Apparatuses and methods for accurately measuring the reflectivity of a target surface, under conditions where the distance between a measuring probe and the target surface is not fixed. At least two measurements of the target reflectivity are taken under different conditions, and then these two or more measurements are combined in order to calculate the target reflectivity in a way which is independent of the probe-to-target distance. In particular, the different conditions are such that each measurement samples radiation reflected from the target surface at a different distribution of angles. The apparatus can also be used to accurately measure the distance between the probe measurement head and a target surface.

The reflectivity of a target surface can be measured by irradiating the surface and measuring the fraction of the incident radiant energy that is reflected. Apparatuses and methods to perform such measurements are known, see for example the Delta and NTM500 radiation thermometers manufactured by C I Systems (P.O. Box 147, Migdal Ha'emek 10051 Israel) and the Optitherm III radiation thermometer manufactured by the Pyrometer Instrument Company (92 North Main Street, Bldg 18-D, Windsor, N.J. 08561, USA), among others. Apparatuses to perform such measurements are also described in e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,433,052, 4,708,493, 4,919,542, and 6,299,346, and in the patents referenced therein.
A schematic drawing of an exemplary prior art apparatus 100 for performing such a measurement is shown in FIGS. 1A and 1A. Apparatus 100 includes a light guide 102 that directs radiation from a radiation (e.g. light) source 104 onto a target surface 106 to form an illuminated spot 108. A fraction of the radiation reflected by the target surface is incident on a second light-guide 110, which directs this radiation to a detector 112. Frequently, there may be an optical filter (not shown) placed somewhere in the optical path between radiation source 104 and detector 112 so that the apparatus will be sensitive only to reflected radiation within a given radiation wavelength range.
For the apparatus sketched in FIGS. 1A and 1B, with a constant radiation-source intensity and constant geometry, the target surface reflectivity ρ can be determined from the relationship:V=V0+ρV1  (1)where V is the radiant intensity incident on detector 112, V0 is an offset term arising due to non-idealities in the apparatus, such as e.g. internal reflections within the apparatus, offsets in the detector, etc. and V1 is a proportionality constant that depends on the apparatus design and its positioning relative to the target surface. Examples of parameters effecting the value of the constant V1 include; the apparatus' radiation source intensity, the apparatus' radiation transmission efficiency, and the distances Ld and Le between the target surface and two probe tips 114 and 116 of light-guides 102 and 110 respectively.
Typically, equation (1) is used to determine target reflectivity after a calibration procedure that consists of two steps. First, V0 is determined by measuring the signal V when the probe views a target of zero reflectivity. This measurement is typically performed by directing the probe at a large open space, from which no reflection is returned to the probe. Next, a target calibration surface with a known reflectivity ρcalibration is placed in front of the probe, at the same distance and orientation with respect to the probe at which subsequent measurements are to be taken. A signal V=Vcalibration is generated while measuring this target. This calibration step is used to calculate V1 of equation (1) as V1=(Vcalibration−V0)/ρcalibration. Once V1 is known, equation (1) can be rearranged into a form which can be used to determine the reflectivity of all subsequently measured surfaces:
                    ρ        =                              ρ            calibration                                                        V              -                              V                0                                                                    V                calibration                            -                              V                0                                                                        (        2        )
Note that typically the incident radiation source is modulated, in which case the measured signal V is the amplitude of the fluctuation in reflected intensity, rather than an absolute intensity measurement. This allows the reflectivity measurement to be insensitive to the presence of reflected radiation from other interfering radiation sources and from the target's self-emission.
The existing reflectivity measurement apparatuses and methods suffer from the disadvantage that the reflected signal V is a strong function of the probe-to-target distance. Hence, significant errors in the measured reflectivity value can occur if the target surface moves relative to the position at which the calibration target was placed. The sensitivity of the measurement to variations in the probe-to-target distance is illustrated by a simple example, explained with reference to FIG. 1B. Consider a probe 102 of the general type shown in FIG. 1B, which emits from its probe-tip 114 a beam of radiation with uniform intensity within a cone-section 118 of apex angle 2θ. Consider the case where the emitted beam is incident on a specularly reflecting target surface 106. In this exemplary case, equation 1 can be written in the following form:
                    V        =                              V            0                    +                      ρ                                                                          η                                                                        π                                                        (                                          D                      /                      2                                        )                                                  2                                                              π                                                        (                                                                  D                        /                        2                                            +                                                                        (                                                                                L                              e                                                        +                                                          L                              d                                                                                )                                                                        tan                                                                                ϑ                                                              )                                                  2                                                                        (        3        )            Here D is the diameter of both the radiation source and detector light-guides, Le and Ld are the distances between each of these respective light-guides and the target surface (see FIG. 1A), and η is a proportionality constant that accounts for the intensity emitted by the apparatus' radiation source, the transmission efficiency of the apparatus optics, etc. The ratio in the second term in equation (3) is the ratio of the cross-sectional area of collecting light-guide 110 divided by a cross-sectional area 120 of the reflected beam as it intersects this light-guide. Since the beam has uniform intensity within the cone-section in this example, this ratio represents the fraction of the total reflected power which is collected by the probe. Solving equation (3) for the reflectivity ρ, gives:
                    ρ        =                                            (                              V                -                                  V                  0                                            )                        η                                                        (                              1                +                                  4                                                        L                    D                                                      tan                                                                                ϑ                                            )                        2                                              (        4        )            where we define an probe-to-target distance L to be L=(Le+Ld)/2. That is, L is the average distance between the two probe tips and the target surface. If such a probe is now used to measure a calibration target with reflectivity ρcalibration, at a calibration probe-to-target distance L=Lcalibration, then the measured signal Vcalibration will satisfy relationship (4):
                              ρ          calibration                =                                            (                                                V                  calibration                                -                                  V                  0                                            )                        η                                                        (                              1                +                                  4                                                                              L                      calibration                                        D                                                      tan                                                                                ϑ                                            )                        2                                              (        5        )            Equation (5) can be substituted into (4) to eliminate η, and obtain:
                    ρ        =                              ρ            calibration                                                        (                              V                -                                  V                  0                                            )                                      (                                                V                  calibration                                -                                  V                  0                                            )                                                                                (                                  1                  +                                      4                                                              L                      D                                                            tan                                                                                ϑ                                                  )                            2                                                      (                                  1                  +                                      4                                                                                L                        calibration                                            D                                                            tan                                                                                ϑ                                                  )                            2                                                          (        6        )
When L=Lcalibration, equation (6) is reduced to equation (2) and an accurate reflectivity measurement is achieved using equation (2) and the procedures described previously. However, when L≠Lcalibration, an error is introduced into the measurement. The fractional error in the measured reflectivity is given by:
                                          ρ            measured                                ρ            actual                          =                                            (                              1                +                                  4                                                                              L                      calibration                                        D                                                      tan                                                                                ϑ                                            )                        2                                              (                              1                +                                  4                                                        L                    D                                                      tan                                                                                ϑ                                            )                        2                                              (        7        )            This fractional error is plotted in FIG. 2 as a function of L/D for θ=30° and Lcalibration=D. This figure shows that when the probe moves away from its nominal position by half a probe diameter (D/2) the measured reflectivity is 0.56 times its actual value, while if the probe moves half a probe diameter closer to the target compared to the nominal position, then the measured reflectivity is 2.36 times its actual value.
Note that while equations (3) to (7) are specific to the model system described in this section, the ˜1/L2 dependence of the fractional reflectivity error in equation (7) is a general feature of such measuring systems, which typically show roughly inverse quadratic dependence on probe-to-target distance, since the divergence of the radiation beam emitted by the apparatus is a two-dimensional phenomenon.
There is therefore a need for and it would be advantageous to have a reflectivity measurement probe that is insensitive to variations in the distance between the probe and the target surface.

