipid biomarkers for stable and unstable heart disease

BAKER IDI HEART AND DIABETES INSTITUTE HOLDINGS LIMITED


A Pelargonium cultivar particularly distinguished by its light salmon flower color and dark green leaves is disclosed.

The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of Pelargonium, botanically known as Pelargonium×hortorum L.H. Bailey, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 'Clips Litsaltwo'. The new cultivar was propagated from a seedling resulting from the cross of 7886-1, a red-flowered, unnamed and unpatented proprietary Pelargonium line, as the female parent, and 'Champion', an orange-flowered Pelargonium, as the male parent.
The new cultivar was created in 1998 in Gilroy, Calif. and has been asexually reproduced repeatedly by cuttings in Gilroy, Calif. over a five-year period. It has also been trialed at Gilroy, Calif., Litchfield, Mich., and Andijk, The Netherlands. It has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive asexual propagations. 'Clips Litsaltwo' reproduces true to type through successive generations of asexual reproduction.

Pelargonium plant named ‘Clips Litsaltwo’


A plurality of conversations may be processed to obtain one or more representative conversations to allow a better understanding of the plurality of conversations. A representative conversation may be determined by representing each conversation as a sequence of states where a state may represent messages with similar meanings. Distances may be computed between pairs of conversations, and the conversations may be clustered using the distances. To obtain a representative conversation for a cluster of conversations, a representative sequence of states may be obtained for the cluster and a representative message may be obtained for each state of the sequence of states. The representative conversation may then be presented to a user.

In a variety of applications, a collection or corpus of conversations may be available, and it may be desired to categorize the conversations or identify common, typical, or representative conversations from the corpus. For example, a company that provides support to its customers may have logs of its customer support process that may include conversations between customers and customer service representatives. The company may desire to better understand the subject matter of the conversations, for example, to improve the customer support process.
Two conversations about the same subject matter may have a variety of different conversation flows. For example, a first conversation may include extended pleasantries before addressing the subject matter of the conversation, while a second conversation may skip the pleasantries and get right to the point of the conversation. For another example, a conversation may include digressions, such as a person telling a story.
Two conversations about the same subject matter may also use different language. For example, a first conversation seeking support for home Internet not working may describe the situation as the Internet not working while a second conversation seeking the same type of support may describe the situation as the web browser malfunctioning.
To identify representative conversations in a corpus of conversations, it may be desired to compare conversations in a manner such that conversations about the same subject matter may be recognized as similar even though the conversations have different flows and use different language.

Identifying representative conversations using a state model


A wireless communications network (66) having a plurality of cells (22) and base stations (19), the wireless communications network (66) comprising a mobile station (12) including a power source (50) readable by the mobile station (12). The power source (50) is encoded to provide information about origination and type of the power source (50) to the mobile station (12). Power capacity levels of the power source (50) are measured and also provided to the wireless communications network (66). The network (66) further comprises a switching center (generally the MSC 30) for communicating with the mobile station (12) with the MSC (30) adapted to receive power source (50) information from the mobile station (12). Thus, the wireless communications network (66) may receive information about origination, type, and power capacity levels of the power source (50).

