An articulated fishing reel handle assembly for attachment to a fishing reel. The fishing reel handle assembly generally comprises an elongate crank arm having a first end rigidly connected to the fishing reel in a manner wherein the crank arm extends along a first axis disposed at approximately a 90-degree angle relative to an axis extending through the fishing reel. Rotatably connected to the second end of the crank arm is a bearing member which extends along a third axis disposed at approximately a 90-degree angle relative the first axis and substantially parallel to the second axis. A reel handle is rigidly connected to the distal end of the bearing member in a manner wherein the reel handle extends along a fourth axis which is angularly offset approximately 72 degrees from the third axis. The reel handle is connected to the bearing member such that the reel handle has a greater length below the third axis than above the third axis and is preferably formed of self-skinning polyurethane.

Standard fishing reels and reel handle assemblies comprise a crank/lever arm which is maintained at a 90-degree angle relative the axis of rotation of the fishing reel spool and a reel handle which is maintained at a 90-degree angle relative the crank arm. Though the conventional 90-degree reel handle angle of the reel handle assembly is acceptable for lightweight fishing applications, for larger fishing applications the 90-degree angle of the reel handle relative the crank arm is not physiologically compatible with the muscle and bone structure of a human body, specifically the angler's shoulders, upper arms, forearm, and hand.
The International Gamefish Association which governs sports fishing, has established line classes for 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 30, 50, 80, and 130 pounds. The heavier line classes for sport fishing are generally categorized as 30 pounds through 130 pounds. In light tackle fishing applications wherein a line with a breaking strength of between 2 to 12 pounds is typically utilized, the 90-degree angle of the reel handle relative the crank arm does not present significant problems for the angler since the forces required to wind the line onto the reel are relatively small due to the lower drag settings which are associated with light lines. Typically, drag settings are generally set at 25 percent of the breaking strength of the line. As such, for a 12-pound line, the drag setting would typically be set at 3 pounds. After a fish is hooked, the drag setting can be increased as more line is rewound upon the reel, with the maximum drag setting being slightly under the breaking strength of the line. In this regard, for a 12-pound line the maximum drag setting would be 10 to 11 pounds. As can be appreciated, this force is not difficult to overcome by winding the reel handle. Thus, as previously indicated, the 90-degree handle to crank arm orientation does not provide a great deal of difficulty to the angler in light tackle fishing applications.
As will be recognized, the difficulty in winding a line upon a reel greatly increases as the breaking strength of the line increases. For example, assuming that an 80-pound test line is being utilized, the drag setting would be set at 25 percent of the breaking strength, i.e. 20 pounds. As previously indicated, the drag can be increased as more line is rewound upon the reel. In utilizing the 80-pound test line, the angler can safely increase the drag setting to 40 pounds. As can be appreciated, with the 40-pound drag setting the angler is subjected to significant difficulty in attempting to physically wind the line upon the reel. Such difficulty is further aggravated in that the 90-degree angle of the reel handle relative the crank arm is not physiologically compatible with the muscle and bone structure of the human body.
A further deficiency associated with prior art fishing reel handle assemblies relates to the structure of the reel handles associated therewith. In this respect, conventional reel handles typically comprise knobs which are generally constructed of wood, metal, or hard plastic. For an angler fishing ultralight to light tackle, such conventional reel handles to not present significant problems. However, at line classes of 30 pounds and higher, these particular handles become a hinderance to the angler, primarily due to the length of time the angler typically spends in attempting to land larger fish. In this respect, such handles do not offer a proper or comfortable grip, and often give rise to hand cramping, muscle fatigue, or blistering. Additionally, such handles become slippery due to perspiration thereby adding to the angler's difficulties in attempting to maintain a secure grip on the reel handle.
The present invention alleviates these and other deficiencies associated with prior art fishing reel handle assemblies.

Articulated fishing reel handle assembly


An organic electroluminescent display device employing a demultiplexer to reduce the number of output lines of a data driver. The display device uses the demultiplexer to store a data voltage in a data line, and supplies the stored data voltage to a pixel when a scan signal is applied, thereby displaying an image. Here, the data voltage supplied to the pixel is lowered because an electric charge is shared between a data line capacitor and a storage capacitor in the pixel. To compensate for the lowered data voltage, an auxiliary capacitor is provided for generating a compensation voltage. Here, the auxiliary capacitor increases the data voltage according to a level change of the scan signal. Therefore, a decrease in level of the voltage applied to the pixel is reduced or prevented so that DC/DC efficiency is enhanced without lowering a power supply voltage and a reference voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic electroluminescent display device, and more particularly, to an organic electroluminescent display device that employs a demultiplexer to reduce the number of output lines of a data driver and display an image with uniform brightness.
2. Description of the Related Art
An organic light emitting diode (OLED) of an organic electroluminescent display device is a self-emissive element that emits light by recombination of electrons supplied from a cathode and holes supplied from an anode. The organic electroluminescent display device employs a thin film transistor (TFT) formed in each pixel to supply a driving current corresponding to a data signal to the organic light emitting diode (OLED), thereby causing the organic light emitting diode (OLED) to emit light and display an image (or a predetermined image).
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional organic electroluminescent display device.
Referring to FIG. 1, the organic electroluminescent display device includes a display region 10, a scan driver 20, a data driver 30, and a timing controller 40.
The display region 10 includes a plurality of pixels P11-Pnm formed at regions where a plurality of scan lines S1-Sn, a plurality of emission control lines E1-En, and a plurality of data lines D1-Dm cross. Each of the pixels P11-Pnm receives a first power supply voltage Vdd and a second power supply voltage Vss from one or more external power supplies, and emits light corresponding to a data signal transmitted from the data lines D1-Dm, thereby displaying an image. Further, an emission time of each of the pixels P11-Pnm is controlled according to one or more emission control signals transmitted through the emission control lines E1-En.
The scan driver 20 generates scan signals in response to a scan control signal Sg from the timing controller 40, and sequentially supplies the generated scan signals to the scan lines S1-Sn to select the pixels P11-Pnm. Further, the scan driver 20 generates emission control signals in response to the scan control signal Sg, and sequentially supplies the generated emission control signals to the emission control lines E1-En to control the emission.
The data driver 30 receives R, G, and B data from the timing controller 40, generates one or more data signals in response to a data control signal Sd, and supplies the generated data signals to the data lines D1-Dm. Here, the data driver 30 supplies the data signals to the data lines D1-Dm for one horizontal line per one horizontal period.
The timing controller 40 generates the data control signal Sd in accordance with video data and the scan control signal Sg in accordance with horizontal and vertical synchronization signals Hsync and Vsync. The video data and/or the horizontal and vertical synchronization signals Hsync and Vsync are supplied from an external graphic controller (not shown). The data control signal Sd generated from the timing controller 40 is supplied to the data driver 30, and the scan control signal Sg is supplied from the timing controller 40 to the scan driver 20.
In the conventional organic electroluminescent display device with this configuration, the pixels P11-Pnm are disposed in the regions around where the scan lines S1-Sn, the emission control lines, E1-En, and the data lines D1-Dm cross (or intersect). Here, the data driver 30 includes m output lines so as to supply the data signals to m data lines D1-Dm, respectively. That is, the data driver 30 in the conventional organic electroluminescent display device should have the same number of output lines as there are data lines D1-Dm. Therefore, the data driver 30 has to include a plurality of data integrated circuits (ICs) to form m output lines, thereby increasing production costs. Particularly, as the resolution and the size of the display region 10 increase, the data ICs of the data driver 30 also increase. Therefore, production cost increases correspondingly.