Reflectivity/emissivity measurement probe insensitive to variations in probe-to-target distance


A control method used in a switched tank converter with a first conversion unit, a second conversion unit and a rectification unit, includes: based on current flowing through the resonant tanks in the first and second conversion units, determining when to turn on the high side switches of the first and second conversion units, and when to turn on the low side switches of the first and second conversion units; detecting whether current flowing through the first, second, third and fourth rectification switches crosses zero; and based on the detection result, respectively determining when to turn off the high side switch of the first conversion unit, when to turn off the high side switch of the second conversion unit, when to turn off the low side switch of the second conversion unit, and when to turn off the low side switch of the first conversion unit.

Compared with traditional switched capacitor converters, switched tank converters work in a resonant state, so there is no current spike. This makes switched tank converters suitable for applications with large output current. As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, conventional switched tank converters are usually controlled by control signals with 50% duty cycle. To achieve zero current switching, frequency of the control signals is typically set to be equal to resonant frequency of resonant circuits in the converter. However, since equivalent circuits of the resonant circuits in different paths or different time period are different, and resonant elements contained therein have inherent manufacture deviation, it is difficult to realize zero current switching for all the switches. A commonly used solution is to set capacitance of the capacitor C22 to be much higher than that of the capacitors C1 and C2, so as to reduce the resonance frequency difference between different resonant circuits. However, this will undoubtedly increase the volume of the resonant tank converter.

Controller and control method used in switched tank converter

Chengdu Monolithic Power Systems Co., Ltd.


A digital array signal processor and an associated method are described for implementing the fast Fourier transform radix-4 butterfly algorithm. The digital array signal processor is an integrated circuit with a four stage pipeline and can perform a radix-4 butterfly operation on four complex operands every 80 nanoseconds. Using the decimation-in-frequency implementation of the radix-4 butterfly algorithm, the digital array signal processor includes a first stage for distribution of complex input operand values, a second stage for performing addition and subtraction operations, a third stage for performing multiplication operations and a fourth stage for distribution of the output operand values. The digital array signal processor can be reconfigured to perform a radix-2 butterfly operation on two sets of two complex numbers during the 80 nanosecond machine cycle as well as frequently used arithmetic and logic operations. The digital signal array processor can be configured to perform a series of operations on an array of operands or can be one of a series of processors, each processor performing a separate operation on an operand array. According to a second implementation, the digital array signal processor can perform the radix-4 butterfly algorithm using the decimation-in-time algorithm.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for performing digital signal processing, and in particular, for performing the fast Fourier transform (FFT).
2. Description of the Related Art
The fast Fourier transform is a common digital processing technique for use in performing, for example, spectral analysis and filtering of digital data. Several applications, such as radar, sonar, communications surveillance, and image processing, require high speed digital signal processing in order to achieve the real-time performance required by these applications. Presently, however, the known hardware for performing a FFT on the data produced in these applications is physically quite large and very expensive. As a consequence, presently known hardware for performing FFT processing has proven to be impractical in many of these applications. Moreover, due to the relatively large size of the hardware, typically covering several printed circuit boards and possibly including several racks of equipment, propagation delays associated with transferring information between the various elements comprising the FFT processing hardware and the like have steadily eroded the ability of the hardware to accommodate the eve increasing data rates employed in the aforementioned types of applications. Consequently, there is a need for a device for accomplishing FFT processing that addresses the drawbacks associated with the size of presently known FFT processing hardware. Additionally, there is a need for a device for accomplishing FFT processing that is less expensive than presently known FFT devices.
In many digital signal processing applications, the digital data must be subjected either before or after the FFT to a related FFT operation, such as windowing, in order to achieve the desired result. Presently known FFT processing hardware does not incorporate the ability to perform these related FFT functions. Consequently, to implement related FFT functions, additional hardware must be interfaced with the FFT processing hardware. Due to the size of presently known FFT processing hardware and the time constraints that the size of the FFT processing hardware imposes, the need to incorporate additional hardware to realize related FFT functions further reduces the speed at which such systems can operate as well as adds to the complexity of the system. Consequently, such systems are unsuitable for many of the aforementioned high-speed real-time applications. Based on the foregoing, there is also a need for a device that integrates the ability to accomplish an FFT with related FFT functions that are typically employed in digital signal processing.
In digital signal processing applications, such as graphics, it is typically necessary to subject the digital data to a vector add/subtract and bit-wise logical operation, for example. Presently known digital signal processing hardware implements these types of operations or functions discretely. This lack of integrated functionality requires that several separate pieces of hardware be incorporated into the digital signal processing system to realize the required functionality for many applications. As with the related FFT functions, this typically renders the resulting system unsuitable for many high-speed applications as well as increases the complexity of such systems.
In many applications, the digital data on which an FFT is to be performed lacks any imaginary component, i.e., the digital data includes only a real component. In these instances, a FFT can be more efficiently or quickly performed on the digital data using the FFT2N algorithm, which recombines a FFT of N complex-points into a FFT of 2N real points, to realize an increase in throughput. The FFTNN algorithm, which recombines an FFT of N complex-points into two separate N real-point FFTs, provides similar benefits in the appropriate situation. Many applications for FFT processing are quickly approaching the point where the increase in throughput realized by implementing the FFT2N and/or FFTNN method will be needed to realize real-time constraints and/or provide additional time for further processing of the digital data.
Most, if not all, of the known processors for implementing the FFT achieve a defined arithmetic precision using a fixed point integer/fixed scaling method. The use of a fixed point integer/fixed scaling method, however, limits the dynamic range and numerical accuracy of the information produced by the processor. Consequently, there is a need for a processor for performing FFT functions where the numerical accuracy and dynamic range of the information produced by the processor is increased relative to known FFT processors.
Presently known digital signal processors employ one unidirectional bus to transfer data from an input memory to the processor and another unidirectional bus is used to transfer data from the processor to an output memory or employ a single bidirectional bus to alternatingly read and write to a single input/output memory. Many applications require recursive processing of data where the data output by the processor during one iteration of the recursive processing becomes the input data for a subsequent iteration. In FFT processors that employ separate unidirectional buses, recursive processing typically requires hardware for moving data from the output memory to the input memory for each iteration. The need for this additional hardware typically results in a reduction in throughput as well as increasing the complexity and cost of the processing hardware necessary to implement recursive processing. FFT processors that employ a single bidirectional bus are inherently performance limited by their inability to simultaneously perform input data transfers and output data transfers. Consequently, there is also a need for a digital signal processor that increases the throughput or speed at which recursive processing can be accomplished.
Most, if not all, digital signal processors support only one mechanism to transfer data into and out of the digital signal processor. To increase performance in such a situation, the speeds of all data transfer buses and input/output memories must be increased proportionately, with performance normally being limited by available memory speeds. In many situations, however, employing high speed input/output memories leads to an unacceptable increase in the cost of a digital signal processing system. Consequently, there is also a need for a digital signal processor that supports multiple mechanisms to transfer data into and out of the digital signal processor and, in so doing, allows a digital signal processing system to be constructed that accommodates available memory speeds and/or cost constraints.