The present invention relates generally to field of wireless communications and related applications and, more particularly to a system, related communications device and method of acquiring current information about a mobile station in a wireless network including power source type, capacity and remaining life.
Wireless communications technology has experienced unprecedented growth, fueled by advances in radio frequency transmission, satellite broadcast systems and microelectronic technologies. Several wireless technologies have emerged and become dominant in the marketplace, including analog systems such as the Advanced Mobile Phone Systems or AMPS, and digital systems such as the Global System for Mobile Communications commonly referred to as GSM, for example. At the same time, the wireless industry is continually evolving and new products and services are constantly being developed to improve the performance of the network and increase the number of features available to the wireless consumer.
A major limitation of the wireless network is the relatively limited life-span of the power supply used to operate the wireless telephone which is referred to in the industry as a mobile station. In general, the batteries used in many common mobile station designs can last from 2 to 8 hours depending on usage, age, discharge rate, temperature, and other factors which influence the life-span of the charge cell. As a result, the user is required to re-charge often and/or replace a defective battery to ensure continued service at a sufficient level of quality.
With the introduction of newer features that drain battery power and slimmer more compact mobile station designs, the need to develop a longer lasting power source becomes more critical. In this regard, the terms xe2x80x9cpower sourcexe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cpower supplyxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cbatteryxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9ccellxe2x80x9d, or xe2x80x9cbattery packxe2x80x9d can be used interchangeably, either in the singular or plural. For convenience the term xe2x80x9cpower sourcexe2x80x9d will be used throughout.
The difficulty in designing a better power source is magnified by the fact that many factors are influential in determining power source life-span. Until the present invention, however, the availability of meaningful information about the current status of the mobile station power source was unavailable to the designer and/or engineer faced with the design challenge. Such power source status information would assist in analyzing the life-span of the power source in terms of specific conditions and resulting affects.
To illustrate another need for power source status information, the use of a mobile station in placing an emergency call to a 911 or emergency response unit is one example. At present, positioning of the mobile station has become a requirement and is being implemented to provide assistance in locating a mobile subscriber during an emergency. Knowledge of the available power source capacity at the time the call is placed, however, is currently not available to emergency response personnel. Such information would assist in prioritizing response activity in terms of the life-span of the power source or to encourage such personal to request as much location data as possible from the caller while power is available. If the caller is in climate that restricts or reduces the duration of the power source, the response unit can take that into consideration as part of the response strategy.
Thus, there is a need for a means of acquiring power source status information from the operational mobile station within the service area of the wireless network. A way of identifying current power source type, model and remaining capacity would provide numerous advantages.
The present invention achieves technical advantages by providing current status information about the power source of a mobile station in the wireless communications network. The information can be utilized for developmental purposes (i.e. improving battery characteristics and capacity) or in instances such as where an emergency call is placed and knowledge about the current capacity of the mobile station power source would assist in responding to the emergency situation.
According to the present invention, disclosed in one embodiment is a mobile station for use in a wireless communications network. The mobile station comprises a power source encoded with origination and type information which can be read by a reader connected to the power source. A meter is connected to the power source and is utilized to measure current power levels of the power source. A messaging means is adapted to process the origination and type information and current power capacity levels of the power source such that the origination and type information and power capacity levels are provided to the wireless communications network.
Also disclosed is a wireless communications network having a plurality of cells and base stations. The wireless communications network comprises a mobile station and a switching center(generally the Mobile Switching Center). The mobile station includes a power source encoded with information readable by the mobile station. The encoded information provides data on the origination, type, and power capacity levels of the power source. The switching center communicates with the mobile station to receive the encoded information from the mobile station. The encoded information and power capacity levels may be downloaded to the switching center real time or at a pre-determined time.
Further disclosed is a method for acquiring power source information from a mobile station encoded with origination and type information comprising the steps of reading the power source origination and type information from the power source and measuring the power level of the power source to obtain power level data. The method also includes processing the origination and type information and the power level data for transmission to the wireless communications network. The origination and type information and the power level data is then transferred to the wireless communications network.
One advantage of the present invention is that it prevents unexpected loss of power and shut downs in critical situations ( i.e. 911 calls).
Another advantage of the present invention is that it provides data for continual development of power source (battery) technology for the ever growing wireless communications products market, particularly mobile phones. Also, locating algorithms can use power source capacity to influence such factors as dynamic power control, and handover criteria.
A further advantage is that the present invention will enable power source performance trending and diagnostics for use in development of higher capacity power sources.
And yet another advantage is that the present invention will allow for real-time remote battery monitoring.

Acquisition of mobile station power source capacity levels in a wireless communications network


In one embodiment, a memory system for managing priority based Input Output (I/O) command queuing for nonvolatile electrically erasable semiconductor memory comprises one or more banks of electrically erasable semiconductor memory coupled to a storage processor. The storage processor can processes access requests for the memory, and has components including: a command interface, an expectation table, and a mode selector. The command interface receives memory access requests, which include a tag to identify the request, and an external priority associated with the request. The expectation table includes a set of times associated with each of the external priority levels, which indicate the period in which a request having the external priority is expected. The mode selector selects from a set of storage processor operation modes including a standard mode and a preemption mode.

Accessing nonvolatile storage has generally been one of the key performance bottlenecks for data processing systems. The advent of storage command queuing was one technological development that, in general was able to improve data processing system perform. However, the queuing mechanisms developed were designed to address specific limitations created by the use of electromechanical hard drives as non-volatile memory for data storage. One specific limitation is that data is rarely read in the order in which it is stored on disk, as applications tend to request data that is scattered throughout all portions of the drive. One method of overcoming the mechanical limitations of an electromechanical hard drive is the use of command queuing, wherein a hard drive accepts multiple commands from a host controller, and then re-arranges those commands to minimize rotational and seek delay.
FIG. 1A is a block diagram of tag based command queuing as is known in the art, in which multiple commands are delivered to a storage device, and the commands are processed or dispatched in a manner that minimized access latencies across the set of commands. A memory buffer region 102 contains data associated with a command, and a set of tags 112 is used to identify each command. In one implementation of tagged queuing, a host controller 110 dispatches commands, which are queued into a command queue 122 for a hard drive 120. The hard drive 120 re-orders the commands in a way that efficiently accesses data on the one or more disk platters 124 upon which the data is stored. When the hard drive 120 is ready to transfer data associated with a command, the tag for the command is communicated to the host controller 110. The host controller 110 can then set up a direct memory transfer (DMA) between the hard drive 120 and the memory buffer region 102 which is store data transferred from the hard drive 120, or which stores data which will be transferred to the hard drive 120.
FIG. 1B is an illustration of the rotating disk platter 124 which has a clockwise rotation 126, and which will access data for Task A 152, Task B 132, Task C 162, and Task D 142. Notwithstanding the dispatch order of the commands, the commands will be accessed in the manner that reduces the overall latency for the set of commands, as the disk platter 124 rotates, and the data is accessed by the Read/Write head 128 of the hard drive. Hard drive based command queuing systems have limitations, however. The order in which commands are completed is largely a function of the physical placement of the data on the storage medium, so specifying a priority system in which commands should be serviced may result in an overall increase of system latency over a set of commands. Moreover, rotation and seek optimized command queuing systems provide no benefit when accessing semiconductor based nonvolatile storage.