Organic electroluminescent display device


A thrust bearing comprising a damper body including a body part and protrusions axially protruding at predetermined areas on the body part with flat tops, and thrust top foils each having a contact portion that is in surface contact with the tops of the protrusions.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bearing that is mounted on a rotary shaft of a rotator and supports the rotary shaft perpendicular to or in parallel with (axially) the rotary shaft.
(b) Description of the Related Art
In parts (a rotary shaft and a moving shaft) that make motions such as rotation or reciprocation, various types of bearings are provided to solve problems such as wear or damage of the parts, noise, and waste of energy due to friction that may be generated in the motions of the parts. The bearing on which loads are applied perpendicular to the rotational axis is called a radial bearing or a journal bearing (for sliding bearings), and the bearing on which loads are applied in parallel with the rotational axis (that is, axially) is called a thrust bearing. Most bearings are thrust bearing, and roller bearings are classified as thrust bearings when axial loads are applied over 45 degrees and as radial bearings in remaining cases.
A thrust bearing is mounted on rotary shafts because axial vibration is generated in a rotator that rotates at a high speed. In general, for devices including various rotary shafts, such as power generators or turbines, thrust bearings for reducing axial vibration are generally used with radial bearings for reducing radial vibration. Particularly, the rotators that rotate at high speeds need to be used at high temperature and to be able reduce noise because friction necessarily increases temperature. Further, the rotators require high durability to prevent bearings from being damaged due to axial loads. Because of those conditions, fluid bearings have been generally used as thrust bearings or bearings that are at least supplied with fluid that is a lubricant have been widely used.
Further, recently, a divisional type of power generation technology has been more commercialized all over the world due to an increase in costs for initial installations because the cost per kilowatt for transmitting power is high in centralized systems, and there is a need for inexpensive basic structures to distribute generated power to consumers. With this tendency, gas microturbines that are small gas turbines capable of generating power at specific sites are being increasingly used. Gas microturbines generally have an output of less then 1 kW or of hundreds of kilowatts. Those gas microturbines are being increasingly developed and used for divisional power generation and small-scale cogeneration systems because of technical advantages and environmental friendliness.
It has been known that the rotary shafts of small devices such as the gas microturbines usually rotate at high speeds of 10,000˜400,000 rpm in order to achieve desired output. Radial bearings and thrust bearings are necessary for such small devices. In particular, for small high-speed rotators such as gas microturbines of which the necessity for and the actual use of are increasing, there is an increasing need for bearings that can be reduced in size and weight while satisfying the conditions of a non-contact type and no oil supply, in addition to the conditions required for bearings, that is, reduction of axial vibration, usability in high-temperature environments, and high durability.
In general, the bearing systems of rotators are composed of a radial bearing that supports radial loads and a thrust bearing that support axial loads, as described above. However, there is a problem in that the bearing systems on rotators necessarily increase in volume, because the bearings are separate parts. The larger the volume of the bearing systems, the larger the length of rotators becomes, and accordingly, the primary bending mode (critical speed) of the rotators is lowered, which causes a problem in that the stability of small rotators is considerably decreased during high-speed rotation.
Further, in the process of separately manufacturing the two types of bearings and assembling them, a specific back plate for mounting the thrust bearing is needed and there is a need of a process for fitting the degree of precision in assembling, thereby causing the assembly process to be complicated. In addition, as described above, in order to satisfy the conditions of non-contact type and no oil supply, it is difficult to use ball bearings and sliding bearings, which are widely used, and it is required to use air foil bearings and electromagnet bearings, but those bearings have the following problems. The air foil bearings are practically difficult to use, particularly for a thrust bearing, due to very poor structural durability, and there is a limit in reducing the size of a bump foil. The electromagnetic bearings have a problem in that the configuration of the devices is complicated and expensive, so they are not economical.
Further, the following problems have been generated with the progress of studies for improving the shapes of small rotators such as those used in the gas microturbines described above. FIGS. 8A and 8B are views showing the arrangement of bearings on a rotary shaft coupled with impellers in the related art. In the related art, a turbine impeller 2 and a compressor impeller 3 are separately fitted on a rotary shaft 1. That is, the impellers 2 and 3 are fitted at an end portion of the rotary shaft 1 and then fixed by thread fasteners. In order to combine the rotary shaft-impeller assembly and a bearing 10 that is generally used in the related art, the bearing 10 is also fitted when the impellers 2 and 3 are fitted onto the rotary shaft 1.
However, in the rotator having this configuration, imbalance and bending between the rotary shaft rotating at a high speed and the parts on the end of the rotary shaft are problematic. As a way of solving the imbalance and bending during high-speed rotation, a technology of manufacturing a rotary shaft and impellers as one unit, breaking from the way of separately manufacturing a rotary shaft, a compressor impeller, and a turbine impeller and then assembling them, has been studied in recent years. However, with design and development of a rotator configured by integrating a rotary shaft and impellers due to the problem of imbalance that is generated when a rotary shaft and impellers are combined, there is another problem in that it is very difficult to combine the bearings of the related art with the integrated impellers and rotary shaft.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

KOREA INSTITUTE OF MACHINERY & MATERIALS


A flexible polyurethane foam whereby exceedingly low resilience can be obtained without using a plasticizer and the hardness change due to a temperature change is little; and a process for its production, are provided. The flexible polyurethane foam is characterized by having a core resilience of 30% or lower and a glass transition point within a range of from −80° C. to −60° C. The process for producing a flexible polyurethane foam comprises reacting a polyol with a polyisocyanate compound in the presence of a catalyst, a foam stabilizer, and a blowing agent, and is characterized by using as the polyol a polyol(l) having a hydroxyl value of from 5 to 15 mgKOH/g.

Heretofore, a flexible polyurethane foam (hereinafter referred to as a flexible foam) having a low impact resilence, namely, of low resilence is used as a shock-absorbing body, a sound-absorbing body or a vibration-absorbing body. Further, it is known that when such a foam is used for a cushion material of a chair or for a mattress, body pressure distribution becomes uniform, whereby fatigue feeling and a decubitus can be relieved. For example, a flexible foam of low resilence as disclosed in JP-A-11-286566 is known.
The above document discloses a flexible foam of low resilence, which can be obtained by reacting a urethane foam composition comprising a polyol (a), a polyisocyanate (b), a catalyst (c) and a blowing agent (d), and which has at least one glass transition point within each of a temperature range of from −70° C. to −20° C. and a temperature range of from 0° C. to 60° C., such that when the above glass transition point is represented by a peak value of tan δ obtained by measurement of the dynamic viscoelasticity at a frequency of 10 Hz, the peak value of tan δ within the temperature range of from −70° C. to −20° C. is at least 0.15 and the peak value of tan δ within the temperature range of from 0° C. to 60° C. is at least 0.3.
In this prior art, in order to obtain a flexible foam of low resilence, which is excellent in low resilence at room temperature and shows little increase of hardness at a low temperature, a polyol (a-1) having an average number of functional groups of from 1.5 to 4.5 and a hydroxyl value of from 20 to 70 mgKOH/g and a polyol (a-2) having an average number of functional groups of from 1.5 to 4.5 and a hydroxyl value of from 140 to 300 mgKOH/g are used as the polyol (a), and from 32 to 80 wt % of (a-1) and from 20 to 68 wt % of (a-2) are blended for use. Thus, a flexible foam having at least one glass transition point within each of a temperature range of from −70° C. to −20° C., preferably from −50° C. to −25° C., and a temperature range of from 0° C. to 60° C., preferably from 30° C. to 55° C., is formed.
However, in a method for blending at least two kinds of specific polyols having different hydroxyl values to form a flexible foam as in the above prior art, there was a problem that a hardness change due to a temperature change could not be sufficiently controlled. Further, in recent years, a level of durability required for a flexible foam has been raised. And further, it has been desired to further lower the impact resilience (in Examples of the above document, the impact resilience is somewhat high at a level of from 5 to 18%) to develop a low-resilience where the impact resilience is approximately 0.
The resilience (the impact resilience) of an urethane foam can be usually reduced by blending a plasticizer in a flexible foam, and by adding a proper amount of the plasticizer, a flexible foam having a certain degree of desirable low resilience can be obtained. However, in use, there is a possibility that the added plasticizer is volatilized and absorbed in a human body, and thus, a substance harmful to a human body can not be used. Further, a plasticizer was likely to elute during washing of the foam, whereby it was difficult to maintain the low-resilience of the foam after it was washed repeatedly.
The present invention has been made under these circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a flexible polyurethane foam, which is excellent in durability, and whereby an excellent low-resilience is obtainable without using a plasticizer, and the hardness change due to a temperature change is little, and a process for producing the same.

Low-resilience flexible polyurethane foam and process for producing the same


A valving arrangement primarily designed and intended for use in a negative pressure ventilator system. The valve arrangement has a uniquely designed valve that enables the ventilator to perform a number of operations simply by manipulation of a single, one-piece valve member within a valve housing. The valve housing has multiple inlets and outlets and the valve member can be rotated within it to present a variety of pressure cycles to the patient. In the preferred manner of operation, the present invention selectively applies negative and positive pressures to the patient during different portions of the cycle. In this regard, the valve member is structured so that negative and positive pressures are never at the same time delivered to the patient. The valve arrangement is compact and lightweight. It is also functionally superior to prior designs that can only supply whatever pressure is being created by the blower. In contrast, the valve of the present invention can create pressures from zero to the maximum blower pressures (both negative and positive) by positioning the valve to selectively split the blower pressure (negative or positive) to ambient air.