Pipelined combination and vector signal processor


An apparatus and method for locating and surgically positioning a hole for an implant and holder in a jawbone of a patient includes constructing a model of a jawbone. A structure is located within the model depicting variations in density within the jawbone. A hole is drilled into the model based on the location of the structure. A rod is placed into the hole and a guide template is fabricated around the model which forms a bore around the rod. The guide template is placed onto the jawbone of the patient and a hole is drilled through the bore into the jawbone to make a hole in the jawbone along the same path as the hole in the model for receiving the implant and holder.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for locating a site and surgically positioning a dental implant. More specifically, it relates to a method and apparatus for placing an endosseous dental implant into the most optimal bone structure of a patient's upper or lower jawbone utilizing a surgical guide template that is fabricated with the use of computerized tomography and stereolithography.
2. The Prior Art
In the field of dentistry, tooth implants are increasingly being utilized. In the articles "Predictable Mandibular Nerve Location--A Clinical Zone of Safety" by Misch and Crawford, appearing in Dentistry Today, December, 1990, p. 32, and "Presurgical Prosthetics and Surgical Templates" by Zinner, Small and Panno, appearing in Dental Clinics of North America (Vol. 33, No. 4, October, 1989); and the U.S. Pat. No. 5,015,183 to Fenick describe the present state of the art regarding the placement of oral implants with a surgical template and the inherent restrictions and limitations thereof. A problem in the art and science of placing dental implants is finding and locating sufficient bone structure in height, length and width in which to fix the implant so as to obtain the most optimum long term success. In general, the longest length implant that can be placed into the greatest dimensions of bone will give the best long term prognosis.
An inherent problem exists with placing an implant into the human lower jaw. The alveolar nerve (Cranial Nerve V, Division III) passes through a canal entering the posterior areas of a human jaw and coursing through it. As a result, a surgeon is limited by the depth to which he can place an implant and presently will stay safely above the nerve, as discussed in detail in the article "Predictable Mandibular Nerve Location--A Clinical Zone of Safety." This zone of safety restricts the surgeon to only utilizing approximately one-third to one-half of the full height of available bone depending on individual anatomical variation. If an implant impinged upon the nerve, the patient could lose feeling in their lower lip and chin on the affected side. Since the location of the nerve is difficult to pinpoint during the surgical procedure with present technology, the longer more desirable types of endosseous implants generally are not used in the area of the posterior lower jaw.
If an implant could be placed in the lower posterior jaw and engage the lower portion (inferior border) this would result in improved long term prognosis. The resulting implant could be twice the length achieved by present technology.
Presently, to place an implant into the inferior border of the posterior mandible (lower jaw) it is necessary to perform a nerve transposition procedure. This involves the dissection of the nerve from its canal, followed by placing the implants. Then the nerve is repositioned around the implants. The morbidity associated with this procedure is significant. (Howard Davis, D.D.S., 1992 August, American Association of Periodontics, Chicago, Illinois--Clinical Meeting.)
Alternatively, the surgeon could use the information on a standard C.T. scan and approximate the angle of the site for the implant. However, this method presents a risk of damage to the inferior alveolar nerve which can result in altered or no sensation to the lip and chin on the affected side. The worse case scenario is an irreversible loss of feeling to the lower lip, chin and gum tissue on that side. There is a large margin for error with this method due to a lack of precision in achieving the correct angle to direct the bur during the surgical procedure of placing the implant.
Also known from the prior art are stereolithographic models (SLA Models) constructed from digital image data (computerized tomography) which allows the surgeon to view the external and internal anatomy prior to surgery, as described in the article entitled "Stereolithographic Models for Surgical Planning: Preliminary Report" by Stoker, Mankovich and Valentino, J. of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, May 1992, p,. 466-471. However, stereolithographic models have not been used to place dental endosseous dental implants into the most optimal jawbone location and have not been used to specifically avoid contacting the inferior alveolar nerve and more specifically to actually bypass this structure thereby engaging the lowermost portion of the jaw.
This SLA Model also gives the operating surgeon the precise information (optimal height, length and depth of bone) that is needed to fabricate a specially designed surgical template to be used in any area of the upper or lower jaw.

Method and apparatus for locating an ideal site for a dental implant and for the precise surgical placement of that implant


An automatic locking ball coupler for a power take off includes a ball keeper connected to the power take off and having a longitudinal axis and openings in a cylindrical surface thereof. Locking balls are received in the openings and can move radially with respect to the axis of the cylindrical ball keeper. A ball collar is positioned around the cylindrical ball keeper and has a plurality of internal circumferential rings and recesses between each ring. The ball collar can slide axially with respect to the longitudinal axis of the ball keeper between a coupled position in which the locking balls are on the rings and an uncoupled position in which the locking balls are in the recesses.

Tractors may be equipped with a power take off (PTO) that transmits rotary power from an engine to an implement. The most common location for the PTO shaft is at the rear of the tractor, but some tractors have auxiliary PTO shafts at other locations. The direction of rotation, rotational speed, approximate location and exact dimensions of the PTO shaft are standardized to provide ability to interchange between power shafts on various implements made by different manufacturers. PTO shafts typically rotate at 540 rpm, 1000 rpm, 2100 rpm, or more than one speed.
To engage the PTO to the shaft or drive line of a rear mounted implement, the PTO may have the ability to telescope. After the tractor is in proper position, the tractor operator may manually extend the telescoping PTO and employ various coupler devices to couple the PTO to the implement power shaft. This requires getting down off the seat or operator station of the tractor, and it can be quite time consuming to couple the power take off to the implement manually. Coupling a tractor PTO to the driveline of an implement also can be difficult and dirty.
In the past, PTOs have been coupled to implement drivelines using splines to transmit rotational power, along with an additional keeper to secure the coupled parts and resist thrust loads. Often it is difficult to find the correct alignment for the female spline of the drive line and the male spline of the tractor PTO. Sometimes it is necessary for the operator to turn the implement drive line until the correct alignment is found.
After correct alignment is accomplished, the operator still must hold back a driveline locking feature until the implement shaft or driveline is in place. It may be difficult to manipulate the lock back feature or turn the implement driveline to obtain correct alignment between the PTO and the implement shaft.
A need exists for an improved apparatus and method for coupling a PTO on a tractor to the shaft or driveline of a rear mounted implement. There is a need for an apparatus and method that may be used to couple a variety of different implements having shafts at different locations relative to the tractor PTO. There is a need for an apparatus and method that will allow coupling a tractor PTO to driven rear mounted implements without requiring the operator to leave the tractor seat. There is a need for greater operator safety and ease of use when hooking up a tractor PTO to the shaft of a rear mounted implement.