The invention relates to a device (1) for covering a surface (3) of which the contour defines a surface plane, said device comprising: (a) a substantially rectangular cover (10) wound onto (b) a drum (2) which is rotatably mounted on a carriage that can wind up or unwind the cover (10) by movement of the carriage in a longitudinal direction of the surface and thus allows the deployment of the cover or the removal thereof from the surface (3); and (c) a protective casing (20) mounted on said carriage, characterized in that the distance between the edge of the casing and the edge of the surface varies between a first stopping position dp, and a second movement position dm when the carriage moves the drum over the surface (3), and in that dm>dp.

Covers are applied to surfaces for reasons which depend on the nature of these surfaces. Thus, in the case of a pond such as a swimming pool, the cover can avoid pollution by leaves or animals and provide savings on energy, water and reagents, and can or must ensure safety of people, in particular of children. In a desalination pond or other fluid treatment pond, a cover makes it possible to avoid the liquid dilution due to rain or excessive evaporation due to heat.
In the case of a sports field such as a dirt or grass outdoor tennis court, a cover makes it possible to protect it against bad weather, in particular intermittent rain. Moreover, a vehicle body is notably covered to ensure the stability of the load with respect to the drop in pressure caused by the movement of the vehicle and protect it against bad weather. Covers are also used as blinds for greenhouses, winter gardens or vehicle windows in order to avoid any internal overheating, and as solar protection for terrace awnings.
In all cases, the aim is generally to obtain an economical cover device that allows for easy, safe, reproducible and rapid covering and uncovering, requiring minimal human intervention and, above all, that has a life that is as long as possible. Many devices for covering a surface have been developed, ranging from the basic models to the most sophisticated. Among the latter, the moving drum devices can be cited.
In a moving drum cover device, the motorized drum is mounted on a longitudinal translation mechanism. The latter moves the drum over the surface to be covered which literally makes it possible to "lay" the cover on the surface, upon its deployment, by unwinding it simultaneously from the drum during its longitudinal movement, then lift it, upon its removal, by winding it simultaneously onto the drum. The cover therefore does not slip over the surface either upon its deployment or upon its removal. The cover device also comprises a system for fixing the cover at a first transverse end of the surface to be covered such that the translation and the rotation of the drum cause the unwinding or the winding of the cover on the surface to be covered. Examples of automatic devices of this type are disclosed, for example, in the following documents: WO2005/026473, FR2900951, DE2257231, FR2893651, FR2789425, FR2743502, EP1719858, and on the website www.kimbay.fr. Moreover, a completely manual variant of the drum mounted with longitudinal translation is illustrated in the documents WO2007/036625 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,195,370.
In the present application, the terms "longitudinal", "transverse", and their derivatives, refer respectively to the direction of movement of the drum and to the direction of the axis of revolution thereof.
The moving drum cover devices illustrated above provide only a fixing of a transverse edge of the cover at a transverse end of the surface to be covered, the opposite edge remaining secured to the drum. No system for fixing the longitudinal edges of the cover is provided. In particular, in the case of a swimming pool, people moving onto the cover would not be retained by its longitudinal edges and could thus be plunged into the water. Furthermore, the lack of sealing of the cover on its longitudinal edges can promote the ingress into the swimming pool of dirt, dead leaves and twigs, as well as small animals such as mice or snakes. More sophisticated devices have been proposed that make it possible to reversibly fix the longitudinal edges of the cover upon its deployment, as in the document FR2803769 which provides a system for fixing the longitudinal edges of the cover consisting of grid sections that are raised then folded back section by section on said longitudinal edges of the cover by keeping these edges inside a gutter as the latter is unwound. In this design, the longitudinal edges of the cover are gripped without being locked, which provides lesser security, particularly in the case of swimming pools.
Another advantageous system that makes it possible simultaneously to fix the longitudinal edges of the cover upon its deployment and exert a transverse pulling force thereon to tighten it perfectly has been disclosed in WO2010/010152 and in WO2010/054960. In these devices, the longitudinal edges of the cover are provided with a cord or sealing bead which is introduced into the upwardly oriented opening of a rail in the form of a "U" section profile member, with one or two fins partially closing said opening. The sealing bead which slips under a fin and is retained in this position by suitable fixing means makes it possible to securely fix the longitudinal edges of the cover.
Even in the moving drum devices comprising means for fixing the longitudinal edges, at most three of the four edges of the cover can offer a relatively tight contact with the surface forming the perimeter of the surface to be covered: the two longitudinal edges, and the first transverse edge of the cover which is fixed to a first end of a surface to be covered. The second transverse end, the one where the drum is parked, cannot be sealed because it is simply laid on the surface of said lateral edge, falling from the drum. A current of air or of wind slipping under the drum can open a space between the second lateral end of the surface and the cover, thus allowing contamination of the surface despite it being covered. For example, in the case of swimming pools, this can be reflected in a contamination by leaves, twigs, grit, and even animals, potentially being introduced into the pond, despite the presence of the cover.
Also, a protective casing can be added, mounted on a carriage supporting the drum. Said casing is open on its face facing toward the surface to be covered forming a skirt defining a cavity containing the carriage and the drum. The casing comprises a rim defining the perimeter of its open face. Such a carriage has a function that is primarily esthetic, because it conceals the longitudinal translation mechanism of the carriage and the drum. Above all it serves a protective function for said translation mechanism and the drum. In the case of a swimming pool, the casing can also serve as a bench when it is parked at one or other of the transverse ends of the pool. It is clear that such a casing makes it possible to reduce the penetration of the wind under the cover, when the latter is deployed. However, in order to allow the movement of the carriage, the rim of the casing must at all points be located over obstacles located over the entire width of the surface upon the movement in the longitudinal direction of the carriage. For this reason, it is essential to leave a minimum space, dm, between the rim of the casing and a plane defining the outline of the surface, such that the space, dm, is greater than the height, ho, relative to said plane of any obstacle located in the path of the carriage and of its casing. Such obstacles can be a protruding sun deck, pebbles, reinforcing profiles, etc. This space, dm, between the rim of the casing and the plane defining the edge of the surface does not therefore make it possible to satisfactorily seal the last side of the surface.
The risk of lifting of the cover can be minimized by fixing a batten of metal or other material with high density, extending in the transverse direction of the cover, at a position corresponding to the second end of the surface to be covered. The weight of the batten makes it more difficult for wind or an animal to open a space between the edge of the surface and the cover. This solution is not however optimal because, on the one hand, in strong winds, the weight of the batten becomes insufficient to maintain the contact of the cover with the lateral edge of the surface and, on the other hand, the batten adds thickness to the drum when the cover is wound.
There therefore remains a problem in sealing the four sides of a surface covered by a cover deployed by a moving drum system. The present invention proposes a particular protective casing, making it possible to seal the two transverse sides of the surface when a cover is deployed.