1. Field Of The Invention
This invention relates to the field of valving arrangements and more particularly, to the field of valving arrangements for negative pressure ventilators and methods for operating them.
2. Discussion Of The Background.
Negative pressure ventilators are widely used to assist patients who cannot breathe on their own or who simply need part-time or full-time assistance in breathing. In many cases, patients only use such negative pressure ventilators at night while they sleep to rest their chest muscles and diaphragm so they can then go through the day unaided.
Negative pressure ventilators essentially can do the work of breathing for the patient. In one common type of ventilator, a shell is placed over the front of the patient's chest. The shell is held in place on the patient by straps with the perimeter edge of the shell substantially conforming to the patient's body to form a seal. The main portion of the shell is spaced slightly away from or above the chest to form a chamber; and, a source of negative pressure such as a turbine fan or other blower is connected to the shell and operated to periodically draw or suck air out of the chamber between the shell and the chest. This action creates a negative pressure in the chamber above the chest (i.e., a pressure slightly less than ambient atmospheric pressure) causing the chest to be expanded upwardly into the chamber and the lungs to be filled with air.
More specifically, to take a breath, a person's chest is normally expanded by his or her own chest muscles and diaphragm to draw in the breath. In doing so, the expansion of the chest actually creates an area of pressure less than atmospheric in the chest cavity itself. The ambient air which is then at a relatively higher pressure simply flows into the lower pressure area of the expanded chest cavity filling the lungs with air. With a negative pressure ventilator, a slightly different principle is used wherein the ventilator does this work of breathing in place of the patient's own chest muscles and diaphragm. In doing so, the ventilator creates a volume of negative pressure (i.e., slightly less than atmospheric) outside of the patient's chest in the chamber between the patient's chest and the shell. The ambient air which is then at a relatively higher pressure seeks this volume of the chamber of negative or lower pressure and in doing so, flows into the patient's mouth and/or nose expanding his chest into the chamber and filling his lungs with air. The negative pressure in the chamber is thereafter reduced or eliminated wherein the patient's expanded chest falls essentially under its own weight to expel the breath from the lungs. This process is subsequently repeated at regular intervals (e.g., twelve times per minute) to simulate normal breathing.
In more sophisticated models of negative pressure ventilators, the exhalation of the breath from the patient's lungs can be aided by supplying a slight positive pressure to the chamber between the shell and the patient's chest. This positive pressure, in turn, assists in collapsing the patient's chest and forcing the air out of the patient's lungs. In most cases, the source of such positive pressure is simply the exhaust of the same turbine fan or blower that is being used to create the negative pressure in the chamber. The design problem then becomes how to connect and control the various flow paths to and from the ventilator in a precise and concise manner to alternately deliver such negative and positive pressures to the chamber between the patient's chest and the shell. The system should also preferably have a dead or neutral position in which neither positive nor negative air is delivered to the user. Further, the periodic delivery or flow of air must preferably be done without connecting the negative and positive sides of the turbine fan or blower at the same time to the chamber between the patient's chest and the shell. Otherwise, the opposing pressures would work against one another trying both to inflate and deflate the patient's lungs at the same time.
Such periodic delivery or flow of negative and positive pressure air into and out of the chamber between the shell and the patient's chest is commonly controlled by any number of valving arrangements. However, all such known ones involve at least two and usually four or even more distinct and separately operated valves or bleeders. This not only adds complexity and bulk to the ventilator but also can make its operation difficult to set and adjust. Further, it may make the inclusion of such desirable operating options as sigh features difficult to do.
With this in mind, the valving arrangement of the present invention was developed. With it, the periodic delivery or flow of negative and positive pressure air into and out of the ventilator and shell can be precisely controlled and adjusted by the operation of a single, one-piece valve member.

Valving arrangement for a negative pressure ventilator


A light assembly includes a heat-dissipating device, a light-emitting device, and a reflector. The heat-dissipating device defines an accommodating space. The light-emitting device is disposed in the accommodating space. The reflector serves to reflect light emitted by the light-emitting device, extends into the accommodating space, and surrounds the light-emitting device.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a light assembly, more particularly to a light assembly for an image projector.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional image projector includes a bulb, and a plurality of fans for dissipating heat generated by the bulb.
The aforementioned conventional image projector is disadvantageous in that the fans occupy a relatively large space in the conventional image projector, thereby resulting in a larger size for the conventional image projector.


A cable connector assembly for connecting two cables, with each cable including multiple electrical conductors. The cable connector assembly may include a first enclosure having an outer surface and defining a pivot point, a plurality of externally accessible electrical connectors disposed at the outer surface of the first enclosure and configured to be coupled to the electrical conductors in one of the cables, a second enclosure configured to couple with the first enclosure about the pivot point in a mating configuration, and a plurality of electrical contacts disposed in the second enclosure. The contacts may be configured to releaseably receive one of the electrical connectors. The electrical connectors are configured in an outer array and an inner array on the circuit board. The outer array is coupled to a cable shield. The inner array is coupled to one of a data conductor and an electric power conductor.

Catheters are well known for use in guiding and diagnostic procedures, for example in medical procedures. Catheters can be used to transport various tools, such as stents, filters, other implantable medical devices, sensing equipment, or imaging equipment. Catheters may be coupled to a machine, which processes data received from a catheter or controls a catheter, via a cable. Such a connection can be tedious to create and obtain and can also be a point where electrical interference is introduced into the system.
Thus there is a need for a cable connector that provides a quickly attachable and detachable yet secure mechanical connection between a cable and a catheter. There is also a need for a cable connector that provides a connection point outside of the sterile field of the catheter. There is also a need for a coupling system that is shielded throughout in order to prevent electrical interference. There is also a need for a method of connection a cable with a catheter in a quickly detachable manner that is shielded from electrical interference outside of the sterile field of the catheter.


A seating apparatus may include a seating unit and a pair of hollow supporting structure. In one embodiment, the hollow supporting structure is bowl-shaped springs which can be disposed underneath a seating unit to receive and support the buttocks of the user. In another embodiment, the seating unit can include a regular seat, a stool, a bicycle seat, and even a horse saddle. More specifically, the buttocks of the user can be received in a concave surface of each bowl-shaped spring so a complete support over a large area is provided to the user's buttocks and pubic bone to eliminate the pressure therefrom. Furthermore, the springs can also be used as cushions to absorb impact on the user's lower body portion. In another aspect, the hollow supporting structure is a pair of rings, and in a further aspect, the hollow supporting structure is a pair of bowl-shaped units.

Two-wheeled vehicles (e.g., bicycles and motorcycles; collectively referred to herein as cycles) have always utilized a seat for the rider to sit on during operation. Typical seats include a relatively narrow front portion (horn) and a relatively wide rear section. Such seats are straddled and sat upon by a rider such that the wider rear section supports the rider's buttocks, and the horn extends between the rider's legs under his/her crotch.
One problem associated with traditional cycle seats is the discomfort caused by pressure applied by the seat's horn on the rider's crotch. Depending on the orientation of the rider, the amount of pressure applied to the rider's crotch region can become significant, causing discomfort and, in extreme cases for male riders, can result in testicular damage and sterility.
FIG. 1 shows an anatomic view of a cyclist in a sitting position on a standard bicycle seat 6. Rather than sitting on a regular seating unit, the cyclist overlies his/her weight load largely on the on the ischial tuberosity 2 of the pelvic bone 1 on a limited area of the bicycle seat 6 of a bicycle. Namely, a considerable part of the body weight may apply to only two relatively narrow points on the buttocks 3, which may cause the consequences of bruising, skin irritation, circulatory disorders and pain near the buttocks 3, and the problem can be accentuated when cycling long distances, requiring the cyclist to be on the bike for extended periods.
To resolve the problems stated above, various seats with supporting apparatus to reduce the pubic/buttocks pressure have been developed. For example, U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 20060049611 to Stevens discloses an apparatus for mounting a bicycle in a manner which permits the removal of the body weight from the pubic area and reduces buttocks pressure while adding therapeutic support to the lower lumbar-sacral region of the body. In a typical embodiment, the mounting apparatus includes a harness device that is worn by a rider. The harness device fits between the lower torso and upper thigh region of the body and has a projecting section attached to the rear.
When a rider mounts a bicycle or pedaled vehicle, the projecting section comes in contact with and is supported by means of an adapted bicycle mounting post, thus bearing the riders weight with the harness device leaving sub scrotal arteries free of pressure. However, even though the mounting apparatus can reduce the pubic/buttocks pressure, the pressure cannot be totally eliminated, so when the rider is on the bicycle for a long period of time, the rider may still feel uncomfortable due to the prolonged pressure on the public area.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,554,355 to Kaptur discloses a bicycle seat for a bicycle having a frame with a seat post. A seat base plate is mounted at the upper end of the seat post. Passenger supporting extensions are mounted pivotally on the base plate for limited angular displacement relative to a fore-and-aft centerline of the seat. A cushion member is supported on the base plate, a cushion with a rounded peripheral surface is secured to each extension, the cushion for the base plate having a rounded periphery that registers with the rounded surface of each cushion on the extensions. The cushion for the base plate has a rearward margin defining a shoulder providing a reaction location that accommodates rearward force reaction to forces applied by the right ilium and the left ilium of the pelvis of a bicycle rider. Each cushion for the extensions cooperates with the rounded periphery of the base plate cushion to form a crease that is positioned to receive an ischium extremity of the pelvis of a bicycle rider. The forces distributed to each ischium of the pelvis of a bicycle rider having a fore-and-aft component and a lateral component, thereby providing fore-and-aft stability and lateral stability for the bicycle rider. However, like Stevens, the cushion disclosed by Kaptur may not effectively reduce the pressure on the rider's pubic portion, so the rider may still feel uncomfortable when riding the bicycle for extended period of time. Therefore, there remains a need for a new and improved seating apparatus to overcome the problems stated above.