Automatic locking ball coupler for power take off


A method of making a semiconductor structure, comprises cleaning a gate stack with a cleaning solution. The gate stack comprises a gate layer, a metallic layer on the gate layer, and a etch-stop layer on the metallic layer. The gate layer is on a semiconductor substrate, the cleaning solution is a non-oxidizing cleaning solution, and the metallic layer comprises an easily oxidized metal.

Modern integrated circuits are constructed with up to several million active devices, such as transistors and capacitors, formed in and on a semiconductor substrate. Interconnections between the active devices are created by providing a plurality of conductive interconnection layers, such as polycrystalline silicon and metal, which are etched to form conductors for carrying signals. The conductive layers and interlayer dielectrics are deposited on the silicon substrate wafer in succession, with each layer being, for example, on the order of 1 micron in thickness.
A gate structure is an element of a transistor. FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a gate stack 8. A semiconductor substrate 10 supports a gate insulating layer 16, which overlaps doped regions (source/drain regions) in the substrate (12 and 14), and the gate insulating layer supports a gate 18, which is typically polycrystalline silicon. On the gate is a metallic layer 30. The metallic layer may be separated from the gate by one or more other layers, such as nitrides, oxides, or silicides, illustrated collectively as barrier layer 20. The metallic layer may in turn support one or more other layers (collectively 40), such as nitrides, oxides, or silicides. Oxide 22 may be formed on the sides of the gate to protect the gate oxide at the foot of the gate stack; and insulating spacers 24 may be formed on either side of the gate stack. Furthermore, contacts to the source/drain regions in the substrate, and to the gate structure, may be formed.
Self-aligned contacts (SAC) allow the design of a semiconductor device to have a distance between the gate and the via contact to the substrate, to be at most one-half the minimum gate width. Typically, SAC uses a nitride layer on the gate stack, together with spacers that include nitride, to prevent a misaligned contact from contacting the gate itself. If the nitride were not present, then the etch used to form the hole which will become the contact would pass through the dielectric layer all the way to the gate. When present, the nitride layer and spacers acts as an etch stop, preventing misalignment form forming a hole all the way to the gate, and therefore allowing design of the device to have a much smaller average distance between the contact and the gate.
The nitride layer on the gate stack has at least a thickness of 800 angstroms when used for forming SAC. If used only for other purposes, such as an etch-stop layer or a hard mask, a thickness of less than 800 angstroms is used. Also, the thickness of at least 800 angstroms is the thickness after the dielectric layer has been formed; the nitride layer is usually thicker when originally formed, allowing for a loss of about 500 angstroms during the gate etch (i.e. thickness for the hard mask function), and a loss of about 200 angstroms during nitride spacer formation.
There is an ongoing need to reduce the size of the elements within integrated circuits and semiconductor structures. As the size of an element is reduced, it becomes more likely that irreversible changes will occur in the compositions of the various layers and regions within an element. These changes are typically related to diffusion, which is dependent on the elevated temperatures used for processing and the length of time the temperatures are maintained. Furthermore, chemical reaction which did not interfere with device reliability in earlier devices, may have a profound impact as the structures are reduced in size. Also, mechanical stability is reduced, requiring new techniques to prevent damage during processing. It is thus desirable to perform processing at cooler temperatures and/or to reduce the time, or under milder conditions than in the past.


A circuit breaker support assembly allows a pair of industrial-rated molded case circuit breakers to be double-branch connected within a lighting panelboard enclosure. One of the branch circuit breakers can then operate as a main circuit breaker thereby eliminating the separate main circuit breaker commonly used within such lighting panelboard enclosures.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,631,634, 4,713,728 and 4,783,718 each describe lighting panelboard enclosures wherein a plurality of molded case circuit breakers connect with corresponding lighting loads within an industrial environment. A main circuit breaker or main lug connects upstream with the incoming electrical distribution power cables and a plurality of branch circuit breakers connect downstream in series with the main circuit breaker or lug and the lighting loads. In the panelboard enclosures described within the aforementioned patents, the main circuit breaker or main lug is supported on a separate assembly from the branch circuit breakers thereby requiring panelboard enclosures of extended length.
The branch-connected circuit breakers within the lighting panelboard enclosures are connected in a "double branch" arrangement whereby a pair of opposingly-facing circuit breakers are connected to the same branch strap. When a single branch circuit breaker is required to be connected with a separate branch strap, the arrangement described within U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,173 is employed. The double branch plastic support components are slightly modified to accommodate the single circuit breaker without requiring further changes to the panelboard enclosure.
It has been determined that one of the branch circuit breakers can be reverse-fed and then function as a main circuit breaker within the lighting panelboard enclosure. The arrangement of one of the branch circuit breakers as the main circuit breaker then allows the size of the panelboard enclosure to be substantially reduced.
One purpose of the invention is to provide means for arranging a pair of branch circuit breakers within a panelboard enclosure in a double branch arrangement with only slight modification to the existing branch circuit breaker support components within the enclosure.


An antenna arrangement comprises a first antenna element; a second antenna element; a coupling element for electromagnetically coupling to the first antenna element and the second antenna element; and a switching mechanism, connected to the coupling element, for switching between a first electrical configuration and a second electrical configuration. When the switching mechanism is in the first electrical configuration, the coupling element has a first impedance and when the switching mechanism is in the second electrical configuration, the coupling element has a second impedance.

In recent years, it has become desirable for radio transceiver devices, such as cellular telephones, to be able to communicate over multiple bands of the radio portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. This has arisen because different countries tend to use different frequency bands for cellular networks. For example, US WCDMA is at 850 MHz whereas EU WCDMA is at 2100 MHz. Even in a single country, different services may be provided at different radio frequency bands, for example, PCS is at 1900 MHz whereas PCN is at 1800 MHz. Consequently, cellular telephones require multi-band antenna arrangements that can allow them to communicate over multiple bands of the radio portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Increasingly, multi-band antenna arrangements are using more than one antenna element to transmit and receive electromagnetic waves. Currently, each 'active' antenna element within such an antenna arrangement requires its own tuning circuit so that it may operate in a desired set of operational frequency bands. However, each tuning circuit requires space within the radio transceiver device and has a fiscal cost associated with it. Consequently, multi-band antenna arrangements are becoming increasingly large and expensive.
It would therefore be desirable to provide an alternative antenna arrangement.


A method and apparatus for making a connection with a part of a body to transfer an electromagnetic signal for a predetermined purpose, the apparatus including: a garment including one or more electrode capable of passing the signal to or from the part of the body; and a controller for controlling the nature of or processing the signal dependant on one or more parameters in order to vary the nature of the signal dependant on the purpose; wherein at least one parameter of the one or more parameters is stored on a data storage device included in the garment.