Device for covering a surface, comprising a mobile drum covered with a protective casing


A pocket implement magazine includes, a pivot implement which rotates from a closed to an open position and back to the closed position. A latch assembly that communicates with the pivot implement and selectively allows for rotation of the pivot implement and selectively locks the pivot implement in the closed or open position. This latch assembly includes, a latch housing, a rotation portion or area operable to cause rotation of the latch housing, a spring disposed within the latch housing, an off-center biased latch pressed by the spring to extend exteriorly of the latch housing and engage the operational latch aperture of the pivot implement, when the pivot implement is in the open position and engage the storage latch aperture, when the pivot implement is in the closed position.

A pocket knife is a tool that holds one or more implements stored in a retracted position when not in use. When an implement is selected for use, it is typically pivoted outwardly and rotated about 180°. The types of implements generally included in a pocket knife are well known in the art and may include knife blades, screwdrivers or other tools, files, combs, bottle openers, scissors, cuticle trimmers, and corkscrews, among others.
Generally, the implements are difficult to open to the use position. The motion of the implements is stiff so that the implements remain in a fixed position during use. To aid in opening of the implements, either nail marks or indentations in the implements have been provided to allow a user to partially release the implement in order to then grasp and rotate it to its use position. Unfortunately, persons with weak, long, or damaged fingernails have difficulty manipulating such implements. Implement manipulation can be particularly difficult for women who grow long fingernails, or who wear artificial fingernails.
What is needed in the art is a pocket knife with implements that can be readily opened without the use of fingernails.