Subject matter involves using natural language to Web application program interfaces (API), which map natural language commands into API calls, or API commands. This mapping enables an average user with little or no programming expertise to access Web services that use API calls using natural language. An API schema is accessed and using a specialized grammar, with the help of application programmers, canonical commands associated with the API calls are generated. A hierarchical probabilistic distribution may be applied to a semantic mesh associated with the canonical commands to identify elements of the commands that require labeling. The identified elements may be sent to annotators, for labeling with NL phrases. Labeled elements may be applied to the semantic mesh and probabilities, or weights updated. Labeled elements may be mapped to the canonical commands with machine learning to generate a natural language to API interface. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Various mechanisms exist to provide data and services over a network such as the public Internet, also known as the Web. The Web is witnessing a revolution towards a service-oriented architecture, where distributed, autonomous, and platform-agnostic Web services are becoming the standard way for organizations to expose their data and services. This revolution has been significantly expedited in recent years by the proliferation of cloud platforms such as provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud computing and Microsoft Corp. Azure® cloud computing service for building, deploying, and managing applications and services through a global network of managed data centers. These and other services provide large-scale storage and computing infrastructure to support low-cost construction and maintenance of Web services.
Web services are often exposed via Web application program interfaces (APIs), which are called programmatically. Most users, however, do not have the programming skills to make API calls. Instead, they rely on various desktop or Web applications to access Web services. For example, a sports application may gather match results from Web service providers such as ESPN and present them to users. However, this brings the burden on users to switch between and adapt to different applications, and constrains users to the fixed or slow-adapting functionality of each application.


The invention provides novel methods useful for enhancing a stress response in plants. Specifically, the methods of the present invention are useful for increasing the tolerance of a plant to stresses such as hyperthermia, hypothermia, hyperosmolarity, hypoosmolarity, and wounds.

Drought, cold, and salinity are critical environmental factors that limit crop productivity worldwide. In response to these stress signals, plants mount a number of defense reactions that increase the tolerance to the stressful conditions. The best-known molecular response is the activation of gene expression that leads to changes in protein profiles and physiological processes. The products of these so called "stress genes" are categorized in at least two functional groups. The first group includes metabolic enzymes required for biosynthesis of various osmo-protectants, chaperons, detoxifying enzymes, and other effector proteins that are directly involved in stress protection processes. The second category of gene products includes sensor/receptor proteins, protein kinases and phosphatases, enzymes involved in second messenger metabolism, and other components that constitute the signal transduction pathways connecting the stress signal to the cellular responses (Shinozaki et al., Plant Physiol. 115:327-334 (1997); Ingram et al., Ann. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol. Biol. 47:377-403 (1996); Bray, Trends Plant Sci. 2:48-54 (1997)).
In the stress signaling pathways, a number of studies implicate Ca2+ as second messenger. First, elevation of cellular Ca2+ is a rapid response to osmotic signals such as cold, drought, and salinity (Knight et al. Plant J. 12:1067-1078 (1997); Knight et al. Plant Cell 8:489-503 (1996); Knight et al. Nature 352:524-526 (1991)). Secondly, Ca2+ is required for stress-induced gene expression in plants (Knight et al. Plant Cell 8:489-503 (1996)). Thirdly, Ca2+ elevation is sufficient for activation of stress gene expression (Sheen, Science 274:1900-1902 (1996)). It is generally believed that Ca2+ transmits the stress signal downstream in the pathway by interacting with protein sensors. These calcium sensors such as calmodulin (CaM), Ca2+-dependent protein kinases (CDPK), bind Ca2+ and interact with and regulate the activity of their target proteins (Sander et al Plant Cell 11:691-706 (1996); Roberts and Harmon, Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol. Biol. 43:375-414 (1992); Zielinski, Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol. Biol. 49:697-725 (1998)).
Ca2+ serves as a second messenger in many stress signal transduction pathways (Sander et al. Plant Cell 11:691-706 (1996); Trewavas, Plant Physiol. 120:1-6 (1999); Bush, Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol. Biol. 46:95-122 (1995)). However, the molecular mechanism for Ca2+ action in plant cells is not well understood. The present invention demonstrates that a CBL calcium sensor is highly stress-responsive at the protein level. Constitutive expression of a CBL protein is sufficient for activation of multiple stress response pathways leading to enhanced tolerance to both salinity and osmotic stress in transgenic plants. This finding suggests that CBL proteins are an upstream regulator of stress gene expression and serves as a rate-limiting factor in stress response pathways.
One of the earliest responses to stress signals is elevation in cellular calcium in plants (Knight et al. Plant J. 12:1067-1078 (1997); Bush, Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol. Biol. 46:95-122 (1995)). Later responses include changes in expression profiles of a large number of stress genes (Shinozaki and Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, Plant Physiol. 115:327-334 (1997); Ingram et al. Ann Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol. Biol. 47:377-403 (1996); Bray, Trends Plant Sci. 2:48-54 (1997))). From calcium to gene expression, a number of intermediate components may play a role in the signaling process. These include calcium sensors such as CaM, CDPK, and AtCBL that are immediate downstream components following calcium changes (see, Roberts and Harmon Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol. Biol. 43:375-414 (1992); Zielinski Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol. Biol. 49:697-725 (1998); and Kudla et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96:4718-4723 (1999)).
It is generally believed that cellular Ca2+ levels hold the key to the activation of stress response pathways. Normally, cellular Ca2+ fluctuates below the "threshold value". Stress signals typically boost the Ca2+ levels over the threshold leading to the activation of calcium sensors and the downstream components in the pathway. Consistent with this view, elevation of cellular Ca2+ by ionophores is sufficient for activation of stress- and ABA-induced gene expression in the absence of stress or ABA application (Sheen, Science 274:1900-1902 (1996)). Levels of calcium sensors may alter the sensitivity to cellular Ca2+. In the case of AtCBL1, its basal level is quite low and activation of the pathway increases the protein level. The stress-responsive increase may lower the threshold value for cellular Ca2+ and serve as a feedback mechanism for increasing the sensitivity to stress signals. In transgenic plants, AtCBL1 protein levels are constantly high so that stress response pathways are turned on by basal Ca2+ levels that are present under "normal" conditions. As a result, these plants are "hypersensitive" to stress signals.
A family of novel calcium sensors from Arabidopsis was recently described (Kudla et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96:4718-4723 (1999)). These proteins are similar to both the regulatory B subunit of calcineurin and the neuronal Ca2+ sensor (NCS) in animals (Olafsson et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA 92:8001-8005 (1995); Klee et al. J Biol. Chem. 273:13367-13370 (1998)). These unique plant Ca2+ sensors have been referred to as Arabidopsis calcineurin B-like (AtCBL) proteins (Kudla et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96:4718-4723 (1999); Shi et al. Plant Cell 11:2393-2405 (1999); Kim et al. Plant Physiol. 124:1844-1853 (2000)). One member of the AtCBL gene family, AtCBL1, is highly inducible by stress signals including drought, cold, and wounding (Kudla et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96:4718-4723 (1999)), implicating AtCBL1 in plant response to multiple stress conditions. Another member, AtCBL4 or salt-overly sensitive 3 (SOS3) has been shown to play a role in salt resistance in Arabidopsis (Liu and Zhu, Science 280:1943-1954 (1998)). Like calmodulin (CaM), calcineurin B, and NCS, the AtCBL family calcium sensors are small Ca2+-binding proteins that do not have enzymatic activity by themselves and function as Ca2+-sensors by interacting with other signaling proteins. Using yeast two-hybrid screening, Shi et al. Plant Cell 11:2393-2405 (1999) identified a group of novel protein kinases (CIPKs) as target proteins for AtCBL1. Halfter et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97:3735-3740 (2000) describes a similar group of protein kinases (SIP) as targets for AtCBL4/SOS3. CIPK/SIP represents a new subclass of protein kinases that are related to SNF1/AMPK family in the kinase domain but contain a unique regulatory domain in the C-terminal non-kinase region. The C-terminal regulatory domain is required and sufficient for interaction with AtCBL Ca2+ sensors (Shi et al. Plant Cell 11:2393-2405 (1999); Kim et al. Plant Physiol. 124:1844-1853 (2000); Halfter et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97:3735-3740 (2000)). Taken together, these studies suggest that the AtCBL family of calcium sensors functions by interacting with a family of protein kinases. The specificity of interaction between the AtCBL calcium sensors and their target kinases is important in determining their specific function in plants (Kim et al. Plant Physiol. 124:1844-1853 (2000)).
To date, only a few studies have been reported on the function of these calcium sensors in stress-induced gene expression. One study shows that constitutive activation of specific CDPK isoforms is sufficient for expression of ABA-induced genes without ABA treatment (see, Sheen Science 274:1900-1902 (1996)). Overexpression of two pathogen-inducible CaM genes activates pathogen-response pathway in a pathogen-independent manner (see, Heo et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96:766-771 (1999)). These studies suggest that CaM and CDPK are upstream of pathogen- and ABA-induced gene expression in the signaling pathways.
In light of the above, it is thought that CBL genes are involved in controlling a plant stress response. It is not known, however, whether control of the expression of the genes would be useful in controlling a plant stress response. The present invention addresses these and other needs in the prior art.