It is a common requirement to have to make electrical connections to the body surface for measurement of electrical activity originating within the body or to deliver electrical energy into the body. Usually it is necessary to position one or more electrodes in contact with the skin at anatomical locations specific to the intended application. It is also common to devise attachment means such as garments, wraps or braces which incorporate one or more electrodes on their skin facing surface, which locate on the body at target anatomical locations when the garment is worn by the user. Usually such garments incorporate wiring, which connect the electrodes to an electronic module by means of a detachable connector. U.S. Pat. No. 6,885,896 describes such a system where an electronic module interfaces to a holster which is fixed on an internally wired abdominal belt and delivers electrical stimulation signals to the electrodes mounted on the skin facing surface of the belt.
Similar systems can be envisaged for treatment of the knee, back, shoulder etc. and indeed the literature has many examples of garments and braces for different parts of the body incorporating electrodes.
Given a selection of such garments or other attachment means intended for a range of body parts, it is desirable that they would interface to a common electronic module. This would be less costly than having a dedicated electronic module for each garment type. In a typical clinic, it is possible to envisage a selection of single-patient use garments for a range of anatomical sites and a stock of identical electronic controllers which can attach to any garment. The problem with using a common controller for all garments is that the controller would have to be configured by the user or therapist for each garment type prior to use. Furthermore, since a given garment becomes assigned to a particular patient, and the controllers can be swapped or replaced between patients, it is necessary that the controller become personalised to that patient. For this reason it is desirable that the controller can be configured for the type of garment it is connected to and that the treatment for the specific patient can be selected.
The number and size of electrodes on each garment type may be different and the electrical signals applied to each electrode will inevitably be specific to the garment type and the intended treatment. The controller could be manually programmable through data input by the therapist to take account of different garment designs and treatment parameters however this process is error prone.
Traditionally electrotherapy has used electrical generators which have one or more channels, each channel of which has a dedicated pair of electrodes. When the pair of electrodes for a given channel are placed on the body an electrical circuit is completed which allows the therapeutic current to flow in the body between the electrodes of a pair. The path of the current in the body is largely defined by the position of the electrodes on the body. When multiple channels are applied to the body then they are generally isolated so that no current flows between channels. The current pathways on the body are limited to the areas between the individual elements of each pair. Recently the advantage of treating a group of electrodes on the body as an uncommitted array has been recognised. This allows the controller to select which electrode or combination of electrodes is used to source current at any given time and which combination of the remaining electrodes of the array is used as a sink. This allows the controller to set up current pathways between any electrodes of the array, not just between the hardwired pairs of the traditional method. Moreover, it is advantageous to change the electrode groupings during the course of the treatment to, for example, avoid fatiguing the same muscles. The electrode array selection, and the way that selection might be changed with time, is likely to be anatomy specific.
Since garments incorporating arrays of electrodes may be designed for different body parts, it is inevitable that electrode selections to produce anatomically appropriate current pathways will require the selection of different electrode array elements. For example a shoulder brace and a knee brace may both have arrays of 4 electrodes; however different electrode combinations will apply and these combinations are likely to change in different ways for each during treatment. The controller could be designed to accept data input from the therapist to handle this configuration, however this is not a user-friendly solution.
Electrodes in garments may have different surface areas and therefore the current density will vary for a given applied current. It is important therefore that a stimulator be able to calculate and thereby keep below a defined current density limit in order to keep within safety limits. It is therefore necessary to somehow enter data to the controller describing the electrode surface areas. Furthermore, electrodes in electrotherapy garments may have different electrical impedance properties depending on geometry, anatomical location, construction and electrolyte type. It can be important for the controller to be able to validate the quality of the connection prior to delivering energy into the body.
Arrays of electrodes are used to acquire signals from the body surface in electrophysiological monitoring. Depending on the anatomical location of the electrodes and the signals they are intended to monitor, there can be very significant differences in signal processing parameters. For example an Electro-cardiographs (ECG) signal recovered from the chest has very different signal amplitude and spectral characteristics compared to an Electro-myograph (EMG) signal recorded from the arm.
Even within the various lead configurations of an ECG there are wide ranges of acceptable signal parameters. A multipurpose controller capable of interfacing with a range of such garments would have to have input data which allows it to process signals detected on its input terminals. This data could be input by the user however this would be tedious and error prone.
Garments may easily be configured with other signal monitoring sensors, such as temperature, pressure, force, acceleration, displacement. Insofar as these signals need to be processed by the controller, input data is required which identifies the signal type, the amplifier gain and filter pass bands required to acquire them, as well as normal limits for the signal. Such setup data could be entered by the user, however again this is not a user friendly solution.
There is a need therefore for electronic modules to automatically configure themselves depending on what garment type they are connected to. There have been some attempts to solve related problems in the past. Bastyr, U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,759 described a brace which incorporated electrodes for treating the knee. It featured a keyed connector which, in effect, implemented a 3 bit binary code to enable a controller to select which one of a selection of carrier frequencies to use. Different carrier frequencies were required for the different electrode sizes that would occur in different garments. Bastyr does not recognise any type of automatic garment recognition to enable definition of the performance of the controller.
Further and significant problems with the Bastyr solution, include the fact that solution is limited to only 3 encoding bits. Also the controller is pre-programmed to deliver one out of 8 possible carrier frequencies which were encoded to the device when it was manufactured and this creates another problem. If an additional garment were to be introduced to the range at some later time, which needed a carrier frequency not included as one of the pre-defined set, then it would be necessary to produce a new controller with updated carrier frequencies. This is because the 3 bit code merely identifies the brace and does not provide the actual treatment parameters which the controller has to use with that brace. The code was not re-writable so the configuration could not be changed.
Furthermore Bastyr has described a stimulation system which includes two channels of stimulation each of which is hardwired to a dedicated pair of lead wires and electrodes. This uses biphasic stimulation in which current flows in one direction between electrodes of a pair for a period and then flows in the opposite direction between the same pair for a period. There is no requirement to re-configure the electrical connection of the electrodes depending on the target garment, or the selected treatment for a target garment. Nor is there any consideration of the requirement to specify and store information on electrode area, electrode impedance or wear out profiles.
A partial solution to this problem is to allow the user select the target garment from a menu provided on the controller. Again this is error prone and also inflexible in that it requires that all the necessary data has been previously loaded into the controller.
It could therefore be helpful to provide a system which overcomes at least some of the problems of the prior art.
It could also be helpful to provide a system which allows a suitably programmed electronic controller to interface to a range of body worn wired garments and to recognise which garment type is connected, to select the appropriate connections to direct electrical signals to the appropriate combination of electrodes for the intended treatment with that garment, and to select the treatment timing and other parameters so that it can synthesize the necessary signals on the appropriate terminals.
It could still further be helpful to provide a system which allows a suitably programmed electronic controller to interface to a range of body worn wired garments and to recognise which garment type is connected, to select the appropriate connections for detection of specific biological signals and to apply signal processing steps appropriate to the signal type and intended use.


In a plant cultivation method, in cultivation of a plurality of plants within a cultivation bed which includes nutritive elements required for growth of the plants, a location adjacent a growing point of the plants is selected to supply gas to the growing point. In a plant cultivation apparatus, a cultivation bed is provided on which a plurality of plants are cultivated. The cultivation bed includes nutritive elements required for growth of the plants. An apparatus body for accommodating the cultivation bed has a gas-supply unit for supplying gas toward a location in the vicinity of a growing point of the plants. A gas-conditioning unit is arranged on the apparatus body for conditioning gas therewithin. An illumination unit for emitting a light to the plants.