In a semiconductor device manufacturing method for etching an insulating film on the surface of a silicon semiconductor to expose the surface of the silicon semiconductor, and then forming a thin film so as to cover at least the etched portion. Simultaneously with or after etching, an SiC film is formed on the surface of a semiconductor which is exposed by the etching, and a thin film is formed on the SiC film without removing the SiC film. Specifically, the etching is performed by using carbon-based etching gas, for example, to form the SiC film simultaneously with the etching.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device manufacturing method, and particularly to a semiconductor device manufacturing method of selectively or entirely etching an insulating film on the surface of a silicon semiconductor to entirely or selectively expose the surface of the silicon semiconductor, and then forming a thin film so as to cover at least the etched portion.
In order to establish the contact between a silicon semiconductor substrate or a patterned polysilicon semiconductor layer and other conductive layers in manufacturing of a silicon-based semiconductor device, there is passed a process of forming an interlayer insulating film before the other conductive layers are formed, then selectively etching a portion of the interlayer insulating film at which the contact is established (a photoresist film is selectively formed, and then a wet etching treatment is performed by using the film as a mask), thereby removing the portion and forming an opening, and then forming other conductive films (polysilicon film, silicide film, metal film) (the film is entirely formed by the Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD), sputtering or the like, and then a photoetching treatment is performed).
When an MIS capacitor is formed, the insulating film on the surface of the semiconductor substrate in which each semiconductor region is formed is selectively etched to form an opening, and then an insulating film formed of silicon nitride Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 which constitutes dielectric substance.
However, there is the problem that when the interlayer insulating film on the silicon semiconductor substrate or the patterned polysilicon semiconductor layer is etched to form an opening and expose the surface of the semiconductor substrate or the semiconductor layer, the surface of the opening portion is naturally oxidized from that time until the conductive layer or the insulating film constituting the dielectric substance is formed. The natural oxidation occurs due to cleaning in a solution treatment or when it is left in the air.
The natural oxidation increases the contact resistance, and causes dispersion, and thus this is inconvenient. In the case of a washed polysilicon emitter transistor, it causes dispersion in characteristics such as current amplification, frequency characteristic, etc. of the transistor, and this is inconvenient. In the case of MIS (Metal Insulator Semiconductor) capacitor, it reduces the capacitance value and causes the dispersion, and thus this is inconvenient.
In the case of the MIS capacitor, the parasitic capacitance due to a natural oxidation film serves as in-series capacitance to the original capacitance. The design of the insulating film formed of silicon nitride or the like which constitutes dielectric substance is directed to the thin film design due to shrinkage of IC which will be further severer in the future, and thus the degree of variation of the capacitance due to the natural oxidation film is increased more and more, so that this problem is extremely important.
Therefore, the inventor of this application has made various experiments, and consequently he has found out that a silicon carbide SixCy (hereinafter merely referred to as "SiC") film which is a composition of silicon and carbon (carbon) C has a function of prohibiting formation of the natural oxidation film. Therefore, he has groped to effectively use the SiC film in order to prohibit the natural oxidation film, and has implemented the present invention.

Method of manufacturing semiconductor device


A heatsink-locking device that is applied to lock a heatsink to a placement surface having an exothermic component, includes a bottom base fixed on the placement surface to dispose and position the heatsink and having an open hole corresponding to the exothermic component and clamping portions at two opposing lateral sides; and a clamping tool for pressing the heatsink and being jointed to the bottom base, the clamping tool including a first board part and a second board part connected to each other with a distance between these two parts being adjustable, a third board part axially connected to the first board part to fix the adjustable distance, a pressing part fixed to the third board part to press the heatsink, and a first joint part and a second joint part disposed at one end of the first and second board parts respectively to be jointed to the clamping portion.

Central Processing Unit (CPU) is the main part of the computer, providing a processing and a central control function for the computer, which is undoubtedly important. However, CPU generates large amount of exothermic heat during highly frequent operation and the high temperature may become a potential factor causing the computer breakdown, therefore a heatsink device is provided to solve this problem.
As show in FIG. 1, the conventional heatsink device for the CPU to dissipate the heat comprises: heatsink device 1 that is disposed on a frame 12, forms a plurality of heatsink fins 11 for heat dissipation, and also forms open holes 110 on two sides which allows screw 13 going through spring 14 then screw locked on the frame 12; thus the heatsink device 1 can be locked on the frame 12, and the frame beneath is the exothermic component (not in the diagram), therefore the heat generated is absorbed by the heatsink device 1, then dissipate therein.
However, using a screw-locked method to luck up the heatsink is annoying and cause inconvenience for users.
Furthermore, although there are many heatsink locking device provided nowadays that requires no tooling during installation, but because the clamp used to lock the heatsink onto the bottom base is disposed on the bottom base, so one locking device can only be applied to one particular model and size heatsink.
Therefore, to improve the drawbacks from the prior art has become a problem desired to be solved.


A metal structure (1) has a display region being a second region and being integrate with another region being a first region which is a display region. The metal structure may constitute a monolithic structure of an information display unit, for example, a front panel of an electronic device. The display region is formed by providing a cluster of small non-through-going cavities (5) in the metal structure, leaving a very small thickness of material, the thickness being translucent (6). In addition to being a display unit when arranging a light source behind the translucent region (6), touch sensitive or non-touch sensitive input devices, optionally connected to acoustical input and registration devices, may also be provided. These input devices may advantageously be arranged in, or adjacent, the cavities in the metal structure, whereby when the front of the metal structure is viewed an indication of display or input options is visible.