Methods for enhancing a plant stress response

The Regents of the University of California


In at least one embodiment, a container includes an opening for the deposition of rubbish therein and a cleaning or disinfecting device configured to provide a cleaning or disinfecting fluid inside the container. The cleaning or disinfecting device includes a delivery device inside the container configured to deliver a dose of fluid after an inclination of the container and then returning the container to a normal position of use.

Currently, large size containers generally are substantially right-angled parallelepipedal in form and have a lid. The waste is simply introduced into the internal space of the container, which causes problems of cleanliness of these containers. Residual dirt is in particular found in the bottom of the containers due to discharges or refuse sticking to the bottom wall of the container. Inconveniencies relating to odour and cleanliness are thus posed.
The disinfecting of household rubbish containers in some applications is done by an operator manually, after the containers have been emptied of their waste.
This operation is a tedious task for the operator since this requires of him a significant handling of the containers and thereby requires a great deal of time for its execution. It is therefore usual to find that this type of work is not carried routinely after each collection of household rubbish.
The document WO-A-2010/146004 discloses a device for disinfecting a container for the removal of solid waste, said container being provided with a lid that is hinged at the rim of the opening so as to allow at least one rotation between a closed position and an open position obtained by the actuation of a user enabling him to insert bags of waste in the container. The device has at least one receptacle containing a disinfection product that is applied to the internal surface of the wall of the container. The receptacle is provided with at least one pump that emits a spray of said product by pressure applied to the button of said pump. Means are also provided that are connected to the lid of the container and are designed to produce a spray of the disinfectant product when the lid is closed following the actuation thereof by the user after the insertion of a bag of waste.
Though this document presents automatic actuation of the delivery of a cleaning and disinfecting fluid during a movement of opening and closing the lid by a device for dispensing maintenance fluid directly incorporated in the container, it does however have many drawbacks.
In this document, the distribution of fluid takes place at the opening and closing phases of the lid, that is to say very frequently and very often when the container is at least partially filled. Its efficacy is therefore low while using a large quantity of maintenance fluid.
In addition, the fluid-dispensing device is situated at the top part of the container since actuation thereof is linked to the lid. Consequently the dispensing of the fluid, moreover a simple spraying, is not effective for cleaning the bottom of the container, the sprayed fluid generally not arriving as far as the bottom of the container, especially when the latter is filled with refuse.
Finally, the reliability of such a spray system can be called into question.
Another system for delivering a disinfecting liquid is known from US-A-2010264168. This publication shows an actuator resting on the ground outside the container and the piston of which arms a part delivering liquid when the container is lifted. On descent, the piston retracts in contact with ground so as to discharge the liquid. Because of the bearing on the ground, the reliability and mechanical strength of the piston system is more than doubtful. Repeated movements of the container may cause multiple deliveries of liquid when this is not required.

Device for disinfecting of cleaning of a household rubbish container and the method for disinfecting or cleaning such a container


A delay circuit device configured for delay adjustment monotonicity and method of operating therefor. This delay circuit device is configured with hybrid coarse-fine delay cells and uses a sequence of these delay cells activated in a way that builds-up the delay as a sequence of fine steps until it reaches the coarse delay value. This configuration allows for the continuing build of propagation delay by adding the fine steps of the following delay cells. In this manner, the monotonicity of the signal delay circuit is ensured by the architecture independent from device mismatch, thus eliminating problems with conventional delay circuits such as gaps and overlaps specific the these conventional delay cells.

The present invention relates to communication systems and integrated circuit (IC) devices. More particularly, the present invention provides a method and circuit for delay adjustment monotonicity in a delay line.
Over the last few decades, the use of communication networks has exploded. In the early days of the Internet, popular applications were limited to emails, bulletin board, and mostly informational and text-based web page surfing, and the amount of data transferred was usually relatively small. Today, Internet and mobile applications demand a huge amount of bandwidth for transferring photo, video, music, and other multimedia files. For example, a social network like Facebook processes more than 500 TB of data daily. With such high demands on data and data transfer, existing data communication systems need to be improved to address these needs.
CMOS technology is commonly used to design communication systems implementing Optical Fiber Links. This technology continues to be scaled down to make circuits and systems run at higher speed, use less power, and occupy smaller chip (die) area. Another critical aspect of communication systems is the interaction of input and output signals between multiple internal components in order to have a functional system. Communication systems with multiple internal devices that face device mismatch problems with signal timing and signal ranges can suffer from serious failures at the system level. Limitations such as these provide significant challenges to the continued improvement of communication systems scaling and performance.
Accordingly, improvements to circuits and techniques for propagation delay adjustments in delay lines are highly desirable.

Method and circuit for delay adjustment monotonicity in a delay line


One, two, or three test pattern generation and encoding processes are performed for a circuit design to generate compressed test patterns for one or two input channel numbers. The one, two, or three test pattern generation and encoding processes are configured to minimize active input channels for each of the compressed test patterns. A test pattern count for each of a plurality of input channel numbers is determined based on the compressed test patterns for the one or two input channel numbers, a number of active input channels for each of the compressed test patterns, and an assumption of similar input data volumes for different numbers of input channels. The test pattern count information can be employed to determine an optimal number of input channels for a test decompressor.

Design complexity keeps increasing. A design often can have over 1 billion gates, 100 million scan cells, and/or hundreds of cores. New technology such as fin field-effect transistor (FinFET) and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography requires new fault models and thus more test patterns for circuit testing. To reduce test costs, various on-chip compression schemes have been developed. A test pattern compression/encoding method typically takes advantage of low test pattern fill rates to generate compressed test patterns along with automatic test pattern generation (ATPG). In these schemes, a tester delivers compressed test patterns by using a small number of inputs (also referred to as input channels) while an on-chip decompressor expands them into data to be loaded into a large number of scan chains. A compactor is used to compact test responses shifted out from the internal scan chains to a small number of outputs (also referred to as output channels).
Although test compression techniques can significantly reduce the test cost, they may also complicate the design-for-test (DFT) planning by introducing more parameters. Not only the number of scan chains to be inserted into a design needs to be carefully determined, but the selection of the numbers of input/output channels can also have an impact on test coverage and test data volume. A conventional test compression analyzer employs a brute force "trial-and-error" technique. First, users provide multiple sets of parameters. The conventional test compression analyzer emulates the design by changing test configurations based on each of the sets of parameters. Test pattern generation and encoding processes are then performed to obtain accurate test coverage and pattern count, power metrics, etc. for each of the test configurations. Then users can either select the best configuration based on test coverage and test data volume or continue searching for new configurations until they are satisfied. This flow is time-consuming because a test pattern generation process is slow for large circuits. A way to tradeoff could be running test pattern generation with fault sampling, but this compromises analytical accuracy.

Prediction of test pattern counts for scan configuration determination


A hydro electric turbine having a flexible, collapsible front shroud, the upstream open end of the front shroud being controlled by a draw line passing through purse rings, whereby the upstream end can be closed by drawing on the draw line, thereby stopping water flow through the turbine. Decreased drag allows the turbine to rise to the surface. Opening the upstream end so that water flows into the turbine increases drag to lower the turbine into the water and causes rotation of the turbine blades.