The present invention relates to a plant cultivation method and an apparatus therefor for artificially cultivating a plurality of plants such as vegetables or the like.
Conventionally, in the case where leaf vegetables and the like, and fruits and vegetables and the like are cultivated in an environment control production equipment such as a green house or an artificial illuminating cultivation chamber, such a cultivating system is general as to keep, to adequate values, various conditions including a light, temperature, humidity, gases and nutrient element, in order to hasten or expedite growth of the vegetables and to produce the vegetables high in quality.
Under such environmental conditions as to accelerate abrupt growth, however, there arise such problems on cultivation as not to be sufficiently covered by the conventional culture technique. As one of the problems, there is a tipburn that is one of physiological disorders. The tipburn is one of calcium deficiency decreases. This symptom is susceptible to appear in lettuce, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, celery and strawberry. There may be a case also in the outdoor cultures that the tipburn is caused if the same conditions are complete or uniform. The vegetables appearing in the tipburn symptoms are considerably reduced in its market price. A mechanism is as follows in which the tipburn is generated in the lettuce.
The reason why the tipburn is caused in the lettuce is rupture of laticifer and collapse or breakdown of cells. However, a direct cause for inducing this tipburn is a reduction in a supply quantity of calcium to growing tissues.
The calcium is deteriorate in movement within the bodies of plants. Accordingly, once the calcium has been accumulated in old leaves, there is less that the calcium is moved to new leaves. Further, in the vicinity of a growing point, there is less in a quantity of transpiration because of insufficient ventilation, so that an absorption ability of nutrient element is reduced. Thus, under such a condition that the total quantity of calcium absorption is less in the entire bodies of plants, deficiency first appears in the vicinity of forward ends of new leaves. Since the tipburn is destruction of leaf tissues, parts in which tipburn is once caused are not again recovered. The tipburn parts stop in growth, and gradually become brown so that the tipburn parts wither and die. From such reason, the tipburn appears primarily on new leaves in the vicinity of the growing point.
In order to solve such problem on cultivation represented by the tipburn, it is essential to improve the cultivating technique. Various approaches have been done to the improvement in the culturing technique from such positions as breeding, utilization of chemical adjusting materials, improvement in culture-solution compositions, and so on. Even if such techniques have been used, however, a method of preventing such tipburn has not still been discovered.
By the way, the culture equipment described above has such an advantage that the culture equipment is not influenced by the outdoor weather conditions so that the optimum environment can be maintained. However, the conventional environmental control technique aims only at hastening or expedition of the growth rate, but is not utilized as means for solving the problems on cultivation.

Plant cultivation method and apparatus therefor


A projectile launcher using a self-resetting trigger system includes a striker, a sear, and a trigger. The striker, also known as hammer, includes an anchoring notch and is able to slide between a firing position and a ready-for-firing position for launching an object. The sear, which is substantially L-shaped sear, has a first sear end and a second sear end wherein the sear maintains the striker to the ready-for-firing position when the first sear end engages with the anchoring notch of the striker. The trigger, which is capable of self resetting independent from the movement of the striker, contains an elastic lip with a ramp and is able to maintain the sear in a ready position when the elastic lip and the second sear end are coupled in a lock position.

Various configurations of paintball guns and/or markers which could be used for practical applications, recreational, and shooting trainings have become popular in recent years. For example, paintball guns can be used in professional trainings for soldiers, police officers, security personals, and/or athletic participants. The success of training and/or competition may largely depend on how closely the paintball guns mimic and/or resemble the real firearms or semi-automatic hand guns.
A drawback associated with a conventional paintball gun or marker in place of a real gun is that the appearance and handling of a conventional paintball marker are different from the appearance and handling of real firearms. Since internal structure of a paintball marker is organized differently from the internal structure of firearms, operating and handling of a paintball marker are typically different from real firearms. For example, trigger pulling weight such as takeup and creep can be different between a paintball marker and a rifle.

Method and apparatus for self-resetting trigger mechanism


In a pressure-sensitive touch sensor of a capacitance type, a first electrode and a second electrode are provided on a first surface of a base material sheet. The base material sheet is folded between the first electrode and the second electrode so that a surface of the first electrode and a surface of the second electrode face each other. The base material sheet is folded at a fold line portion in which a slit is formed. An elastic layer is provided between folded parts of the base material sheet. The pressure-sensitive touch sensor is configured to detect pressing on the operation surface based on a change in capacitance, which is caused when the elastic layer is compressed and deformed in a thickness direction by a pressing force to reduce a distance between the first electrode and the second electrode.

In a field of in-vehicle electronic equipment or other various fields, as a sensor module configured to detect an operation performed on an operation surface, there has been proposed a pressure-sensitive touch sensor module of a capacitance type that allows pressure-sensitive detection. For example, in Patent Literature 1, there is disclosed a pressure-sensitive touch sensor module including a first electrode and a second electrode that are provided on one surface of a base material sheet. The base material sheet is partially folded so that the first electrode and the second electrode are caused to face each other. The pressure-sensitive touch sensor module further includes an elastic sheet provided between the first electrode and the second electrode. In the pressure-sensitive touch sensor module, when the operation surface is pressed, the elastic sheet is compressed and deformed to cause the first electrode and the second electrode to approach each other. A current of the second electrode accordingly changes to change a capacitance. When the change in capacitance is detected, the pressing on the operation surface can be recognized.

Pressure-sensitive touch sensor and pressure-sensitive touch sensor module


An airbag module for installation in a motor vehicle is disclosed. In an exemplary embodiment, the airbag module includes an airbag cushion. A diffuser is positioned inside the airbag cushion. The diffuser includes a diffuser panel that has a plurality of venting apertures disposed throughout. An inflator is provided for inflating the airbag cushion. The inflator includes an inflation gas dissemination portion that releases inflation gases upon activation of the inflator. The inflator is attached to the diffuser in such a way that the inflation gas dissemination portion of the inflator is located inside the airbag cushion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and apparatus for protecting vehicle occupants from injury. More specifically, the present invention relates to an airbag module that is designed to reduce the leakage of inflation gases during inflation of the airbag cushion.
2. Description of Related Art
The inclusion of inflatable safety restraint devices, or airbags, is now a legal requirement for many new vehicles. Airbags are typically installed in the steering wheel and in the dashboard on the passenger side of a car. Additionally, airbags may be installed to inflate beside the passenger to provide side impact protection, in front of the knees to protect the knees from impact, or at other strategic locations.
In the event of an accident, a sensor system within the vehicle senses an impact situation and triggers the ignition of an inflator. Inflation gases from the inflator fill one or more airbag cushions, which immediately inflate to protect the driver and/or passengers from impact against the interior surfaces of the vehicle. During normal vehicle operation, airbags are typically stowed behind covers to protect them from tampering and provide a more attractive interior facade for the vehicle.
One type of known airbag module includes a diffuser that is positioned inside the airbag cushion. A typical diffuser includes a diffuser panel that includes a plurality of venting apertures. A single layer of the airbag cushion is spread across the top side of the diffuser panel, while the remainder of the airbag cushion is folded underneath the diffuser panel. The inflator is typically attached to the diffuser. When the inflator discharges, the inflation gases released by the inflator travel through the venting apertures in the diffuser panel, thereby increasing the pressure in that region and effectively "pushing" the layer that is spread over the top side of the diffuser panel away from the diffuser panel. Such movement of the top layer of the airbag cushion causes the rest of the airbag cushion to be "pulled" out of the diffuser and into its inflated position.
An airbag module that employs a diffuser in the manner described possesses several advantages over other types of airbag modules. For example, the airbag cushion generally possesses a larger surface area while it is inflating than in other designs. In addition, the amount of breakout force that is required is generally less than in other designs.
Unfortunately, however, known airbag modules that include a diffuser are typically prone to leakage of inflation gases. Such leakage generally occurs at the point of attachment between the inflator and the diffuser, although leakage may also occur through other similar attachment joints. Accordingly, benefits may be realized by an airbag module that includes a diffuser, as described, but that is designed to reduce the amount of leakage that occurs during inflation of the airbag cushion.