Display units for providing visual information by applying light from a rear side of a transparent panel with pre-formed symbols are well-known. However, often such displays suffer from a number of disadvantages. It is normally a prerequisite desire of the transparent panels that the information symbols are completely invisible in a deactivated state of the display, i.e. when the light source at the rear side of the display is switched off. Therefore, transparent panels with a semi-transparent rear side or panels made of a semi-transparent material themselves are used as a front of the display so as to give a dark appearance in a deactivated state of the display. Coloured or toned glass or acrylic materials may be used in front of the display to provide this effect.
However, the display region will still be visible to a viewer also in the deactivated state since most often the display will be made of a front material different from the front material of the device to which the display is attached, because often a front panel of a device is a metal panel, thus making it impossible to fully integrate the display unit in the front of the device. The reason for the display panel not being fully integrated with the device front panel is that a transition on the surface between the metal panel of the device and the non-metal panel of the display will always be clearly visible and it will be perceptible if one touches the front surface. If a display panel is attached to a device having a metal front panel the difference in materials will also imply a non-perfect mechanical fit of the display onto or into the front panel of the device. This non-perfect mechanical fit will lead to further disadvantages than non-perfect visual fit as mentioned above. A border edge around the display panel will be inevitable. In addition, attaching a display panel to a front panel of a device will normally involve a penetration of the front panel, such as for electrical wires, thus introducing a path for dust, liquid and gases that may penetrate into the interior of the device thus disturbing the function of the device.
Attempts of producing a display front with an appearance similar to solid metal is known, see for example the earlier application of the applicant WO 03/019505. In this application the formation of a display is described, where translucent regions are created in order to be able to shine light through the metal structure. It thereby becomes possible to display information on the surface of a metal structure where to the user no obvious indications are present that the metal structure serves as a display unit. The document, however, does not describe that the structure may also be used as an input unit, whereby it leaves the serious drawback that for applications, where it is desirable both to display information, but also to receive input, the skilled person will have to provide separate input means, for example in the shape of traditional bottoms, dials, etc. This in turn necessitates that firstly an area of the device where such a structure is built into needs to be larger in order to also accommodate the input means, but also the "pure" design where the surprising effect of having an entire clean metal surface is lost.
In other applications, display fronts which appear to be solid metal have been attempted such as a metal layer being vapour deposited onto a transparent surface thus providing a translucent surface. However, as an example, a glass material must still be used for supporting the metal layer and thereby the visual appearance of an integrated display region and front panel is destroyed. Other attempts to produce displays with metal-like fronts have several layers. Such displays typically have a front sheet of a transparent material positioned in front of a metal sheet thus to a certain degree providing a visual impression of a metal surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,987,793 describes a display unit with pre-formed symbols visible from a front side when a light source is applied at a rear side. The display unit has several layers. A transparent sheet forms a front of the display. A 0.01-0.05 μm thick layer of metal, for example aluminium, is applied to the rear side of the transparent sheet. Symbols are formed in a "character cut-out layer" behind the metal layer. The symbols are visible from the front side, when the light source at the rear side is switched on. Without light being switched on at the rear side, only the metal layer is visible from the front side thus giving a visual impression of a metal display. In order to provide a "high-grade feeling" the front side of the transparent panel is coated with a layer of urethane resin.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,417,411 describes a display with a front panel of a transparent material coated with a metal coating with a thickness of 200-300 Å. The metal coating is intended to provide a visual impression of a "metallic wall", when light at the rear side is switched off.
FR 2 702 296 A3 describes a display with a front sheet being translucent but not transparent. A thickness of 0.1-0.5 mm is considered appropriate for the front sheet, depending on which material is used. The front sheet is positioned in front of a second sheet, for example a metal sheet, the second sheet not being transparent or translucent. Transparent symbols are canted into the second sheet so as to allow symbols to be visible from the front when a light source is applied from the rear side.
JP 2002040952 (English abstract) describes a display with a metal film having a large number of small cavities with a pore diameter of 5-70 μm in a specified pitch by about −20-50% area rate of view area is formed on an upper face side of a transparent substrate. A colour image-forming layer is formed on the upper face side of the metal film, and a transparent protective film layer is formed on the upper face of the colour image-forming layer. An effect being obtained with the described display is a "noble metal appearance".
JP 2002023670 describes a display with a metallic film in which small cavities having about 40-70 μm diameter are dispersively arranged at prescribed intervals about 20-50% area rate of the surface area is arranged on the lower face of a transparent display substrate.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a metal structure that can serve as a front panel and at the same time allow information to be displayed on a display region of the panel, when a light source is applied on a rear side of the structure. However, the object includes that when the light source is switched off, the display region should not in any way be distinguishable from the remaining part of the panel.