The method of using a venturi to increase the velocity of a water flow is old. The embodiment has the following aspects which the inventor believes are new.
1) The front shroud is flexible (collapsible) on demand.
2) The front shroud can be pursed (drawn) together to stop water from flowing through it and the turbine.
3) The purse line can be released to allow water to flow through the front shroud and turbine.
4) A combination of a flexible front and a rigid rear shroud used together as one unit.
5) The method of pursing a flexible shroud to stop the rotation of a turbine.
6) The method of using a flotation chamber to raise a turbine to the surface to be serviced.
One of the problems inherent in a low head (run of the river, tidal, etc.) turbine for producing electricity is the relatively slow water velocity; usually from 1 to 5 knots. This device that incorporates two shrouds (one front, one rear) increases the water velocity flowing through the turbine.
This ability to increase low head water velocities to those of high head applications has inherent advantages of cost, size, efficiency and overall maintainability. Since horsepower output is on an exponential curve with water velocity, it is expedient to keep the blade diameter as small as possible to reach the goal power output. This embodiment does that by the use of shrouds. Overall cost per kilowatt hour is lower when shrouds are used since the shrouds are the least expensive component of the machine.
The collapsible front shroud, when pursed, provides a rapid means of shutting down the turbine.

Means to regulate water velocity through a hydro electric turbine


A system and method for optimizing server resources while providing interaction with documents accessible through the server. The system allows a user to open and interact with a document without opening a session. Aspects of the present invention relate to a computer-implemented method having steps for determining whether a document is static in response to a request to open the document, and opening the document in a sessionless mode when the document is static. Other aspects of the present invention relate to a computer-implemented method having steps for determining whether a trigger has occurred and transitioning to a session mode for the document when a trigger has occurred.

With the advent and explosion of the Internet, computer users have grown accustomed to conveniently accessing virtually any kind of electronic document from virtually any location. In particular, the proliferation of the World Wide Web (the "Web") and Web browser application programs have made accessing many kinds of documents, such as text and graphics documents, very convenient. Through a Web browser application program, a user can access and view many types of electronic documents without the need for additional software.
When a user accesses a document on a server via the Internet, the server may instigate a session. A session may be defined as the amount of time a user interacts with an application. Stated another way, a session may begin when a user accesses a document and end when the user quits the document. When a session begins, resources are consumed on the server. Such resources may include storage, memory, power or any other resource used to maintain a session. Accordingly, as the number of sessions on a server increases, the available resources on the server decrease.

System and method for optimizing server resources while providing interaction with documents accessible through the server


A phase lock loop circuit (10) which locks to a frequency within a range of input signal frequencies. A frequency discriminator (12) of phase lock loop circuit (10) determines a maximum pulse width of the input signal by counting a number of pulses of a reference signal in each of a series of pulses of the input signal. A coarse frequency controller (16) compares the maximum pulse width to two threshold values to determine whether the reference signal should be coarsely or finely adjusted. If the reference signal is coarsely adjusted, control circuit (16) provides a coarse frequency control signal to indicate whether a voltage controlled oscillator, VCO, (26) should increase or decrease the reference frequency. If the reference frequency is finely adjusted, a phase discriminator (22) provides a fine frequency control signal to the VCO to either increase or decrease the frequency of the reference signal with greater resolution.

In some digital audio implementations, a user must recover a clock of a complex input signal, such as digital audio data, so that the input signal may be correctly processed during subsequent operations. Generally, a phase lock loop circuit is used to determine the frequency of the clock. When a phase lock loop circuit is used, a reference clock that approximates the clock frequency of the input signal is provided to the phase lock loop circuit. The phase lock loop circuit then uses an iterative process in which the clock frequency of the input signal is compared with a reference frequency. By comparing the unknown clock frequency to a reference frequency, the reference frequency may be adjusted to more closely approximate the unknown clock frequency.
In a typical phase lock loop circuit, an incoming signal is provided to a phase detector such that the frequency of the incoming signal may be approximated. In the phase detector, the frequency of the incoming signal is compared with a reference frequency to produce a relative phase signal. The relative phase signal output by the phase detector is subsequently provided to a filter to provide a smoothly varying control output from the intermittent adjustments to the relative phase signal. The filtered signal is provided as an input to a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO). The VCO then uses the output of the phase lock loop circuit to adjust the reference frequency to more closely approximate the unknown clock frequency of the input signal. The process is performed iteratively such that the VCO may more closely approximate the unknown clock frequency with each successive iteration.
Although phase lock loop circuits generally perform well in most digital audio implementations, several limitations do exist. For example, when the input signal is a complex data stream without a perfectly periodic signal, the phase lock loop circuit is generally not able to lock to the frequency of the data stream. A complex data stream may be a digital audio data stream which is transmitted in a standard format such as AES-EBU or CP-340. The AES-EBU and CP-340 formats include preambles, digital audio data and digital non-audio data which do not allow the phase lock loop circuit to easily find a periodic edge to lock to.
When receiving such complex data streams, a "pre-processing" circuit must be provided to receive and process the data stream before it is input to the phase lock loop circuit. The pre-processing circuit is implemented to isolate a periodic edge within the complex data stream. Subsequently, the periodic edge is provided as control to enable the phase lock loop circuit to be able to lock to the frequency of the input signal. Pre-processing is, therefore, required to recover a reference frequency clock signal with little jitter.
Additionally, for the pre-processing circuit to function correctly, a reference frequency provided for comparison by the voltage controlled oscillator must be within a relatively close range of the clock signal of the complex data stream. If the reference frequency is not within a close range of the clock signal of the complex data stream, the pre-processing system is not able to work correctly. Therefore, the recovered clock signal will typically have too much jitter and will not provide the phase lock loop circuit with a usable input signal. Additionally, when the reference frequency provided by the voltage controlled oscillator is within a close range of the clock signal, the voltage controlled oscillator is designed to operate at only one sampling frequency. To operate at a wider range of sampling frequencies, a plurality of phase lock loop circuits would be required wherein each of the plurality of phase lock loop circuits has a voltage controlled oscillator designed to detect one of a plurality of sampling frequencies. The circuitry required to implement such a system would be too expensive and require too much circuit area to implement in most communications systems.