A control system of a stage of a microscope includes: a stage transfer unit for transferring the stage for loading a sample perpendicular to an optical axis of the microscope; a transfer command acquisition unit for obtaining command information for a transfer of the stage; a stop position direction storage unit for storing stop position direction information which is information generated according to the command information obtained from the transfer command acquisition unit, and the information about a position and direction when an operation of the stage transfer unit is stopped; and a stage transfer control unit for controlling an operation of stage transfer unit according to the stop position direction information stored in the stop position direction storage unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power stage for a microscope which is attached to an optical microscope for two-dimensional power transfer of an observation target.
2. Description of the Related Art
A microscope is used in various systems depending on each use in various fields of medicine, biology, industry, etc. Especially, in the industrial field including semiconductor manufacture, automated apparatuses including a microscope have been studied from the early stages in the development to save labor or improve correctness, thereby successfully realizing automated operation and drive units of microscopes.
Thus, a microscope which has been very expensive at the initial stage has been marketed as a less expensive or inexpensive product with an increasing demand.
On the other hand, in the fields of medicine and biology, an automated microscope has become inexpensive with an increasing demand. Thus, the demand for a more operable and inexpensive automated microscope has grown sharply. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 9-120031 describes a capture device and a microscopic image transmission system including: a transferable stage which fixes a test subject; a capture unit for capturing the test subject on the stage transferred to an arbitrary position and outputting a capture signal; an acquisition unit for acquiring absolute coordinates indicating the absolute position of the stage corresponding to the capture signal; a storage unit for storing the absolute coordinates; and a transfer control unit for moving the stage based on the stored value of the storage unit when the test subject is fixed again to the stage.
With the above-mentioned capture device and microscopic image transmission system, the capture unit first captures the test subject on the stage moved to an arbitrary position, and outputs a capture signal. Then, the absolute coordinates indicating the absolute position of the stage corresponding to the capture signal are acquired and stored in the storage unit.
When the test subject is fixed again to the stage, the stage is moved based on the stored value in the storage unit.
Thus, the position of the stage can be correctly specified when the same sample is observed again with the capture device and the microscopic image transmission system.
The stage for a microscope can be positioned while searching for a desired observation point by continuously performing a scanning operation on the plane. On the conventional stage for a microscope there necessarily occurs an error between the amount of drive of a drive unit of a motor, etc. and the corresponding amount of stage displacement. The error is mainly caused by the backlash from the irregularity between the gears configuring a gear train of a power transmission unit.
Although the irregularity between the gears can be reduced by the adjustment of a mechanical structure of the gears, a change with time of the gears, for example, due to the friction during the operation of the stage, inevitably causes a backlash.
The power stage for a microscope is one of the important components of a power microscope. In the system including a power microscope using a personal computer as the center, an operator selects in advance a plurality of observation and measurement points on a sample using a joy stick, a track ball, etc., and temporarily stores the coordinates of their positions so that the operator can automatically perform image processing, a measuring process, etc. on the selected observation and measurement points using the program of the personal computer.
In this case, it is important to eliminate an error between the observation and measurement points selected in advance by an operator and the observation and measurement points in the automatic control.
To remove the influences of the above-mentioned backlash and position selection error, and to suppress an error between the amount of drive of a drive unit and the corresponding amount of stage displacement, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 7-272660 includes: a sample stage loaded with a sample; a sample position detection unit for detecting the position of a sample; a drive unit for moving a sample stage; an operation unit for operating the transfer of a sample stage; and a control unit for controlling a drive unit according to a signal from a operation unit. The control unit is loaded with a sample stage drive apparatus configured to control the drive unit according to a signal of the transfer of a sample from a operation unit and a signal indicating the actual transfer of a sample from a sample position detection unit.
The above-mentioned sample stage drive apparatus controls the drive of a sample stage according to a signal indicating the actual transfer of a sample from a sample position detection unit for detecting the position of the sample, quickly drives the stage which eliminates a backlash, and then correctly moves the stage.
However, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 9-120031 includes a power stage having an acquisition unit for obtaining the absolute coordinates of the current position in the X-Y direction. When a command "Obtain the X-Y coordinates" is issued from a personal computer through an interface, then the power stage obtains the current X and Y coordinates, and returns them to the personal computer through the interface.
The absolute coordinates of the power stage refer to the X-Y coordinates with the mechanical origin of the power stage defined as the coordinate origin. Although not described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 9-120031, the acquisition unit for obtaining the absolute coordinates of the current position in the X-Y direction requires the configuration of a linear encoder, etc. for detecting the amount of mechanical displacement from the coordinate origin, the velocity, etc. as the amount of electricity in the XY direction of a stage.
That is, since two expensive linear encoders are required, the power stage and the microscope apparatus become very expensive.
Furthermore, since a linear encoder and a detection head for reading the pattern of a linear encoder are attached in the X and Y directions of the stage, the operability around the stage is not preferable when an observing operation is performed.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 7-272660 requires a linear encoder, a laser interferometer, etc. as a sample position detection unit, thereby producing a very expensive configuration.
Due to the above-mentioned problem, since there occurs a lost motion (movement which is not output by the relationship among idle operations, mechanical rigidity, friction, etc.) from a backlash (idle operations between mechanical elements on the contact surfaces) on any precise mechanism when a desired position of a power stage is stored and the power stage for a microscope is recovered to the position again, the conventional power stage for a microscope has the problem of an error in the recovery position.

Control system, control apparatus, and control method for microscope stage


The present disclosure provides speaker device. speaker device includes frame and vibration unit and magnetic circuit unit respectively held to frame, where vibration unit includes diaphragm held to frame, a voice coil driving diaphragm to vibrate and produce sound and a holder; holder includes a holder body that is ring-shaped and fixed to diaphragm, first connecting portions extending from outer periphery of holder body in a direction away from diaphragm and a second connecting portion extending from inner periphery of holder body in direction away from diaphragm; voice coil is connected to second connecting portion; voice coil includes pair of first sides and pair of second sides connected between first sides; first sides are provided with elastic support members. Present disclosure can effectively reduce weight of vibration unit so as to improve sensitivity of speaker device.

In order to adapt to the miniaturization and multi-functionalization of various audio equipment and information communication equipment, the speaker devices used in such equipment are required to be miniaturized so as to closely fit with surrounding units. In particular, with the development of lighter and thinner mobile phones, the quality requirements for the speaker devices are getting higher.
In the related art, a speaker device includes a frame and a vibration unit and a magnetic circuit unit respectively held to the frame. The vibration unit includes a diaphragm, a voice coil and a holder. A side of the voice coil is provided with an elastic support member. The diaphragm is connected to the voice coil and the elastic support member through the holder. However, the weight of the vibration unit leads to low sensitivity of the speaker device.
Therefore, it is necessary to provide a speaker device to solve the above problem.