Metal display panel having one or more translucent regions


A process for making 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene (HFO-1234yf) includes providing a composition including 2-chloro-1,1,1,2-tetrafluoropropane (HCFC-244bb) to a reactor including a heater surface at a surface temperature greater than about 850° F. (454° C.), and then bringing the composition into contact with the heater surface for a contact time of less than 10 seconds to dehydrochlorinate a portion of the HCFC-244bb to make HFO-1234yf.

Hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs), such as tetrafluoropropenes are known effective refrigerants, fire extinguishants, heat transfer media, propellants, foaming agents, blowing agents, gaseous dielectrics, sterilant carriers, polymerization media, particulate removal fluids, carrier fluids, buffing abrasive agents, displacement drying agents and power cycle working fluids. Due to suspected environmental problems associated with the use of some of these fluids, including the relatively high global warming potentials associated therewith, it is desirable to use fluids having the lowest possible global warming potential (GWP) in addition to also having zero ozone depletion potential (ODP). Thus, there is considerable interest in developing environmentally friendlier materials for the applications mentioned above.
HFOs having zero ozone depletion and low global warming potential have been identified as potentially filling this need. However, the toxicity, boiling point, and other physical properties of such chemicals vary greatly from isomer to isomer. One HFO having valuable properties is 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene (HFO-1234yf or 1234yf).
HFO-1234yf has been shown to be a low global warming compound with low toxicity and, thus, can meet increasingly stringent requirements for refrigerants in mobile air conditioning. Accordingly, compositions containing 1234yf are among the materials being developed for use in many applications.

Method for dehydrochlorination of HCFC-244bb to manufacture HFO-1234yf


The present invention includes a panoramic imaging system for projecting a 360 degree cylindrical field of view onto a two-dimensional annular format using a panoramic imaging block with a concentric axis 5 of symmetry, two refractive surfaces and two reflective surfaces, and an additional aspheric lens for mitigating aberrations inherent in refractive and reflective lenses.

Mobile handsets, such as cellular phones, are increasingly popular. Many cellular phones include image capture functionality. Generally, the image capture functionality is based upon charged coupled device ("CCD") camera technology. Optical lenses included in cellular phones are generally static lenses, which may or may not include some magnification properties. Software is then used to manipulate a captured image and store or post process captured image data. A Field of View ("FOV") is generally limited by the image lens and the flat surface of the CCD.
The use of optical arrangements to facilitate panoramic viewing have been known to use a variety of configurations, including catadioptric lenses and purely refractive lenses, of various shapes and sizes. Generally, a single panoramic block is configured such that light entering it undergoes a two refractions and two reflections before exiting. Both reflective surfaces are paraboloidal in shape and achieve high quality imagery. Each of these surfaces can be replaced with a surface having a radius of the "best fit" sphere for an acceptable image quality of a still image.
However, utilization of paraboloidal reflective surfaces in combination with a telecentric exit pupil may compromise a resulting performance of a design of an overall system rather than enhance it. Some optical configurations work better with spherical reflective surfaces as compared with paraboloidal reflective surfaces. Further, previously known systems have not addressed the use of a means to transfer an intermediate image onto a camera lens
Accordingly, there is still a need for a lens or optical block that can be coupled with a camera lens, such as, for example, a cellular device. The cellular device may include for example, a smartphone, and android, an iPhone™, an iPad™, and a tablet computer. In some embodiments, the present invention provides high resolution panoramic imaging that achieves or nearly achieves a diffraction limited system.

Methods and apparatus for panoramic afocal image capture


A method for categorizing body shape is provided comprising the steps of providing a data set of body shape-defining measurements of a portion of the body of interest from a plurality of subjects' bodies, wherein the measurements define a silhouette and profile (front and side) perspectives of the portion of the body of interest; conducting a principal component (PC) analysis of the data set of measurements to calculate and generate PC scores; conducting cluster analysis using the PC scores as independent variables to produce cluster analysis results; and establishing one or more body shape categories from the cluster analysis results, thereby categorizing body shapes of the plurality of subjects. A shape prototyping system is also provided for designing a custom fit garment for an individual subject, the system being based on the method for categorizing body shape.