Phase lock loop frequency correction circuit


This communication system performs serial data communication between a master apparatus and a plurality of the slave apparatus via a data transmission line. The master apparatus generates, by using a controller, a serial conversion order control signal for controlling serial conversion order for the data in the slave apparatus, and then transmits the signal to the slave apparatus. The slave apparatus sets up serial conversion order for system information data in accordance with the serial conversion order control signal, then performs serial conversion in accordance with the set-up order, and then transmits the serial conversion data to the master apparatus. The master apparatus can read the system information data in the slave apparatus in the order specified by the serial conversion order control signal.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a data communication method and, in particular, to serial data communication for a television device, a video device, a DVD recorder device, an audio device, or the like.
2. Prior Art
In the prior art, methods of controlling data transfer are known in which a controlling semiconductor apparatus and a plurality of to-be-controlled semiconductor apparatuses are interconnected using two or three transmission lines. Among such techniques, the Philips INTER-IC (I2C) bus is described below.
An I2C bus is shown in FIG. 6. As shown in FIG. 6, in the I2C bus, a controlling semiconductor apparatus (referred to as a "master", hereinafter) 1 and a plurality of to-be-controlled semiconductor apparatuses (each referred to as a "slave", hereinafter) 4 are interconnected using two transmission lines 2 and 3. The master 1 controls each slave 4 via the transmission lines 2 and 3.
The master 1 is an apparatus that starts data transfer, then generates a clock signal, and then completes the data transfer. Each slave 4 is an apparatus addressed by the master 1. One of the two transmission lines is a line (referred to as a "serial clock line", hereinafter) 2 for transmitting the clock signal. This signal is transmitted by the master 1 and received by each slave 4. The other is a line (referred to as a "serial data line", hereinafter) 3 for transmitting data between the master 1 and each slave 4. This line is used for data transmission in order that the master 1 should control each slave 4. Then, the master 1 transmits data to each slave 4 by serial transmission.
A unique address (referred to as a "slave address", hereinafter) is provided to each slave 4. When controlling each slave 4, the master 1 first transmits to the serial data line 3 the slave address of the slave 4 to be controlled. Only when having received own slave address, each slave 4 receives data that follows the slave data. As such, since a unique address is provided to each slave 4, the serial clock line 2 and the serial data line 3 can be shared by these slaves 4.
Further, in the I2C bus, in response to an instruction from the master 1, the data held by each slave 4 can also be transmitted to the master 1 via the serial data line 3. The data transmission is performed in predetermined order. When no instruction is provided from the master 1, the data held by each slave 4 cannot be transmitted to the master 1. That is, complete two-way communication is not established between the master 1 and each slave 4.
Next, an example of a system employing the above-mentioned I2C bus is described below. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration of a communication system employing an I2C bus shown in FIG. 6.
First, the operation is described that the master 1 writes data into the slave 4. In FIG. 7, the master 1 performs serial conversion on transmission data 5 by using a serial converter 6, and then transmits the converted data to the serial data line 3. The transmission data 5 consists of: slave address data (7 bits) of the slave 4; data write/read select data (1 bit) for the slave 4; and data for controlling the slave 4. The data write/read select data indicates that the data is written from the master 1 into the slave 4. The transmission data 5 is processed by serial conversion in the order of the slave address data, the data write/read select data, and the slave control data.
The slave 4 receives the data 5 transmitted from the master 1 to the serial data line 3. The received data 5 is processed by parallel conversion in a parallel converter 7, and then stored into a received data memory 8. The control data in the stored data 5 is transmitted to various kinds of function control sections 9 in the slave 4 so that the slave 4 is controlled on the basis of this data. Then, the operation is completed that the master 1 writes data into the slave 4.
Next, the operation is described that the master 1 reads data stored in the slave 4. Similarly to the above-mentioned write operation, the master 1 performs serial conversion on transmission data 5 by using the serial converter 6, and then transmits the converted data to the serial data line 3. The transmission data 5 consists of slave address data (7 bits) of the slave 4 and data write/read select data (1 bit) for the slave 4. Here, the data write/read select data indicates that the master 1 reads data from the slave 4. The transmission data 5 is processed by serial conversion in the order of the slave address data and the select data.
The slave 4 receives the data 5 transmitted from the master 1 to the serial data line 3. This data is processed by parallel conversion in the parallel converter 7, and then stored into the received data memory 8. The select data in the transmission data 5 is transmitted from the memory 8 through the read instruction signal line 10 to a serial converter 11. In accordance with the select data that indicates data read, the slave 4 performs serial conversion on system information data 12 in the slave 4 by using the serial converter 11, and then transmits the converted data to the serial data line 3.
The master 1 receives the data 12 transmitted to the serial data line 3, then performs parallel conversion on the received data by using the parallel converter 13, and then stores the converted data into a received data memory 14. Then, the operation is completed that the master 1 reads data stored in the slave 4.
As such, in the system of FIG. 7, the master 1 can write data into the slave 4 and read data from the slave 4.
As for prior art document information concerning the present invention, for example, Non-Patent Document 1 is known
Non-Patent Document 1: "The I2C-bus specification" http://www.semiconductors.philips.com/acrobat_download/lite rature/9398/39340011.pdf
FIG. 8 shows an example of a data map of the system information data 12 of FIG. 7. This shows a case that the system information data 12 consists of 128 pieces of data. In FIG. 8, serial conversion order for the data 12 is set up in advance into the order from MSB to LSB and from sub-address 0 to sub-address F. In this case, the data 12 is processed by serial conversion in the order of the numerical values assigned in the grid sections of FIG. 8. For example, the data of sub-address E and address 7 is processed by serial conversion in the 113th turn, and then transmitted to the serial data line 3.
Nevertheless, in the system shown in FIG. 7, the read of the system information data 12 of the slave 4 has been performed by serial transmission. Thus, data processed in a later turn of serial conversion takes a longer time to be received by the master 1. That is, data having a larger numerical value in the grid section of FIG. 8 takes a longer time to be received by the master 1. This problem need be resolved in the situation that the amount of data transmitted from the slave 4 increases with increasing scale and increasing functional complexity in semiconductor apparatuses in recent years.
Further, even when the data transmitted from the serial converter 11 at the last is solely necessary, the master 1 need read the entire data of the system information data 12. Thus, the master 1 need be provided with a receiving memory 14 capable of holding the entire data of the slave 4. This unavoidably causes a size increase in the memory 14.

Communication system, and master apparatus and slave apparatus used in the same, and communication method

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A seal for hydraulic assemblies operating at high temperatures having adaptations (19, 20, 49, 50) for low pressures sealing and configured to move across the gap to be sealed at higher pressures with an angled base on a slope (23, 44) or a cup shape (73, 74) nested into a groove (72). The seal at the point of the gap being an elastic, metallic material.

THIS INVENTION relates to improvements in hydraulic mechanisms such as fasteners or nuts and in particular it relates to improvements in the seals to such mechanisms and fasteners.
Hydraulic systems such as nuts and like type fasteners are known, The nuts provide a means by which a stud or bolt can be tensioned on being engaged by the nut, which nut is then hydraulically actuated to apply a tensile force in the stud or bolt. The nuts often operate under extremes of pressure and temperature.
Hydraulic nuts or like type fasteners are typically pre-tensioned mechanically, after which a source of hydraulic pressure is applied to a chamber within the structure to generate an hydraulic force which applies an axial tensile force to a stud or nut engaged by the fastener. A locking collar may be used to retain that tension after release of the pressure from said chamber.
The magnitude of the added tensile force is dependent upon the operative surface area of the hydraulic chamber in the nut and that pressure which is introduced into the chamber and acts upon it. Often the available operative surface area of the hydraulic chamber is limited by the juxtaposition of adjoining features and the necessary thickness of its internal structure to withstand stresses generated by the introduced fluid pressure. In such cases a stacked array of chambers may be utilised (see U.S. Pat No.4,326,826xe2x80x94Bunyan)
The expansion chambers of the above style nuts need to be sealed. In some assemblies pressurising fluid is retained within a bladder (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,798xe2x80x94Snyder). Most often seals are annular rings (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,074,923xe2x80x94Lathara).
Seals for use with high pressure hydraulic devices are typically made of elastomeric material such as nitrite rubber or polyurethane. The means by which these seal against the passage of fluid pressure can be divided into two distinct parts or mechanisms, described herein as primary and secondary mechanisms. The primary mechanism of sealing acts during the initial application of fluid pressure, and simply blocks the passage of fluid, allowing internal pressure to rise. As this pressure increases, the elastomeric seal is is deformed and is forced to a position where the seal bridges the gap which is to be sealed, herein referred to as the extrusion gap, to establish a secondary seal.
Prior art document U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,106 Percival-Smith shows seals, supposedly for Operation at higher temperatures than is achieved by conventional seals. Its seals are integrated with components of the hydraulic assembly and these are therefore non replaceable. Sealing is accomplished by deflecting a thin edge of a component to bridge the extrusion gap. A very rapid surge of viscous fluid is required to displace this edge.
It is typical of hydraulically activated piston and cylinder arrangements that as operating pressures increase, the cylinder walls are expanded radially, causing a proportional increase in the extrusion gap between piston and cylinder. This is particularly a feature of the above stacked configuration (Bunyan). Stacking is effected because of limitations to radial dimensions and the walls of such nuts are limited as to thickness. The walls of these nuts are particularly subject to increase in size of the extrusion gap as pressures are increased. There is a need for a seal which is re-usably operative in these and other systems, and at high temperature and pressures. The design of Percival-smith does not achieve good low pressure performance and it does not offer a useful re-usable seal.
A limiting feature in the operation of hydraulic nuts is the effectiveness of their seals. Factors such as high pressures, high temperatures, and service life under adverse conditions curtail their application and effectiveness. If these factors become extreme, either singly or in combination, then materials which are commonly used as sealing agents will fail. A failure mode is the flow or movement of the material of the seal into the extrusion gap under pressure and/or temperature. At this point the seal can be lost.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an hydraulic assembly, such as a fastener, with improved sealing characteristics able to tolerate more extreme factors such as high pressures and high temperatures, achieving a more extended service life under such adverse conditions.
The invention achieves its object in the provision of a seal for an hydraulic assembly wherein hydraulic fluid is to be contained in a working chamber formed between at least two parts of the assembly operating in at least two modes, a primary sealing mode and a secondary sealing mode, the primary sealing mode being operative to contain hydraulic fluid to a first pressure level, and the secondary sealing mode being operative above said first pressure level with elastic deformation of a metallic part of the seal to closely associate the seal material with any gap between the at least two parts of the assembly.
The seal of the invention is particularly suited to applications where there is a substantial extrusion gap increase with applied pressure. The seal of the invention travels with the outer wall. It does not separate from it. The shoulder of the seal maintains a sliding contact with the radially expanding component of the assembly.
In a preferred embodiment the seal may be one which provides secondary sealing off sloped shoulders, a resolved force along the slope creating the secondary mode of sealing. The slope and material may be matched to achieve secondary sealing without the down force causing the seal base to adhere under friction to the ramp before the seal can react. The specific nature of a desirable seal is a combination of factors involving angle of slope, choice of material, target temperatures, and target pressures, such that no one design is forced for any particular application.
In a further and different embodiment the seal may be one wherein it is a pressed, cup shaped form, with flanges to form primary seats, and reactive to pressure to form a secondary seal. The cup form can be filled with materials with resistance to crushing such as ceramics.
Ideally the seal of the invention is one wherein dissimilar metals are chosen for the seal and the hydraulic assembly components being sealed, to avoid fusing at extreme pressures.
It will be evident that an adaptation of the hydraulic assembly, mechanism, or fastener, at the point where seals are fitted to the expansion chamber, will be made to accommodate the selected shape of the seal. A sloped shoulder will be effective in promotion of the secondary mode of sealing. A slope sufficient to enhance operation without inhibiting interaction between the respective surfaces of shoulder and seal is desirable. It will be clear to those skilled in the art that surface preparation will be important to establishing what level of interaction might arise between two such surfaces, in addition to choice of material, and geometry of the interacting surfaces. Various combinations of the aforesaid factors will provide increased radial thrust, to improve secondary sealing, in any given assembly. A desired thrust is resolved from that action of hydraulic forces directly on an angled base of the seal. Ramp angle for the base is ideally calculated to both prevent frictional adhesion of the seal to the romp before it can react, or wedging of the seal resulting impediment to free movement of the sliding components.
A number of seal constructions will be seen herein to be possible. The seal may be a one piece all metal seal, having both primary and secondary sealing functions. Alternately a one piece metal seal might be a pressed, cup shaped seal with flanges to form primary seals, reactive to pressure to form a secondary seal. Other materials with resistance to crushing might be used such as ceramics.
The yield strength of the materials used is desirably in excess of the sum of pressure and radial loads induced by operation, for repeated operation. Otherwise the seal may be limited to a single use. Below the yield strength the rings will possess elastic properties, permitting re-use for a longer service life and durability.
Whilst the invention is described herein with particular reference to hydraulic nuts, the seals of the invention have application in any hydraulic assembly where there is a working chamber to be operated, in use, under pressure of an hydraulic fluid, and it is desired to achieve a higher level of performance, at higher temperatures and pressures.