The press-fit type connector terminal includes a pin section having a U-shaped or quadrangular cross-section, and a contact section situated at a front end of the pin section, the contact section including a contact piece surrounding an imaginary center line parallel to a longitudinal axis of the pin section, and a slit formed at a part of the contact piece and extending substantially parallel to the imaginary center line, the connector terminal being comprised of a single bent metal plate having elasticity.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a press-fit type connector terminal to be inserted into an electrically conductive through-hole formed through a printed circuit board.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various press-fit type connector terminals have been suggested. For instance, they have a terminal contact section having a cross-section in a needle-eye, C-shaped, N-shaped or Σ-shaped form.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-134275 has suggested a connection terminal including a head to which a cable is connected, and a body to be inserted into a through-hole formed through a substrate. The body is centrally formed with a hole extending in a length-wise direction thereof, and the hole is formed with a plurality of slits extending from an inner wall to an outer wall of the body. The hole is filled with electrically conductive adhesive.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-157469 has suggested a press-fit type terminal including a press-fit section, a terminal base, and a male terminal. The press-fit section includes a contact having a shape which is readily able to make contact with a through-hole, and a compression section composed of elastic material. The compression section is inserted into an opening of the contact, and the compression section exerts an elastic force on the contact such that the contact is compressed onto the through-hole.
The International Publication WO2006/077827 has suggested a press-fit terminal including a press-fit contact section making electrical contact with an electrically conductive through-hole formed through a printed circuit board. A single underlying plating layer or a plurality of underlying plating layers is(are) formed on a surface of a base material of the press-fit contact section. On the uppermost playing layer is formed a layer composed of an alloy of Sn and a plating metal of which the uppermost playing layer is composed, and non-alloyed Sn is mixed in an outermost layer of the alloy layer.
Since the above-identified conventional press-fit type connector terminals are designed to have an outer diameter greater than an inner diameter of a through-hole formed through a printed circuit board, and have a press-fit section having low elasticity and to be inserted into a through-hole for making contact with the through-hole, a printed circuit board tends to be whitened due to a contact pressure exerted on the through-hole by the press-fit section, and a playing layer of the through-hole sometimes peels off. Since whitening of a printed circuit board means molecular destruction of components of which the board is composed, the molecular destruction induces not only degradation in electrical insulation of a printed circuit board and deterioration in a withstand voltage, but also an increase in a resistance of a circuit pattern.


A system for controlling platooning includes a leading vehicle and a following vehicle. The leading vehicle predicts a collision with an external object located in front of a driving lane of the leading vehicle, determines a possibility that the leading vehicle will avoid the collision based on a situation of a neighboring lane adjacent to the driving lane, and transmits information associated with the collision to the following vehicle based on the possibility that the leading vehicle will avoid the collision. The leading vehicle determines a possibility that the following vehicle will avoid its collision based on a situation of the neighboring lane and controls at least a portion of braking of the following vehicle, a lane change of the following vehicle, a change of a vehicle the following vehicle will follow, or withdrawal of the following vehicle from a platooning group.

Platooning is technology of performing autonomous driving in a state where a plurality of vehicles are located at a specified interval in a row. A leading vehicle, which is foremost in a platooning line while platooning is performed, may control one or more following vehicles which follow the leading vehicle. The leading vehicle may maintain an interval between a plurality of vehicles included in the platooning line and may exchange behavior and context information of the plurality of vehicles included in the platooning line using vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication.
In a conventional platooning system, the leading vehicle may have the right to control all of vehicles included in a platooning group. The following vehicle may move based on control of the leading vehicle. When the leading vehicle is in a dangerous situation such as a collision, the following vehicle which is under a control right of the leading vehicle may be in the dangerous situation together with the leading vehicle.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System, apparatus and method for controlling platooning


A method removes distortion induced by camera tilt from a digital representation of a photograph taken with a rotational or swing-lens panoramic camera.

Panoramic cameras, that is, cameras capable of taking photographs with unusually wide horizontal fields of view, have existed for some time. This disclosure is concerned with panoramic photographs taken with rotational and swing-lens panoramic cameras.
A rotational panoramic camera rotates the camera body during the taking of a photograph, and may be capable of taking photographs with horizontal viewing angles of 360 degrees or more. The film inside the camera also moves in synchronization with the camera rotation. These cameras are sometimes called "Cirkut-type" cameras, after an early commercial model. A well-known contemporary camera of this type is the Roundshot, made by Seitz Phototechnik AG of Switzerland.
A swing-lens panoramic camera rotates the lens and an exposure slit but not the camera body. The film is held stationary in a curved shape and the image is painted onto the film as the exposure slit passes by it. This type of camera usually can take photographs with horizontal viewing angles just less than 180 degrees. Two well-known camera models that operate on this principle are the Widelux and Horizon cameras.
Digital panoramic cameras are also available. A digital panoramic camera rotates the entire camera while repeatedly reading image data from a row or set of rows of electronic light sensors behind the lens.
Most panoramic cameras have fixed focal length lenses that are fixed in position in relation to the film, and thus have a limited vertical field of view that is not adjustable. Some cameras provide a lens shift capability wherein the lens optical axis may be moved relative to the film. This allows the vertical field of view of the camera to be shifted up and down, but does not increase the vertical field of view. However, many panoramic cameras do not provide a lens shift capability.
Often, a panoramic camera is held level, with its rotational axis substantially vertical during the taking of a photograph so that the horizon in the photograph appears straight and level and to minimize distortion of objects in the photograph. If the camera is tilted so that its rotational axis is at an angle to vertical, objectionable camera-tilt distortion may be introduced into the photograph. Many camera models have level-indicating devices built into the camera bodies to aid the photographer in leveling the camera.
A panoramic camera may also be used with its rotational axis substantially horizontal in order to achieve an unusually large vertical field of view, or at some other angle with respect to vertical. Generally, however, these cameras are used to achieve a large horizontal field of view and are therefore used with their rotational axes substantially vertical.
This desire to keep the camera level and lack of adjustability may limit the photographer's ability to capture the desired elements of a scene. For example, the photographer may wish to photograph an entire building, the height of which would fit within the camera's vertical field of view, but be unable to include the top of the building in the photograph because of the requirement to keep the camera level to avoid distortion.
The photographer may be able to take the photograph from a more remote vantage point, thus allowing the camera's vertical field of view to encompass the entire building. However, this results in an undesirable loss of resolution of the subject in the resulting photograph, and a more remote vantage point may not be available.
In this situation the photographer has historically been faced with the choice of photographing the available vertical field of view which is not the desired field of view, tilting the camera to encompass the desired subject and accepting the resulting distortion, or using a more remote vantage point if one is available and accepting the resulting loss of subject resolution.
There is a need for a method of allowing the photographer to tilt a rotational or swing-lens lens panoramic camera, take a photograph that includes the resulting distortion, and recover an undistorted representation of the photograph later.

Method and apparatus for correcting camera tilt distortion in panoramic images

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.