Three-dimensional (3D) body scanning technology has shown the potential of providing data that can be used to improve the fit of clothing. 3D body scanners can automatically generate a set of over 100 measurements in a short time (5 to 15 seconds for the scan, 1 to 2 minutes to generate measurements), and therefore they have been used for several large-scale anthropometric surveys in the U.K., the U.S., Germany, Japan, Korea, and Thailand. Up-to-date anthropometric data assists ready-to-wear apparel companies to identify sectors of the market, and update their sizing systems to provide good fit for their target market customers. Mass customization and automated custom clothing have recently been regarded as an additional way for the apparel industry to address consumer complaints about garment fit; 3D body scanners are useful tools in implementing these processes. Apparel companies such as Brooks Brothers, Lori Coulter, and C&A have produced custom-made garments using measurements taken from a 3D body scanner. By providing fit that is individualized on the basis of the customer's objective body measurements, these apparel companies provide improved fit for each customer.
Other apparel companies have created online custom clothing services by having the customer self-report his or her measurements. Archetype Solutions is a representative service provider for online made-to-measure apparel companies. They have developed a simple and intuitive ordering process that allows the consumer to order a garment based on their self-measurements, perceived body shapes, and style preferences in a few minutes over the internet. JCPenney, Land's End, QVC, and indiDenim have utilized similar ordering processes for women/men's Chino pants or jeans, or men's dress shirts.
In the apparel industry, body type, sometimes referred to as "body shape," has increasingly been recognized as a fundamental factor to a good fit. Apparel companies such as Gap Inc. and The Limited provide 'Straight' and 'Curvy' pants styles for customers with different lower body types. Zafu is an online size selection company which offers recommendations on which jeans are likely to fit the user best among 90 denim brands on the basis of a user's body shape and previous fit problems with their jeans. Zafu spent over six years researching and understanding body types, tested hundreds of pairs of jeans on 11,500 women, and developed a 'shape matching' technology. They found that women with identical hip measurements can have totally different body types, resulting in different fit problems. Only 6% of women have the same body type as the typical tall and slim fit model, but the problem is that most jeans companies consider these women 'average'. Zafu claims that their body type-based recommendations make it possible for 94% of 5,872,964 users to find their "perfect" jeans, but online return rates of apparel merchandise are generally about 50%.
Body type is also recognized to be a factor in creating custom-fit solutions. Staples was the first researcher in the U.S. to create different patterns designed for different body types for base block patterns while developing U.S. army men's dress uniforms in 2000. In Archytype's custom ordering process, customers are asked to specify their own body type from pictures of basic silhouettes and a text description in addition to their self-reported measurements. Automated made-to-measure computer-aided design programs (e.g., AccuMark MTM of Gerber Scientific, FitNet of Lectra Systems, and MtM.assyst of Assyst GmbH), may also benefit from use of body type information Simmons, Istook, and Devarajan felt that customization could be improved if it started from the most correctly shaped garment for each customer's body type. Ashdown and Dunne noted that the accuracy of body chart data, reliability of body measurement data, and fit preferences are critical elements in a system designed to automate patternmaking (Ashdown, S. P., and Dunne, L., A Study of Automated Custom Fit: Readiness of the Technology for the Apparel Industry, Clothing Textiles Res. J. 24(2), 121-136 (2006)). However, even after three iterative corrections of all these issues, these researchers found that only seven of ten custom-made garments from the system provided good fit. This limitation of automated custom system was also observed previously by the inventors when they worked with two large sportswear companies to develop automated custom-made systems for jacket and pant styles. Existing systems could not generate custom-made patterns with consistent good fit for these garments even after corrections of all issues enumerated in Ashdown and Dunne's study. In the custom jacket studies, when the hip girth was determined as a primary measurement for initiating the custom fit process, the fit at the bust was poor although the fit at the hip was appropriate. In contrast, when the bust girth was set as a primary measurement, the fit at the bust was appropriate, but the fit at the hip was not good. The custom-made clothing had especially poor fit for those people with a body type different from that of the fit model for the base pattern, resulting in a different silhouette, since this situation created the need for an extreme pattern alteration in a specific area.
Citation or identification of any reference in Section 2, or in any other section of this application, shall not be considered an admission that such reference is available as prior art to the present invention.


In order to improve a holding device for an implant, comprising a first connecting device for releasably connecting the holding device and the implant, such that very small implants, in particular, are easy to handle, it is suggested that the holding device have a second connecting device for releasably connecting the holding device and a storage unit.

The present invention relates to a holding device for an implant, comprising a first connecting device for releasably connecting the holding device and the implant.
The present invention also relates to a storage unit for accommodating and/or securing at least one holding device for an implant in place, wherein the holding device comprises a first connecting device for releasably connecting the holding device and the implant.
A holding device of the type described at the outset is known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 6,929,646 B2. This holding device has an elongated handle portion, with the aid of which an implant connected to the handle portion can be brought into a desired implanting position and location relative to a body part to be operated. After the implant has been attached to the body part, the handle portion can be separated from the implant.
It has been shown that the organization and handling of, in particular, very small implants is a problem. These implants differ from one another, at times, only very slightly but must be made available in numerous variations for a specific operation so that a surgeon can decide during the course of an operation which of the implants altogether available should be used. In some countries it is, in addition, necessary to document exactly what and how many implants have been used during the course of an operation.
It would, therefore, be desirable to make a holding device and a storage unit of the type described at the outset available, with which very small implants, in particular, are easy to handle.