A new cultivar of Abelia x grandiflora plant named ‘Bailbeliaone’, that is characterized by its compact, mounded, low growing plant habit, its flowers that are white in color with light pink colored sepals, its strong young stems that are red-bronze in color when young, its variegated foliage with green centers and pink margins when young and green centers with white margins when mature, its ease of growth in a container, and its vigorous root system.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Abelia x grandiflora and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, 'Bailbeliaone'. 'Bailbeliaone' represents a new Abelia, a semi-evergreen shrub grown for landscape use.
The new cultivar was discovered by one of the Inventors in summer of 2007 as a naturally occurring branch mutation of Abelia x grandiflora 'Mardi Gras' (U.S. Pat. No. 15,203) growing in a cultivated garden in Athens, Ga.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was first accomplished by stem cuttings by one of the Inventors in Watkinsville, Ga. in 2013. Asexual propagation by stem cuttings has determined that the characteristics of the new cultivar are stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.


Provided is a manufacturing method of heat-assisted magnetic recording head, in which a light source unit can be easily joined to a slider with sufficiently high accuracy, under avoiding the excessive mechanical stress. The manufacturing method comprises the steps of: moving relatively the light source unit and the slider, while applying a sufficient voltage between an upper electrode of the light source and an electrode layer provided in the slider; and setting the light source unit and the slider in desired positions in a direction perpendicular to the element-integration surface of the slider substrate. The desired positions are positions where the light source just emits due to a surface contact between: the protruded portion of the lower surface of the light source; and the upper surface of the electrode layer, which is a portion of the wall surface of a step formed on the head part.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a magnetic head for writing data signals according to a heat-assisted magnetic recording technique.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a magnetic disk drive apparatus intended for higher recording density, a thin-film magnetic head within it needs to be further improved in its performance. As such a thin-film magnetic head, a composite-type thin-film magnetic head is widely used, which has a stacked structure of a magnetoresistive (MR) element for reading data signals and an electromagnetic transducer for writing data signals.
Generally, a magnetic recording medium is magnetically discontinuous, in which magnetic microparticles are gathered together. Usually, each of the magnetic microparticles has a single magnetic-domain structure; and in the medium, one record bit consists of a plurality of the magnetic microparticles. Therefore, for improving its recording density, irregularity in the boundary of the record bit is required to be reduced by decreasing the size (volume) of the magnetic microparticle. However, a problem is likely to occur that the decrease in size causes thermal stability of the magnetization of the record bit to be degraded.
As a measure against the thermal stability problem, it may be possible to increase the magnetic anisotropy energy KU of the magnetic microparticles. However, the increase in energy KU causes the increase in coercive force of the magnetic recording medium. Whereas, write field intensity of the thin-film magnetic head is limited by the amount of saturation magnetic flux density of the soft-magnetic pole material of which the magnetic core of the head is formed. Therefore, the head cannot write data to the magnetic recording medium when the coercive force of the medium exceeds the write field limit.
Currently, as a method for solving the thermal stability problem, a heat-assisted magnetic recording technique is proposed, in which a magnetic head writes data to the magnetic recording medium formed of a material with large magnetic anisotropy energy KU, by reducing the coercive force of the medium with heat supplied to the medium just before the write field is applied. The heat-assisted magnetic recording technique has some similarity to a magneto-optic recording technique. However in the heat-assisted magnetic recording technique, the area of applied magnetic field determines spatial resolution of record bits (that is, magnetic-field-dominant technique). Whereas, in the magneto-optic recording technique, the area of emitted light determines spatial resolution of record bits (that is, light-dominant technique).
As proposed heat-assisted magnetic recording techniques, Japanese patent Publication No. 2001-255254A describes a near-field light probe for irradiating light to the recording medium, which has a metal scatterer with strobilus shape formed on a substrate and a dielectric material film formed around the metal scatterer. And Japanese patent Publication No. 10-162444A describes a head with a solid immersion lens provided within a recording and reproducing apparatus. Further, Japanese patent Publication No. 2004-158067A describes a scatterer as a near-field light probe, which is formed in contact with the main magnetic pole of a single-pole-type head for perpendicular magnetic recording in such a way that the irradiated surface of the scatterer is perpendicular to the medium surface. Furthermore, Miyanishi et al. "Near-field Assisted Magnetic Recording" IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS, Vol. 41, No. 10, p. 2817-2821 (2005) describes a U-shaped near-field light probe formed on a quartz crystal slider.
Further, US Patent Publication No. 2007/0139818 A1 discloses a thin-film magnetic head having an optic fiber as a means for supplying light from an outside light source. And Japanese Patent Publication No. 2008-10093A discloses a thin-film magnetic head in which a light source is provided on the end surface opposite to the medium-opposed surface of a slider substrate; and the light generated from the light source is directed toward the medium-opposed surface by using a changing-light-path element. Further, US Patent Publication No. 2006/0187564 A1 describes a magnetic head in which a laser diode is attached on the element-integration surface of a slider so that light can reach the incident end face of a light waveguide.
As described above, various forms of heat-assisted magnetic recording techniques are proposed. However, the present inventors suggest a heat-assisted magnetic recording head constituted by joining a light source unit provided with a light source to the end surface (back surface) opposite to the medium-opposed surface of a slider provided with a write head element. For example, Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-047268A discloses such a light source unit. The advantages of the above-described heat-assisted magnetic recording head are as follows:
a) The head has an affinity with the conventional manufacturing method of thin-film magnetic heads because the medium-opposed surface and the element-integration surface are perpendicular to each other in the slider.
b) The light source can avoid suffering mechanical shock directly during operation because the light source is provided far from the medium-opposed surface.
c) The light source such as a laser diode and the head elements can be evaluated independently of each other; thus the degradation of manufacturing yield for obtaining the whole head can be avoided. Whereas, in the case that all the light source and head elements are provided within the slider, the manufacturing yield rate for obtaining the whole head is likely to decrease significantly due to the multiplication of the process yield for the light-source and the process yield for the head elements.
d) The head can be manufactured with reduced man-hour and at low cost, because of no need to provide the head with optical components such as a lens or prism which are required to have much high accuracy, or optical elements having a special structure for connecting optical fibers or the like.
However, in the manufacturing process of the heat-assisted magnetic recording head described above, accuracy of the joining position of the light source unit when joining the unit to the back surface of the slider is required to be significantly high. Actually, the present inventors adopt a structure in which a waveguide is provided within the slider for guiding the light generated by the light source to the medium-opposed surface. When joining the light source unit to this slider, the emission center of the light source needs to be fitted to the incident center of the waveguide, which is positioned on the back surface of the slider. This positioning (fitting) corresponds to the alignment of optical axis in two directions (Y-axis and Z-axis directions) in the back surface of the slider, which is considerably difficult to be performed. As a result, a problem that mass-production efficiency of the head is significantly degraded may be likely to occur.
Further, on joining the light source unit to the slider, there is a possibility that, when the light source, for example, a laser diode, contacts with the back surface of the slider, the generated mechanical stress is applied to the laser diode, which may cause the laser diode to be damaged. However, in order to improve the propagation efficiency of the laser light, the emission center of the laser diode needs to be appropriately positioned adjacent to the incident center of the waveguide. Therefore, required is the joining method for appropriately positioning the emission center of the laser diode adjacent to the incident center of the waveguide, under avoiding the excessive mechanical stress applied to the light source.

Manufacturing method of heat-assisted magnetic head constituted of slider and light source unit